Cultural Icons: Bob Dylan & Allen Ginsberg

Bob Dylan’s music is reflective of political and cultural notions throughout the 1960’s to present day. Zit is undeniable that Dylan himself was influenced both in thought and in art by Allen Ginsberg and the rest of the beat generation. Dylan’s music is very similar to the work of Ginsberg in it’s themes and the feeling is mutual as Ginsberg himself has noted that Dylan’s music not only reflects his sentiments but inspires him as much as he inspired Dylan.
An obvious comparison to Dylan and Ginsberg are the political influences that flowed from Ginsberg. Take for instance Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. This song is a political protest ot nuclear war and the reaction to the Cold War. On the other end Allen Ginsberg’s poem talk a lot about war morals and the cold war itself. For example, in Dylan’s song he says “I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken, I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,” this line, amongst others, is a blatant response to those in power who are quicker to jump towards violence than reasoning (Dylan). To show where this influence could have stemmed from, we can look at Ginsberg’s “America” where he says “America, when will we end the human war? Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb” (Ginsberg) Both of these songs reflect the violent tendencies of America. Looking at examples directly from “Howl,” Ginsberg says in the opening lines “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix” (Ginsberg). This line seems to reference the “greatest minds of my generation” as government officials, and these ideas are mirrored in Dylan’s songs like “The Times They Are A-Changing” when Dylan says “Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call, don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall,” which mirrors similar intents of talking directly to those in power (Dylan).
This influence is not lost on Ginsberg either, he said once about Dylan “…It was the "Masters of War," I think, and ["A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"]. And I was really amazed. It seemed to me that the torch had been passed, from Kerouac or from the beat genius on to another generation completely, who had taken it, and he'd taken it and made something completely original out of it, and that life was in good hands. I remember bursting into tears” (Ginsberg). Ginsberg’s recognition of Dylan embracing the culture that authors like himself and Kerouac built is quite evident. Not only does Ginsberg realize it but there seems to be a mutual respect between the two men.
It is safe to say that Bob Dylan’s entire career was heavily influenced by Allen Ginsberg and the rest of the Beats Generation. We can compare Ginsberg’s “Howl” to Dylan’s entire discography and see similarities in thought about culture and politics. And in the end, as much as Ginsberg influenced Dylan it becomes obvious that Bob Dylan did the same for Allen Ginsberg.
 






Dylan, Bob “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Columbia Recors, 1963.
Dylan, Bob “The Times They Are a Changing,” The Times They Are a Changing. Columbia Records, 1964. Tom Wilson
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl. City Light Books, San Francisco, CA. 1956
Zuckerman, Matthew. “If There's An Original Thought Out There, I Could Use It Right Now: The Folk Roots of Bob Dylan.” Dylan Influences. http://expectingrain.com/dok/div/influences.html. 20 February 1997.