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A message from Patti Smith...
In September while attending the opening of my photographic exhibition at the Stockholm House of Culture, I was approached by a member of the Nobel Committee to sing at the ceremony.
At that time the laureates were not announced and I had planned to perform one of my own songs with the orchestra. But after Bob Dylan was announced as the winner and he accepted, it seemed appropriate to set my own song aside and choose one of his.
I chose A Hard Rain because it is one of his most beautiful songs. It combines his Rimbaudian mastery of language with a deep understanding of the causes of suffering and ultimately human resilience.
I have been following him since I was a teenager, half a century to be exact. His influence has been broad and I owe him a great debt for that.
I had not anticipated singing a Bob Dylan song on December 10, but I am very proud to be doing so and will approach the task with a sense of gratitude for having him as our distant, but present, cultural shepherd.

• • Patti