Bob Dylan: The Prophet of Social Change in the 1960s

Abstract

The 1960s was a period of social change in countries around the world and in hundreds of cities in the United States. We argue that music played a rhetorical role in bringing a vast array of people together behind a wide range of issues. The music of Bob Dylan unified people together, making Dylan a kind of prophet that put into music the voice of the people involved in the social movements of the 1960s. By considering his music rhetorically, we provide insight into how music played a key role in the social movements of the 1960s.