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1
“BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND”: BOB DYLAN, THE BEATLES AND THE SEARCH FOR
AMERICAN AUTHENTICITY IN THE 1960s
Kayley Sullivan
Seminar in History II
2
The debate has long existed whether the influence of music changes society, or vice
versa; whether society exerts a change on music. This is an especially prevalent discussion as it
relates to American culture in the 1960s. Two major artists from this time period, the Beatles and
Bob Dylan are often associated with the radical cultural changes that were occurring in the
country. Many people saw them as being spokesmen for the generation. Through the analysis of
both artists, this paper seeks to answer show how both their music and image are a product of
society and how through their music and image, they were able to influence society. The way
their music and image were packaged, as well as received must be considered. By examining
these things, the paper seeks to show how the Beatles originally were perceived as apolitical and
eventually through a greater focus on their lyrics and their actions outside of music, began to
become more politicized and controversial. Bob Dylan, however, essentially followed the
opposite route. Originally finding his niche within a more political, folk countercultural
movement, he later on moved into rock, became more reclusive and changed the content of his
lyrics to reflect more apolitical themes. Despite these different paths, both artists were
constantly struggling with this notion of authenticity in their music and in their own lives. The
turbulent decade both influenced this and mirrored this, as many Americans struggled with new
realities and how they fit into them.
There is little historiography that I have been able to find that addresses both Bob Dylan
and the Beatles and none that has directly compares their political outspokenness. However, my
thesis does mostly fit in with what has been written about each separately. Keith Negus discusses
the concept of “Bob Dylan wearing the Bob Dylan mask”1, which explains Bob Dylan’s persona
and works into my conclusion that his fabricated sense of self fit into a certain niche to allow him
1 For a brief overview of the literature, see Keith, Negus. Bob Dylan, (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press,
2008), 40.
3
to attain success. There is much discussion by historians on how Brian Epstein, the Beatles
manager worked to clean up their image in order to help them achieve success. My thesis fits
into the arguments historians make about the transformation Dylan’s career took in the sixties.
This is additionally supported by what Dylan has had to say as well. My argument also tends to
agree with what historians have to say about the Beatles’ transformation throughout the sixties.
Through the analysis of many interviews and historiography of both artists, the transformations
are evident. The Beatles went from a harmless, lighthearted group to a very politically
opinionated one. Bob Dylan’s transformation went completely in reverse. While he initially
attained fame for being outspoken on issues such as the Vietnam War and the civil rights
movement, in the later sixties, he pulled away from the political outspokenness he was once so
famous for. The connection between the paths the two artists took in the sixties, is referenced
only in one 1966 interview with the Beatles, and in no historiography I have been able to find.
There are many similarities between the interviewing styles of Bob Dylan and the
Beatles. Both groups were popular amongst a more liberal, left leaning crowd. They are both
often asked about why they think they’ve attained such success and both are reluctant to answer,
often deflecting the question or simply answering that they don’t know. Also, the two use humor
to deflect questions they do not wish to answer. For example, in a 1995 interview with Bob
Dylan, when asked if he would be voting, he answered sarcastically that he would be busy
tonight.2 Similarly, when the Beatles were asked the same question, they answered, that they
would be busy eating dinner.3 Each group also rejected the fact that they were trying to get any
messages across with their music. Paul McCartney, claimed, “We’re just signing songs you
2 Bob Dylan, interview by the San Francisco Press, KQED, December 14, 1965.
3 The Beatles, interview by the Montreal Press, September 8, 2964.
4
know. We’re not trying to do anything more. Not preaching or anything.”4 When Dylan was
asked if he prefers to write songs with subtle or obvious messages, he claimed to like to write
neither.5 They each also had issues with the media throughout their career. In a 1963 interview
with Studs Terkel and the 1965 San Francisco press conference, Dylan stated that he doesn’t like
to give many interviews to the media because everything gets taken out of context. The Beatles
ran into a major problem with the media in 1966, when John Lennon claimed that the Beatles
were “bigger than Jesus”, leading to a right wing Christian backlash against the Beatles’ music.6
Both artists were packaged and presented at least originally, in a way that would fit
within the confines of modern day society in order to be successful. They did this with varying
degrees of social and political outspokenness. As their careers progressed, their already
established success allowed them more freedom in their work. This freedom allowed the Beatles
to push boundaries and address more political and controversial themes, while it did the opposite
for Bob Dylan, allowing him to get away from the social activist persona he had created.
Regardless, the works and careers of Bob Dylan and the Beatles have always been considered
avant garde, controversial and influential, and they emerged at a time historically, when America
was open to their ideas.
In order to understand the cultural implications of the works of the Beatles and Bob
Dylan, it is important to understand who their audience was. Why were these people so open to
accepting these new ideas, and how exactly were they receiving them? The majority of fans of
both artists were “baby boomers.” After World War II, the GI Bill was passed, giving financial
4 The Beatles, interview by the New York City Press, August 8, 1964.
5 Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press Conference
6 Mark Sullivan, “'More Popular Than Jesus': The Beatles and the Religious Far Right” Popular Music 6, no. 3 (1987).
5
benefits to the soldiers coming home. Many young men used this opportunity to start families,
often moving into “Levitowner” houses in the newly developed suburbs. The generation of
children born into these families had not lived through the Great Depression or either World
War. The average family was significantly more economically stable than that of previous
generations. Bob Dylan, in a 1963 interview with Stud Terkel, discussed the majority of young
people coming of age at the time as being tied down to their towns and their families and school
and work. He compared himself to them, claiming that they were not thinking about the same
types of things he was thinking about, and he urged them to wake up and think outside of their
safe lives and what they were being told by the media and their parents.7 Ultimately, many of
these youths did begin to think more radically, as society began to change and music changed
with it.
