historicizing bob dylan

This week's assignment (b) is to choose a popular music "artifact" and discuss its historical significance. I decided to look at a Bob Dylan song, one because I love Bob Dylan, and two because his lyrics encourage listeners to think about historical context, to listen critically, and to consider larger thematic messages that transcend the time in which the song was written to speak to us here and now.

I picked "The Times They Are A-Changin'"--it has an obvious "social issues" message and the lyrics are actually very applicable to 2008, even though the song was released in 1963. Here is a live performance of the song (from 1976):



And here are the lyrics:

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

This assignment reminds me a lot of something I did in high school in my English/History block class during my junior year. Every Friday was "Enrichment Friday" and our teacher (my favorite teacher still to this day) had us look at music and movies as historical artifacts. He was the one who exposed me to Bob Dylan, to the Clash, Rage Against the Machine...all the bands and musicians who commented on the issues of their time. To this day I remember those lessons and those songs, which is a testimony to the powerful affect of bringing popular media into the classroom, and of teaching students to be critical learners not just of standard texts, but of the world.

"The Times They Are A-Changin'" was released in 1963, right in the heart of the Vietnam war and the Civil Rights movement. Arguably one of his most political songs (and albums), "The Times" reflects the issues of the day. But Dlyan wasn't always so comfortable with the label of "protestor," and not long after this album was released he began to distance himself from this out-spoken movement.

Dylan fans are across the board when it comes to this song--some love it, many others say it is one of his weakest, a sad response to his burgeoning popularity and the pressure to respond to the social issues of the time. According to one Dylan blogger:

"The Times They Are a-Changin'" is anything but a subtle song, but there is a certain art in that lack of subtlety; after all, Dylan has written songs without subtlety before, and none of those have the staying power of "The Times". But what that song has that the others don't is the scope and emotion-tweaking wordplay that appeals to all of us. "The Times", in its own finger-wagging way, aims to compress the feelings of a burgeoning youth disillusioned with the world they were about to inherit into three and a half minutes, and to many people it succeeded in spades. Whether or not you feel the same, at least you must admit that "The Times" provokes you, asks you to agree or disagree, and sparks debate over its merits that are ongoing to this day. That might not make a good song, but it certainly makes for one worthy of attention, and even of fame.

So no matter what your personal response to the song, you can't deny the power of the lyrics, or at least their relevance to Dylan's times. He speaks of the youth movement, the power of the populace, and the inevitablility of change. "You better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone"--hop on board this train or you'll be left behind.

Dylan distances himself and his fans from the "writers and critics," the "senators and congressmen," the "mothers and fathers." He emphasizes the great divide between generations, telling these mothers and fathers not to critize "what you can't understand / your sons and daughters / are beyond your command."

What strikes me most about this song it its complete ability to transfer to the issues of today. In fact, when I did a google search for the song, most sites that popped up were about the 2008 election. The times are changing. I feel, and certainly newspapers and columnists agree, that we are at the crux of a new age. Dylan's lyrics take on double meaning when we view them in light of our own contemporary issues of economic crisis, of electing the first African-American president, of confronting class issues, of recognizing and figuring out how to deal with our country's wounded status as a world leader. As it was over 40 years ago, the order is "rapidly fadin'."

When teaching this song in an English or English/History block classroom, I would ask students to study the text as critical readers, from various theoretical lenses, including Marxist, feminist critical theories. These perspectives would help them to understand and really get into the issues that Dylan was writing about, to put themselves in that time and place. Then I would have them brainstorm how these lyrics and ideas apply to today. Are these ideas universal, always present throughout the ages? Or have we cycled again to a time of significant change? And how do popular songs of today reflect similar themes?