Perhaps the most influential experience in everybody's life occurs everytime they listen to music that makes them cry, laugh, or drive a little faster down the freeway. Music, which magnifies certain emotions to express what someone feels during particular events, has been around since the beginning of time. The instruments have varied from empty whisky jugs to modern-day computers, but a main purpose of the music has remained the same: entertainment. One of these instruments, the guitar, has been around in one form or another since at least the 700s AD, but did not gain respect or huge popularity until the 1900s. Particularly within the last 50 years with the birth of rock "n roll, guitar music has been elevated to a pedestal almost as high as our political leaders, if not higher; the youth of today would much rather prefer to hear political propoganda from poly-activist band System of a Down than some old dude in a suit. Through their trusted instrument, guitar players have become guitar heroes by subtly, quietly, loudly, and fervently fighting to shape this world and the numerous cultures that inhabit it.
Music has always had political overtones, starting way back when songs were written in honor of kings and other rulers. It did not become a serious messenger of politics until the 19th century with the emergence of nationalist music. Nationalist music provided a voice for different cultures, a trend that would echo through the next century at a smaller scale: the voice.
of the people in those cultures (Hilfiger). In this way, nationalist music is an odd, distant relative of the protest music made so popular by the likes of folk artists such as Bob Dylan.
Bob Dylan was actually born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941. A champion of the people all his own, Dylan has become a symbol of standing up for your rights. Numerous music magicians of the 20th century look to Dylan as an inspiration and a model in either music or words.