Baby boomers were born into a world that America was at the top of socially, politically
and economically. 8 Never before has a generation of Americans collectively had so few
hardships, and because of that, many historians agree that this gave the boomers a false sense of
entitlement and security.9 This came to be an issue with many baby boomers when their safety
was no longer guaranteed. “For many white middle class teens going off to college, it seemed as
though everything their parents had preached about conformity bringing contentment could not
protect them from nuclear threats and death in a jungle on the other side of the world.”10 The
Cold War and the constant threat of nuclear attack was a major concern for all Americans during
77
Bob Dylan, interview by Studs Terkel, The Studs Terkel Show WFMT, Radio, April 26, 1963. 8 For a brief overview of the literature, see Laban Carrick Hill, American Dreaming: How Youth Changed in America
in the 60s (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007), 1-48. 9 For a brief overview of the literature, see Paul C. Light, Baby Boomers, (New York, NY: W.W. Norton and
Company, Inc., 1998), 7. 10
Hill, American Dreaming, 48.
6
the 1950s and 1960s. However, the Vietnam War brought a much more tangible threat in the
form of the draft.
Tensions and military activity had been increasing in Vietnam since the end of the First
Indochina War between France and Vietnam in 1954. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving
Lyndon Johnson the authority to start a conflict Vietnam was issued in 1964. However, the
conflict did not escalate to such a large scale and the draft did not begin until 1965. By this time,
both the Beatles and Bob Dylan had already gained significant popularity with American
audiences, so young people were already listening to them and susceptible to their ideas. Those
eligible for the draft were younger men who were often more inclined to buy into radical,
sometimes anti-establishment, anti-war ideas when they themselves were in danger. It can be
argued, however, that there had been drafts for previous wars without a prevalent anti-war
movement or a push for radical culture change. Why was this war different?
From the very beginning, the Vietnam War was different than any other previously seen.
It was a war that not everyone agreed with or even necessarily understood. This was especially
true as it applied to baby boomers. The average baby boomer was eleven at the time of the
Cuban Missile Crisis, fourteen at the start of the Vietnam War and eighteen when the number of
American troops in Vietnam had hit its peak.11 This could obviously be quite a shock compared
to the safer world that many boomers grew up in. Fear was present in each of these events; fear
that at any moment our home soil could be attacked, fear for our country and our people and
most importantly, and most consequentially, fear for their own safety. The fear that them or a
person close to them could be sent to Vietnam at any time brought the war home for people.
11
Light, Baby Boomers, 8.
7
The reality made it easier for a lot of people to disagree with the war and be open to new
ideas regarding the conflict. The difference was that the average age of soldiers in World War II
was twenty six, whereas it was nineteen in Vietnam. Sixty percent of deaths in Vietnam were
men who had been drafted and nineteen and twenty years olds suffered the greatest casualties.12
There were twenty seven million men who came of draft age during the Vietnam War. 13 With
young people being put in a situation to put their life on the line for a cause they might not
understand, the anti-war movement that came about is hardly surprising.
In addition to the movement against the war, young people of the time had many more
issues they were interested in. These included the legalization of marijuana, equality for women
and the war on poverty. Also, civil rights were a huge issue at the time. For example, ninety
one percent of Vietnam War Protesters also supported equality for women. This was a time of
radical thinking; of acceptance of new ideas. The Baby Boomers were born into a safe, secure
world, and they were ready for something more exciting. This made them open to new ideas.
When things arose that they took issue with, such as the Vietnam War and the lack of equality
within the races, they looked to music to guide them. Collectively these factors contributed to
the success of both Bob Dylan and the Beatles, as both at different points were seen as being
spokesmen for certain liberal issues.
Looking back on history, there is a tendency for our cultural memory to see things
in terms of symbols or tropes. When thinking of the history of the 1960s in America, music and
certain musical groups are almost always connected and considered necessary to study in the
12
For a brief overview of the literature, see Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Inc., 1998), 217. 13
Light, Baby Boomers, 8.
8
study of the 1960s. Folk and rock, in particular, have often been seen as being interconnected to
what was happening culturally and politically in America. Music is often looked upon as being
used as a means of support and justification to the different movements that were occurring;
Civil Rights, counterculture and antiwar. People look to music to justify what they are feeling.
Music is often considered to be a venue of rebellion, protest and change. Socially, politically
and economically, music has an influence on all walks of life. In the mid to late sixties, music
drastically changed. Between the war in Vietnam and the assassination of President, John F.
Kennedy, America and the baby boomers’ “innocence” began to be tainted. The assassinations
of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. continued this feeling. It also marked one of the
first times in American history that Americans were questioning their government. Between the
decisions being made in regard to the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement, there were
many things that many Americans did not agree with their leaders on. Additionally, Richard
Nixon’s secret bombings of Cambodia, and the Watergate Scandal, gave justification to the
distrust that had been building. Music came to reflect all of this. In the 1971 song, “Bye Bye
Miss American Pie”, Don McLean addressed this change in music. He cites the plane crash that
killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper as the definitive point of “the day the
music died.”14 The lyrics of popular songs in the late fifties and early sixties, which mostly
vaguely discuss love can be directly contrasted to many songs of the mid to late sixties which
openly talk about sex and drug use, as well as involve political themes.
14
Don McLean, American Pie, 1971 by United Artists, Vinyl Record.
9
Ultimately, the listeners have a great influence on songs. Michael J. Gilmour states, “We
construct something out of songs we want or need.”15
The way the audience was receiving the
music of both Bob Dylan and the Beatles greatly contributed to the way it was being produced.
The meaning of the song is defined by how it was being received. As it relates to the counter
culture and anti-war movement, artists such as Bob Dylan and the Beatles were looked upon as a
justification for the cause; the irony being that the artists were also searching for their own
meaning and where they fell in this society.
The Beatles’ music saw a progression from safe and simplistic with the advent of their
success in 1963 to a much different image through the mid to late sixties and up until their
breakup in 1970. Their first song to gain popularity in the United States was “I Want to Hold
Your Hand (1963).” “Yeah, you've got that something, I think you'll understand. When I'll feel
that something, I wanna hold your hand.”16 The song is simple, not sexual or political. There are
no hidden meanings. There are no references to drugs. It catered to a crowd of young girls who
wanted to Beatles to sing about love in an innocent way. Additionally, the song is short at 2:24.
