Punk-rock singer Patti Smith was so nervous when performing a Bob Dylan song at the Nobel Prize ceremony that she forgot the lyrics to one of his songs.

She was accepting the award for literature on behalf of the Jewish singer, who said he could not attend the ceremony on Saturday in Stockholm, but during a performance of Dylan’s song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” she stumbled over the words to the second verse.

Instead of ignoring her mistake, she addressed the audience directly. “I apologize, sorry, I’m so nervous,” said Smith, eliciting loud applause. Per her request, the orchestra started the song from the beginning, and the show went on.

The incident offered a rare moment of humanity in the otherwise well-choreographed ceremony, which was attended by the Swedish royal family.

The organizers of the ceremony — reportedly miffed that Dylan skipped the festivities — seemed overjoyed with Smith’s performance, noting that she received a standing ovation in a post on Facebook. </s> STOCKHOLM — Patti Smith needed two attempts to get through Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm on Saturday.

The American singer-songwriter forgot the lyrics in the second verse and had to pause to regain her composure.

“I apologize. I’m sorry, I’m so nervous,” Smith said, asking the orchestra to start over.

The audience in Stockholm’s Concert Hall, many dressed in formal attire, clapped to support Smith as she tried anew.

She appeared to draw a blank again in the third verse, but only briefly, and finished the song with an emotional performance that left some in the crowd misty-eyed.
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers book 40th anniversary concert at St. Paul’s Xcel Center </s> Representing the Nobel laureate at the prize-giving, the US singer admitted nerves in performance at Swedish academy

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This article is more than 2 years old

A very nervous Patti Smith initially stumbled through A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall in Stockholm on Saturday in a performance given to mark Bob Dylan’s Nobel prize for literature.

Making the award, Horace Engdahl, a Swedish literary historian and critic and member of the Swedish academy that awards the prize, responded to international criticism of the choice of a popular lyricist as recipient.

Engdahl said that when Dylan’s songs were heard first in the 1960s, “all of a sudden much of the bookish poetry in our world felt anaemic”.

The academy’s choice of Dylan, Engdahl said in Swedish, “seemed daring only beforehand and already seems obvious”.

And it was an unconventional prize-giving night in more ways than one. Dylan’s failure to attend the august gathering in Stockholm meant that Smith, the American singer most famous for her 1975 album, Horses, and the hit song Because the Night, was attending as his proxy.

The occasion proved too much for the singer, 69, who faltered after a few verses. Forgetting the lyric “I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’”, she apologised quietly but profusely to the jewel-bedecked audience and asked if she could start that section of the song again. “I am so nervous,” she explained.

Smith was encouraged by applause from the gathered dignatories and members of the Swedish royal family.

Her performance followed Engdahl’s justificatory speech, which opened with the question: “What brings about the great shifts in the world of literature? Often it is when someone seizes upon a simple, overlooked form, discounted as art in the high sense, and makes it mutate.”

In this way, Engdahl argued, the novel had once emerged from anecdote and letters, while drama had eventually derived from games and performance.

“In the distant past all poetry was sung or tunefully recited,” he said. Dylan had dedicated himself to music played for ordinary people and tried to copy it.

“But when he started to write songs they came out differently,” Engdahl said. “He panned poetry gold, whether on purpose or by accident is irrelevant … he gave back to poetry its elevated style, lost since the romantics.”

The award, announced in October, was the first to be given to a songwriter. Dylan took two weeks to return the academy’s phone calls or publicly acknowledge the award – which comes with prize money of $870,000 (£734,000) – leading to one member calling him “impolite and arrogant”.

Dylan, 75, wrote to the academy last month to say he had been left “speechless” by the honour, but that other commitments had made it “unfortunately impossible” for him to attend the ceremony.



However, the foundation said that the folk singer would be presented with his prize some time next year, either in Sweden or abroad.

The no-show has created a stir in Sweden, where it has been perceived as a slight towards the Swedish academy, which awards the literature prize, and the Nobel Foundation.

Dylan’s Nobel address will be read out by Engdahl at the ceremony. </s> After months of confusion and conflict, singer Bob Dylan will finally accept the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Dylan, 75, was awarded the prestigious honour in October, but was unable to travel to Stockholm in December for the ceremony “due to pre-existing commitments.”

RELATED: Bob Dylan on the passing of Muhammed Ali, Leonard Cohen

The Academy’s personal secretary Prof Sara Danius wrote in a blog post: “The good news is that the Swedish Academy and Bob Dylan have decided to meet this weekend. The Academy will then hand over Dylan’s Nobel diploma and the Nobel medal, and congratulate him on the Nobel Prize in Literature.” The iconic singer-songwriter and academy will meet in Stockholm where Dylan is performing two concerts.

Danius described the ceremony as a very private affair. “The setting will be small and intimate, and no media will be present; only Bob Dylan and members of the Academy will attend, all according to Dylan’s wishes.”

Dylan will not deliver his Nobel lecture while he is in Sweden, however. The Academy expects him to send a taped version of his lecture by June 10; Dylan will forfeit his US$900,000 prize money if he fails to do so.

Some members of the Academy felt disrespected after the Forever Young singer did not publicly acknowledge his Nobel Prize win for more than a week after it was announced. One unnamed member of the Academy described Dylan’s non-response as “impolite and arrogant.”

On Saturday, December 10 iconic punk rock singer Patti Smith was sent to perform in Dylan’s place. Part-way through her performance of Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Smith forgot the words and halted the performance. “I’m sorry, I’m so nervous,” she explained to a supportive crowd.

That same evening, Swedish academy member Horace Engdahl gave a speech honouring Dylan in the latter’s stead. </s> The media-shy Dylan declined to attend the Nobel ceremony on Saturday. But he is scheduled to perform in Stockholm on April 1 and 2 and in Lund in southern Sweden on April 9, his website said.

In order to receive the prize, Dylan needs to give a lecture within six months from Dec. 10. It does not necessarily need not be delivered in Stockholm.

Sara Danius, permanent secretary and member of the Swedish Academy that awards the literature prize, said that while the details remained to be sorted out, she was expecting something to be arranged with Dylan.

When British novelist Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel literature prize in 2007, she composed a lecture and sent it to her Swedish publisher, who read it at a ceremony in the Swedish capital.

In a Nov. 18 statement, the Swedish Academy said a possible performance in Stockholm during the spring would be a "perfect opportunity" to deliver the lecture.

Bob Dylan sent a message on Saturday thanking the Swedish academy for awarding him the prize, an honor he believed was about as likely as "standing on the moon."

"I'm sorry I can't be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize," Dylan said in a speech read by Azita Raji, the U.S. ambassador to Sweden, at the Nobel banquet.

Dylan accepted the prize after frustrating the academy with weeks of silence following the announcement of the award on Oct. 13. But he chose not to attend the festivities.

In his place singer Patti Smith performed Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" at the award ceremony earlier in the day.

His absence has been widely debated in Sweden in recent weeks. One member of the academy accused him of being "arrogant" and "rude" as the singer remained silent after the award was announced.

Dylan, aged 75, still performs regularly around the world on what has been dubbed "The Never Ending Tour". </s> Bob Dylan admitted he was stunned and surprised when he was told he had won a Nobel prize because he had never stopped to consider whether his songs were literature.

Dylan, who did not attend the prize-giving ceremony in Stockholm, and whose speech was read out by the US ambassador to Sweden at the annual awards dinner, said the prize was “something I never could have imagined or seen coming”.

He said from an early age he had read and absorbed the works of past winners and giants of literature such as Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus and Hemingway. But said it was “truly beyond words” that he was joining those names on the winners list. “If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel prize, I would have to think that I’d have about the same odds as standing on the moon,” he wrote.

The announcement that Dylan had won the literature prize caused controversy with critics arguing his lyrics were not literature. On learning he had been awarded the literature prize Dylan said he thought of Shakespeare. “When he was writing Hamlet, I’m sure he was thinking about a lot of different things: ‘Who’re the right actors for these roles? How should this be staged? Do I really want to set this in Denmark?’

“His creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the forefront of his mind, but there were also more mundane matters to consider and deal with. ‘Is the financing in place? Are there enough good seats for my patrons? Where am I going to get a human skull?’ I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare’s mind was the question: ‘Is this literature?’

“Like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the pursuit of my creative endeavours and dealing with all aspects of life’s mundane matters. ‘Who are the best musicians for these songs? Am I recording in the right studio? Is this song in the right key?’ Some things never change, even in 400 years. Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself ‘are my songs literature?’ So, I do thank the Swedish academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.”

Earlier during the awards ceremony a nervous Patti Smith stumbled through Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall in a performance given to mark the handing over of the absent Dylan’s Nobel prize in literature.

Formally presenting the award Horace Engdahl, a Swedish literary critic and member of the Swedish academy behind the prize,, said the academy’s choice of Dylan “seemed daring only beforehand and already seems obvious”.

Banquet speech by Bob Dylan given by the United States Ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji, at the Nobel Banquet, 10 December 2016.

Good evening, everyone. I extend my warmest greetings to the members of the Swedish Academy and to all of the other distinguished guests in attendance tonight.

I’m sorry I can’t be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize. Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming. From an early age, I’ve been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression. That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words.

I don’t know if these men and women ever thought of the Nobel honor for themselves, but I suppose that anyone writing a book, or a poem, or a play anywhere in the world might harbor that secret dream deep down inside. It’s probably buried so deep that they don’t even know it’s there.

If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I’d have about the same odds as standing on the moon. In fact, during the year I was born and for a few years after, there wasn’t anyone in the world who was considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.

I was out on the road when I received this surprising news, and it took me more than a few minutes to properly process it. I began to think about William Shakespeare, the great literary figure. I would reckon he thought of himself as a dramatist. The thought that he was writing literature couldn’t have entered his head. His words were written for the stage. Meant to be spoken not read. When he was writing Hamlet, I’m sure he was thinking about a lot of different things: “Who’re the right actors for these roles?” “How should this be staged?” “Do I really want to set this in Denmark?” His creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the forefront of his mind, but there were also more mundane matters to consider and deal with. “Is the financing in place?” “Are there enough good seats for my patrons?” “Where am I going to get a human skull?” I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare’s mind was the question “Is this literature?”

When I started writing songs as a teenager, and even as I started to achieve some renown for my abilities, my aspirations for these songs only went so far. I thought they could be heard in coffee houses or bars, maybe later in places like Carnegie Hall, the London Palladium. If I was really dreaming big, maybe I could imagine getting to make a record and then hearing my songs on the radio. That was really the big prize in my mind. Making records and hearing your songs on the radio meant that you were reaching a big audience and that you might get to keep doing what you had set out to do.

Well, I’ve been doing what I set out to do for a long time, now. I’ve made dozens of records and played thousands of concerts all around the world. But it’s my songs that are at the vital center of almost everything I do. They seemed to have found a place in the lives of many people throughout many different cultures and I’m grateful for that.

But there’s one thing I must say. As a performer I’ve played for 50,000 people and I’ve played for 50 people and I can tell you that it is harder to play for 50 people. 50,000 people have a singular persona, not so with 50. Each person has an individual, separate identity, a world unto themselves. They can perceive things more clearly. Your honesty and how it relates to the depth of your talent is tried. The fact that the Nobel committee is so small is not lost on me.

But, like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the pursuit of my creative endeavors and dealing with all aspects of life’s mundane matters. “Who are the best musicians for these songs?” “Am I recording in the right studio?” “Is this song in the right key?” Some things never change, even in 400 years.

Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself, “Are my songs literature?”

So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.

My best wishes to you all, </s> (JTA) — Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan said in a speech read at the Nobel Prize awards presentation that he “never could have imagined” that he would receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

“If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I’d have about the same odds as standing on the moon,” Dylan wrote in the speech read Saturday night by the U.S. ambassador to Sweden, Azita Raji, in Stockholm. “I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.”

