Enjoyed! Though Bob Dylan in the 60's used to buy inexpensive harmonicas for $1 each, play them for one session, and toss them. So, I highly doubt you ever heard him on a "reedy old harmonica." The full message of most of these singers was essentially "not this [x] but this [y]." Capturing the portion of their songs that were "not this [x]" (protest songs) is a part of their message, but the messages are incomplete without the other. For instance, between "Blowin' in the Wind" and "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" Dylan wrote "Corina, Corina" and "Tomorrow is a Long Time." He wasn't just saying what was obviously wrong in the world but also exploring/searching how to make it right, at least for himself. Then between "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" and "The Times They are a-Changin'" Dylan writes four important songs that show his evolution in the search for how to make it right. Three of them, "Don't Think Twice It's Alright," "Girl from North County," and "Boots of Spanish Leather" express an incompleteness, separation and betrayal in his attempts to find how to make it right in a loving relationship, while the fourth, "When the Ship Comes In" expresses a continuing boundless optimism that answer of how to make things right is out there for all of us and we will find it. Then between "The Times They are a-Changin'" and "Chimes of Freedom" Dylan writes "One Too Many Mornings" where he is still reflecting on his failure to find his answer in a loving relationship but beginning to feel that maybe it is the search itself for something better that is the answer of how to make things better. And, immediately after "Chimes of Freedom" Dylan writes "Mr. Tambourine Man" where he finally and unreservedly sees that answer of how to make things better in the search itself. Then he writes "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" where he's able to laugh at the ridiculousness of many romantic relationships and even the title ("I Don't Believe You") shows him moving far from his earlier optimistic view of what a loving relationship could provide. And so on and so on. The point is that this is an overall search for meaning, a philosophical interaction with life itself, and to take only a few of his song where he says "this isn't right in the world" is not getting past the surface of that philosophy. Yet, admittedly, for many people that's about all they know of Dylan. And these are very good songs. So, I'm glad some light is being thrown their way. But I will add that if these songs captivate you, open the book and read the full story.
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