 Genius Meanings
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Bob Dylan – Oxford Town
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The song was composed in response to an open invitation from Broadside magazine for songs about one of the top news events of 1962: the enrollment of a black student, James
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Crooked Still – Oxford Town / Cumberland Gap
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Oxford town oxford town everybody's got their heads bowed down / Sun don't shine above the ground ain't a goin down to oxford town / He went down to oxford town guns and clubs
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Bob Dylan – Masters of War
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One of Dylan’s fiercest songs, “Masters of War” protests not only the Vietnam war but war in general. It demonstrates the real nature of war—that the “masters” who initiate and
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Bob Dylan – Blowin' in the Wind
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“Blowin' in the Wind” is Bob Dylan’s first single of his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
In this song, Dylan poses a list of hypothetical questions; questions people may
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Bob Dylan – Talkin' World War III Blues
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“Talkin' World War III Blues” tackles the absurdity of the anti-Communist hysteria and apocalyptic angst that characterized American culture during the Cold War.
In 1963, the year
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Bob Dylan – Corrina, Corrina
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“Corrina, Corrina” was recorded by the Mississippi Sheiks, and by their leader Bo Carter in 1928.
Dylan’s version borrows phrases from a few Robert Johnson songs: “Stones In My
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Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan's Blues
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[Intro] / Unlike most of the songs nowadays that have been written up in Tin Pan Alley, that's where most of the folk songs come from nowadays, this, this is a song, this wasn't
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Bob Dylan – Hard Times in New York Town (Witmark Demo - 1962)
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[Verse 1] / Come you ladies and you gentlemen, a-listen to my song / Sing it to you right, but you might think it’s wrong / Just a little glimpse of a story I’ll tell / ’Bout an
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Bob Dylan – Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
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When Dylan performed “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” for the first time at the Gaslight Cafe in October 1962, Suze Rotolo – his girlfriend at the time – had already been taking
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Bob Dylan – Girl from the North Country
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“Girl From The North Country” shows the influence of traditional English folk music, particularly Martin Carthy’s arrangement of “Scarborough Fair”. It is also almost identical to
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Bob Dylan – Bound to Lose, Bound to Win
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Well, I'm bound to lose, bound to win / Bound to walk this road again / Bound to lose, bound to win / Bound to walkin' this road again / I'm just one of those ramblin' men
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Bob Dylan – Hero Blues
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[Verse 1] / Yes, the gal I got / I swear she’s the screaming end / She wants me to be a hero / So she can tell all her friends / [Verse 2] / Well, she begged, she cried / She
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Bob Dylan – Ballad for a Friend (Witmark Demo - 1962)
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[Verse 1] / Sad I’m a-sittin’ on the railroad track / Watching’ that old smokestack / Train is a-leavin’ but it won’t be back / [Verse 2] / Years ago we hang around / Watching
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Bob Dylan – Poor Boy Blues (Witmark Demo - 1962)
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[Verse 1] / Mm, tell mama / Where’d ya sleep last night? / Cain’t ya hear me crying? / Hm, hm, hm / [Verse 2] / Hey, tell me baby / What’s the matter here? / Cain’t ya hear me
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Bob Dylan – A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
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Bob Dylan wrote “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” – one of his greatest compositions – during the summer of 1962. Although it is often linked with the Cuban Missile Crisis, Dylan
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Genius Lists – Songs of Protest and Politics
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Political and protest songs have a long history in music, and some of them are great music as well as political commentary or plea for social change.
This list covers all music
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Bob Dylan – I Shall Be Free
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A rewrite of Lead Belly’s “We Shall Be Free”, also performed by Dylan’s idol and major influence Woody Guthrie from which Dylan draws the song’s main melody.
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Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan's Dream
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“Bob Dylan’s Dream” gets its melody from “Lady Franklin’s Lament”, a traditional folk ballad about the wife of an Arctic explorer named John Franklin who went missing.
While Dylan
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Bob Dylan – The Death of Emmett Till (Witmark Demo - 1962)
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Often called The Ballad of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan, this song tells a story about Emmett Louis Till, a boy who was beaten and killed for allegedly flirting with a white woman in
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Bob Dylan – Farewell
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A demo recorded by Dylan for M. Witmark and Sons in 1963. It’s a version of the traditional folk song “Fare Thee Well” (not to be confused with “Dink’s Song”, which Dylan also
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Bob Dylan – Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
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“Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance” is one of two songs on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan that was not written by Dylan himself, with the other being Corrina, Corrina.
“Honey” was
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Bob Dylan – Long Time Gone
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[Verse 1] / My parents raised me tenderly / I was their only son / My mind got mixed with rambling / When I was all so young / And I left my home the first time / When I was twelve
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Bob Dylan – All Over You
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[Verse 1] / Well, if I had to do it all over again / Babe, I’d do it all over you / And if I had to wait for ten thousand years / Babe, I’d even do that too / Well, a dog’s got his
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Bob Dylan – Tomorrow Is a Long Time (Witmark Demo - 1962)
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[Verse 1] / If today was not a crooked highway / If tonight I could finally stand tall / If tomorrow wasn’t such a long time / Then lonesome would mean nothing to me at all / Yes
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Bob Dylan – Down the Highway
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[Verse 1] / Well, I’m walking down the highway / With my suitcase in my hand / Yes, I’m walking down the highway / With my suitcase in my hand / Lord, I really miss my baby / She’s
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Bob Dylan – Guess I’m Doing Fine (Witmark Demo - 1964)
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[Verse 1] / Well, I ain’t got my childhood / Or friends I once did know / No, I ain’t got my childhood / Or friends I once did know / But I still got my voice left / I can take it
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Bob Dylan – John Brown
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[Verse 1] / John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore / His mama sure was proud of him! / He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all / His mama’s face broke out
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Bob Dylan – Long Ago, Far Away
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[Verse 1] / To preach of peace and brotherhood / Oh, what might be the cost! / A man he did it long ago / And they hung him on a cross / Long ago, far away / Those things don’t
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Bob Dylan – I’d Hate to Be You on That Dreadful Day
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[Verse 1] / Well, your clock is gonna stop / At Saint Peter’s gate / Ya gonna ask him what time it is / He’s gonna say, “It’s too late” / Hey, hey! / I’d sure hate to be you / On
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Judy Collins – Bob Dylan's Dream
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While riding on a train goin' west / I fell asleep for to take my rest / I dreamed a dream that made me sad / Concerning myself and the first few friends I've had / With half-damp
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Genius Users (Ft. jayclay & Seaeffess) – User Interview: Jayclay
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Despite being only able to communicate via carrier pigeon and tin-can telephones, seaeffess interviews the jayclay to Genius-wide acclaim. Everyone is happy and the world is better
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Sting – Girl from the North Country
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Cover of “Girl From The North Country” which was written in 1963 by Bob Dylan and was released on the second track of his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
Musically, this
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