flannery

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==**DJ: Hey, this is DJ Klepto at radio KLIX—where we just can’t stop spinnin’ those big black stacks o’ wax— on the first of June, 1963, in an exclusive interview with the one and only Bobby Dylan. Bobby has just released his new album “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” full of hep folk-protest songs. **==

==**DJ: Keep it cool, Bobby. Now, you came onto the scene in New York in 1961, a Woody Guthrie fan and country hick, to perform and make your way around the clubs. What inspired you to make this move? **== ==BD: I always said that being born in Minnesota was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made… as a child growing up with absolutely no accessible culture I listened to blues stations in Shreveport (Louisiana). People like Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy—they were my first influences. When I later served a short stint at the U. of Minnesota, I heard Woody Guthrie for the first time. His political lyrics and lonely sound appealed to me, and he’s the real reason I moved to NYC. To meet him. ==

==**DJ: Oh, good. And around this time was when you changed your name? Robert Zimmerman originally, right? **==

==**DJ: Well, I’ve always felt like a Klepto. Anyway, cutting to the chase. In New York last year you signed on with Columbia Records and released your first self-titled album, later on making your first trip to the UK. **== ==BD: I learned a lot in the UK… performed at a lotta folk clubs… I got a lot of chances to just wander around and explore. ==

==**DJ: And then, just last month, you released your most recent record. For those of you just tuning in, that is “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”. People have said that this album is entirely focused on the anti-war effort- that it’s full of protest songs. What do you say, Bobby? **== ==BD: …”The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” expresses the opinions I have on war, specifically the Vietnam War. If you couldn’t tell by the songs, I’m against it… caring for America, not Vietnam should be our government’s main deal—not blasting other countries to bits with nuclear weapons, not killing people who are just like us. I want a world where freedom and equality are a reality, a pacifist world… it really gets me fired up, talking about it. The U.S.’ got enough problems without Vietnam. If the government spent as much time and money on civil rights as they did on Vietnam, my dream would come true in a second. ==

==**DJ: So you agree with those who say that this new album is a shift from your previous work? That it’s a more political look at music? **== ==BD: I do… my albums reflect the things that’re important to me, and right now my priority is to get the word out. “War is not healthy for children and other living things,” that’s what I believe. Lotta the songs on the album deal with that: “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” “Talkin’ World War III Blues,” “Masters of War”… I respect others who’ve followed this path too, people like Grace Slick, Joe McDonald, even Chicago are all spreading the message. Which isn’t to say I don’t get any resistance. That’s why I walked off the Ed Sullivan show last month; I don’t do censoring. ==

==**DJ: Masters of War has been targeted in particular as a direct attack against the government. **== ==BD: It’s not really against the government. It’s more against Eisenhower’s dream of a military-industrial complex… I think it’s one of the clearest songs on the album: “the big guns, the death planes, the bombs, the walls”—and that’s how I see that view of America, as a beat-up old man that looms over my world. ==

==**DJ: Making this album, how did you hope people would react? **== ==BD: I want to inspire emotion in my songs, make people see the war how it really is. Make them feel fear and anger. Of course, everybody wants their work to affect people. ==

BD: Yeah.
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Bob Dylan’s music was and is timeless, spanning rock, folk/protest, gospel, blues, and numerous other genres. Much of his work was used in various movements- the anti-war movement and the civil rights movement, for example. He himself was a proponent of the counter-culture movement. It makes sense, then, that his songs are topical along with being well-written- “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” was often said to be about the Cuban Missile Crisis, “The Times They Are A-Changin’” discusses JFK’s assassination, “Oxford Town” reflects on James Meredith’s death, and so on. Dylan believed in the issues he sung about- that things like racial inequality and the Vietnam War should be ended, and that the government was deeply flawed. His ideal world (as portrayed in his songs) was one in which every person, regardless of sex or color or nationality, had equal rights and freedoms.

Bob Dylan was one of the most influential artists of the 1960s, and he continues to tour and record albums today.

Works Cited: <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Anderson, J. W. "Vietnam Era Anti-War Music." //JW's Rock Garden//. Bravenet, May 2006. Web. 20 Mar. 2010. <http://www.jwsrockgarden.com/jw02vvaw.htm> "Bob Dylan." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan> "Bob Dylan: Inducted in 1988 | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum." //The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum | RockHall.com//. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. <http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/bob-dylan> Deeds, Ralph. "Bob Dylan's War Songs." //HubPages//. Hubpages Inc. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. <http://hubpages.com/hub/Bob_Dylan___With_God_on_Our_Side> Dylan, Bob. //Bob Dylan Chronicles: Volume One//. London: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print. Dylan, Bob. //Home Page | Bob Dylan//. Sony Music Entertainment. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. <http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/buckets-rain> "List of Songs about the Vietnam War." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 20 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_the_Vietnam_War> Rae, Jake. "Bob Dylan." //Oracle ThinkQuest Library//. 1997. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. <http://library.thinkquest.org/11847/gather/3b.html> Spitz, Bob. //Dylan: a Biography//. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989. Print.