Only a Pawn in Their Game

       Today in class we discussed "Only a Pawn in Their Game", and I was shocked to uncover the details within the lyrics I didn't notice before. Starting in the first stanza, the song discusses the assassination of Medgar Evans, a Civil Rights activist in the NAACP. The song describes the assassinator aiming at Medgar Evans through the bushes, but Dylan says this assassinator is not to blame. It is beyond him, someone else is causing this. The second stanza discusses how poor white men are told they still have it better just because their skin is white. They feel superior to blacks and don't even think about whether the government is screwing them along with black people. The authorities are just saying that to keep them quiet. Growing up, whites are told the laws are to "protect their white skin", and in other words keep blacks oppressed. The fourth stanza then discusses how whites conform and are controlled by authorities/society like "a dog on chain", and I loved this comparison because it is so accurate. "He ain't got no name", seems like a minor line but actually is major because with no identity, you have no independence against the pact. Even when taking about "hiding" underneath the hood referring to the KKK, and people conforming. No emotion just going through the motion, including the lynching of people. I love Bob Dylan, and enjoy listening to his songs that describe the problems going on at that time. Dylan is so talented as a singer and song writer.