An Analysis of Song “John Brown” by Bob Dylans

Bob Dylans song, "John Brown", contains the elements needed in poetry and therefore can be read as one. The song includes the rhythm, punctuation, and structure that allow it to be a poem. Dylan wrote his song based on a strong theme, and he emphasized his important thoughts by using these elements or poetry writing.

"John Brown" has a strong rhythm in it, a critical component. Every stanza of the song has four sentences, and between every number of stanzas there is one line that emphasizes a certain idea. All the last words of every two lines rhyme. The first stanza of the song is an example of rhythm:

"John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore.

His mama sure was proud of him!

He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all.

His mamas face broke out all in a grin." (lines 1-4).

In this stanza, the words "him" and "grin" rhyme. Through the song, there are also cases where two words in the same line rhyme. Stanza one, for instance, two words in line one rhyme "war" and "shore". The same structure is also seen in line three, with the words "tall" and "all". When reading the song, the reader can most definitely capture the rhythm of the song and can read it with musical input.

Another element of poetry that the song consists of is punctuation. When reading a poem, the speed and feeling is determined by the punctuation. In "John Brown", the many punctuation signs guide us through the entire song by telling the reader where to go faster, where to speak louder, and where to shout out a statement of excitement. Punctuation also often tells us the tone of the poem or line. An example of the punctuation used in Dylans song is the following line:

"Oh! Good old-fashioned war!" (line 17)

The line above was written in an attempt to put emphasis on the sentence just before it, which read: "And these things they called a good old-fashioned war!" (line 16). The concept this line represents was critical for the writer to show an example of the mothers pride of her son. The exclamation marks after "oh" and "war" are vital in the emphasis; they tell us how exited the mother is. The punctuation use repeats itself in the following line:

"Oh! Lord! Just like mine!" (line 42)

In line 42, punctuation is also used to bring out a certain emotion, and it is also used by the writer as a tool of making an impact on the reader. Like line 17 which was previously discussed, line 42 was a repetition of the line before it, which read: "And I saw that his face was just like mine." (line 43). Thus, the repetition of that line tells the readers, that the fact that John Brown identified with the face is very important for the theme of the story.

The structure of Bob Dylans poem is another technique that lets the song be a poem. "John Brown" consists of paragraphs, each one of them being 4 lines long. Structure is linked to rhythm. What allows rhythm to exist is the structure, where there is a certain repetition of sounds that makes the song musical. Dylans song is built of 12 stanzas, and is organized as a story. Every stanza in the song follows logically the stanza before it. This story-telling song is attractive to the reader because it quickly captures his attention, and lets him understand easily the order in which things happen. Consider the following two stanzas as an example of continuation:

"She smiled and went right down, she looked everywhere around

But she could not see her soldier son in sight.

But as all the people passed, she saw her son at last,

When she did she could hardly believe her eyes.

Oh his face was all shot up and his hand was all blown off

And he wore a metal brace around his waist.

He whispered kind of slow, in a voice she did not know,

While she couldn't even recognize his face!" (lines 22-29)

Lines 22 through 25 puts the reader in suspense by telling him that the mother finally saw her son, and was very shocked. The reader is waiting to know what the mother saw. Lines 26 through 29 is continuing the thought started in the previous stanza, by describing the reader the condition the son was when he was seen by his mother.

Beyond being a song, Bob Dylans "John Brown" is a lesson about history and the mentality that existed years ago. Dylans song is a classical way to pass on ideas about history and to give an insight on what it was like living during these years of war. By presenting the readers with a story, Dylan is not only being very direct about his subject, but also intends to address us with a certain message about history. "John Brown" is a musical story that consists of all elements of poetry, and therefore is equally considered as one.

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