Bob Dylan Political Voice Of A Generation Analysis

1340 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How did bob dylan participate in the counterculture movement

Dylan hardly ever missed an opportunity to express his contempt for being labelled the ‘political voice of a generation’. However this did not prevent him from becoming one of the most influential figures in 1960’s counterculture.
1960’s America was characterised by political activism. Issues such as race, class and gender each came to the forefront of the public’s attention at various points throughout the decade. Acts of protest came to symbolise the generation’s desire for change, and no writer seemed to encompass the ideals of the counterculture movement better than young musician Bob Dylan.
This leads to my question which is “To what extent was Bob Dylan the ‘political voice of a generation’?” Closely evaluating his role as a social …show more content…

In contrast, fellow Freewheelin track ‘Masters of War’ is much more incriminating towards the government and their corrupt policies. It is known as one of Dylan’s ‘finger-pointing songs’ placing the blame on war-makers and the damage that they have caused. The lyrics express Dylan’s disgust that those in command are never forced to directly engage in the conflicts that they create, rather they sit back and profit from fear and violence. (marqusee). (Listen to first and second …show more content…

It’s a young man’s rage – outrage really”. Dylan’s tone throughout the song is contemptuous, there are no choruses and the guitar playing is unyielding. The entire song is an unrelenting attack upon the politicians who have used suffering and death to benefit the elite. By the end of the song Dylan directly interrogates the politicians: (Listen to verse 7)
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your

Show More
Related

  • Ambiguity in Folk Music and Culture: Bob Dylan & Kara Walker

    1760 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...de ourselves into the altered consciousness of reality that Dylan found in songs, what “Greil Marcus, the music historian, would some thirty years later call…‘the invisible republic’” (Dylan 34), we must close our eyes to the truths that cause trauma and open them to this invisibility, and we can find in our comfort a new folk legend to be heard.

    Read More

  • Students and the Civil Rights Movement During the 1960's

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 1960's was a decade of tremendous social and political upheaval. In the United States, many movements occurred by groups of people seeking to make positive changes in society.

    Read More

  • Bob Dylan Synthesis

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    Michael Gray’s analysis of Dylan’s lyrics being a contrast between hackneyed expressions and “beautifully done” are exemplified in the song “Just Like a Woman.” Dylan’s lyrics “she aches just like a woman but she breaks just like a little girl” is given the harsh description of “maudlin platitude” and deemed to be a “non-statement.” If Dylan’s lyrics cannot uphold against meaningful music of the same category, how can they be expected to stand against literature written for a different field. John Lennon had his own critiques of Dylan’s works, calling out how the abstract nature of his lyrics, having loose definition, never achieved an actual point. Lennon’s definition of “poetry” referred to “stick[ing] a few images together” and “thread[ing] them” in order to create something meaningful. It once again boils down to the fact that Dylan’s music that was written and intended to be received as a live performance. The acknowledgement that “…you have to hear Dylan doing it” is a recognition of his composition’s failure to come across as a normal literary work. It’s all part of a “good game.” This in itself should disqualify Dylan as a possible candidate for the Nobel Prize.

    Read More

  • The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson

    1617 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson, takes the reader on a journey through one of the most turbulent decades in American life. Beginning with the crew-cut conformity of 1950s Cold War culture and ending with the transition into the uneasy '70s, Anderson notes the rise of an idealistic generation of baby boomers, widespread social activism, and revolutionary counterculture. Anderson explores the rapidly shifting mood of the country with the optimism during the Kennedy years, the liberal advances of Johnson's "Great Society," and the growing conflict over Vietnam that nearly tore America apart. The book also navigates through different themes regarding the decade's different currents of social change; including the anti-war movement, the civil rights struggle, and the liberation movements. From the lunch counter sit-in of Greensboro, N.C. in 1960 and the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Black Power movement at the decade's end, Anderson illustrates the brutality involved in the reaction against civil rights, the radicalization of some of the movement's youth, and the eventual triumphs that would change America forever. He also discusses women's liberation and the feminist movement, as well as the students' rights, gay rights, and environmental movements.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Protest Music during the 1960’s And Beyond

    3810 Words  | 8 Pages

    The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular protest music, which has reached out to the youthful generations everywhere demanding for a revolutionary change. The protest music took the children of the 1960’s to a completely new different level. Musicians of this generation were not going to sit and do nothing while the government lied to the people about what was going on in Vietnam. Instead, they took their guitar-strumming troubadours from the coffee houses, plugged them in, and sent the music and the message into the college dorm rooms and the homes of the youth of America. However, as decades went by, protest music does not have much of an impact as it use to because of the way things have changed over the years. Through the analysis of the music during the 1960’s, there shall be an understanding on how the different genres of protest music has affected social protesters based on how musicians have become the collective conscience of that generation through their lyrics and music and the main factors that contributed to the lack of popula...

