Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and The Beatles Have Always Been “Woke.” You Just Weren’t Paying Attention.
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Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and The Beatles Have Always Been “Woke.” You Just Weren’t Paying Attention.
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Really enjoyed the article! Especially our NJ favorite Bruce Springsteen!
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Can someone tell me what 'woke' is ? I didn't get the email.
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dirkmcquickly wrote:
Can someone tell me what 'woke' is ? I didn't get the email.
woke
/wōk/
verb
- past of wake1.
adjective
INFORMAL•US
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alert to injustice in society, especially racism.
"we need to stay angry, and stay woke"
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Some of us were.
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Surely no one should be surprised about Dylan and Springsteen being conscious of injustice, which have been defining themes in their careers. Possibly folks are less aware of the Beatles, except for John's vocal antiwar activism. It was only 8 or 9 years ago that I first learned of the Beatles refusing to play a segregated show in Gainesville, Florida on their first U.S. tour -- and literally forcing the city to desegregate the venue, at least for that night -- and thought it was just incredibly cool. And pretty nervy, too, when you remember that back then they were generally regarded as what we now call a "boy band" -- a teen sensation that would be big for a year or two, till all the 16-year-old girls moved on to something else. There's a Paul quote from a couple years later -- which I could find, but I'm too lazy right now, lol -- in which he says they weren't trying to be heroes or anything, but basically thought of segregation as "stupid,"and not something they could go along with. Paul's recent post doesn't mention it, but when they came back to the U.S.in '65, they had it written into their contract that they wouldn't play segregated shows.
