Well before Dizzee went on Paxman, before Damon marched on Parliament, long before Live Aid and all the ones that have followed and even before the decade that Keith Richards can’t remember, a man born Robert Zimmerman had already changed the shape of popular music forever. The year was 1963, Michael Jackson was a mere five years old and in 6 months the President of the USA would be shot dead.

Released in May of that year, a 22-year old Dylan’s second studio album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan would become a marker for all political albums that would follow. Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, his civil rights activist girlfriend Suze Rotolo were his influences, the civil rights movement (CRM) and the threat of nuclear war his watercolours.

As a statement of intent, ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ – what would become the unofficial anthem for the CRM – is unparalleled. Dylan performed the song at rallies and marches regularly as the song perfectly illustrated the struggle of many African-Americans of the time. The final verse written by a man way working way beyond his years:

‘Masters of War’ was another track that highlighted Dylan’s intelligence. Pointing the finger at the power structure of America, directly the war-mongers and ammunition factories and aimed at the highest levels of society. The effectiveness comes from the angry mood and simplistic arrangements:

I think you will find

When your death takes its toll

All the money you made

Will never buy back your soul

He doesn’t stop there. ‘Oxford Town’ documents the struggle of a black American – James Meredith - to enrole at the University of Mississippi: 

Come to the door he couldn’t get in

All because of the colour of his skin

What do you think about that my friend? 

There’s more but you get the picture. This album coupled with his next, The Times They Are A-Changin’ made Dylan the ‘voice of a generation’ and took political protest through popular music away from the leftish folk movement and into the mainstream where it has stayed for the best part of 50 years.

Although he had shied away from politics by the end of the decade – in his own words “he didn’t have the answers” – his influence is still recognised today. Escorted back to his hotel recently by a clueless police officer for the crime of “looking scruffy” it seems Dylan is still fighting the system all these years later.