Bob Dylan Defends Himself on Plagiarism Accusations

Bob Dylan has been accused of plagiarizing some of his lyrical content by names as big as Joni Mitchell in the past few years, and now the veteran singer has hit back at his detractors with great vengeance.

The "Blowin' in the Wind" hitmaker, whose birth name is Robert Allen Zimmerman, was recently the prime focus of a Rolling Stone interview, in which he defended himself and branded his critics "wussies and pussies."

Dylan has received a lot of criticism for his use of Japanese writer Junichi Saga and Civil War poet Henry Timrod's quotations in his song, and when the interviewer Mikal Gilmore asked Dylan to comment on the issue, he didn't hold back at all.

"Oh, yeah, in folk and jazz, quotation is a rich and enriching tradition. That certainly is true. It's true for everybody, but me. There are different rules for me. And as far as Henry Timrod is concerned, have you even heard of him? Who's been reading him lately? And who's pushed him to the forefront?... And if you think it's so easy to quote him and it can help your work, do it yourself and see how far you can get," he said before adding: "Wussies and pussies complain about that stuff. It's an old thing - it's part of the tradition. It goes way back."

He continued: "I'm working within my art form. It's that simple. I work within the rules and limitations of it. There are authoritarian figures that can explain that kind of art form better to you than I can. It's called songwriting. It has to do with melody and rhythm, and then after that, anything goes. You make everything yours. We all do it."

Dylan recently released his 35th studio album titled "Tempest" to celebrate his remarkable five decades in the music industry.