The Electrification of Folk

Sometimes, change is hard... and it gets hard to put one foot in front of the other when you feel like there's no progress. Most people have stagnated at some point, even if it's just in their New Year's resolution to learn spanish...

¿Cómo te alpacas?... no wait, wrong animal. 

Oh! I've got it! ¿Cómo te llamas?

Sometimes, it feels like everyone is with you, but more often then not some will be with you and some against. And the funny thing is that doesn't necessarily mean that anyone is wrong... most of the time the problem is just a difference in preferences.

But, it can be comforting to remember that we're not the only ones who have difficulties...

Are you going to share a story with us about someone from the Bible who has overcome great difficulty? 

Well, no. I was actually thinking of... 

Is it about a political figure who fought against horrible tyranny? 

Not particularly... 

Will it be about someone who stood up to injustice and fought for the rights of others? 

*long pause*...Close enough! 

In the years prior to 1965, Bob Dylan was labeled as the "voice of a generation" with his acoustic folk sound and politically charged lyrics drawing people to his music.

(Side note: If I were Bob Dylan and had just been hailed by the media as the voice of my generation, I would probably think that I had finally "arrived" and now would be a good time to coast... and just make sure to keep my fans happy.)

But, when Bob Dylan was playing at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, he decided to play his show with a completely electric band after hearing some of the festival organizers bash the bands that were trying to bring an electric sound into the folk scene. His gig was sandwiched between two very traditional folk acts and his now famous performance was met by a huge amount of shouting and booing. Many people felt so betrayed and angry that they stopped being fans of Dylan.

They hated the change. They wanted the Bob Dylan they knew, they wanted him to stay acoustic and not push into anything new or different. But the great thing about Bob Dylan is that he just does what he thinks is right, whether he's popular or not, and eventually people tend to catch up with him and hail him as a visionary.

That's why people love him and are still making art to his music:

A re-made version of Dylan's cards from Subterranean 
Homesick Blues, inspired by the original music video.

Bob Dylan Subterranean Homesick Blues - A HAND LETTERING EXPERIENCE from Leandro Senna on Vimeo.

Moral of the story: change is hard and people won't like you for it, but do what's right anyway because the right people will catch up.

... and listen to Bob Dylan.... Bob Dylan rocks.