Another example of an early Beatles song that exemplifies the Beatles straight forward,
teen idol image is the second track on the album, Meet the Beatles, “Please Please Me.” The
repeated lyrics throughout the songs are, “Please, please me, oh yea, like I please you.”17
It
repeats the term “come on” twenty-four times and “please please me” five times. Songs like this
are very simply about love. The repetition of the phrases allows the audience to easily follow
along and remember the song, which makes them feel like they are more actively participating.
15 For a brief overview of the literature, see Michael J. Gilmour, The Gospel According to Bob Dylan: The Old, Old
Story for Modern Times, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 12. 16
The Beatles, I Want to Hold Your Hand, 1961, by Capitol Records, 7”. 17
The Beatles, Please Please Me, 1963 by Parlophone, 7”.
10
The use of pronouns such as “me” and “you” additionally serve to make the song more relatable
to the listener.
The songs of the mid to late Beatles are distinctly different. The Beatles experienced a
transformation starting with their 1965 release of Rubber Soul. Through songs such as “In my
Life (1965)” and Eleanor Rigby (1966)”, the Beatles began to release much more thought
provoking songs. In “In My Life”, unlike in previous Beatles songs, there is no refrain. This is
drastically different because it doesn’t encourage the audience to follow along with the song as
easily. The listener must actually think about the lyrics in order to understand what the song is
about. The only thing that is repeated, and only twice, is the phrase, “In my life I love you
more.”18
This is still a love song, but it begins the transformation as it is certainly more
complicated than prior love songs. The 1966 release of “Eleanor Rigby” was a drastic difference
as it was one of the first Beatles songs to not use pronouns or to talk from the singer’s point of
view. The song repeats, “All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely
people, where do they all belong?”19
This song actually asks its audience to think about these
questions. It encourages them to think about other people, and marks a transition from the
subject of love in Beatles music.
They started to step out of their role as teen idols, and eventually moved into a much
more psychedelic and controversial image, creating more complicated songs often with deeper
meanings. The transformation continued songs such as, “Revoultion (1968)” “With a Little Help
From my Friends (1967)” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (1967)”, which is rumored to
stand for “LSD”, a drug the Beatles were publicly using at the time began to push boundaries in
society. “With a Little Help from my Friends” openly says, “I get high with a little help from my
18
The Beatles, In My Life, 1965 by Parlophone, 7”. 19
The Beatles, Eleanor Rigby, 1966 by Parlophone 7”.
11
friends”.20
Although “Revolution” does not make any specific references to the Vietnam War or
anything else, given the political climate at the time, with lyrics such as “You say you want a
revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world”, it is obvious that it would be
received with certain implications. Also, it comes in at around four minutes and fifteen seconds,
about double the length of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Imagery such as, “Follow her down to
a bridge by a fountain, where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies. Everyone smiles as
you drift past the flowers, that grow so incredibly high”, is present in “Lucy in the Sky With
Diamonds”.21
Imagery like this contributes the Beatles psychedelic imagery. All of these songs
are much drastically less simple than the tracks on the Beatles’ first album, “Meet the Beatles”.
In 1967 John Lennon received a letter from a student at his former high school
explaining that the school was now offering a class on interpreting the Beatles lyrics. Allegedly,
in response Lennon wrote “I am the Walrus (1967)” in the most confusing language possible.22
This is a good example of how far Beatles’ lyrics had come in the way of complexity as opposed
to the straightforward message of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
The image of the Beatles themselves could be paralleled with the progression of their
music. The Beatles began the success of their career with a very clean cut look, which had
drastically transformed by the late sixties. Appearance is a huge part of any band’s image as a
whole. The appearance and the image the Beatles were putting forward are important to
understanding how the music and messages were being received. Brian Epstein, the Beatles
manager discovered the band in 1961. He was responsible for much of the Beatles’ early success
20
The Beatles, With a Little Help From my Friends, 1967, by EMI Studios, 7”. 21
The Beatles, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,1967 by Parlophone, 7”. 22
Steven Carter, “The Beatles and Freshman English”, College Composition and Communication 20, no. 3 (1969): 232.
12
because he was able to change their image in a way that fit into what was popular at the time.
Speaking of the effect Epstein had on the Beatles, Paul Friedlander argued that, “Epstein brought
intelligence, upper class taste, organizational skills and money.”23
In addition to the music itself,
Epstein helped the members of the Beatles to change their look. In order to do this, he got their
hair cut to what is known today as their signature mop style and bought them plain black suits to
wear so that they all looked uniform and neat. In the early 1960s, a very clean cut look was in.
Men typically had short haircuts and wore neat clothing, mostly suits. Brian Epstein knew that
the Beatles would not be able to have success without fitting into this image. 24
Much of the Beatles initial success had to do with their popularity among a pre-teen to
early teen crowd, particularly girls. Many fans were established during this time period who
came to be the young adults in the late sixties who were protesting the Vietnam War and other
social issues, and were then receiving the Beatles more controversial and progressive messages.
For example, one fan says of her early obsession with the Beatles, “When I think about being
between the ages of twelve and fifteen…I was the perfect candidate to be a Beatles fan. Where
did the music fit in? Certainly the appreciation of the music came later, but I almost think it was
the visceral reaction to them, more than the music.”25 The Beatles captured the attention of
millions of young girls in America with their good looks, charisma and love songs. “Beatle-
mania” referred to the craze of Beatles fans. The Beatles played sold out show after sold out
show, even filling up Shea Stadium, a venue that could hold over 55,000 people, which was
23
For a brief overview of the literature, see Paul Friedlander, Rock and Roll: A Social History (Cambridge, MA: Westview Press, 2006), 79. 24
Tony Bramwell Magical Mystery Tour: My Life with the Beatles, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008), 36. 25
For a brief overview of the literature, see Garry Berman, “We’re Going to See the Beatles!” An Oral History of Beatlemania as Told by the Fans Who Were There, (Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press, 2008), 90.
