--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you like someone's work, the important…" description: "\"If you like someone's work, the important thing is to be exposed to everything that person has been exposed to. Anyone who wants to be a songwriter sho..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/bob-dylan-168_exposed_if-you-like-someone-s-work-the-important_3075271.jpg" --- # If you like someone's work, the important thing is to be… ![“If you like someone's work, the important thing is to be exposed to everything that person has been exposed to. Anyone who wants to be a songwriter should listen to as much folk music as they can, study the form and structure of stuff that has been around for 100 years.” quote by Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/bob-dylan-168_exposed_if-you-like-someone-s-work-the-important_3075271.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/bob-dylan-168_exposed_if-you-like-someone-s-work-the-important_3075271.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/bob-dylan-168_exposed_if-you-like-someone-s-work-the-important_3075271.jpg) > “If you like someone's work, the important thing is to be exposed to everything that person has been exposed to. Anyone who wants to be a songwriter should listen to as much folk music as they can, study the form and structure of stuff that has been around for 100 years.” [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. To truly understand an artist, immerse yourself in all the influences that shaped them, especially traditional forms. **In simple terms:** Learn from the roots of any craft. Key Takeaway Study the foundations before innovating. Themes learning influence creativity Mood inspirational educational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - songwriting workshops - music history classes - personal practice sessions Key Concepts cultural transmission musical heritage Questions to Reflect On - What balance between tradition and innovation works for you? - How can you honor influences without copying? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on past may stifle originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Folk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folk/) [Folk music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folk-music/) [Important things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important-things/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Songwriter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/songwriter/) [Songwriters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/songwriters/) [Songwriting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/songwriting/) [Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/structure/) ## Related quotes > [As an artist, I always just want to grow as a songwriter. I listen to a lot of music. I listen to music all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trip-lee/as-an-artist-i-always-just-want-to-grow-as-a-songwriter-i-listen-to-a/) [Trip Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trip-lee/) > [As a songwriter, I listen to everything to be inspired... from Rihanna to Bruno Mars to Springsteen to Johnny Cash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maren-morris/as-a-songwriter-i-listen-to-everything-to-be-inspired-from-rihanna-to/) [Maren Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maren-morris/) > [I became interested in folk music because I had to make it somehow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-became-interested-in-folk-music-because-i-had-to-make-it-somehow/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Folk music is a bunch of fat people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/folk-music-is-a-bunch-of-fat-people/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I was never a topical songwriter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-was-never-a-topical-songwriter/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [There is a black folk music audience. They're just very small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhiannon-giddens/there-is-a-black-folk-music-audience-they-re-just-very-small/) [Rhiannon Giddens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhiannon-giddens/) > [That's one of the things I like best about folk music is the beautiful melodies - and the harmonies - that exist in it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-mcguinn/that-s-one-of-the-things-i-like-best-about-folk-music-is-the/) [Roger McGuinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-mcguinn/) > [I've always dreamt of doing an entire record just on folk music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devi-sri-prasad/i-ve-always-dreamt-of-doing-an-entire-record-just-on-folk-music/) [Devi Sri Prasad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devi-sri-prasad/) > [Folks out in the country couldn't afford to pay for anybody else to make music. They had to make their own. So the peasantry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/folks-out-in-the-country-couldn-t-afford-to-pay-for-anybody-else-to/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Folk music is music that everyday people can play, and it inspired a lot of people to make their own music. That trailed into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlo-guthrie/folk-music-is-music-that-everyday-people-can-play-and-it-inspired-a/) [Arlo Guthrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlo-guthrie/) > [There's a similarity between European and North African folk musics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-plant/there-s-a-similarity-between-european-and-north-african-folk-musics/) [Robert Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-plant/) > [Traditional folk music is about survival of the fittest song just like evolution is about survival of the fittest organism and generally the more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-spiers/traditional-folk-music-is-about-survival-of-the-fittest-song-just/) John Spiers > [My father being in the movie business, I thought being an actor would be great. But when I started singing to people in coffeehouses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crosby/my-father-being-in-the-movie-business-i-thought-being-an-actor-would/) [David Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crosby/) > [I was very engaged by the folk music movement.Bob Dylan; Joan Baez; Peter, Paul and Mary. And then I sort of discovered world music,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/i-was-very-engaged-by-the-folk-music-movement-bob-dylan-joan-baez/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [The Urban Literate Southern California Sub-Group of the Early Atomic Period has not yet produced a distinct body of folk music of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hinton/the-urban-literate-southern-california-sub-group-of-the-early-atomic/) Sam