Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone

While it is widely rumored that many of Bob Dylan’s songs were written while he was under the influence of various drugs, I’m not so sure that those rumors are accurate. Following a 1991 interview conducted by Paul Zollo with Bob Dylan, Zollo stated that “There’s an unmistakable elegance in Dylan’s words, an almost biblical beauty” and that “Dylan’s answers give you a lot to think about while not necessarily revealing much about the man”. (Zollo 2) The same can be said with regard to many of the lyrics of Dylan’s songs. The lyrics to “Mr. Tambourine Man”, for example, are wildly descriptive and sometimes confusing and can leave a listener (or a reader) open to many different interpretations, some more complex than others, with no real meaning ever being clearly stated.

After all, Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, was as meat-and-potatoes as it could get. It wasn’t possible to be a rebel in Hibbing because there was nothing to rebel against. No one had any strong beliefs or ideology; they were a working class people that did not really listen to music. No one liked country, R&B or rock n’ roll – they barely knew what it was (No Direction Home). Dylan, on the other hand, was interested in music, and fiddled around on an electric guitar for a bit until he discovered folk music: “The first thing that turned me on to folksinging was Odetta. I heard a record of hers in a record store…Right then and there, I traded my electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustical guitar…[Her first album] was just something vital and personal” (McCombe). Without Odetta, folk music would have never entered Dylan’s life, and when it did, he was moved by it. It caused him to imitate Odetta’s rough, natural sound and unplug his electric guitar. Folk music was like nothing he had ever heard of before. It told the story of hard-working people just trying to get by. It wasn’t flashy or famous; instead, it was stories and songs that had been passed down from generation to generation of Americans. Odetta was just the person to introduce him to such a genre: “Bobby had become an apostle of a woman named Odetta, a husky-voiced black folksinger whose blend of

In 1975, Carter sent a copy of his book to musician Bob Dylan because of his commitment to the struggle of civil rights. After Dylan read the book, he came to the prison where Rubin was staying and talked with him. When he left he knew that Carter was innocent and also wanted to preach the truth. He wrote a song called “Hurricane” and it was all about Artis and Carter’s unfair trial.

Bob Dylan was born as Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota. While growing up, Bob was influenced by Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard. He was also in a few bands while growing up. While he was in college he began performing folk and country music at local cafes under the name Bob Dillon. In 1960, he dropped out of college and moved to New York. In New York, Bob met his idol Woody Guthrie and visited him regularly and became great friends with him. In 1961, he signed his first recording contract at Columbia Records and became one of the most original influential voices in the history of American popular music. Throughout his lifetime he 's been awarded with Grammy’s, Academy and Golden Globe awards. In 2012, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Bob Dylan wrote music based on social issues, war and civil

Save Rock and Roll by Fall Out Boy is the last song on their fifth album Save Rock and Roll. Featuring Elton John, an influential person in the rock, pop rock and glam rock hemisphere, Save Rock and Roll can be considered a “rock ballad” because of the presence of a piano and violin as well as the basic rock instruments such as both the bass and rhythm guitars and drums. Played in the key of E major with a tempo of four beats per measure this song’s texture, form, and sound strongly aids in the message of saving rock and roll.

The two poems “White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey and “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes were written to express racial dilemmas that the authors went through. Thematically, they represent the American Dream. In “White Lies” we see that Trethewey went through some racial identity issues. She felt as if she had to lie to blend in with the rest of the whites, which was easy for her because she was mixed. To understand the full meaning of this poem, one assumes that Trethewey was the product of an interracial marriage. This type of thing was frowned upon during the time she grew up. In the poem “Theme for English B” Hughes seems to accept the fact that he is different. Hughes does not seem to have a problem with expressing his difference. He looks at as his individuality and strives to let everyone know that he is proud of who he is. The two poems have many similarities and differences.

Woody Guthrie was a singer/songwriter/musician who wrote nearly 3000 songs. His most famous song, “This Land is Your Land,” was written in 1940. I learned to sing it in grade school as did countless children since the 1940s. Guthrie wrote it because he was tired of the radio overplaying Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." He thought Berlin’s song was unrealistic and complacent (Woody Guthrie). One of Guthrie’s most notable traits as a songwriter was his capacity to connect his audience to their heritage and the land.

