2 thoughts on “Muzzio’s Five Favorite Utopian/Dystopian Songs (posted by Professor Hoffman on his behalf)”

  2. I’ve never seen a video of Bob Dylan performing “Talkin’ World War III Blues”; that was great to watch. I always liked the song because he allows his social and political criticism to take on a sort of satirical or blatantly funny tone; whereas on the rest of the record, his messages are more direct and menacing. When he hopes a doctor will help him with his nighttime visions of war, he’s simply told “it’s a bad dream.” Not surprisingly, communism is somehow a part of his dystopia, or rather an irrationally intense fear of it. One of Dylan’s favorite targets was the John Birch Society, a political group that fiercely opposes communism, and whose members envision life under communism as some sort of modern dystopia. The song ends with Dylan observing how everyone imagines their own utopia or dystopia, based on their own fears, and aspirations, when the doctor declares he had the same dream except “the only person left after the war was me, and I didn’t see you around…”

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