Dylan released nearly all of his protest songs during his early period, while purely a folk artist. His greatest war protest songs come from his second and third albums, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, and The Times They Are A-Changin', respectively. From those two albums come such songs as "Blowin' in the Wind," "Masters of War," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," Talking World War III Blues," and "With God on Our Side."
With such lyrics as: "You that never done nothin'/ But build to destroy/ You play with my world/ Like it's your little toy/ You put a gun in my hand/ And you hide from my eyes/ And you turn and run farther/ When the fast bullets fly." (Masters of War), Dylan's songs expressed his feelings about war and his anger at politicians who quickly throw men into battle. He used lyrical and vocal manners that ranged from cynical and sarcastic, as in "Masters of War," to sorrowful and helpless, as in "Blowin' in the Wind." Some of his protests were direct and aimed directly at "Masters of War," and leaders of nations, while others, such as "Talking World War III Blues," convey his message via a story narrated in the first person; still others use varied other means.
"With God On Our Side"points out that America thinks it has God on it's side because it has won war after war, beginning with the defeat of the Indians, followed by other wars including both World Wars, the cold war, and then linking to the threat of a nuclear war. After talking about American arrogance, Dylan cynically asks whether "Judas Iscariot had God on his side," (With God On Our Side) thus linking America to Jesus' betrayer.
His "A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall," regarding the nuclear threat, was sung in countless locations on the night of the Cuban Missile Crisis (No Direction Home). The song describes the world as a dangerous, dark and terrifying place, seemingly after a nuclear war. Then, having described the condition of the world, the speaker asks his, "Blue eyed son ... (his) darling young one," what he or she will do about this horrible world, thereby sending the challenge into the hands of the young such as himself to stop the people of the world from destroying themselves.
In addition to war protest songs, Dylan wrote many songs protesting racism and racist crimes. From his early "Oxford Town," from Freewheelin', to "Hurricane," written much later, in the 70s, Dylan attacks racism through his music. He retells the stories of Hattie Carroll (in "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll") and of Ruben Carter (in "Hurricane") with his idea of the cases in the songs as well. He talks about racism in a more general sense in "Oxford Town," singing "He come in to the door, he couldn't get in/ All because of the color of his skin." (Oxford Town)
"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,"from The Times They Are A-Changin' tells the story of a black kitchen maid who was killed at a social ball in Baltimore, by a white man "with a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger," ("The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll"). William Zantzinger was a tobacco plantation owner in Maryland, who in 1963 killed his servant, and was sentenced to six months in a local prison for the murder. Very subtly, Dylan makes his point, his quiet outcry against racism, and this unjust sentence.
"Hurricane" tells the story of Ruben Carter, a black middleweight boxer who, in 1967, was sent to jail for 19 years on charges of triple murder. After 19 years, the courts finally admitted they were wrong. Dylan shouts in anger about the unjust government treatment of the case, as representative of a larger problem of racism. He asks, "How can the life of such a man, be in the palm of some fool's hand," (Hurricane) wondering how this grave injustice could have happened.
As proof that others shared Dylan's feelings about what he wrote, his songs began to be covered by numerous artists of various genres (Erelwine). His "Blowin' In the Wind" was covered by over a dozen bands, and made famous by Peter, Paul, and Mary's rendition. Joan Baez liked his music so much that she not only began to do covers of his songs, but she also got to know him, and the two entered a romantic relationship while they made music with one another.
Dylan performed at countless shows and festivals. He preformed for everyone from politicians in Washington to poor African-Americans in rural areas of the country. He reached out to millions on the radio.
Bob Dylan put his thoughts into words and protested the two most important issues to change at the time, war and racism.