Politics in the Lyrics of Bob Dylan-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Poltics in the Lyrics of Bob Dylan. Answer: Political ideologies and beliefs have always remained one of the biggest and most intriguing source of song writing throughout the ages. Different socio-political issues have instigated numerous song writers and lyricists to write volumes of poetry and songs that have moved generations and have spearheaded movements. The American movements against the war in Vietnam is one of the best instances of this phenomenon, that had shaken the world and is still one of the most influential periods in terms of protest music, and the two most notable song writers from that time were Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan had always incorporated themes about the society and the world as he had seen it. He is less a singer and more a poet who had fueled generations of youths to make a stand and, if necessary, defy the authority of the government across all the countries in the world (Scott). Politics has remained, though he claims that it has been achieved unknowingly and happened subconsciously, a big part of the lyrical content of Dylans lyrics. The sheer quantity of the music that Bob Dylan has written over the decades makes it a trying task to look over all the songs. Still, the rewards of doing so far outweighs the effort that has to be put in, and has a reward of its own that may prove to be essential to form a worldview that is bigger than the life of any single individual as well as give a more or less chronological idea, albeit often being heavily dependent on emotion and passion rather than facts and statistics, about the socio-political condition of the world over a period of almost half a century (Arvidsson). The lyrics of songs like Maggies Farm or Subterranean Homesick Blues have highly motivated political views and definitely points towards the social structure of the world. The startling that is to be pointed out noticed here is that this structure and condition have not changed much since the last decades and the higher segment of the society still milks the lower segments in the same way that they used to. While songs like Its Alright Ma blatantly portrays the fallacy of the society and the hypocrisy of the people, it also assures the listener that the ones who are being accused of crimes against the society must answer one day, they will have to stand in front of masses who will be asking for the answers(Hughes). The hope is personified in The Times They Are A-changin. The political range of Dylans lyrics are not contained only within themes of wars and protests, which did earn his songs the reputation to be referred to as protest songs, but crossed contemporary borders and barriers that were often frowned upon in the times when they were released (Miller). His 1969s album Nashville Skyline contains the song Lay Lady Lay, which is a pivotal argument in favor of gender politics and is a supreme call for gender equality. His gradual change over the times have been perfectly captured in the changes in the ways his songs have been sung through the ages: thirty years after Nashville Skylin e came out Time Out of Mind, where he is seen to be almost broken and brooding over his unrequited love in a dimly lit bar. Dont Think Twice, Its All Right: a song that is set to console people who are broken and battered, telling them that things will most surely settle down, no matter how bleak the sky looks. In the early 1960s, Dylan had incorporated folk tunes to talk about the contemporary issues, which gave him a large recognition (Cott) However, it was only after Joan Baez started singing his songs, did he started to gain more reputation as a prolific songwriter who used simple grammar and everyday language was his weapon to deliver even the most important and pressing issues in a hard hitting way that would rattle the people to their bones (Hughes). The sordid contemplations that Dylan has done at times over the incapability of the governmental bodies to deliver the promises that were made to the people would be sure to make even the most poignant person, who believes in the teachings and theories of Nietzsche about morbid nihilism, to feel miserable and would most certainly propel the person to t ake a stand and voice his respite against the authorities (Goss and Hoffman). However, Dylan has always maintained a stand point from where he has never bothered to give any sort of explanations to any of his songs, nor has he ever tried to defend any of his songs (Browning). He is the last person to conform to any sort of -ism and is even less interested to undergo any self-analysis or set a discourse for anyone to tiptoe around his works: he has always stayed transparent in his own ideologies and have wanted his songs to be a mere reflection of his own beliefs, without the least bit of pretention(Arvidsson). Dont Think twice, Its All Right is also a song that dabbles into the male-female dynamics and depicts of a power shift for towards the female and completely obliterates the allegations of his songs being patriarchal for his other songs have already have proven him to be more tender than most ever can dream to become (ODair). Bob Dylan is one of those songwriters who have been the least contaminated by the allegations of the fans which condemned the artist to deviate from the roots of his musical origins(Taylor and Israelson). Dylans lyrics and music have been the driving force for people across the planet who have taken a stand against the atrocities of the government. The tremulous times of the Vietnam war had given him the platform that he had needed to catapult him to fame as an important face in world politics, which had the ability to sway public opinion against the war that was ravaging a country across the oceans(Scott). Dylans songs were ranging a number of themes and not just solely focused upon politics. To Ramona is one of the best examples of the personal pain he has experienced and endured. However, most of his songs have political premise and are foregrounds for movement to gain momentum (Taylor and Israelson). His political affiliations have never been very clear but there has never been much shrouds of doubts over his beliefs and his clear stand against what is wrong and being a vehement advocate of everything that is right and morale. While there is a staunch debate among critics and listeners alike regarding whether a song can actually be political in nature or are they simple hoaxes to ensure better sales of the records and albums, there should not be any doubt about the political orientations and stance of the songs of Dylan. Over the years, throughout history itself, Dylan has remained one of the most influential songwriters of all time and the lyrical contents have remained highly significant in shaping the course of movements and countless other issues everywhere; inspiring cohorts of other artists to follow in his footsteps, most of whom, despite being mesmerizing in their own right, have fallen short to reach his level of skill and relevance. Bob Dylan is more than just a poet or a songwriter who fueled movements and gave voice to the oppressed: he is a lifestyle, an ideology and a way to view the world, which are going to live long after the artist himself is gone, and would be inspiring future generation in the same ways they have been doing so for the decades, now a bygone era. References Arvidsson, Alf. "Political Rock. Edited by Mark Pedelty and Kristine Weglarz. Farnham: Ashgate. 2013. xxv+ 223 pp. ISBN 978-1-4094-4622-4."Popular Music35.3 (2016): 436-438. ODair, Barbara.Bob Dylan and gender politics. na, 2009. Browning, Gary. "Bob Dylan: the politics of influence."Popular Music History8.2 (2013). Cott, Jonathan, ed.Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews. Simon and Schuster, 2017. Goss, Nina, and Eric Hoffman, eds.Tearing the World Apart: Bob Dylan and the Twenty-First Century. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2017. Hughes, John.Invisible now: Bob Dylan in the 1960s. Routledge, 2016. Miller, Stephen Paul. "The Moment Bob Dylan Became Nobel-Laureate-Worthy, the Sixties Began."Popular Music and Society40.2 (2017): 249-253. Scott, Carl Eric. "What Bob Dylan Means to Literature, and to Song."Modern Age(2017). Taylor, Jeff, and Chad Israelson. "Bob Dylans Roots and Traditional World."The Political World of Bob Dylan. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2015. 1-41. Taylor, Jeff, and Chad Israelson.The Political World of Bob Dylan: Freedom and Justice, Power and Sin. Springer, 2015.