13
unheard of at the time. Beatles merchandise was also purchased by these fans from t-shirts to
buttons to dolls. The Beatles were a commodity, and they were being marketed and sold in
every way possible.
The Beatles interviews in the early 1960s reflect their perceived harmless nature and teen
idol status. Questions often center on the band’s appearance, particularly their hair. Almost
every interview in 1963 and 1964 asked the Beatles either when they were going to cut their hair
or how they came up with the hairstyle. Other common questions discussed what their hobbies
are outside of music, how they deal with the fame, what they think of the reaction from the girls,
how much money they make, how they were formed as a band, how long they think their success
will last and how they chose the name, “Beatles.” The Beatles answered all of these questions
with charismatic lighthearted humor. For example, in a 1964 interview, when asked when was
the last time they had cut their hair, Paul answered, “Uhh, quite a long time, actually. The last
time was about 23 years ago, was the last time I had one.”26
During this time, the Beatles were
seldom asked about politics in their interviews. The content, in addition to the lighthearted
joking way they answered each question, contributed to their image as harmless entertainment.
Although the Beatles originally appeared primarily to girls, they had mass appeal due to
their status as being a “safe rebellion.”27 Girls had crushes on them and boys associated with
them “as they might a popular athletic squad.”28 Music for many is often considered to be a safe
rebellion. It is a way, especially for young people, of being introduced to new ideas or ideas
contrary to what they have always been taught. However, it allows them to do so without
actually having to take any action and disturb the status quo.
26
The Beatles, interview by CBS News, New York City, February 2, 1964. 27
Friedlander, Rock and Roll, 81. 28
Ibid., 81.
14
Despite their fabricated clean cut image, the Beatles were always considered to be
slightly rebellious. The fact that their hair was slightly longer than what was considered
acceptable was one of the main criticisms. They were often disliked my parents of the young
fans, particularly fathers. For baby boomer children who had grown up in a safe world with little
excitement, the hysteria and music of the Beatles was something new. The Beatles were
something foreign, and something their parents weren’t in agreement with, which served to make
them more attractive to these baby boomers.
Another way the Beatles and their management portrayed their image to their fans was
through their album covers. Ian Inglis discusses the function of album covers. Album covers
work to protect the album within, as a visual advertisement for the record and as an
accompaniment to the music. 29 For example, if there is a picture of the artist on the cover that
would help the listener to have a visual image of what he or she is listening to. Inglis discusses
the cover of their first album released in the United Kingdom, “Please Please Me.” She says of
the cover, “Identically dressed in suits and ties and smiling happily into the camera, they
personify the contemporary pop star-bright, breezy, young and handsome.”30 This supports the
fact that they were at the time trying to depict a clean cut image for themselves. By putting that
picture on their first album cover, the Beatles and their management assured that that would be
the image that their fans would associate with them.
Inglis argues that the first album cover and album as a whole that began to break the
conventions of music for the time was “Rubber Soul.” On the cover of “Rubber Soul”, the word
29
Ian Inglis, “Nothing You Can See that Isn’t Shown: the Album Covers of the Beatles”, Popular Music 20, no. 1 (2001): 84. 30
Inglis, “Nothing You Can See”, 86.
15
“Beatles” is not present for the first time, three of the Beatles are not looking forward, but gazing
off, showing a willingness to break free and not follow conventions, and the distorted faces
symbolize the Beatles’ growing interest in drugs.31
Controversy arose with the cover art of the 1966 release of “Yesterday, Today and
Tomorrow.” The original album came out with a picture of the Beatles in white coats,
surrounded by decapitated baby dolls and meats, commonly referred to as the “butcher album.”
One of the first times the Beatles were criticized by the public and the media, they quickly took
the cover out of production and replaced with a new, less divisive cover. However, John Lennon
said of the cover, “The cover was as relevant as the Vietnam War. If the public could accept
something as cruel as the Vietnam War, then they could accept that cover.” 32
This was one of
the rare occasions during the time of the Beatles that any member publicly spoke out and took a
particular stance on any political topic, especially the Vietnam War.
The album covers of “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band” and the self-titled album
that has come to be known as the “White Album” are also notable. The album cover for “Sgt
Pepper” is completely indicative of the music on the album. It is colorful, original and
completely psychedelic. The collage on the cover contains the Beatles in their current look, the
Beatles in their early 1960s look, historical icons such as Ghandi and Karl Marx, as well as a
marijuana garden and many other seemingly random people and objects. The presence of
historical and political figures seems to denote that the Beatles are beginning to gain a political
voice. However, as is common in much of their work, they fail to take a definitive stance on any
31
Ibid., 88. 32
Hill, American Dreaming, 49.
16
issues, with the exception of drug use. On the “White Album”, Inglis argues that the lack of any
album art forces the listener to make their own interpretations about the music. The album covers
of the Beatles are to this day, considered iconic. The covers are recognizable and have helped to
brand certain images of the Beatles to the public at different points in their career.
Along with the progression of the actual content of the songs and the album covers, the
interviews the Beatles gave throughout their career are indicative of their evolution as artists.
After the onset of early interviews centered on mostly trivial issues, the Beatles begun to be
asked some more serious questions and answer with some subtle messages. Ultimately, towards
the later sixties, the Beatles became very outspoken on topics such as the Vietnam War.
In late 1964 and through 1965, the Beatles began to be asked some slightly different
questions by the media. Although the questions regarding the hair and the girls were still present,
some questions began to be more subtly controversial. For example, the Beatles are often asked
their opinion on Barry Goldwater, a conservative American politician running for President
under the Republican nomination in 1964. The Beatles never made any real statements
regarding Goldwater, but often expressed their dislike for him through such gestures such as
giving the thumbs down when his name is mentioned or yelling “Boo!”33
The reputation of the
Beatles as a more left leaning group begins to be established with comments such as these.
Also beginning at this time, particularly in America, there was a backlash against the
Beatles. Some people believed that the Beatles were linked to the Communist movement and
were trying to undermine American society.34
Others claimed that they were a bad influence on
American youth. Particularly with the comment made by John Lennon in 1966, that the Beatles
33
The Beatles, interview by the Los Angeles Press, August 23, 1964. 34
“More Popular than Jesus”
17
were “more popular than Jesus”, the religious far right joined the crusade against the Beatles. 35
In a 1964 interview, the Beatles were asked how they feel about, “A physiatrist in Seattle is
saying that you are a menace. You bring out the destructive instincts in teenagers and you ought
to be banned.”36
George humorously responded, “Physiatrists are menaces, too.” 37
They don’t
really address any issues, but instead try and divert what they are being asked if they do not wish
to answer it.
As time went on, the Beatles began to receive a lot more politically inspired questions.
They were often asked about the Vietnam War. For example, in 1965 they were asked how they
felt about the draft. John jokingly answered, “About five eleven.”38
Just a year later, in a 1965
interview the Beatles were questioned about receiving the Order of the British Empire when that
is often received by military heroes. John responded, “Yeah, and they got theirs for killing
people, and I think, you know, we deserve ours for not killing people.”39
Although this didn’t
specifically criticize any war in particular, it was a pretty obvious anti-military statement. Then
in a 1966 interview when asked what they seek next, Paul and John answered, “Peace. Ban the
bomb.”40
Then when asked how much interest they take in the Vietnam War, John responded,
“Well, we think about it every day, and we don’t agree with it and we think it’s wrong.”41
That
is about as straightforward of a comment on the war as is possible. Comments such as these are
extremely rare. It is important to note that this interview was in Tokyo, which most likely
allowed them more freedom in their criticizing of the war. However, the fact that the Vietnam
35
“More Popular Than Jesus” 36
Los Angeles Press Conference, August 23, 1964. 37
Los Angeles Press Conference, August 23, 1964. 38
The Beatles, interview by the Indianapolis Press, September 3, 1964. 39
The Beatles, interview by the Los Angeles Press, August 2, 1965. 40
The Beatles, interview by Ken Gary, Tokyo, Japan, June 3, 1966. 41
Ibid.
18
War was not opposed by the majority of America until the Tet Offensive in 1968, contributes to
the authenticity of this statement, rather than capitalizing on a trend.
Bob Dylan, another musician often associated with culture change in the sixties, took a
very different route to success. Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman, but changed it when he
began performing. Like the Beatles, he sought to define a certain image. However, the image
that Dylan initially had success with was that of a spokesperson and a political activist. Dylan
began his career by moving to New York and playing in local coffee shops. His style then was
defined mostly as folk music. Oddly enough, Dylan was signed in 1963, the same year the
Beatles first came to the United States, so they were coexisting in the same America. Whereas he
initially gained recognition as a folk protest singer, the Beatles entered into the world of pop
rock.
Whereas the Beatles found their niche with a younger preteen to early teen crowd, Dylan
found popularity in folk music fans who often wanted him to be politically outspoken. Keith
Negus argues that Bob Dylan was “connecting listeners who were self-consciously seeking
intellectual justification for their engagement with popular music.”42 He was often supported
among a more left leaning, liberal crowd who was already somewhat politically active. His
work, particularly many of his earlier songs were often associated with being about certain issues
such as the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. Songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind
(1963)” and “Only a Pawn in their Game (1963)” are generally received with political
connotations. Although “Blowin in the Wind” is ambiguous and does not refer to anything
specifically, due to the time of its release and lyrics such as “how many deaths will it take till he
42
Negus, Bob Dylan, 40.
19
knows that too many people have died?”43
It is generally associated with being against the
Vietnam War. That is definitively how it was received by those who were looking for support
for an anti-war movement that hadn’t gained as much popularity in the early sixties as it would
come to gain later on.
Shortly after being signed, Dylan performed at the civil rights movement’s March on
Washington, immediately establishing himself as a politically outspoken musician. He
performed “Only a Pawn in their Game”, which tells the story of Medgar Evans, who was a Civil
Rights Activist who had been assassinated a few months prior to the March. The song also
discusses the way poor whites were being manipulated to hate the blacks in order to keep them
content with the inequality they were experiencing. 44 These lyrics and the situation in which he
performed them were far from being ambiguously political.
Many of Dylan’s songs are specifically about certain political events. “Only a Pawn in
their Game” and “The Death of Emmett Till” are very evidently related to the civil rights
movement. Due to the fact that it was written around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, many
people believe that “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” makes reference to the risk of an atomic
attack. In 1963, Dylan claimed that the “hard rain” refers to lies that the media tells us, that he
“considers to be poison”.45
However, in 1965, he did admit that it referred to the Cuban Missile
Crisis. “We just hung around at night- people sat around wondering if it was the end, and so did
43
Bob Dylan, Blowin’ in the Wind, 1963, Columbia Recording Studios, 7”. 44
Bob Dylan, Only a Pawn in their Game, 1963, Columbia Recording Studios. 45
Bob Dylan, Interview with Studs Terkel
20
I. Would one o’clock the next day ever come?...it was a song of desperation.”46
The theme of
war is something present in many of Dylan’s songs.
Many songs that are widely considered to be protest songs of Dylan’s are often believed
to contain references to the Vietnam War or Cold War. In the 1964 song “With God on Our
Side”, Dylan makes direct reference to the war in Vietnam when he says, “In the nineteen-sixties
came the Vietnam War. Can somebody please tell me what we’re fightin’ for? So many young
men died. So many mothers cried. Now I ask the question, was God on our side?”47
This was
extremely rare for either artist to outwardly criticize the war that was currently being fought.
“Masters of War” also makes a pretty distinct reference to Vietnam with “You fasten the triggers
for others to set fire. Then you sit back and watch, when the death count gets higher.”48
Since
death counts were the standard measure of progress to the American people for this particular
war, there would be an obvious connection to the listener, particularly at the time. There were
many other more subtle references. For example, in “Blowin’ in the Wind”, Dylan asks “How
many times can a cannonball fly before they’re forever banned?” Although cannonballs
obviously were not being used in the Vietnam War, the reader can infer that Dylan means the
reference towards the current political situation.
