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Saturday, July 9, 2011

Research Paper on Bob Dylan

Research Essay on Bob Dylan

"Masters of War" is a great song written and performed by Bob Dylan. It was written in 1963 during the Vietnam War. When Dylan performed it for the first at Newport, it was seen as a great shock to the American people as at that time it was not seen as right to criticize the government especially in a time of war.

This political song was written to criticize the American government for sending teenagers off to war in Vietnam. Dylan also speaks about the cowardness, corruption and disgracefulness of the American government who sent these youths to war, of which many were killed. Dylan feels that these leaders deserve to die and he would want to make certain of their deaths.
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Even though "Masters of War" was written about the Vietnam War it is relevant to all the wars that are going on and thus has universal appeal. Dylan thus performed "Masters of War" again in 1991 at a Grammy ceremony which was during the Gulf War. He also performed it after September 11 2002, in which people seized the meaning of the song, not as the cruelty and corruption of the American government but about America's enemies in the war on terror.

Dylan uses a basic rhyme scheme starting from the second verse, where every second line rhymes in couplets of A-A, B-B, etc.

He uses imagery of war and gory images. These are of weapons and many mentions of blood and death. He also makes use of religious imagery. He speaks of Jesus and of "Judas of old", who was an apostle that betrayed Jesus by giving him up to his enemies for money. He also mentions that "even Jesus would never forgive" what they do. This tells the listener that the sins which these "Masters of War" have committed are so evil and wrong that not even Jesus would forgive them.

Dylan repeatedly uses the pronouns "you" and "I". This makes the song more direct and persona. It is as if he is speaking directly from himself to the masters of war. In the opening verse, Dylan makes emphasis on the pronoun "you" as if he is integrating these "Masters of War".

Dylan uses the use of similes to help portray his message within the song. An example of this is when he compares the way he is able to see their through the lies which are dirty, the same way he is able to "see through the water that runs down" his drain which is where dirty water goes. Dylan also uses metaphors as in the fourth stanza where Dylan speaks about how the leaders "hide in" their mansions "as young peoples blood flows out of their bodies and is buried in the mud." This metaphor explains that whilst the youth are murdered on the battlefield, their generals and leaders, who put them there in the first place, hide away in there own security and safety.

Dylan ends with a powerful ending mentioning his hope that these people, who have sent so many youths to their deathbeds, should die too, and very soon, and he will follow them at their funeral to make "sure that" are "dead".

This was and still is a very effective song and continuous to be relevant to all situations involving the unfair recruitment of the youth into the army. Many other bands have also performed this song, namely Pearl Jam.

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