Bob Dylan in 1960's America

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Bob Dylan in 1960’s America The 1960s in America brought about great change not just to the country and its people but to music as well. The decade brought out some of the world’s most famous and greatest artists ever known to history. A prime example is Bob Dylan. Before Dylan made his appearance in the music scene, people hardly wrote protest songs or wrote songs the way that he did. His creative process included using the political turmoil and current events around him to express his love or hatred towards these events, in a poetic manner. Dylan’s predecessors would write music with no “real” meaning. Their lyrics were unable to evoke emotions and thus to call their listeners to action. Dylan’s music, on the other hand, put more meaning to typical lyrics. Dylan wrote songs that were deep, sad, depressing, happy, and cheery. His songs moved people and were able to evoke a range of emotions from the mood chart. His song topics varied and included “...art and politics, simplicity and difficulty, compromise and genius, love and theft,” (Wilentz, 659) they were able to spring people into action and were able to. Dylan spiced up his lyrics by adding emotion to them, giving them a sense of realism that listeners could relate more to. Dylan’s songs show the injustice but they also show what was wrong with American politics at the time. The Times They Are A-Changin’ Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don’t stand in the doorway Don’t block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There’s a battle outside is ragin’ It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin’ (Dylan, 1964) This is a protest song that is calling on the United States politicians to not leave the American public out of their decision making process. This song, written in 1964, was when the US decided to join the Vietnam
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