An Analysis of the Impact of Bob Dylan, his Album Highway 61 Revisited, and his Song Like a Rolling Stone

Bob Dylan’s impactful “Highway 61 Revisited” was released in 1965, an eventful year for both Americans and Bob Dylan. It was significant in America as it was in the midst of the Vietnam War, with troop levels escalating to over 200,000. Major anti-draft protests were taking place, and civil rights activism was on the rise. This was also the year when the nation was shaken by the ghastly murders of the Clutter family in the quiet town of Holcomb, Kansas. Bob Dylan caused a stir in the folk community by playing electric instruments at the Newport Folk Festival.

His album, “Highway 61 Revisited,” together with his electric performance at the festival, signalled a change in his musical approach, as he started incorporating more electronic instruments into his songs.

The album “Highway 61 Revisited” is a blend of nine blues and folk tracks. I detected elements of folk in “Like a Rolling Stone,” “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” “Queen Jane Approximately,” “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Just like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” and “Desolation Row”. In contrast, “Tombstone Blues,” “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” “From a Buick 6,” and “Ballad of a Thin Man” seemed to feature blues elements. The sound of the electric instruments was much more prominent and sharper than that of the acoustic ones, but this did not necessarily suggest a faster tempo. Generally, I felt that the electric instruments produced shorter tunes, while the acoustic ones were more drawn out. Each song on “Highway 61 Revisited” seemed to address societal issues. For instance, I interpreted “Highway 61 Revisited” as having political undertones, as it accuses politicians of being “bored” gamblers intent on “creating a next world war” – this could be referencing the ongoing Vietnam War and the heavy US involvement in it. “Tombstone Blues” also seemed to carry a political message, criticizing the hyper-masculine culture and attitude of the ‘Commander-in-Chief’ who declares “Death to all those who whimper and cry”. There is added imagery of the king of the Philistines who fattens his slaves and sends them out to the jungle, a possible veiled reference to Vietnam. However, I found “From a Buick 6” less meaningful, as it appears to be merely a tribute to someone rather than carrying a broader message. “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” hints at an elusive, unclear meaning. “Ballad of a Thin Man” seems to criticize the public or journalism for being exceedingly sensitive and inquisitive, with Mr. Jones’s interrogative demeanor coming across as both off-putting and annoying. “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Queen Jane Approximately” seem to convey similar warnings about people who may not be as they seem, deceiving others about their true intentions. These two songs appear to tackle the theme of love and relationships, cautioning against the potential deceptions within human relationships. I particularly found the lyrics in “Ballad of a Thin Man” and the questioning of Mr. Jones to be quite memorable.

I chose the song “Like a Rolling Stone” to discuss in more detail for my in-depth analysis. In this song, Dylan sings of a woman who was once a member of a high-class community. She was a graduate of the “finest school” and was at the peak of what life could offer. However, she did not pay heed to any of the warnings others gave her, and she eventually met her demise when she lost everything she had built up in life to a “diplomat who wasn’t where it’s at”, a pretender, and ended up living on the street. Her previous lifestyle proved to be too much of a contrast to her now poverty-stricken street life, and she eventually succumbed to drugs with a tramp. There is a definite rhyme scheme in this song, in the form of ABCBDDEEF, and a refrain that repeats a chorus of “how does it feel” and “like a rolling stone”. A harmonica is used as a bridge that connects parts of the song, and I feel that it fits nicely with the song style as it blends classic folk sounds with the rock style he used. The title of the song, “like a rolling stone”, is emphasized each time at the end of the chorus, which I felt highlighted the banality of the woman’s situation, which was vastly different from the special, privileged class she was previously in. She is no different from the millions of other nameless and homeless Americans, who have to wander from place to place to survive, a situation that completely contradicts her high-life before someone stole it all away. I feel that this song has more of a mocking tone from Bob Dylan, with Dylan drawing out the “feel” in his refrain of “how does it feel”. He questions the woman twice in each chorus, which presents a slightly gloating tone of voice. The drawn-out pronunciation of the “feel” and Dylan’s vocal delivery of this particular line, stick out in the song. This makes me feel that Dylan is personally directing this line to a specific person he may have known. I also feel that Dylan crafted the song to climax and highlighted the third verse where he reveals the woman’s past. After her past is revealed in the third verse, the fourth verse starts in a rather bitter tone of voice, telling the woman to “go to” the “Napoleon in rags” who used to amuse her so much, resenting that she never listened to the previous warnings. After all the gloating, the fourth verse is used to express regret that the outcome might have been different had she paused to think instead of being entertained by “the jugglers and clowns” who did “tricks for her”, when in reality, they were not at all close to her. These people courted and loved her only on the surface when she was successful, but as she fell from grace, they abandoned her at first sight. This line, I feel, is relatable for a lot of people and to me personally. My father was once a successful businessman with lots of friends and acquaintances, but when his business failed, all the friends he had disappeared in a short time. However, the song ends on a slightly more positive note as the woman lost so much that she is now “invisible” and has “no secrets to conceal”, implying that even when all was lost, she did gain a bit of freedom from this fiasco.

At first, when I initially listened to “Like a Rolling Stone” and Bob Dylan’s voice, I was not the biggest fan. I felt that his voice detracted from the song. However, as I listened more, I began to feel that it indeed suited the overall tone and message of the song rather nicely. The song itself, I felt, did not sound like a traditional song and was somewhat scratchy, eccentric, and atypical compared to songs I was accustomed to hearing. I found it slightly monotone and out-of-tune with the music, but it carried its own distinct charm and style.

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