You got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend

I am currently watching Scorsese's epic Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home. While I certainly like Dylan I listen primarily at the hits rather than the album level. As such, the furor that greeted his switch from acoustic to electric was a mystery to me. The movie makes it clear, that it was not the mode that mattered but Dylan's underlying switch in subject matter.

Dylan rose to prominence in part because the counterculture saw their viewpoints presented perfectly in songs like A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall and Blowin in the Wind. When Dylan decided to go in a different direction but stayed acoustic, they were quiescent, but people went crazy when he switched to electric. The shows feature booing and people yelling "unplug it Bobby!"

Pete Seeger explained the problem was that they couldn't hear the words. For the politically motivated ( or to use their word, topical) folk movement, words were everything. Its fascinating to watch the disconnect of the people who wanted Dylan to be something he clearly wasn't. I don't think there is an example in the post-60s era. If Cobain had gone on and made an acoustic record as he planned, I can't see the grunge types rending their flannels.

Here are a few Dylan covers for your morning:
Neil Young - Blowing in the Wind.
The Turtles - It Ain't Me Babe.
Rolling Stones - Like a Rolling Stone.