Although situations such as the civil rights movement were very outwardly political, in
interviews Bob Dylan tended to be slightly less politically outspoken than many of his early
songs. In a 1963 interview with Studs Terkel, Dylan ambiguously discusses many subjects.
Terkel and Dylan begin by discussing Dylan’s arrival on the folk scene and his need to leave his
home in Duluth, Minnesota. Dylan felt that that the town gave him a “feeling that isn’t really
46 Clinton Heylin, Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan,(Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press,
Incorporated,1973), 76. 47
Bob Dylan, With God on Our Side, 1964, Columbia Records. 48
Bob Dylan, Masters of War, 1963, Columbia Records.
21
free” and that most of the people there were not thinking about things in the same ways that he
was. He called on young Americans to begin thinking about things in different ways. Such
comments likely contributed to Dylan’s perceived role as a spokesperson. He goes on to deny
this role. He also claims that he purposely put out bad records in order to get away from the way
people were perceiving him at the time. Additionally, he alludes to his dislike and distrust of the
media, which helps to explain why there are so few interviews available of Dylan in the sixties.
Overall, Dylan’s style of responding the questions, is slow and deliberate, often evading the
question being directly asked. This further adds to the myth and mystery of Bob Dylan. 49
However, as time went on, Dylan seemed to distance himself from the political
outspokenness he originally gained fame for. In a 1965 interview to the San Francisco press,
Dylan was even more dismissive of everything even remotely political asked of him, often even
humorous. When asked what the meaning of the cover art of his latest album meant to him,
Dylan responded with “I haven’t really looked at that much.”50
By this point, Dylan had begun to
get some criticism that he was not as politically outspoken as he once was or as many felt he
should be. People were seeking meaning in his songs that he was no longer willing to cooperate
with or contribute to.
Based on his earlier works, many people had certain expectations from Dylan. This was
also the time that Dylan had switched over from the acoustic guitar to the electric guitar, often
signifying his change from folk music to rock music. When one interviewer asked Dylan how he
feels that many believed he had sold out to commercial interests and the typical modern song
movements, Dylan answered, “No comments. No arguments. I certainly don’t feel guilty.”51
When asked if he were to sell out to a commercial interest, what it would be, Dylan responded 49
Bob Dylan, Interview with Studs Terkel 50
Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press Conference 51
Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press Conference
22
“ladies garments.” 52
Often times throughout the interview, Dylan uses humor to defect the
questions and avoid discussing topics he doesn’t wish to address.
At this point in his career, although he was not actively participating in any type of
political movements, it was still unwise for him to denounce the movements he was once
associated with. It would force Dylan to lose almost all support in the community in which he
originally found success. When asked what he would do if he was drafted for the war in
Vietnam Dylan answered, “I’d probably just do what had to be done.”53
This could be interpreted
to mean that he would go to war, or he would do what has to be done to avoid it. When asked for
clarification, he simply responded that he does not speak in terms of “what-ifs.”54
Answers such
as these could also potentially indicate a genuine indifference to the question. Dylan does,
however, concede to some separation of his work to those in the folk genre, when he claims that
he no longer plays his earlier work because “in a way it would be dishonest of me because I
wouldn’t really feel like singing them.”55
He also said that he considered folk songs to be protest
songs, but did not consider his current songs to be folk songs. 56
He is no longer associating
himself with the folk world or the protest world. Earlier in the same year, he was booed at the
Newport Folk Festival for the use of his electric guitar and his alleged betrayal of folk music.
Bob Dylan has gone through several dramatic transformations as an artist. He’s covered
all styles of music from folk to rock to country, and the subjects of his music have changed
drastically. While originally his songs often had political or social connotations, he made efforts
to stray away from that very soon in his career. The album “Blonde on Blonde” was released in
52
Ibid. 53
Ibid. 54
Ibid. 55
Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press Conference 56
Ibid.
23
1966 and is often considered to be Dylan’s departure from the original politically charged songs.
Many fans of his earlier music were disappointed by “Blonde on Blonde” because they came to
expect certain things from his music and they felt betrayed when those things were gone.
Bob Dylan himself, only a few years later, when looking back at some of his earlier
works, is critical of his motivations for writing certain things. When Bob Dylan wrote the
“Ballad of Emmett Till”, he considered it be “the best thing I’d ever written.”57 However, just a
few years later he claimed, “I wrote a song about Emmett Till, which in all honesty was a
bullshit song…. My reasons and motives behind it were phony, I didn’t have to write it; I was
bothered by many other things that I pretended I wasn’t bothered by, in order to write this song
about Emmett Till, a person I never even knew… It was quick at hand, and knowing that people
knew who Emmett Till was, I wrote the song.” 58
Here Dylan is acknowledging that his songs,
particularly the early and political ones were sometimes written because he knew they would be
popular. He understood that it was easy to have a song go over well with a politically active
crowd if the song helps support an issue that they are already upset or advocating about. In this
case, Dylan knew that Emmett Till was a recognizable part of the Civil Rights Movement and
writing a song that fits in with that might help him find success. He was working within his
niche of society.
Another aspect of the careers of both Bob Dylan and the Beatles was the concept of
having a public persona and a private persona. Bob Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman and
changed it when we began performing. On the Studs Terkel show Dylan claimed he never
57
For a brief overview of the literature, see Clinton Heylin, Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973, (Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, Inc., 2009), 72. 58
Ibid., 72.
24
considered himself to be a “Robert Zimmerman.”59
This was his first step in his transformation
into his public Bob Dylan persona. Many historians, as well as Dylan himself make reference to
use of the “Bob Dylan mask.” Keith Negus discusses Stephen Scobie’s comparison of the “mask
of Bob Dylan with the way Geek and Roman actors would use masks to “conceal identity and
express character.” Dylan in later years went as far as to wear a literal white mask during some
performances. Dylan was certainly aware of this concept and makes that known to his audience.
