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BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

Dylan's song "With God on Our Side" is worth the entire album:

Oh my name it is nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.

[Fast Forward]

In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.

So now as I'm leavin'
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin'
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.

And what else is on this early '60s album that leaves your soul yearning for justice and indignation?

How about "The Times They are A-Changin," "Only a Pawn in Their Game," "The Loneseome Death of Hattie Farrell," "North Country Blues," and "When the Ship Comes in," among others.

Overtime, for better or worse, Dylan changed. He never stopped evolving and producing great music.

But his early years were in tune with the promise and failed promises of America that characterized the Civil Rights and pre-anti Vietnam War era.

It was when America began to question its soul, and the Neo-Cons have never stopped cursing or trying to erase that period from U.S. history.

Dylan gave a voice to those who yearned, sometimes in despair, for peace and justice.

One only need listen to "The Times They Are A-Changin'" to feel again what it was like to be part of a movement that was trying to reclaim the best of the American soul -- and to realize how far our ship of state has steered in the opposite direction since then.

Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, was a child of the Midwest. Born of a Jewish family in Hibbing, Minnesota, at the edge of the iron range, he was, in his early years, a populist poet, who stirred us to do right by ourselves and out nation.

For those who believe that the struggle toward equality, compassion and grace must continue, Dylan will rekindle your commitment.

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS