Bob Dylan's Influence during the Civil Rights Movements

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Recommended: Protest music and its impact on racial issues

Music has been around since the very beginning of time. The human body flows in a rhythmic syncopation. Music is used to change one’s mood and to inspire those who open their minds. It has the potential to cure diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. Humans, of every culture and society, function with a type of rhythmic music. As humans, we are hard wired to respond to music (Mannes). The human brain responds to music in such a way that the brain becomes more open to new rhythms, ideas, and values. Music has the power to take over the human body. This makes it easier to overcome conflict and change the ideals of somebody while using music (The Power of Music).

During the Civil Rights Movement, Bob Dylan used his talent of music as his tool to help the movement sweep through the nation. Dylan had very big ambitions for not only his life alone, but for the world. Dylan had a massive influence on people’s minds, hearts, and souls. Dylan had a message to share. He was looking for a change, and it would come along if he had anything to do with it.

Robert Allen Zimmerman, A.K.A. Bob Dylan, was born on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Mississippi to Abram and Beatty Zimmerman. At a young age it became very apparent that Dylan had an amazing musical gifted. By the age of nineteen Dylan could play the harmonica, piano, and guitar. While growing up, his friends and siblings would have classified Dylan as a “loner”. Though Dylan kept to his-self as a child, he had very big dreams and ambitions. Dylan longed to be more successful than one of his heroes, Elvis Presley. In a way Dylan achieved his goal. He became iconic. Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard were just some of the artists who gave Dylan his drive. He would later go on to schoo...

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...y thank him for opening our eyes to see a more free world.

Works Cited

Burch, Sharon. Longwood Sites. Jan 2013. 16 April 2014 .
Mannes, Elena. "www.npr.org/2011/06/01/136859090/the-power-of-music-to-affect-the-brain." Mannes, Elena. The Power of Music to Affect the Brain. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.
Marinucci, Steve. Examiner.Com. 24 May 2011. 24 April 2014 .
Publishers, EBSCO. ESBCO Biography. 20 June 2013. 29 April 2014 .
Rioburg, Keith. Proquest - SIRS. 7 April 2011. 29 April 2014 .
"The Power of Music." Oxford Journals - The Journal of Neurology (2006).

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