Question

How does John Brown’s mother feel when she sees her son off at the station? What precise instructions does she give him before he boards the train?

Answer 1

Answer:

John brown is an anti-war song composed and performed by the American singer-songwriter and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan. The song is an expression of the singer’s deep-rooted sense of pacifism. Bob Dylan is known for upholding American folk music and his work is seen to be highly influenced by the poets of Modernism and Beatnik movements. His songs are generally easy to follow with a deep philosophical meaning. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 for his outstanding contribution in creating new poetic expressions in the American song tradition.

John Brown is, as previously mentioned, an anti-war lyric. It tells the story of an American mother who sends her son John Brown to war on some foreign land. The song follows the young soldier and his mother’s lives. The singer shows us the true fate of the American soldiers who are stationed in foreign countries for war. He also questions the very nature of war and shows us that there is no nobility in warfare, thereby strengthening the idea of pacifism.

The song was written in October 1962, and has since been performed live on several occasions. It is not however released in any of the singer’s albums but is a standalone piece. It was released under different names around the early 60’s and an official version was released in 2010. The song length is 4:20 in the official version and it consists of twelve verses.

The song does not follow the typical poetic metres, but depends on the vocal and intonational changes to establish ‘poetic cadence.’ Bob Dylan has a North Central American accent with a touch of the mid-west drawl. This makes up for the harmonious melody in his songs and provides for the metre and internal rhyme.