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  • Essay / Bob Dylan's influence on folk music

    Many people know about Bob Dylan and his influence on folk music, but some are unaware of how his song Oxford Town represents trends in folk music in the 1960s These trends discussed will be based on the lyrics of the song, the instrumentation included in the music, the repetition in the song, and the influence of Woody Guthrie in the song, including the message, instrumentation, and tempo. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The lyrics of this song represent trends in folk music in many ways. The lyrics of a folk song should tell some kind of story. Stories written in folk music talk about social issues, which tend to be interpreted broadly and have many meanings. This song in particular tells the story of James Meredith who was in fact the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. This story relates to the 1960s because that is when the civil rights movement was developing. Instruments used in folk music are generally acoustic instruments. The harmonica and guitar were used in Oxford Town. The use of repetition in the song helps paint the picture of what is being said. Folk music's repetition trends in the 1960s were very vague. In the song Oxford Town, the only repetition was the repetition of the word "Oxford Town", so it never really refers to Ole Miss or Meredith, meaning the words could easily apply to any racial conflict . Woody Guthrie had a huge influence on Bob Dylan. He inspired music and politics in folk music. Guthrie was one of the first musicians to create an association between left-wing politics and folk music. Bob Dylan used instruments that Woody Guthrie used, namely the harmonica and harmonica stand. Bob Dylan admired the music of Woody Guthrie and the tempo of all his music. He moved to New York to spend time with Guthrie who was dying to learn everything he knew about music. Woody Guthrie had a huge influence on Bob Dylan and provided much guidance when producing his own folk music. All of these terms help to show how Bob Dylan's Oxford Town represents trends in folk music in the 1960s. As can be seen, Bob Dylan was a central influence and representative of the development of folk music. His song Oxford Town represents the folk music trend of the 1960s in terms of lyrics, instrumentation, repetition of the song and how his influencer, Woody Guthrie, played an important role in his music..