CIVIL RIGHTS ARE “BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND:” BOB DYLAN’S SONGS HIGHLIGHT WHY BLACK LIVES MATTER

Bob Dylan recently accepted the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize of Literature in honor of his inspirational protest songs that have cultivated American culture. Dylan, though a white male, has made noteworthy political statements for civil rights dating back to the early 1960s. Fifty years ago, music was not expected to lace deep meaning and societal commentary. When artists such as Dylan began using music as a way to protest and deliver messages to a wide audience, it was seen as unusual. Keith Negus, author of Icons of Pop Music: Bob Dylan, describes these transforming times by stating, “the three to four minute commercial song now had the potential to…comment on society, politics and prejudice, singers could ‘protest’ and perhaps play some part in the struggle to bring about a better world” (Negus, 2008, p.99). In 1963, Dylan performed at the March on Washington, expressing his support towards civil rights by both his presence and performance of “When the Ship Comes In.” In 1962, he wrote the song “Blowin in the Wind,” which expresses the hardships of minorities being accepted on equal footing with the white community. The freedom of blacks were questioned with lyrics such as “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls fly before they’re forever banned? The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”

The answer for equality must still be “blowin’ in the wind,” because the Civil Rights movement is still around, and it has a new name—“Black Lives Matter.” This movement began as a hashtag on twitter in response to the murder of the unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in 2012. However, it was not until the murder of Michael Brown in 2014 when this movement began accumulating support and attention (Gale, 2016). The death of these young men and the spark of protests their assassinations conjured are reflective of the story of young Emmett Till, dating back to 1955. Till’s brutal slaughter went unjustified by an all-white jury and enraged the public, just as the unjustified killing of Michael Brown stirred anger in recent years (Catsman, 2016).

The song “The Death of Emmett Till” was composed in 1962 by Dylan in response to the killers being acquitted of any crime in Till’s murder. Dylan takes his audience through the trial and injustice of the young boy’s case, expressing his disgust with the American system throughout the song. Though the specific case in which Dylan references is specifically aimed at Emmett Till, it is clear the message can still be applied today. The ending lyrics of the song state, “This song is just a reminder to remind your fellow man, that this kinda thing still lives today, in that Ku Klux-robed klan. But if all of us folks that think alike, if we gave all we could give, we could make this great land of ours, a greater place to live.”

Over fifty years later, American citizens are still fighting for the same freedom for racial minorities. Dylan remained loyal in fighting for African American rights throughout his career, creating songs such as “Hurricane” to discuss the trial of Rubin Carter and his unfair sentence. The lyrics in “The Times They Are a Changin’” paint a picture of the inevitable coming of the future; he prompts that the change in time will hopefully bring society together to form a sense of peace. The generation before Dylan practiced hatred and violence towards those of a different race, which may be why the following lyrics fit today: “Come mothers and fathers throughout the land, don’t criticize what you can’t understand. Your sons and daughters are beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly aging. Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand, for the times, they are a changing.”