Bob Dylan Talkings About Cuba - Fidel Castro. Che Guevara.

Bob Dylan must have read many articles and editorials about Cuba in the New York Times while he was making a name for himself in Greenwich Village.

TIMEFRAME: The dictator Batista fled into exile on 1st January 1959 and Fidel Castro’s rebel forces, led in part by commandante Ernesto “Che” Guevara, assumed power. In October 1962, the world came close to nuclear war in the crisis over the siting of Soviet missiles on Cuban soil.

Naturally, references to these historic events find their way into Bob’s lyrics:

1. “I like Fidel Castro and his beard” etc
(MOTORPSYCHO NIGHTMARE)

2. “You unpatriotic
Rotten doctor Commie rat”
(MOTORPSYCHO NIGHTMARE)

This might be stretching things a bit, but Che Guevara was a qualified doctor- as the narrator of MN claims to be.

The farmer’s daughter, Rita, looks like she’s stepped out of the distinctly Latinate LA DOLCE VITA. See also Ramona, of the same general songwriting period.

3. “I wouldn’t let him do it for all the farms in Cuba”
(I SHALL BE FREE NO 10)

4. A HARD RAIN’s GONNA FALL

Assumed at the time, but later denied by Mr Dylan, to be about the Cuban Missile Crisis.

LET ME DIE IN MY FOOTSTEPS was a rather earlier “nuclear” song.

5. The Beatles wore Cuban-heeled boots.

6. Bob’s later tash-and-beard-and-straggly-hair look was clearly modelled on poet-rebel-guerilla Che Guevara.

Che Guevara was executed by the Bolivian army on 10th October, 1967 and his distinctly Christ-like image has adorned the walls of student bedrooms ever since.

7. Dylan discusses the British brand of Communism with Albert Grossman in DON’T LOOK BACK.

Cuban Missile Crisis Lyrics – Bob Dylan

Cuban Missile Crisis – Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan who accepted the award ( Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (ECLC)) on December 13 at the Dinner in New York, which also featured noted author James Baldwin

Bob’s Talk

I haven’t got any guitar, I can talk though. I want to thank you for the Tom Paine award in behalf everybody that went down to Cuba. First of all because they’re all young and it’s took me a long time to get young and now I consider myself young. And I’m proud of it. I’m proud that I’m young. And I only wish that all you people who are sitting out here today or tonight weren’t here and I could see all kinds of faces with hair on their head – and everything like that, everything leading to youngness, celebrating the anniversary when we overthrew the HouseUn-American Activities just yesterday, – Because you people should be at the beach. You should be out there and you should be swimming and you should be just relaxing in the time you have to relax. (Laughter) It is not an old peoples’ world. It is not an old peoples’ world. It has nothing to do with old people. Old people when their hair grows out, they should go out. (Laughter) And I look down to see the people that are governing me and making my rules – and they haven’t got any hair on their head – I get very uptight about it. (Laughter)