Hinton ## More by Bob Dylan > [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't forget to support your public library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-forget-to-support-your-public-library/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [You don't count the dead, when god's on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-don-t-count-the-dead-when-god-s-on-your-side/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She makes love just like a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-makes-love-just-like-a-woman/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I don't really have a retirement plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-really-have-a-retirement-plan/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Just a reminder, if you tell anyone about what happened with Jonah last night, I'll destroy all of my writing and never play music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/just-a-reminder-if-you-tell-anyone-about-what-happened-with-jonah/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/little-red-wagon-little-red-bike-i-ain-t-no-monkey-but-i-know-what-i/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift - look out out kid, they keep it all hid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/twenty-years-of-schooling-and-they-put-you-on-the-day-shift-look-out/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The drunken politician leaps upon the street where mothers weep, and the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-drunken-politician-leaps-upon-the-street-where-mothers-weep-and/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/your-eyes-are-like-two-jewels-in-the-sky/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I gotta friend who spends his life, stabbing my picture with a bowie knife. Dreams of strangling me with a scarf, when my name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-gotta-friend-who-spends-his-life-stabbing-my-picture-with-a-bowie/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She speaks with a stutter and she and she walks with a hop. I don't know why I love her, but I just can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-speaks-with-a-stutter-and-she-and-she-walks-with-a-hop-i-don-t/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-put-my-faith-in-nobody-not-even-a-scientist/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) [Explore all 1,018 Bob Dylan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## More Exposed quotes > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Mortals are such fragile things. Just tender feelings walking around exposed in their delicate shells...Easy to crush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-marr/mortals-are-such-fragile-things-just-tender-feelings-walking-around/) [Melissa Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-marr/) > [We do not know which irresponsible Israeli prime minister will take office and decide to use nuclear weapons in the struggle against neighboring Arab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordechai-vanunu/we-do-not-know-which-irresponsible-israeli-prime-minister-will-take/) [Mordechai Vanunu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordechai-vanunu/) > [A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/a-painter-should-begin-every-canvas-with-a-wash-of-black-because-all/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Photojournalists know the horrors of war can only be exposed at close range. Kodak Film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/photojournalists-know-the-horrors-of-war-can-only-be-exposed-at-close/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [I was in Vietnam, and I was exposed to Agent Orange. And there's a high relationship between people that were exposed to Agent Orange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamilton-jordan/i-was-in-vietnam-and-i-was-exposed-to-agent-orange-and-there-s-a-high/) [Hamilton Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamilton-jordan/) > [The headline here is not that a woman exposed a breast. It is, rather, that a breast exposed a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-pitts/the-headline-here-is-not-that-a-woman-exposed-a-breast-it-is-rather/) [Leonard Pitts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-pitts/) > [Trayvon exposed a lot of things. I think something positive will come out of it. It's a blessing in disguise. And he will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walshy-fire/trayvon-exposed-a-lot-of-things-i-think-something-positive-will-come/) [Walshy Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walshy-fire/) > [Since the recording process is instantaneous, and the nature of the image such that it cannot survive corrective handwork, it is obvious that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-weston/since-the-recording-process-is-instantaneous-and-the-nature-of-the/) [Edward Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-weston/) > [Politicians can forgive almost anything in the way of abuse; they can forgive subversion, revolution, being contradicted, exposed as liars, even ridiculed, but they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/politicians-can-forgive-almost-anything-in-the-way-of-abuse-they-can/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [When I resigned, I put the U.S. Government on notice that I'm going to stick to policy issues, that I have no intention of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-ritter/when-i-resigned-i-put-the-u-s-government-on-notice-that-i-m-going-to/) [Scott Ritter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-ritter/) > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I was lucky that I was getting exposed to a lot of different kinds of films, and I was liking them all. So it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-soderbergh/i-was-lucky-that-i-was-getting-exposed-to-a-lot-of-different-kinds-of/) [Steven Soderbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-soderbergh/) > [Because of what I've chosen to do for my work in the world, almost every time that there's something that I'm afraid to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/india-arie-2/because-of-what-i-ve-chosen-to-do-for-my-work-in-the-world-almost/) [India.Arie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/india-arie-2/) > [My ma and pa are both very artistic, so I suppose it's in my blood. But my ma's the one who was into theater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grey-damon/my-ma-and-pa-are-both-very-artistic-so-i-suppose-it-s-in-my-blood-but/) [Grey Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grey-damon/) Browse all 973 Exposed quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you like someone's work, the important thing is to be exposed to everything that person has been exposed to. 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