According to this article our "Magic Age" for determining music taste is between 14 and 24 years old. For me, that meant the classic rock music of the 1960's and 70s .
It's not easy for me to pick out one song from that period that changed my life. I would have a tough time just picking out one artist. Still, there is a song that rocked my world, and I think it still affects my outlook on life some 50 years later. It might be the reason I lean libertarian, and it may play a role in why I discovered bitcoin later in life.
That song is "Subterranean Homesick Blues", by Bob Dylan. I bought the (vinyl) album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits as a sophomore in high school. There were a whole bunch of songs I knew and liked on the album. But, I never heard Subterranean Homesick Blues until I put the needle into that groove.
What really struck me were the words. There were so many of them! Like @ekzyis, I love lyrics, and there was plenty to dig into on this track. Dylan has said he was influenced by scat singing when he wrote it. I sat in my room and played it over and over until I memorized every word. I still remember them perfectly.
Here they are:
Johnny’s in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I’m on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he’s got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It’s somethin’ you did
God knows when
But you’re doin’ it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin’ for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
By the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten
Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin’ that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone’s tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D.A.
Look out kid
Don’t matter what you did
Walk on your tiptoes
Don’t try “No-Doz”
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows
Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin’ to sell
Try hard, get barred
Get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail
Look out kid
You’re gonna get hit
But users, cheaters
Six-time losers
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Lookin’ for a new fool
Don’t follow leaders
Watch the parkin’ meters
Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don’t steal, don’t lift
Twenty years of schoolin’
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don’t wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don’t wanna be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don’t work
’Cause the vandals took the handles
I got the drug references right away, as all kids in my generation would. It wasn't until I was older that I picked up the likely references to Dostoevski's Notes From Underground and, more obviously, Kerouac's novel The Subterraneans. (This might interest fellow SN Kerouac fan @carlosfandango) I also embraced the obvious anti authoritarian vibe. Crooked cops, the decay of society, and the end of the Leave It To Beaver 50s American dream. Later, as a directionless college graduate, the line "Twenty years of schoolin’ and they put you on the day shift" really hit home, and was motivation to quit wasting my life.
At some point in High School my friends and I went to see D.A. Pennebaker's Bob Dylan documentary, Don't Look Back. In it, he made what might be the first music video. It's fantastic. Check out Alan Ginsburg lurking in the background. Dylan felt a strong connection to all the Beats, so who better to showcase than the author of Howl. Here it is:
I guess I have babbled long enough. I am interested to know what songs influenced fellow stackers?