10 Most Underrated Bob Dylan Songs
8. Oxford Town
Dylan first found fame as a folk troubadour, and protest music was a large part of his act. His best known political/sociological songs are key to the Dylan canon - “Blowing In The Wind”, “The Times They Are a-Changing” et al.
Less well celebrated but equally powerful is “Oxford Town” from his sophomore Freewheeling album. Written in 1962, the tune concerns a riot that followed the enrollment of a black student in a Mississippi university.
Dylan would write searing songs about racism in the years to come but few more efficient than this. In under two minutes he sketches out the story without ever getting explicit, delivered in a world weary tone that conveys his lack of surprise that a young man would be persecuted so in 20th century America.
It’s sparse acoustic Dylan at his best, with the technically limited singer showing off impressive range.