Scobie also compares it to the concept of a persona in poetry.
Many critics use the phrase "I is another” when referring to Dylan, which Dylan himself
will occasionally quote back at the media when answering questions about the autobiographical
nature of his work. In a 1980 press conference, Dylan stated, “I’m only Bob Dylan when I need
to be.” When asked what he is the rest of the time, he answered, “myself.” 60
Bob Dylan’s
persona that he presented to the public was a different person than in his private sense of self,
and he was conscious of it. The fact that he, on multiple occasions made reference to this
concept signifies him distancing himself from the character he played through his music and
performance.
Many people at the time referred to Dylan as being a spokesperson for their generation,
and some went as far as to refer to him a prophet or a messiah. However, as Gilmour says, he
manages to “simultaneously draw an audience and keep them at a distance.”61
This can be seen
in terms of the “Bob Dylan mask”, in the public and private personas of Dylan or his earlier
career to his later career. In his early career, Dylan drew all of these people in, singing songs
speaking out against the Vietnam War and advocating for the civil rights movement. Much like 59
Bob Dylan, interview with Studs Terkel 60
Negus, Bob Dylan, 6. 61
Gilmour, The Gospel According to Bob Dylan, 14.
25
the way, the folk fans felt deserted by Dylan in his leaving of folk for a more rock style, they felt
betrayed by his abandonment of political outspokenness in his work and life. They felt they had
been deserted by someone they once considered to be almost a messiah.
Dylan has denied the role of a spokesperson and particularly, a prophet at all periods of
his career. In 1963, Dylan expressed his frustration over being viewed in what he considered to
be a false light. He denied being a prophet and stated, “If you examine the songs, I don’t think
you’re going to find anything that says I’m a spokesman for anyone or anything really.”62
The
denial of being a spokesperson, while putting out songs and participating in events, such as the
March on Washington is somewhat contradictory. Given the content of many of the songs and
the context of the time, it would logically follow that people are going to get certain messages
out of them, and Dylan’s denial of that in 1963 is strange.
In later interviews, Dylan continues to deny his role of a spokesperson. However, it more
rationally fits into the narrative since it coincided with his efforts to try and distance himself
from protest and his old works. In 1965, Dylan didn’t even really give a direct answer to the
question of being a spokesperson, so as not to justify its legitimacy. A reporter asked Dylan,
“You are described by many people as being symbolic of the protest movement for the young
people. Are you going to participate in the Vietnam protest in front of the Paramount Hotel?”63
Bob Dylan responded simply with, “I’ll be busy tonight.” 64
By not giving a serious answer or
any elaboration to his answer, Dylan is able to deflect attention from the reporter’s question. In a
1969 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, the question comes up again with Dylan. He
answers, “If I thought I was that person, wouldn’t I be out there doing it?...So obviously I don’t
62
Bob Dylan, Interview with Studs Terkel 63
Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press 64
Ibid.
26
think that.”65
Again, Dylan denies this role adamantly. But, again it comes up. Dylan has not
given many interviews, and the fact that a question referring to Dylan as a “spokesperson for his
generation” comes up in almost every one, speaks volumes about the way he was perceived,
regardless of how he saw himself.
On July 29, 1966, Bob Dylan was in a motorcycle accident and in its wake, drastically
took himself almost entirely out the public eye. He stopped touring, interviewing and generally
kept to himself and his family in their home in Woodstock, New York.66
However, he did not
stop writing songs during this time. There was always some speculation as to the extent of his
injuries and his actual reasoning for going into seclusion. In his autobiography Chronicles,
Dylan clarifies the situation for many fans when he states, “I had been in a motorcycle accident
and I’d been hurt, but I recovered. Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race. Having
children changed my life and segregated me from just about everybody and everything that was
going on. Outside of my family, nothing held any real interest for me and I was seeing
everything through different glasses.”67
Bob Dylan is claiming that he wanted to disassociate
himself from the rest of the world and spend more time with his family. The accident gave him
the opportunity to do so. Dylan’s career is often referred to as “pre-accident” and “post-
accident”.68
Pre-accident refers to the touring, outspoken, public figure and post-accident refers
to the reclusive Dylan.
In 1969, when he gave the interview with Rolling Stone Dylan had been working on
reinventing himself as a quiet family man and more of a country singer. At this point in his
65
Bob Dylan, interview by Jann S. Wenner, Rolling Stone Magazine, 1969. 66
Negus, Bob Dylan, 46. 67
Bob Dylan, Chronicles: Volume, (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2004), 79. 68
Heylin, Revolution, 112.
27
career, he was interested in continuing to make music while staying out of the public spotlight.69
He also discussed his desire to take a break from touring when he stated, “I was on the road for
almost five years. It wore me down. I was on drugs, a lot of things. A lot of things just to keep
going, you know? And I don’t want to live that way anymore.”70
Dylan’s new personality
towards the latter end of the sixties, contributed to the mythology that surrounds Bob Dylan. On
the theme of people feeling abandoned by Dylan, from his departure from folk, to his lack of
political outspokenness, continues here. Dylan literally drew in millions of fans only to
disappear for two years. However, rather than turn fans away, this disappearance contributed to
his mysterious narrative. The way he speaks in interviews is always very slow, deliberate and
not direct, often creating a mysterious tone. He purposely gives his audience very few details
about his own life and reveals only what he wants you to see. This mythology also ties into the
concept of the “Bob Dylan mask.”
In “I is Somebody Else” by Kat Peddie, the myth surrounding Bob Dylan is compared to
that of French poet, Arthur Rimbaud. Rimbaud was considered to be the best poet of his time.
