How many cobbled roads must a man walk down?
The answer, my friend, is on ITV three nights a week and also available on the ITVX streaming platform.
Despite starting out in 1960, Coronation Street continues to entertain millions of fans. This week, it emerged that another cultural icon who started out in the early sixties is a fan of the long-running soap.
Who’s the cultural icon?
None other than Robert Zimmerman.
Who?
Bob Dylan.
Who?
Considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan’s songbook includes Like a Rolling Stone, Blowin’ in the Wind and The Times They Are A-Changin’, with 39 studio albums including such acclaimed works as Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks.
READ MORE: 10 Teenage Fanclub songs that tell the story of one of Scotland's best bands
Over the course of a 60-year career, the 81-year-old has sold more than 125 million records, received ten Grammy awards and been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, among numerous other accolades.
It turns out that the man who once sang ‘the ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face/where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place’ is now deeply invested in the trials and tribulations of Roy Cropper.
Bob Dylan watches Corrie?
He told the Wall Street Journal: “I recently binged Coronation Street, Father Brown and some early Twilight Zones. I know they’re old-fashioned, but they make me feel at home.”
READ MORE: 10 Paul Weller songs that tell the British music legend's story
Did he reveal anything else about his taste in TV shows?
The man who was awarded a special citation by the Pulitzer Prize Board in 2008 for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power”, said: “I never watch anything foul-smelling or evil. Nothing disgusting, nothing dog ass.”
What’s his take on River City?
He’s remained tight-lipped on events in Shieldinch, but in the wake of his Corrie revelation every headline writer in Scotland now has ‘Shellsuit Bob Dylan’ in their back pocket
Will he be knock, knock, knockin’ on Kevin’s door?
Dylan could soon be paying the Weatherfield mechanic a visit, with the show’s producer Iain MacLeod telling the Daily Telegraph: “To hear that Bob Dylan is a Coronation Street viewer blows my mind. We would absolutely love the idea of him turning up in the Rovers Return one night.
“Both he and Coronation Street established their reputations in the 1960s, both have championed working class voices and causes, both tell stories with a particular sensibility and sense of humour.”
— Toby Earle 🇺🇦 (@TobyonTV) December 21, 2022
READ MORE: 10 Sam Cooke songs that tell the story of a soul music legend
What part could he play?
MacLeod suggested: “Maybe we could write in an open mic night and a mysterious singer could roll in out of the Manchester rain and do a turn.”
Maybe he could do a shift at the Rovers Return.
Gotta serve somebody.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here