Last year Bob Dylan was bestowed the prestigious honor of being awarded the Nobel Prize In Literature. The renowned singer-songwriter declined to attend the annual ceremony held in Stockholm, Sweden, instead sending a speech that was read at the subsequent Nobel Banquet by the United States Ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji. Yesterday, the 76-year-old Dylan made an audio recording while he read the lecture, which was officially submitted to the Nobel Prize committee.

“If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I’d have about the same odds as standing on the moon,” Dylan says near the start of his 27-minute lecture. “In fact, during the year I was born and for a few years after, there wasn’t anyone in the world who was considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.”

By submitting the lecture ahead of an April 1 deadline, Dylan secured receipt of the roughly $900,000 prize money awarded to Nobel Laureates. Listen to the lecture below: