8. With God On Our Side - The Times They Are A-Changin (1964)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAgAvnvXF9U An extension of the staunch anti-imperialist ideas addressed on Masters of War, With God On Our Side is a concise, and often hard-to-swallow, history of American obsession with violence. Beginning with the European colonialists slaughter of the savages as they looked to impose their own image onto the new world and ending with the acknowledgement of a new, potentially deadly enemy in the Russians, Dylans panoramic analysis of such atrocities is united by one common theme; the idea that all can be justified if carried out in the name of an omnipotent, rational God. This idea was the basis for the Christianising of the savages in the 17th century and remained during all subsequent conquests and conflicts. And if the criticism of the gifting of moral responsibility to a constructed higher power wasnt enough, Dylan is also quick to condemn the American policy of exchanging oppositional bedfellows so quickly after each war. An iconoclastic song that attacked the common persons faith in the word of the divine and revealed the extent to which this had been exploited by those in authority, Dylan ends the song with the line If Gods on our side, hell stop the next war, knowing full well that Gods actions are merely the products of humanitys desires. And a bloodthirsty bunch of humans at that. Sadly, American involvement in Vietnam began soon after. Fifty years on, nothings changed.
Dan Owens
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A 22 year old English Literature graduate from Birmingham. I am passionate about music, literature and football, in particular, my beloved Aston Villa. Lover of words and consumer of art, music is the very air that I breathe.
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