He wrote the majority of his poetry between the ages seventeen and twenty, and at the age of
twenty one, stopped writing poetry because he felt he had already achieved all that he could
achieve. He then more or less went into seclusion, living a quiet life and traveling the world
until his death. Due to these unusual circumstances, the myth of Rimbaud further contributes to
the popularity and reception of his work. The same can be said for Dylan. The strange
circumstances of having the content of his songs being so political and then takin himself out of
69
Bob Dylan, Rolling Stone 70
Bob Dylan, Rolling Stone
28
the public spotlight almost completely contribute to the Bob Dylan myth and the way his work is
received. 71
This connection is reinforced not only by their similarities, but also by Dylan’s
referencing of Rimbaud. In the 1965 interview with the San Francisco Press, when asked which
poets were his favorite, Dylan named Rimbaud.72
In Dylan’s song, “You’re Going to Make Me
Lonesome when You Go”, the lyrics make reference to Rimbaud with, “Relationships have all
been bad. Mine’ve been like Verlaine’s and Rimbaud.”73
Here is discusses Rimbaud’s notorious
relationship with Paul Verlaine, another poet at the time, which was considered to be very
scandalous and ended with Verlaine shooting Rimbaud in the wrist. Dylan also stated, “I came
across one of his letters called ‘Je est un ature,’ which translates to ‘I is someone else.’ When I
read those words the bells went off. It made perfect sense. I wished someone would have
mentioned it to be earlier.”74
This is very similar to when Dylan uses the term, “I is another.” It
relates the concept of the Bob Dylan mask. Both Dylan and Rimbaud wish to separate
themselves from their work and create an alternate personality through their work that their
private sense of self is not associated with.
Although it is not as commonly discussed by historians, the Beatles did experience this
concept of having a public and a private sense of self. The Beatles were a product that was being
marketed a certain way to appeal to a certain set of people, particularly in their early career. The
Beatles’ sexual encounters, political opinions and experimentation with drugs were not originally
made known to the public until later on because it would give the Beatles a bad image and harm
their sales. Kenneth Womack and Todd F. Davis discuss how in much later years, John Lennon
71 Kat Peddie, “’I is Somebody Else’: Bob Dylan/ Arthur Rimbaud” Popular Music History 2, no. 8 (2013). 72
Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press 73
Bob Dylan, You’re Going to Be Lonesome When I Go, 1975 by Columbia Records. 74
Peddie, “I is someone else”
29
made many remarks about being disappointed that he was unable to discuss his political views
during the touring years, particularly concerning the Vietnam War.75 They state, “Although
celebrity clearly provided Lennon with a massive international forum for expressing his views,
how, indeed, could he focus his attentions on the anti-war movement and his hunger for peace
when the mask of Beatlehood required him to wink mischievously at the camera and conjure up
Beatle-John?” 76
Whereas Bob Dylan’s popularity encouraged and even required him to make
political statements, the Beatles were discouraged from doing so. If the Beatles were to make
statements about issues one way or the other, it would isolate some of their listeners and
negatively affect their profit. Both artists were expected to act in a certain way in order to
continue the façade of the masks they had created.
The Beatles make reference to the constraints they were working under in some of their
later interviews. In a Chicago Press Conference in 1966, Paul McCartney states, “The thing is,
we’re just trying to move it in a forward direction…And people seem to be trying to just sort of
hold us back and not want us to say anything that’s vaguely sort of, you know, inflammatory. I
mean, we won’t if, really, if people don’t want that, then we won’t do it. We’ll sort of just do it
privately.”77
Moving forward can be interpreted to mean, moving into more controversial issues;
likely politics, drugs, and such subjects that they eventually ended up discussing in many of their
songs.
This theme also come up in a 1966 press conference in Toronto, when asked about the
Vietnam War, John responded, “I mean we all just don’t agree with war for any reason
75
For a brief overview of the literature, see Kenneth Wommack and Todd F. Davis, Reading the Beatles: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, and the Fab Four, (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2006), 104. 76
Ibid, 105. 77
The Beatles, Interview by the Chicago Press, August 11, 1966.
30
whatsoever. There’s no reason on earth why anybody should kill anybody else.”78
They
interviewer then pressed them on the subject, asking why they don’t come out publicly in
opposition of the war. John answered with, “Because somebody would shoot us for saying it,
that’s why.”79
Paul then added, sarcastically, “We’re not allowed to have opinions you might
have noticed, you know.”80
The comments made by the Beatles here indicate that they were not
allowed to be as opinionated as they would have liked to have been and that they were aware of
it. Their political beliefs had been stifled, even though, through their celebrity status, they were
in a position to have potentially made a difference. Comments such as these bring one to wonder,
if whether in their earlier interviews, where almost all political questions were met with humor
deflecting the question, what they would have said had they had the freedom to do so.
By 1966, the Beatles and Bob Dylan had both certainly made a transformation from what
they originally were as performers, both in their music and perceived identity. These
transformations are referenced by many historians. However, a comparison of the careers of the
Beatles and Bob Dylan is rarely made. It is mentioned in a 1966 interview in New York City.
One interviewer asks the Beatles, “You seem to be doing a Bob Dylan in reverse. That is you
became popular playing rock and roll and now you seem to be doing a lot more folk rock.
Would you care to comment on that?”81
Although the Beatles denied that their work was to be
considered, “folk”, Paul stated, “No the thing is that-That thing about Bob Dylan is probably
right, in reverse because we’re getting more interested now in the content of the songs, whereas
Bob Dylan is getting more interested in rock and roll. It’s just we’re both going towards the
78
The Beatles, interview by the Toronto Press, August 17, 1966. 79
Ibid. 80
Ibid. 81
The Beatles, interview by the New York Press, August 22, 1966.
31
same thing I think.”82
When asked to clarify what that thing that they were going towards was,
Paul answered that they were both moving forward.83
Dylan and the Beatles essentially took
opposite paths in the 1960s. They both started and ended in drastically different places.
However, in that, they were both moving towards authenticity to themselves and the kind of
music that they wanted to be producing. Their already established fame allowed them the
freedom to go in the direction that they wanted to go.
82
The Beatles, New York City Press, 1966. 83
The Beatles, New York City Press, 1966.
32
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