Bob Dylan and Social Consciousness

Bob Dylan, born in 1941, is one of the most influential musicians and songwriters in American culture. Among the musicians and singers who have influenced him are Hank Williams, Jelly Roll Morton, Muddy Waters, Leadbelly, Mance Lipscomb and Big Joe Williams. And, above all others, Woody Guthrie. Dylan's songs contain styles ranging from folk, to blues, to rock influenced by the electric guitar, and a maturity of style which results from the introspect which he retained from studying his fellow artists.

Perhaps what first made Dylan so famous was his ability to remain one step ahead of his adoring public. He spoke to his fans by adding timely political and social commentary to his lyrics. Whether listening to songs of nuclear protest, such as "Masters of War," or "Political World," which involves governmental control on society and the diminishing of nature, a listener may easily become aware of how influenced Dylan was by his social culture. As Henry Jackson, a cowboy singer and painter, has proclaimed, "He's so goddamned real it's unbelievable!" Of his own "Masters of War," Bob remarks, "I don't sing songs which hope people will die, but I couldn't help it in this one. The song is a sort of striking out, a reaction to the last straw, a feeling of what can you do?" So important in his music is the way in which Dylan has been able to spread his knowledge about political and social events occurring within the times of which each album was composed. Indeed, he sings of incredible emotion, at times even anger, yet this is an aspect of what makes his music remain real. Dylan reaches basic emotions which few political statements of extrapolations of statistics have so far been able to touch. Through his lyrics, this phenomenal artist has been able to spread social consciousness, meaning an awakening of society to essential social issues which may initially have been dormant or undetected. He has provided his fans with an alternative to receiving information of other forms, such as newspapers. Undeniably, he has provided a temporary relief from the heavy feeling of impotence that effects so many who cannot understand their own civilization, and the lack of peace which seems unavoidable. Newspapers have given facts, oftentimes censored toward what the public wants to hear. On the other hand, Dylan's songs convey feelings and beliefs about issues such as unemployment and children who have no idols, as portrayed in "Everything's Broken"; the Cuban Missile Crisis in "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"; and wrongly-accused criminal sagas, as explained in the song "Hurricane." Also, the radio, which served as an important carrier of these extremely influential poetics, could many times reach a greater mass of people than the press. Unlike newspapers, which is a solicited form of information, the radio has, and continues to, distribute information in a wide range. Songs are broadcast to whomever is listening, and not just in certain areas or ethnic boundaries. Dylan's way of relating to the public, that is through music, is a different form of education altogether. In analyzing the issues which Dylan has been singing about for so many years, any listener can become aware of how talented an artist he really is. In the following, we will look inside the mind and work of Bob Dylan, in particular through his albums entitled Free Wheelin'Bob Dylan (1962), Desire (1976), and Oh Mercy (1989), and explain how social consciousness has been spread.

(Excerpt from liner notes, Desire, released Jan 5, 1976):

These notes are being written in a bathtub in Maine under ideal conditions, in every Curio Lounge from Brooklyn to Guam, from Lowell to Durango oh sister, when I fall into your spacy arms, can not ya feel the weight of oblivion and the songs of redemption on your backside we surface alongside miles standish and take the rock. We have relations in Mozambique. I have a brother or two and a whole lot of karma to burn...Isis and the moon shine on me. When Rubin gets our of jail, we celebrate in the historical parking lot in sunburned California. . . .