Five punk songs written about Bob Dylan
Contrary to popular belief, punk is not just pissing people off. Anyone can do that, just take a cursory look at the internet. The claim Bob Dylan has at being one of the original punks lies not in the fact that he made folkies so aerated they shouted “Judas!” at him at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, but in what he did next. Turn to his band and say, “Play fuckin’ loud”.
The outraged folk fans watching along should have known this was coming. Whether he’d had a band or not, this was precisely the same Dylan they anointed as their lord and saviour. He was a man who said, did, and thought exactly as he pleased, and if anyone else sought to define him, then he’d push back twice as hard.
As A Complete Unknown shows, this made him an almost unbearable person to be around. As we know now, our rock heroes are often better in theory than in person. The art speaks for itself though. The work inspiring people not only to take up guitars and speak their truth, but in some cases, to pen tributes to the man himself.
Here, we’re going to go through five occasions where punk artists shouted out one of their own, in the form of the freewheelin’ one himself, Bob Dylan.
Five punk songs written about Bob Dylan:
Minutemen – ‘Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs’
It’s something of a crime that the lasting legacy of the Minutemen is that one of their songs is the theme of Jackass. Get that bag, I guess, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re one of the most vital and exciting hardcore bands of their era. With a deeply moral, fiercely intelligent view of the world that they weren’t afraid to put directly into their songs.
In fact, one of the times that songwriter D Boon did think that maybe his political songwriting was veering into propaganda, he wrote this tribute to the Bobfather in response to himself. Explaining his reasoning to the fanzine Flipside as “’Hey, Bob Dylan, his stuff was almost as vital as propaganda’.” If it’s good enough for Dylan, it’s good enough for him.
Public Enemy – ‘Long And Whining Road’
Public Enemy are one of the greatest punk bands ever, and if you don’t see that, you’re part of the problem. Uncompromising, vitriolic and louder than war itself, they tick all the boxes of what punk music should be without needing to look twice at a guitar. Over their 40-year history, they have proved this over and over again and in this track, from 2007’s How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?, Chuck D shouts out one of his key inspirations, Bob Dylan.
In an interview with USA Today, Chuck D elaborated on his respect for Dylan, saying he “is stencilled on a lot of aspects of my career – his ability to paint pictures with words, his concerns for society…He taught me to go against the grain”.
The song itself interpolates a veritable greatest hits of Dylan classics in the lyrics, with the very first line containing two “It’s been a long and whining road / Even though time keeps a changin’ / I’ma bring it all back home”.
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – ‘Coma Girl’
Much like Chuck D after him, Joe Strummer was a vanguard of a new generation of pop music that still revered Bob Dylan before him. For one thing, they shared a hero in the form of Woody Guthrie, who, in his way, taught both of them the value of speaking your truth. While Dylan took that whole-heartedly and also took up the acoustic guitar and harmonica, Strummer did it via the medium of forming The Clash. To each their own, I guess.
The Clash became a band that Dylan loved so much that he took his entire family to see their Minneapolis concert in 1979. However, it was not until long after The Clash dissolved that we got a full song in tribute to the man born Robert Zimmerman. This solo classic rattles on with a novelist’s eye for detail, covering a nigh-on apocalyptic urban scene that carries more than a hint of ‘Desolation Row’ in it until Strummer shouts out the song by name, carrying the torch in his inimitable way.
Against Me! – ‘Bob Dylan Dream’
Fully half of Laura Jane Grace’s Twitter feed seems to revolve around one theme: “I love Bob Dylan”. In fact, that’s a direct quote from one of her tweets. However, you don’t have to brave the chaos of social media to understand her admiration for Dylan’s work—it’s beautifully encapsulated in a low-key gem from 2010’s White Crosses. On the surface, it’s a story song about dreaming that Dylan is her friend, but dig a little deeper, and you might uncover how Grace truly feels about her idol and the impact he’s had on her life and art.
In this fantasy, Dylan isn’t just Grace’s friend but the owner of the house Grace and her wife share with him. In effect, Grace sees Dylan as her landlord. Considering the anarcho-punk roots of Against Me! it’s a miracle that Grace didn’t gut him where he stands in that case, but that’s probably because that’s how Grace sees herself within rock music as a whole. Busying herself with a house that he built and maintains.
Diarrhea Planet – ‘Bob Dylan’s Grandma’
We’re cheating a little here because, while this song has the great man in the title and wouldn’t exist without him, Bob Dylan himself only plays a minor role in the story. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves—first, who are Diarrhea Planet, and what’s with that name? Well, they were a punk band as great as their name was terrible. Known for their triple-guitar assault, they combined punk rock velocity with hard rock technicality, creating a sound that was as chaotic as it was compelling.
Diarrhea Planet also looked to the 1960s for inspiration, but their gaze wasn’t fixed on Bob Dylan’s folk stylings—it was all about Jimi Hendrix. Whatever could be done with a guitar, Hendrix had done it first and done it best, and the band was captivated by his innovations. This song serves as a tribute to Hendrix’s work and their obsessive admiration for his legendary headline set at the Monterey Pop Festival. During that performance, Hendrix famously referred to his wiry, curly-haired bassist Noel Redding as… Bob Dylan’s grandmother. Truly, Dylan’s influence—and Hendrix’s wit—knows no bounds!
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