Bob Dylan’s “The Death of Emmett Till” – Ethos

Bob Dylan is a folk rock singer-songwriter. He began performing folk and country songs in college and by 1961 Dylan had signed his first recording contract. While attending college, he began performing folk and country songs, taking the name "Bob Dylan." His release in 1963 “The Freewheelin” brought upon rise to fame as the most “original and poetic voices in history of American popular music.” His preceding albums asserted Dylan as the “definitive songwriter of the 60s protest movement.” Dylan achieved extreme fame playing around 200 concerts annually. He continued to reinvent himself in different way through music by recording songs with a half-acoustic and half electric tunes. “With his unmistakable voice and unforgettable lyrics, Dylan brought the worlds of music and literature together as no one else had.” In 1989 Dylan was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Bruce Springsteen quoted saying, "Bob freed the mind the way Elvis freed the body ... He invented a new way a pop singer could sound, broke through the limitations of what a recording artist could achieve, and changed the face of rock and roll forever." In 1997 he became the first rock star to receive Kennedy Center Honors award which is  considered the nation's highest award for artistic excellence. He also went on to win many grammys. During the height of the protest music movement Bob Dylan created the song “The Death of Emmett Till” surrounded around the event of a young black boy unjustified death. The song describes the horrible events that occurred leading to Emmett Till’s death and comments on the disturbing injustices that occurred in the 1960s society. The main message of his song is that the people in the end could change their society and be the hope in the world. Bob Dylan has enormous credibility as an artist and wrote wonderful ground breaking pieces. He also obtains assertiveness about the events of the 1960s as it occurred during his time period.

 - Gabriella Boozer