7 literary Bob Dylan songs, in honor of his Nobel win

For the first time, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to an artist known more for his music than his written work.

Few American musicians are more deserving of the tradition-bucking honor than Bob Dylan, who has used his lyrics to communicate messages of peace, sting ex-lovers and tell freewheeling stories of Shakespearean heroes.

“Bob Dylan writes poetry for the ear. But it’s perfectly fine to read his works as poetry,” said Sara Danius, the Swedish Academy's permanent secretary, as the award was bestowed upon Dylan Thursday.

In honor of Dylan’s win, we're revisiting seven of his most poetic classics, encapsulating all the ways his wordplay has entertained and educated listeners through the years.

Visions of Johanna (1966)

The Blonde on Blonde classic is one of Dylan's many odes to an elusive muse.

Choice lyric: "Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial / Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while / But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues, you can tell by the way she smiles."

Jokerman (1983)

Dylan's other favorite characters, in addition to his impossible fairytale women, were mysterious loners riding into town to cause trouble.

Choice lyric: "Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy / The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers / In the smoke of the twilight on a milk-white steed / Michelangelo indeed could’ve carved out your features."

Only a Pawn in Their Game (1964)

Dylan tells the story of civil rights activist Medgar Evers' murder in a plainspoken memorial that still rings true today.

Choice lyric: "The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid / And the marshals and cops get the same / But the poor white man’s used in the hands of them all like a tool."

Chimes of Freedom (1964)

Halfway in between Dylan's '60s-era protest songs and his more psychedelic musings came Chimes of Freedom, a love song that doubles as a plea for justice.

Choice lyric: "Starry-eyed and laughing as I recall when we were caught / Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended / As we listened one last time an’ we watched with one last look / Spellbound and swallowed ’til the tolling ended."

Desolation Row (1965)

Another quintessentially Dylan-esque word association game, where he invokes the Shakespearean characters he himself is so gifted at creating.

Choice lyric: "Now Ophelia, she’s beneath the window, for her I feel so afraid / On her twenty-second birthday she already is an old maid / To her, death is quite romantic, she wears an iron vest / Her profession’s her religion, her sin is her lifelessness."

Positively 4th Street (1965)

A master of the diss track, Dylan never sounds more savage than when he's tearing down an old friend.

Choice lyric: "Yes, I wish that for just one time / You could stand inside my shoes / You’d know what a drag it is / To see you."

It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (1965)

Instead of the straightforward political-speak songs of his early career, It's Alright, Ma is a seven-minute stream-of-consciousness condemnation of society's ills.

Choice lyric: "While preachers preach of evil fates / Teachers teach that knowledge waits / Can lead to hundred-dollar plates / Goodness hides behind its gates / But even the president of the United States / Sometimes must have to stand naked."