    Read More

  • Bob Dylan and Popular Music

    3157 Words  | 7 Pages

    In an interview with time magazine, Dylan said “I haven’t got anything to say about the things I write, I just write em’, I don’t have anything to say about them, I don’t write them for any reason, theres no great “message”, if you wanna tell other people that then go ahead and tell...

    Read More

  • Rock n Roll & 20th Century Culture

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    middle of paper ... ...  to American History. New      York: Houghton Mifflin Co. Goodman, Dean. “Dylan fans get tangled up in academic views,” Reuters (1998):      February, p. PG.

    Read More

  • Timothy Leary

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    Works Cited Brash, Sarah. Turbulent Years The 60s. Alexandra: Time-Life Books Inc., 1998. Marwick, Arthur. The Sixties. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Sterns, Jane And Michael. Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.

    Read More

  • The ‘60s: Culture and Music

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ‘60s were the age of youth, as millions of children’s from post World War II became teenagers and rebelled against the conservative fifties. Denying civil rights to African-Americans and liberation to teenagers in previous decades and Vietnam War, created a vortexes which lead to massive rebellion against the status qua. Music of the 1960s was characteristic of the revolution that was going on during the decade. It was a time of rebellion and counter-culture in which the teenagers and college students were critical of government, business, religious institution and other various aspects of life. Era marked by civil rights movement, Vietnam War, environment of drug abuse and sexual freedom formed new music like: folk rock, soul and psychedelic rock. These genres starkly contrast the teen idol music of ‘50s pop mainstream. Writes John Covach; “World was exploding, and rock musicians were listening more closely than ever.”(Covach, 152) Such stark contrast in pop music directly relay to changing social culture in America, which further echo’s the relationship between music and culture.

    Read More

  • Culture and Social Change of the 1960s

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    Defined by a popular culture that manages to thrive even in today’s society, the 1960s is a decade that refuses to die. Bell-bottoms, free love, incense, and psychedelic rock is a style that, although at the time was labeled as corrupt, anarchistic, and radi...

    Read More

  • Bob Dylan

    454 Words  | 1 Pages

    As a child Dylan was comfortable being the center of attention, often writing creative poetry for his mother and on occasion singing. Dylan had no formal music lessons, but none the less he began to compose. Later at age 14, he took up the guitar and shortly after formed a band, one of many he played the guitar in. Always plunging ahead, performing to his up most potentional, Dylan absorbed his surroundings as a source of inspiration. Even during his early efforts Dylan responded very positivly to mainstream musicians, such as country star Hank Williams. Yet, he responded especially well to early rock stars such as Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. In the summer of 1959, after graduation Dylan began to work at a cafe, where he began to pay increasing attention to folksingers such as Judy Collins and Jesse Fuller. Finding an instant connection with their songs, songs relevant to social issues. Dylan was drawn into both the musical style and the social message of these indivisuals.

    Read More

  • The Similarities Between The 1960s And 1970's

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    The music in the 1960s reflected what was going on in the real world. Things such as President Kennedy's assassination, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War had a big impact on music and what was being sung about during this time. Bob Dylan is commonly known for the songs he wrote that protested the war, like “Masters of War”, “With God on our Side”, and “Blowin’ in the

    Read More

  • Lunatics Taking Over the Asylum: Cultural Chaos in 1960s America

    7167 Words  | 15 Pages

    The 1960s formed one of the most culturally complex periods in America’s history, and the analysis of this era is just as problematic. During this time, American society experienced an outpouring of filmic, literary and musical texts that challenged traditional institutions such as the Christian church, the government and the family unit. It would be naïve to argue that this period witnessed the first or the last instance of subversive propaganda targeted at young people, for the many dissenting voices herein did not emerge by random chance. The formulation of a more politically aware youth culture in America and, to a lesser but still important extent, Great Britain, was a gradual process that had been taking hold for considerable time, not one that exploded into being when Bob Dylan or John Lennon began writing protest songs.

    Read More

  • Bob Dylan Essay

    1251 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bob Dylan is one of the most influential artists, especially in the Vietnam era where everything seemed to be falling apart. He wrote so many different rebel ballads that I most definitely think impacted the turnout of the 60s and 70s. Many of his songs are still popular today and so many different generations know of him and his work. Bob Dylan influenced many artists and is still is inspiring people and will continue to for many years to come.

    Read More

  • Bob Dylan's Influence during the Civil Rights Movements

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the Civil Rights Movement, Bob Dylan used his talent of music as his tool to help the movement sweep through the nation. Dylan had very big ambitions for not only his life alone, but for the world. Dylan had a massive influence on people’s minds, hearts, and souls. Dylan had a message to share. He was looking for a change, and it would come along if he had anything to do with it.

    Read More

More about Bob Dylan Political Voice Of A Generation Analysis

Open Document