Clean Cut Kid
1985 · Columbia FC 40110 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Bob Dylan
- Title
- Clean Cut Kid
- Release
- Empire Burlesque
- Year
- 1985
- Label
- Columbia # FC 40110
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Genre
- Folk · Contemporary Folk
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Bob Dylan, iconic 1960s/70s contemporary folk singer, who composed many songs that became anthems of the civil rights, anti-war movement, and counter-culture. For example, the songs "Masters of War" and "Blowing in the Wind" became popular amongst protesters and demonstrators, for its opposition to war and promotion of peace through intelligent and poetic lyrics. However, while these played an important part in the cultural peace movement of the 1960s, they did not specifically deal with the Vietnam conflict. The song "Clean Cut Kid" (Columbia Records # FC 40110) which appeared on this 1985 album, directly addressed the Vietnam conflict. It told the story of a clean-cut American boy, who played on the baseball team, took part with the school's marching band, and sold watermelon on a street stand, until Uncle Sam called: "they sent him to a napalm health spa to shape up". There he had "dope to smoke", and a "jeep to drive, blood to spill". When he returned to the US he could not find a job and found it difficult to adjust to society. The narrative concluded with the kid committing suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. He had "bought the American dream but it put him in…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
American singer-songwriter, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, 24 May 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota, and raised in Hibbing, Minnesota; the leading songwriter of the 1960s folk revival; long based in Malibu, California. [Source: Wikipedia]