I like early Dylan musically, but lyrically i find him, like i do a lot of the artists of the time who were deep in the counterculture movement, fairly depressing. Because they thought something radical was happening and the world was changing for the better, but in the end the status quo won out. Dylan songs like “The Times They Are A-Changin’” reflect a mood of the time that sort of breaks my heart with how optimistic they were but how little of what they hoped for actually came true. The most radical change that did happen came not so much in the 60s and 70s but in the 80s and 90s with neoliberalism and it was not for the better. And that was partly driven by some of the same generation of the 60s and 70s who by then had become disillusioned, jaded, cynical, and came to be co-opted by the establishment they had fought against. In the end they embraced the polar opposite of their youthful ideas.
I like early Dylan musically, but lyrically i find him, like i do a lot of the artists of the time who were deep in the counterculture movement, fairly depressing. Because they thought something radical was happening and the world was changing for the better, but in the end the status quo won out. Dylan songs like “The Times They Are A-Changin’” reflect a mood of the time that sort of breaks my heart with how optimistic they were but how little of what they hoped for actually came true. The most radical change that did happen came not so much in the 60s and 70s but in the 80s and 90s with neoliberalism and it was not for the better. And that was partly driven by some of the same generation of the 60s and 70s who by then had become disillusioned, jaded, cynical, and came to be co-opted by the establishment they had fought against. In the end they embraced the polar opposite of their youthful ideas.