Two Cold War Songs by Bob Dylan

4/27/2020

Target Timeline: Tuesday 5.5
"Masters of War" and "Talkin' WWII Blues"

A) How are these two Bob Dylan songs thematically similar?
B) How are they different?
C) How has the tone changed?
D) How have historical events influenced these two tracks recorded just a few years apart?

Dario Calata

4/28/2020 01:51:01 pm

1) Bob Dylan's songs are thematically similar because they talked about war. You can see from the title of these songs that right away, "Masters of War" and " Talkin' WWIIl Blues," generally talk about Nations conflicts.
2) Even though these two song talk about similar theme, the approach that this artist has is in two different perspectives. The song, "Masters of War," talks about present time reality, something that is happening in from of his eyes, meanwhile the song "Talkin' WWIII Blues" describes what he saw in a dream that could possibly happen in the near future.
3) In these two songs the tone is different. "Master of War," maintain the same rhythm, it has high notes that decreases into low notes, and has only the guitar and vocals.The intensity of the song goes all the way to the end and stops abruptly, leaving you in absolute silence. You can also feel the pain in the voice of Bob Dylan. I think this is similar to a war, is loud , stop abruptly, and leaves you in absolute silence when everyone's dead. "Talkin' WWIII Blues," is a song that has a friendly approach. You can hear the singer's vocals full of hope partnered with the Harmonica and Banjo, it tells the story of a man, who had a dream that sounds like a nightmare that he shares with his doctor which he replied that he had the same dream. The Harmonica slowly decreases as the song finishes to symbolizes the end of a peaceful day. I think this song show us the fear that everybody has to encounter a World War, and the hope inside everyone that it will never happen.
4) The songs were influenced by major world events that happened around him and affected him personally. “Talkin’ WWIII blues,” was made in 1960, it reflects the fears that he sense everyone has. This song prophesies the reality of the next song, “Masters of War,” that was later made in 1962. Bob Dylan, in this song, explains what he begins to see in his dreams become reality. We need to remember that the Cold War was happening in this period. The Cuban Missiles Crisis, when the Soviet Union began installing missile launch camps in Cuba. The Vietnam War, when the southern Vietnamese were helped by the U.S. and the Northern Vietnamese were helped by the Soviet Union in their civil war. The Berlin Wall, which was constructed to separate the communist side from the Non-communist side. This along with the Economic, Social, and Political struggles that every country had when they are at war helps Bob Dylan to create these two unbelievable songs.

Sherer

4/29/2020 10:48:03 am

This was a pleasure to read Dario! well done. "Half of the people can be part right all of the time, Some of the people can be all right part of the time, But all of the people can’t be all right all of the time,
I think Abraham Lincoln said that. I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours, I said that.” - Bobby

I said that

Dillen Holbo

5/1/2020 02:10:42 pm

1) Both of the songs are about war and it’s effects, mostly negative effects.
2) They are different because Masters of War is about wars that have already happened, while Talkin World War 3 Blues is about a dream of being in World War 3, which has not happened. Masters of War also talks about the effects that are typically seen of war, while TWW3B suggests possible effects or events that could happen if World War3 were to happen.
3) In Masters of War, the tone is very firm and sad. Meanwhile, TWW3B, sounds much happier, despite being about war. TWW3B also has an element of sounding more like a story rather than a song.
4) The historical events that have influenced the 2 tracks are responsible for the tones in the songs. Dario mentions that the fears mentioned in TWW3B began happening and becoming a reality around the time of Masters of War being written, which would explain the much darker, maybe even disappointed tone seen in Masters of a War. It also influenced the messages of a dream versus the messages of real wars taking place, as around the time of TWW3B, the US could see a war forming in the future, but that War has already started and become a reality by the time of Masters of War.

