In 1965, Bob Dylan released an album to the public titled Bringing it all Back Home and within, it contained one of his more popular songs entitled “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (USF P:7). In the Seagull Reader, it states the dedication ‘for Bob Dylan’ that Joyce Carol Oates placed before the short story Where are you Going, Where have you Been? and many have wondered why (Oates 337). This short story is based upon a realistic situation in Tucson, Arizona about a serial killer who seduced and murdered teenaged girls, much like Arnold Friend was in the process of doing so with Connie, our main character (336). In an interview, Oates stated when asked about
In analyzing any of Bob Dylan's albums and lyrics, one might receive very powerful, timely, political and social messages from the artist. Perhaps it is the way in which he influences or responds to his fans which allows him to always seem a step ahead of the public. Take, for instance, his addition of electric instruments to his music in 1964 (Bob Dylan: Desire - Ink Blot Magazine). Dylan's use of these instruments, which are indicative of the growing information environment of the time, outraged folk fans. Nevertheless, "Dylan had merely created the most influential folk-rock ever recorded" (Bob Dylan: Desire). In essence, he moved forward from the mentality, in which a large part of the public during the 1960's still remained, in order to be better able to speak to his fans. He simply tried a new invention for the purpose of making his music sound better and holding on to his listeners. At the same time, though, when bands such as the Beatles had followed Bob's lead by creating blues and "psychadelic-influenced" music, Dylan retreated to his country forms (Bob Dylan: Desire). In other words, he spoke to the modern world, by progressing with the new, electric instruments, while still reaching his older, perhaps more traditional fans, with his alternated use of country forms. He composes music about betrayal, paranoia, fear and desire, and influentially ties in larger issues of the time, such as racial consciousness. Dylan's album entitled Desire is indicative of the artist's sense of and connection to the world around him.
“The song has to be of a certain quality for me to sing…One aspect it would have to have is that it didn’t repeat itself” (Bob Dylan). Transforming into new people throughout his life, Bob Dylan reverted to the Bible and other religious findings in his songs. Dylan is able to reveal a fulfillment from spirituality as he perceives his music as a sacred landscape. Bob Dylan brings up a theme of religion, referencing the book of Isaiah in his 1967 song “All Along the Watchtower” as he writes a story about two people at the watchtower, where the significance of life is found. Dylan’s spiritual lyrics conceived his work as a an artist through imagination and religion that creates a hallowed dwelling for him to aqurie attainment.
The band had a special meeting planned after we played the music for our church’s Thanksgiving Supper. We showed up to the church on a cold Saturday morning, making our way to the auditorium. We began to discuss the plans, ideas, or even the thoughts that we had for what we should do next. Dan, the first to talk whatever the occasion, said, “I think we should work on writing our own songs.” That idea was quickly reviewed and considered to be an option. I thought a little bit harder about what to do and suddenly it came to me. “We should have a Christmas concert. We can all pick out our favorite Christmas songs and perform them.” Now this was a first class idea.
One can argue that the emotional impact of the musical delivery may have much more impact on an audience than the original message Springsteen hoped to portray through his
Hughes, Langston. “A New Song” Literature: Craft and Voice. Nicolas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009.53.Print
... I Wrote You a Song’: The Polictical Side of Bob Dylan.” Popular Music and Society 5
Music is a very powerful way for people to express the central concerns of their context. Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind, Maggie’s Farm and With God on Our Side were all very prominent protest songs. Dylan used his poetic lyrics to express his ideas and concerns.
Writing down on paper has been an emotional coping mechanism for humans throughout history. For instance, pastoral poems can show the writer’s use of a shepherd to express their beliefs on love or other thoughts. Similarly, songs can express emotions toward a subject in a lyrical approach. In Christopher Marlowe’s pastoral poem “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and Tim Rice’s song “A Whole New World,” although distinct platforms, they both utilize rhyme, repetition, and imagery.
There is an undeniable intertextuality between Bob Dylan’s compositions and Edgar Allan Poe’s Literature. Christopher Rollason, author of Tell-Tale Signs - Edgar Allan Poe and Bob Dylan has written an article on this matter of intertextuality between the latter artists. This paper will endeavor on Rollason’s credentials, the disciplines used, the techniques used by Rollason to persuade the audience of this intertextuality, beginning with a brief summary of the article.
One of his biggest hits that really kick started his career, “Blowin’ in the Wind”, was also one of his most prevalent protest songs. In this song, Dylan says:
The final event I attended was the All-East Men’s Choir concert, held Saturday, November 19th, 2016 in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt theatre in the Clayton Center at Maryville College. This was an all-male choir that participated in the All-East choral competition in order to be scored on how well they performed their pieces. The choral music professor Stan McGill conducted this performance, with Webb’s School of Knoxville’s Jean Helbig accompanying. The choir performed six songs during their concert, but in this essay I will be discussing three: “Freedom Come”, “Tell My Father”, and “Pirate Song”.
Bob Dylan’s use of effective tone, symbolism, allusion, similes, and enjambments in his song “Every Grain of Sand” is reason enough for it to be considered poetic. Although it is rhythmic, the piece flows for the many other reasons we’ve explored. It has deep and hidden meanings that are left to the audience’s interpretation, and it uses expressive language to tell its story. Songs, therefore, can be poetic if they include all the right elements.
In the book “To Everything There is a Season”: Pete Seeger and the Power of Song,
Shelton, Robert. (2003). No direction home: The life and music of Bob Dylan, New York: