Interview with Music Legend Bob Dylan

Recently I've had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Dylan, an American singer-songwriter. Dylan is known as one of the best-selling artists of all time and has received numerous awards throughout the years.

Tyler: So we'll go ahead and jump right in. I know our readers sure have a lot of questions about you and the early years of your career. In the early years of your career you were known for writing a lot of protest songs. A famous example of this is the song "Blowin' in the Wind" which was released in 1963. What message were you trying to send with this song?

Bob:  Well as you know this was around the time of the Vietnam War. Throughout the country boys were getting shipped off against their will to fight in a war that most people thought we shouldn't be involved in. The loss of American lives was devastating and I wrote this song to send the message asking "How many more need to die before you realize your mistake?".

Tyler: This song also went on to become an anthem for the African American civil rights movement. From what I understand you were a quite prominent figure in this movement, am I right?

Bob: Absolutely. I am a strong believer in the idea that music holds a certain power and that this power can be used to create change in the world. I remember performing at the Freedom March in Washington D.C. , when Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech that went down in history. The emotion that could be felt when we sang these songs demanding change was just overwhelming. After that I went on to perform at more protests and to release more songs that shared the struggles of the civil rights movement.

Tyler: Besides your performance at the Freedom March, do you have any other memorable performances or experiences you would like to share with us?

Bob: Now that you mention it I think my performance at Greenwood, Mississippi was a very memorable experience for me. It wasn't some huge concert with thousands of people, just a small voter registration rally. I was playing to only maybe 300 African Americans. No one special, just a bunch of farmers but I think that's what really made it stand out to me. I decided to sing one of the songs I had recently wrote called "Only a Pawn in Their Game". This song held a lot of meaning to not only me but the audience as well. I wrote this song about Medgar Evans, a civil rights leader who had been killed just a few weeks before. When Evans was killed I just knew I had to write about it. Like I said before, I firmly believe in the idea that music can inspire change. At the time I thought that if I wrote enough songs and sang at enough rallies that my music could make a difference.

Tyler: Well do you think that your music did make a difference?

Bob: I'm not sure that I could contribute the success of the civil rights movements to my songs but I at least hope that I was able to contribute in some small way. I think that by bringing these issues to light I was able to spread awareness and maybe even change some people's way of thinking.

Tyler: Well thank you so much for coming and talking with us!