Sherer

5/4/2020 01:02:59 pm

Musically, "talking blues" was Bob's way of recreating the traditional ballad format of his idol, the one and only Woody Guthrie.

keiko romero

5/4/2020 10:30:21 am

1. These two songs are thematically similar as they both talk about war.
2. The songs are different because Masters of War is about a war or wars that have already happened. Dylan sings about a past event in this song while he sings about a dream he had in which he “saw” World War III in Talkin’ World War III Blues. He also speaks on what could happen if the third world war were to happen in Talkin’ World War III Blues.
3. The tone is different between the two songs because Masters of War is obviously sad and has a minor key and Dylan’s voice really adds to the vibe I think he’s going for which is to make the audience feel like they went through the war even if they weren’t alive (I could be totally wrong though). On the other hand, Talkin’ World War III Blues uses juxtaposition with the major key and somewhat gloomy lyrics and is told through a series of events that he experienced in his dream.
4. I don’t know exactly when these songs were written so my answer could be totally wrong but these were both released on the same album in 1963. Through my research, the website I was on told me that Masters of War was about the Vietnam War which was going on in 1963 so that was probably a factor that helped influence Masters of War. Talkin’ World War III Blues was probably just about Dylan’s fear and worries for the future considering the current situations and events that were happening at this time.

Sherer

5/4/2020 01:04:02 pm

Many artist find that when touching sensitive subjects, you know, like the end of the world!, humor is a wonderful medium. Makes a thing to scary to talk about easier to talk about.

Jose Bazaldua

5/5/2020 11:24:06 am

A) Both songs are about the war, The things that happened, happen, and could happen in a war and the fear that people have for wars.
B) “Master of the war” is about the wars that already happened, talks about the fear that cause to people and that master of war only causes destruction and uses the world as a toy. “Talkin’ wwiii blues” is about the fear that people have of the wars and the fear that they have of a new war start.
C) The tone is very different on the two songs, in the “Talkin’ wwiii blues” the tone is scary and fearful because it says that everyone have that dream of the wwiii. In the “Master of the war” theno is horrible and unforgivable because it says that the master of the war is guilty of all the destruction and deaths that causes the wars.
D) The historical events influenced those songs in that those songs are the people thoughts in that time, the songs explains what people think about the wars and shows the fear that they have for a future war. Is a way to show or translate the point of view of the citizens. I say translate because the song is a way to understand more easily, if they made a song of it then is a big deal.

Sherer

5/7/2020 06:55:31 am

Once again, some of your best work is coming during school closure; great comments.

Mariela

5/5/2020 07:19:55 pm

A) Both of the songs a thematically similar because the main subject is war.
B) They are different because in the song ‘masters of war’, Bob Dylan sings and gives visual descriptions as if it were happening right in front of him. Where as in “talkin WW3 blues” the song is about a dream he had of a war that hasn’t happened.
C) In “masters of war”, i can hear the hurt in his tone, almost like he has hate for people he’s referring to. In “talkin WW3 blues” Dylan has a more settle but upbeat kind of tone. As he talks about his WW3 dream in comedic way.
D) The track “Masters of war” seemed like it was happening around the Cold War time, it was released after “Talkin WW3 blues”. After “Talkin WW3 blues” came out it could have influenced people’s thoughts and fears about future war.

Sherer

5/7/2020 06:54:46 am

This is some nice work Mariela, you are right on.

Marisol Murillo

5/6/2020 05:53:12 pm

A) These two Bob Dylan songs are thematically similar because they are both about the war and how the war affects them in negative ways.
B) In the song “Masters of War” he is talking about how the war has already affected people and how the government and other people in charge of wars just sit back and watch as people lose their live and get put in danger. He shows how serious the problems are while in the song “Talkin' WWII Blues” he talks about a dream he had and what could happen in the future after the war.
C) Even though both songs are about the war and negative things that are happening/ could happen as a result, they both have very different tones. In the song “Masters of War” the tone is more serious and sad, he is talking in a melancholy tone. In the song “Talkin' WWII Blues” the tone is more upbeat and not very sad, it seems like he’s trying to put some jokes in there and make it a happy tone to make it seem like it’s all okay and for people to not get worried.
D) The historical events influenced these two tracks because it was how the wars affected the people. In “Masters of War” it was about how the war put so many lives in danger and how tuff the times were and in “Talkin' WWII Blues” is was about how they thought the war was going to affect them and the fears people had at the time.

Sherer

5/7/2020 06:56:39 am

Have to say, these are some pretty good answers Marisol. Nice job.

Natalie Sepulveda

5/7/2020 12:43:53 pm

A) these two songs are both similar in the way that they both talk about war and the effects it had on people and how they coped with it.
B) they are different because of the tone and the message they give off. ‘masters of war’ is more negative and ‘talkin WWII blues’ is more upbeat and in a way trying to rationalize or make it seem as though the bad that’s going on isn’t as bad as they think. another way they are different is that in “masters of war” he is speaking as if everything is happening in the moment and he’s sure of what’s going on and what’s happened while in “talkin WWII blues” he sounds unsure and is confused and is claiming he had a dream. in ‘masters of war’ Bob Dylan also sounds like he’s putting the blame on someone for the war.
C) the tones in the songs changed from ‘masters of war’ being negative , sad and gloomy to ‘talkin’ WWII blues’ being upbeat and trying to make a negative situation positive with a song.
D) the historical events influenced these songs because Bob Dylan used what was going on and what was around him to write the songs and how the war effected everyone.

Jolene

5/7/2020 03:05:12 pm

A) Both of Bobs Dylan songs are similar because they both are about the same topic which is war. I think they both could be used to analyze any war.
B) They are different in showing the fears people have because of wars. "Masters of Wars" is fear of all the things that are happening especially to innocent people during the war. Its also about how peoples lives are affected and in danger while the government just sits back. While "Talkin WWII Blues" is fears on a new war starting and what will happen. The fear of being alone and not knowing who to trust. As it says " A shotgun fired, and away I ran I don't blame him too much though, he didn't know me."
C) "Master of War" tone is serious and upsetting because it gives off the feeling of what can you do, coming off as hopeless. In "Talkin WWII Blues" is a dream, so to me it comes off as more of a story than a song. Even though it is an upsetting topic he tells it more in an upbeat way maybe because sometimes its easier to say hard things in that way.
D) Historical events influenced these two tracks because it made the meaning deeper as some people were experiencing some of those awful things like said in the songs. The fact that "Masters of Wars" was released after "Talkin WWII Blues" may have impacted peoples fears and thoughts.

Ivan Mayorga

5/10/2020 11:59:35 am

A) Master of Wars” and “Talkin WWll Blues” are both thematically similar as the song's themes are about war.
B) Both these “songs are different because “Master of Wars” is about past wars and how it affected the people of that time period, while “Talkin WWll Blues” occurs in a dream about being in world war lll and the possible outcomes if world war lll would have occurred.
C) The tones for both songs are different in the song “Master of Wars” the tone is saddened and frustrated that wars destroy many things and kill many innocent people. In the song the narrator is criticizing a person or persons for causing a meaningless war as they sit and watch many innocent people die “Then you sit back and watch when the death counts get higher you hide in your mansion.” In the song “Talkin WWll Blues” the tone is less serious and the beat of the song is more cheerful than “Master of Wars”.
D) Historical events influenced “Masters of Wars” because it's about how the war affected the people and what occured at the time. In “Talkin WWll Blues” historical events influenced the song by showing how people felt about the war and what they felt if more wars would occur.

John coker

5/12/2020 05:28:57 pm

1. Masters of war and Talking World War 3 blues are thematically similar because they both included similar aspects or perceives upon war.
2. Talking World war 3 blues is about a person who is telling a story , from how a dream is turning into a reality, and Masters of war is based on something that had already happened.
3. Talking World War 3 Blues has a more upside part to it , while Masters of War is more serious and you could feel a bit of remorse to it.
4. These two tracks are about the same topic. But, the historic events showed what people felt and their experiences.

Two Cold War Songs by Bob Dylan

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