Thinking about Bob and old age, and rhymes and things….

By Tony Attwood

I was writing just the other day (or maybe it was a year ago, days tend to slip by as you get to olderage) about books and Untold Dylan,  and I got a note from Jeremy Desmon about a rhyming dictionary that he has constructed.

Now that took me back a bit because I used to have one of those, back in my teens and 20s when I was seriously trying to convince the rest of the universe that I was a real and proper writer of songs.

The trouble was that although the rhyming dictionary was OK I didn’t turn out to be a wonderful songwriter (although I still think some of my work is reasonable) so I didn’t get a number one hit.  Besides I have always been one to blame everyone else when things go wrong.

Anyway, I might still have it (the book, not the ability), but if so it is probably lost in the attic of my countryside home.   (Which is not to imply that I have more than one home – it is just that if one does become a professional writer by and large one can live anywhere, as long as it has the internet and a phone, and having lived much of my life in capital cities, I find I much prefer the peace of the countryside).

And then I received a note from Jeremy Desmon, himself a reader of Untold Dylan, saying that he has put a rhyming dictionary on line:

” RhymeHamster, a rhyming dictionary for people who care a lot about how things rhyme. (Jeremy is a lyricist, so as he says it’s an occupational hazard.)”

And that took me back a bit.   So let me allow Jeremy to speak for himself:

I came across your Untold Dylan piece “Returning to ‘Lay Down Your 
Weary Tune’ and wondering at its sheer beauty” and really enjoyed it. 
You seem like someone who might appreciate something I’ve been 
building: RhymeHamster, a rhyming dictionary for people who care a 
lot about how things rhyme. (I’m a lyricist, so it’s an occupational 
hazard.)

"I work in musical theatre as a bookwriter and lyricist, and I’ve 
taught a writing workshop at Princeton for twenty years. I built it 
for myself because I couldn’t find a rhyming dictionary that felt 
like an actual writer had been anywhere near it. Then I shared it 
with my students... and they liked it so much that I opened it up 
to everyone.

"Perfect rhymes are checked word by word, slant rhymes sit on their 
own dial and there are some fun features I spent far too much time 
on. (Internal Rhymes, Wildcard Rhymes and Stretch Rhymes). 

One caveat: it’s built on American pronunciation. But, either way, 
it’s free!

"I don’t have an “ask.” I just thought you might like it."

And indeed yes I have liked it.