He’d rather write songs than books

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan said he didn’t find the process of writing his new memoirs all “that splendid,” according to an article in the latest issue of Newsweek.

“I’m used to writing songs,” said the 63-year-old creator of such ‘60s hits as “Like a Rolling Stone.” “And songs -- I can fill ‘em up with symbolism and metaphors. When you write a book ... you gotta tell the truth, and it can’t be misinterpreted.”

Dylan said he is proud of his book, “Chronicles, Vol. 1,” published by Simon & Schuster and excerpted in the magazine along with a rare interview. The book goes on sale next week. In it, he describes how it felt to be called the conscience of the ‘60s generation.

“That was funny. All I’d ever done was sing songs that were dead straight and expressed powerful new realities. I had very little in common with and knew even less about a generation that I was supposed to be the voice of.”