Blurred Lines between two movements

This week in poetry class we talked about the issue of conformity in Allen Ginsberg's "Supermarket in California." Ginsberg was part of a larger movement of the beat generation who are self described "beaten down" artists from cheap neighborhoods in New York City and San Francisco. They were people who had different spiritual traditions, rejected organized religion that encouraged conformity. They pushed for spontaneity, and a stream of consciousness. They were known for swearing, and use of drug references in their literature, and in their lives.

The poets of the beat generation inspired people to question society's motives, and to not be afraid of it. During the beat generation, poets and artists tried out liberate themselves from censorship, they wanted to decriminalize drug use, and they were opposed to the military industrial complex as well as other things. The poets actions during the beat generation era opened the door for the tumultuous time period of the 1960's.

The members of the beat generation experimented with drugs, sexuality, and music. They questioned old customs and traditions, and they had a newfound sense of freedom. They wanted to completely turn old customs upside down. Their efforts did not go unnoticed either. Even though poets like Ginsberg and Kerouac were often censored and one of Ginsberg's most meaningful and most defining poems of the era, Howl, is actually still to this day censored.

I have talked about Bob Dylan in this blog before, but one of his songs called "The Times They Are A-Changing" really emphasizes some of the ideals of the beat movement.

In the song Dylan often sings about how things are going to be reversed. He says in a few different occasions that "The slow one now with soon be fast," and "The first one now will later be last." Throughout the song he complains about customs of the past, and how people who advocate for change need to "keep your (their) eyes wide, the chance won't come again." He says the time to change is now. He also criticizes those standing in the way of change when he calls on Senators and Congressmen to "not block up the hall." He also says that if they don't "heed the call" then they will literally feel the calls for change because "There's a battle outside ragin' that will soon shake your (their) windows and rattle your (their) walls." He says that change is loud and that's the only way things can change. The last stanza of the song is really important for the entire meaning of the song when Dylan says:

"The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'."

Dylan is saying that we need to adapt for the future and move on beyond our past. And if we remain in the past, we will be stuck in the past, and we will be a backward society.

What's interesting about this song is that not only does it have connotations that relate back to the beat movement of the 50's, but also because Bob Dylan served as a bridge for people like Allen Ginsberg to bring the ideas of the beat generation into the generation of the hippies. The beat movement can definitely be related to the hippie movement in several different ways. Both movements questioned traditional ideas, experimented with drug use, and sexuality as well as many other things. Dylan frequently said that he admired Ginsberg, and he and Ginsberg developed a close personal relationship over the years.