Talking World War III Blues

Dear Blog Diary,

I’ve recently been reflecting on my past as far as the music that has shaped who I am today. I think it’s fair to say that most people think they listen to a lot of different kinds of music. What that usually ends up meaning is that the person likes EDM and also country which is “super open minded.” I don’t feel that I listen to many different kinds of music. I think everyone is into everything, just some more than others.

Big pillars: James Brown, Bob Dylan, Rakim, Run DMC, Hall and Oates, Stevie Wonder.

I could really go on.

Today I want to write about Bob Dylan. The first time I had ever heard a Bob Dylan song was when I was 13 years old and it was not “Like a Rolling Stone” or “Blowin in the Wind.”

The song was “Talking World War III Blues.” Bob talks about how he had a dream about being alone after WWIII, and he goes to see a doctor about it. Most of his experiences highlight being alone, feeling alone, and how we often have this pessimistic attitude towards others revolving around fear, doom, and insignificance.

After gripping the listener with these experiences, Bob brings you back to the fact that he’s telling all of this to a therapist. The therapist tells Bob that he’s been having the same dream, but it was him (the therapist) as being alone after WWIII.

Ultimately I think the song shows clearly how we all struggle with the same things and that life is just better with people. “I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours,” as Bob finishes the song. The simple idea being that especially in despair, we have a lot more in common than we admit.

But then again, Bob Dylan would roast critics for going three dreams deep as far as the meaning of his music and maybe I’m no different. Still love that harmonica.

Cheers,

Eric