protest or love songs....which are best?  

times were very bad back then and woody was making a pretty good living singing for the companies,but he was very unhappy,because the companies made him sing about happy things and events and woody just couldn't stand how bad the common man was geting treated and cheated..he quit the companies and went on his own,which caused him great suffering for many years,he lost his family,because he made no money,he turned to alcohol for comfort,but through all of his turmoils and tribulations he never gave up singing in favor of the common americans who had been robbed by big business and the revenue man..!

he was a hero of the working class poor,and that is where dylan got a lot of his inspiration for his career.

and in the early days,dylan was a real black eye to the government...what i want to know..is where are these heroes today???

where is dylan now...when we really need him and the rest of those heroes from back then??

this country's leaders have really turned this country into a piece of sh_t ..!

Dylan showed signs of returning to his protest roots on Modern Times

and there are singers still willing to speak out - like amongst the punk bands, and folk protest - you just have to look harder to find them.

Bob Dylan - Working Man's Blues #2

There's an evenin' haze settlin' over town
Starlight by the edge of the creek
The buyin' power of the proletariat's gone down
Money's gettin' shallow and weak
Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory
It's a new path that we trod
They say low wages are a reality
If we want to compete abroad

My cruel weapons have been put on the shelf
Come sit down on my knee
You are dearer to me than myself
As you yourself can see
While I'm listening to the steel rails hum
Got both eyes tight shut
Just sitting here trying to keep the hunger from
Creeping it's way into my gut

Chorus:
Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes
You can hang back or fight your best on the frontline
Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues

Well, I'm sailin' on back, ready for the long haul
Tossed by the winds and the seas
I'll drag 'em all down to hell and I'll stand 'em at the wall
I'll sell 'em to their enemies
I'm tryin' to feed my soul with thought
Gonna sleep off the rest of the day
Sometimes no one wants what we got
Sometimes you can't give it away

Now the place is ringed with countless foes
Some of them may be deaf and dumb
No man, no woman knows
The hour that sorrow will come
In the dark I hear the night birds call
I can feel a lover's breath
I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall
Sleep is like a temporary death

(chorus)

Well, they burned my barn, and they stole my horse

I can't save a dime
I got to be careful, I don't want to be forced
Into a life of continual crime
I can see for myself that the sun is sinking
How I wish you were here to see
Tell me now, am I wrong in thinking
That you have forgotten me?

Now they worry and they hurry and they fuss and they fret
They waste your nights and days
Them I will forget
But you I'll remember always
Old memories of you to me have clung
You've wounded me with your words
Gonna have to straighten out your tongue
It's all true, everything you've heard

(chorus)

In you, my friend, I find no blame
Wanna look in my eyes, please do
No one can ever claim
That I took up arms against you
All across the peaceful sacred fields
They will lay you low
They'll break your horns and slash you with steel
I say it so it must be so

Now I'm down on my luck and I'm black and blue
Gonna give you another chance
I'm all alone, I'm expecting you
To lead me off in a cheerful dance
I got a brand new suit and a brand new wife
I can live on rice and beans
Some people never worked a day in their life
Don't know what work even means

looks like you were right about Dylan borrowing that line from Woody

"Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen." - from Pretty Boy Floyd
http://www.geocities.com/...

Dylan in Talking New York (obviously paying tribute to his hero)
"Now, a very great man once said
That some people rob you with a fountain pen.
It didn't take too long to find out
Just what he was talkin' about."