Thursday, October 8, 2009

Times They Are A Changin'

I'm not sure if this is off topic or not... but since hearing about the music industry the other day I was in the mood to hear something that was NOT mass produced. So, I decided to listen to some Bob Dylan. I just have to say how much I love "Times They Are A Changin' ." Of course, I hate to narrow anything down to favorites, but if I had to, this would definitely make top five. As you listen you return to a time before crappy pop rock took over the top 40 charts, a time where people actually heard music, good music.

This song was released in 1964 and was an original composition by Dylan. He meant it to be a song with purpose. He felt that "times are a changin' " is more than just a statement, but that it portrays a feeling along with it.

The lyrics he wrote over forty years ago still hold true today. Our society and culture is getting faster day by day. The only way to survive is to change along with society. It seems that there is no way to return to the time before we seemingly were drowned by media of all types.
Not only does Dylan make the statement that society will continue to change, but he calls for political as well as written reform. This is such a strict contrast to what is within song lyrics today. What current top 40 hit even attempts to go near that issue? Most popular songs nowadays are suggestive of sexual acts or telling of some teenage love affair.

It seems like what our youth listens to lacks any sort of meaning whatsoever. Perhaps that is what is plaguing them. We must put some thought and originality into what we listen to, instead of just aiming at what will sell.

1 comment:

  1. The subject is interesting one to blog about. I agree that Bob Dylan was calling for change, but I think that music of today should not just be judged by the Top 40 hits because there is vast amounts of music that stays below the radar so to speak. I believe there is music calling for change, but society has diversified in different ways from the past. There are more artists in absolute numbers, then in the past, so the chance that an artist is just trying to make money and not put meaning into their music is higher. I do believe though that it is extremely tough to find an artist that truly puts meaning into their work, but some current examples are U2 and Wyclef Jean.

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