Life is full of loss and you cannot avoid experiencing it and well as sorrow. As people grow up they come to realize that the world is not as it seemed to be when they were younger. They get more independent and their perspective of life changes. They will have to realize that they are not going to live forever. In the short story The Hurt Man, written by Wendell Berry and published in 2003, we meet Mat who learns all of this.

For my product, I would like to learn the fundamentals of playing the piano, how to read music, and potentially learn a blues piece. If my skills flourish I would like to learn Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer", a classic blues piece. I am unfamiliar with reading or playing music so this is a great opportunity to learn a new skill as well as have more experience with the topic I chose. After speaking with my mentor, we decided we would dedicate several hours a week to practicing. I will continue practicing until I feel that I have reached a milestone in which I can display through a video of my progress. Although I am not yet sure how I will display my progress and with what software, I am confident that I will succeed in doing so. My mentor

Excessive hype from Dylan’s presence in politics inspired him to move his music in a different direction. In 1964 and 1965, Dylan’s musical style and appearance changed quite rapidly as he transitioned from a modern song writer of the folk scene to a rock music star. Dylan made his breakthrough to the pop music audience in the summer of 1965, when Like a Rolling Stone hit number two on the charts. Unexpectedly, Dylan became the topic of multitudes of articles, and his song lyrics became the subject of literary analyses across the

Bob Dylan uses powerful lyrics in his song The Times They Are a-Changin’ to emphasize the need to adjust to change and to try to understand that change is inevitable and timeless. This lyric poem utilizes a rhyme scheme of ABCBDEDEFG and a trochaic meter to emphasize its central meaning. Dylan uses imagery, repetition, symbolism and many other figures of speech to convey his meaning. Dylan points out that every single person needs to be informed that change is coming and that the people need to deal with it. The song has a strong meaning that people must join in this change and stop fighting it.

The songs Tangled up in Blue by Bob Dylan and The Road Goes on Forever by Robert Earl Keen both demonstrate the power of love. Love appears to be the main fundamental goal that people strive for in life. Everyone at some point in their lives has experienced love or heart break, whether he/he was loved or have loved. It depend on how an individual demine his or her situation, love is neither positive nor negative nevertheless, it usually have its ups and downs. Yet, people go throughout life searching for it, without ever giving up. For both songs Tangled up in Blue and The Road Goes on Forever, both characters experience the acrimony of love.

To understand the sixties counterculture, we must understand the important role of Bob Dylan. His lyrics fueled the rebellious youth in America. Songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times are A-Changin” made him favorable to anti-war demonstrators and supporters of the Civil Rights movement. He was commonly hailed as the spokesman for his generation. Dylan used lyrics to allow the youth to find their own form of counter-culture. The youth generation began to see the effects racism, war, etc. effect the society in America. To combat this, the youth created their own form of counter-culture to promote a peaceful change within society. Some of their actions include forming anti-war protests that opposed America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, and supporting African Americans/women get the rights they deserve through the Civil Rights Movement. Bob Dylan’s music appealed to the young generation because he openly expresses his disapproval of the establishment in order to influenced his audience to move in a direction for change. Counterculture youth rejected cultural norms of the previous generation and their values and lifestyles opposed the mainstream culture present in the 1950’s. The folk music revival of the early 1960s, as well as the counter-culture movement played an important role in advocating change. Bob Dylan wrote songs that influenced the Civil Rights Movement, New Left Movement, and Anti-War Movement.

Folk rock in the sixties inherited the tradition of country and western. In the 1960s, the main representatives of folk rock were Joan Baez, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, and so on. However, the most important folk rock singer is Bob Dylan, who was the first and the most important folk rock music creator. Known as the “protest song singer”, for the entire 1960s, Bob Dylan 's music strongly affected young people that were in the wandering and confusion. It was like a banner, a totem, and a pioneer, helped the the youth from the 1960s generation of found the sustenance of their ideals.

While a large majority of rock songs are about relationships, drugs, or present day matters, The Rolling Stones were able to create a song that will stand the test of time. In their album Beggars Banquet, The Rolling Stones released the song, “Sympathy for the Devil,” a song which encompasses how the devil has played a role in the past, present, and future. “Sympathy for the Devil” combines extemporized-sounding music and lyrics sang through the devil’s point of view to convey the devil’s deceiving essence.