Bob Dylan's lyrics have had a long reach beyond popular music and now it seems they've landed in various medical journals.

A group of doctors from Sweden's Karolinska Institute have long been sneaking references to the rock legend into their published works and it seems they aren't the only ones.


The popularity of Dylan's words in medical journals was discovered by a Swedish librarian named Carl Gornitzki who had long heard rumors about the Karolinska doctors' use of Dylan lyrics.

"I thought, 'These Swedish guys, they can't be unique,'" recalled the librarian, who is also Swedish. "It was just a curiosity."

After extensive research, Gornitzki found over two-hundred references to Dylan lyrics which he claims are "unequivocally" a nod to the singer.

Popular choices included "The Times They Are A Changin," which was used 135 times and "Blowin in the Wind" which appeared in 36 medical journals.