Bob Dylan's Lyrics Embedded in Judicial Opinions
/Older and some younger Americans have long associated Bob Dylan with protest songs. