Glimpse of upcoming Bob Dylan book hints at artist's riffs on songwriting

81-year-old singer and songwriter’s new essay collection, ‘The Philosophy of Modern Song,’ is set for publication next month

NEW YORK — Bob Dylan fans on Thursday got a glimpse into the Nobel laureate and folk-rock legend’s new book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song,” set for publication next month.

The collection of essays is his first book of new writing since 2004, when he released “Chronicles, Volume One.”

The book exploring songwriting’s power is set for release on November 8 with the publisher Simon and Schuster.

Excerpts published in The New York Times offer musings from the beloved American poet and musician on Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” and The Who’s anthem “My Generation.”

Many of the essays include “riffs” that see Dylan expand on his words with a shorter, looser piece where the artist waxes poetic on the track in question.

“Something in your vital spirit, your pulse, something that runs in the blood, tells you that you must have this tender feeling of love now and forever, this essence of devoted love held tightly in your grip — that it’s essential and necessary for staying alive and cheating death,” Dylan riffs on Sinatra.

Bob Dylan performs during the British Summer Time festival at Hyde Park in London, July 12, 2019. (Isabel Infantes/PA via AP)

The book is also set to include musings on artists including Hank Williams and Nina Simone.

Dylan says “My Generation,” the 1960s smash that’s one of The Who’s most recognizable songs, “does no favors for anyone, and casts doubt on everything.”

He says “fear” — of getting old, namely — “is perhaps the most honest thing about the song.”

“We all rail at the previous generation but somehow know it’s only a matter of time until we will become them ourselves.”

Bob Dylan (photo credit: US State Department, Wikimedia Commons) — Bob Dylan and Joan Baez at the March on Civil Rights rally in 1963. (US State Department via Wikimedia Commons)

Dylan, who burst onto the folk scene in New York in the early 1960s, has sold more than 125 million records around the world.

Rumors of a “Chronicles, Volume Two” have swirled for years but fans will now have “Philosophy” to tide them over until — or if — that sequel is published.

The 81-year-old has maintained a rigorous touring schedule, and is currently on a global itinerary set to continue into 2024.

In 2020, he released his 39th studio album, “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” to critical acclaim.

He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”