It's amazing to watch music impact the way society thinks, especially during a time of social revolution. Bob Dylan, who is one my favorite artists, did exactly that when he released "The Times They Are a-Changin." In the short 3 minutes and 11 seconds, Dylan takes a strong stance against all social problems by keeping a strong beat and powerful lyrics throughout the piece.
The piece beings with a guitar playing for just a couple of measures. In these first couple of measures, Dylan keeps a steady beat, one that he will continue with for the rest of the piece. He keeps to a meter of 3/4 with a strong first beat. When Dylan starts singing, he keeps to the same melody throughout all the verse. He begins by singing at a lower pitch and then begin to heighten. At the end of every verse, the vocal line drops out and he begins to play his harmonica while keeping to the beat he has already established. Through the entire piece, Dylan would only play two instruments at a time (either his vocals/guitar, or harmonica/guitar).
The chords of the guitar repeatedly progress throughout the entire piece. At the beginning/end of each song, he will place the tonic of the chord, giving off the impression that it is the end of a thought for the singer. It must be added that at the strong beat for every 3 beats land on very powerful words. He doesn't keep to one subject throughout the piece, instead switching off between a lot of different groups and feelings. Examples of this are the words: parents, senators, and congressman. He also uses equally as powerful words such as command, no, a-changin, and stalled. Dylan makes it clear that social reform is greatly needed.
Looking at some of the lyrics.....
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'.
With a steady beat and powerful lyrics that cut right to the chase of things, Dylan was able to create a powerful song during a time of reform. I believe that the strong, repetitive chord progression adds to the powerful message that Dylan is trying to convey.
I'm glad you chose this song since it is one of my favorite Dylan songs. Bob Dylan's role in the social upheaval of the 1960s was big enough to call him "the voice of a generation." What's more amazing is that a year later after his album Bringing It All Back Home (my personal favorite Dylan album) he would quit writing protest songs altogether.
ReplyDeleteDylan's sparse instrumentation made the songs more personal - to him and the listener. He uses the meter of 3 in many of his protest songs like "Masters of War" and "With God on Our Side," although "Blowin' in the Wind," his most famous is in 4.
This song is great! and I agree with both you and Austin when you say he was the voice of the generation in the 60's. The messages he conveyed in his music was so powerful. I also found that the simplicity of the music, like you said he either did vocals with guitar or harmonica with guitar and nothing more i found that that helped convey his message even more. People weren't listening to the instruments they were listening to his voice and the lyrics he sang. Great song choice and great post!
ReplyDelete-Kelsey