Dylan, who last month told the Swedish Academy in a letter that he would be unable to travel to the Swedish capital to receive his Nobel Prize, citing “pre-existing commitments,” said in the letter that “I’m sorry I can’t be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize.” He said it took him “more than a few minutes to properly process” the fact that he won the prize.

He said he thought that William Shakespeare would have thought of himself as a dramatist – wondering where he could procure a human skull for Hamlet and how to stage his plays — rather than considering if what he wrote was literature.

Singer Patti Smith performed Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” in an arrangement for the Royal Philharmonic by Hans Ek, but had to apologize after blanking out on some of the lyrics due to nervousness.

Born Robert Allen Zimmerman and raised Jewish in Minnesota, Dylan, 75, wrote some of the most influential and well-known songs of the 1960s. His hits include “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Times They Are a-Changin’.”

Dylan in his speech said when he started writing songs as a teenager, his big dream was to make a record and hear his songs on the radio.

“I’ve made dozens of records and played thousands of concerts all around the world,” he said. “But it’s my songs that are at the vital center of almost everything I do. They seemed to have found a place in the lives of many people throughout many different cultures, and I’m grateful for that.

“Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself, ‘Are my songs literature?'” he added, concluding: “So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.”

Dylan is still required to deliver a Nobel lecture in order to receive the $927,740 prize. The lecture must be given within six months starting from Dec. 10, and can be given at the place of Dylan’s choosing. The academy has indicated that the lecture could be a concert.

Also speaking at the banquet, the Swedish Academy’s literary historian Horace Engdahl said Dylan “gave back to the language of poetry its elevated style, lost since the Romantics.” </s> American music legend Bob Dylan on Thursday won the Nobel Literature Prize, the first songwriter to win the prestigious award and an announcement that stunned prize watchers.

Dylan, 75, was honored “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” the Swedish Academy said.

The choice was met by gasps and a long round of applause from journalists attending the prize announcement.

The folk singer has been mentioned in Nobel speculation in past years, but was never seen as a serious contender.

The Academy’s permanent secretary Sara Danius said Dylan’s songs were “poetry for the ears.”

The Nobel award is the latest accolade for a singer who has come a long way from his humble beginnings as Robert Allen Zimmerman, born in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, who taught himself to play the harmonica, guitar and piano.

Last year, the prize went to Belarussian author Svetlana Alexievich, for her documentary-style narratives based on witness testimonies.

Dylan will take home the eight million kronor ($906,000 or 822,000 euros) prize sum.

The literature award caps the 2016 Nobel season, following more than a week of announcements for the prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry, economics and peace, with the latter going to Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos for his efforts to end a half-century war with the FARC rebels.

The 2016 laureates will receive their awards—a gold medal and a diploma—at a formal ceremony in Stockholm as tradition dictates on December 10, the anniversary of the death of prize creator Alfred Nobel.

A separate ceremony is held in Oslo for the peace prize laureate on the same day, as the Norwegian Nobel Committee grants that award. </s> (JTA) — The fallout from Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize in Literature has taken a strange turn: The Jewish folk singer’s website has taken down its only brief mention of the award.

Dylan has not acknowledged the award at any of his performances in the week since the Nobel committee’s Oct. 13 announcement, but his website made one allusion to it this week on a page promoting a new collection of his lyrics, “The Lyrics: 1961: 2012.” The page on bobdylan.com simply called him the “winner of the Nobel Prize in literature.”

As of Friday morning, the reference has been erased without explanation.

The Swedish Academy has tried and failed multiple times to contact Dylan through close associates of his since the award announcement. Sara Danius, the Nobel academy’s secretary, told Swedish radio on Monday that the academy has given up attempting to contact him and could not confirm whether he would attend the award ceremony in Stockholm on Nov. 10.

Numerous publications have noted that celebrities often do not control the content of their public websites, so it is conceivable that Dylan had no input about the award’s mention on his site.

Dylan, 75, is the first artist seen primarily as a songwriter to win the award, a fact that has stirred a divisive debate in literary circles. Some writers, such as the poets Amy King and Danniel Schoonebeek, have called for him to turn down the award.
Patti Smith performs in place of Bob Dylan in the Nobel Prize for Literature ceremony.