In studying early Dylan songs, it's interesting how many of them were adapted (or stolen) from hymns and so on.
He would take melodies and write new lyrics to them, or copy the structure of existing lyrics and create a new melody. He also mimicked Woody Guthrie's singing style.
This tactic obviously worked out pretty well for the guy. Taking the long view, all that copying was a shortcut to developing his own creative voice.
Read More