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| Bob Dylan, A True Founding Father |
Among the Jefferson's, the Franklin's the Adams' and the Minute Men, Paine is the one who made the masses aware of the goings on of the King of England and his attempts to suppress their freedom.
Not caring about his safety or reputation with the world, he printed pamphlet after pamphlet (Common Sense) to alert the Colonists of the brutality of the British Empire, and the necessity of being free to live ones life to the fullest. And he did it for no reward other then to free a Nation. He held no office, made no promises, and received no monetary gain. Another reason Paine would stand out, was his way of expressing the message, he understood the "rebels", he was one of them.
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At my age I too was able to witness a similar spokesman for the masses during the decade in which America changed the most, with the exception of the Civil War. The 1960's.
Robert Allen Zimmerman, AKA Bob Dylan, was our Thomas Paine.
Arriving in a frigid New York City in 1961, hoping to meet his idol Woody Guthrie, and changing his name to honor poet Dylan Thomas, he arrived at the genesis of the most turbulent decade in one hundred years.
For me who at the time only listened to Sinatra, Motown and Jazz, he was a hard sell.
However after hearing the lyrics read on the radio without the music, I said WOW this guy has his finger on what is happening in this country right now, like none other.
So my tenure as a fan began. With the coming of, "Like a Rolling Stone", "Blowin' in the Wind",
and "The Times They Are A-Changing" the world got a look at genius.
Not only could he put poetry to music, but the subject matter, the political climate of the time
was taboo for all other artist until the sixties. He truly brought "protest" songs into America's living room.
Blowin' In The Wind; Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows too many people have died...
Yes, how many years can some people exist, before they're allowed to be free.
....addressing the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement.
Dylan said of this song; The real criminals were the ones who turned their heads when the winds of change hit them in the face.
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The Times They Are A-Changin; Come Senators, Congressman please heed the call,
Don't stand in the doorway, Don't block up the hall ...in the demonstrations of the 60's students would occupy the offices of legislators in protest.
Come mothers and fathers, throughout the land, And don't criticize what you can't understand.
This was a classic line to define the "generation gap" a commonly use phrase that became popular in the 1960's.
Your old road is rapidly agin', please get out of the new one, if you can lend your hand.
He tells the out of touch generation come with us we want you or , move aside.
I could site pages and pages of his profound words that helped America
out of a useless war (sounds familiar) and a time when African Americans,
women and minorities in general were speaking out amidst riots that were
literally burning cities to the ground.
His lyrics will tell you more then the History Books of the day because they are all slanted in one way or the other...Mr Dylan, just reported on the events, in poetry!
Dylan does not give TV interviews, if you want to get to know what he is all about, he has done several interviews with Rolling Stone Magazine, they are well worth searching for.
Dylan continues today as his 70th birthday approaches on May 24th.
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Dylan was picked as one of Time Magazine's top 100 most influential people of the 20th Century
He converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1979, but later said he follows no church, Preacher or Rabbis,
he finds religion only in music. If he were to follow a church it would be the "Church of the poisoned mind".
The first time I saw Dylan was in 1964 at the Cafe Wa, in Greenwich Village, on the bill was Dylan, Richard Pryor and Joan Rivers, the cover charge was $3 and drinks were $1.50.
A big thank you and a very Happy Birthday to you Sir!!
http://www.bobdylan.com/
by Pete Cataldo follow Pete at; www.twitter.com/petecarma
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