User:Jgreenbaum44/Chronicles: Volume One

Robert Allen Zimmerman, better known as, Bob Dylan is widely considered to be the voice of his generation, Dylan’s lyrics transcend time, and do an exceptional job of describing the feeling of what it meant being a young adult in the sixties, seventies and eighties. Bob Dylan’s biography, Chronicles: Volume One, highlights why Dylan’s storytelling has left a lasting impact on millions of people.

Bob Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota to a Jewish family. In his book, he mentioned that he was raised to not see colour. His parents made sure he grew up with respect for everyone around him no matter what. He even mentioned that his childhood idol was little Richard, with his year book quote stating, “Robert Zimmerman to join Little Richard in concert.”

In arguably his most popular album, The Times They Are A-Changin’, Dylan released an extremely controversial song, “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”. The song is about a white man named William Zantzinger, who murdered a 51 year old African woman, Hattie Carol, after she had not served him his drink fast enough at a gala in Maryland. The incident took place just months before the song was released. Although Zantzinger abused numerous African American staff members that night, causing numerous injuries and killing Hattie Carol, he was charged with murder but was given a lesser punishment by an all white jury. This song was released right in the middle of the ongoing civil rights movement in the United States.

Seeing a famous, white singer, standing in solidarity with the Black community and telling their stories on stage was extremely important to the Black community. Although this is considered to be his best civil rights songs, Dylan wrote countless other songs about Civil rights and Black oppression in the United States throughout the sixties and seventies. When civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated in June 1963, Dylan responded with his song, “Only a Pawn in Their Game.” Two months later, he sang it at the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Arguably his most popular song, Blowin’ in the wind, has reference to Black rights and oppression. The song states, “How many years can some people exist before they're allowed to be free? How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn't see?” He was and still is one of the biggest allies to the fight for Black lives in world history.

In the later stages of his book, Dylan opens up about what it was like to be the voice of a generation. He stated that in 1968, “America was wrapped in a blanket of rage.”  This is in reference to the ongoing Vietnam war, and the tension between young Americans and their government. Although all of this was going on at the time, Dylan had just been in a serious motorcycle accident and had also started a family with his wife, Sara. Although he fantasized sometimes about living a regular nine to five job, stepping out of the spotlight and living a quiet rural life, Dylan understood that during this time of riots, tension, rebellion and war, his songs of peace, love, political stances and power to the people gave millions of young Americans hope for a better time.

Bob Dylan changed his music style and sound numerous times, faced immense backlash for these changes, and yet still put out music that resonated with millions. In 1962, Dylan was a storytelling folk artist. A multitude of these songs were labeled “protest songs.” Dylan was one of the first musicians to use lyrics to inform people about what was going on in the world. The interesting part of Dylan’s music is that he, along with everyone else, understood that his voice was not nearly as talented as others at the time. It was untrained and grainy. This also goes to show how important his lyrics were to his generation. In 1964, Dylan released his album, Another Side of Bob Dylan. Moving away from slow, protest folk, this album showed a much lighter side of Dylan. It was filled with upbeat love ballads and was a foreshadow of the soon to be rock n’ roll path for Dylan. This album was met with mixed emotions from fans, as the folk legend seemingly wasn’t folk anymore. Still, some of Dylan’s most famous songs to this day are from that very album.

After the release of “Another Side of Bob Dylan,” Dylan’s onstage look also changed. During his folk era, Dylan could be seen wearing blue jeans and a button down shirt for every concert. He was the stereotypical working American and people loved it. After the album, he moved to a more outlandish style, dawning sunglasses, vibrant shirts, black leather boots and numerous other niche pieces. This leads to 1965, when Dylan shocked the world, put away his acoustic guitar, and went electric. His popular song, Subterranean Homesick Blues, was a fast paced almost hip-hop tune. He performed this song and three others as he Headlined the Newport Folk Festival. Although he was met with cheers, it was evident that folk fans were not too pleased when Dylan walked out on stage with an electric guitar. After the short set, Dylan was met with boos from his fans. Although there was some criticism, Dylan still headlined Woodstock the following year, and remained the ever so popular cultural icon that he never tried to be.

This was also the dawn of a new era. A new genre. The birth of Folk Rock. Bands like Simon & Garfunkel, Neil young and CSNY, and more recently the Lumineers and Mumford and sons, have all been quoted saying that they had been greatly impacted by Dylan’s switch to electric, while still maintaining the integrity of folk and the lyrics of change.

The interesting thing about Bob Dylan’s music is that even if he never explicitly stated specific messages into his songs, people thought that it was all an expression of how they were feeling and what they were thinking. Before Dylan, folk music was filled with men in sweaters who dreamed about fishing or becoming an American soldier. Dylan changed what it meant to write music, and what was considered “ok” to sing about.

Bob Dylan was the first musician to ever win the Nobel prize in literature. According to the Nobel prize committee, Dylan was chosen, “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” He has put out new music in every decade since the 1960s. This dense discography, along with all of the protest music is the reason why Dylan and Dylan alone may be the only musician to ever win this prestigious award.

His influence helped to create some of the biggest artists in the world today. Statistically, he is one of the most covered artists of all time. All Along the Watch Tower (Jimi Hendrix), Make You Feel My Love (Adele) , Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Guns n’ Roses), and It Ain’t Me Babe (Johnny Cash), are just some of many. Additionally, his lyrics inspired a generation of youth to not stand by and watch their country burn. “The Times They Are A Changin” was a testament to the changing mindset in America. The fight for Black rights along with the war in Vietnam catapulted Dylan’s songs into the hearts of millions. Although controversy followed him around, Dylan stayed persistent and is now seen as one of the most significant figures in music history.