Bob Dylan Just Won The Nobel Prize For Literature

Bob Dylan has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first musician to ever receive the honour.

The surprise announcement was made yesterday by the Swedish Academy, who declared that he had “created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” ABC reports.

They neglected to mention his 2009 Christmas album or its lead single “Must Be Santa”, but probably just because it’s the worst thing he’s ever been affiliated with.

Besides being awarded one of the highest accolades on the planet, Dylan, 75, receives a cash prize too. It amounts to approximately $AUD1.2 million.

Though there are plenty of sceptics who are critical of the Academy’s decision to recognise a singer-songwriter in the field of literature, it’s hard to argue with Dylan’s cultural footprint.

One of the last living icons of his generation - and maybe the most significant - he’s responsible for innumerable timeless tunes; songs that were used to soundtrack political movements in the 1960s and continue to be trumpeted as anthems of upheaval, sixty years later.

Let's not also forget the narratives he spun in song-form, about incarcerated boxers, bad break-ups and farms belonging to women named Maggie.

At once counter-culture and pop culture, Bob Dylan deserves pretty much any prize the Swedes want to give him. He long ago made his case for relevance.

Here’s your playlist for the rest of the day: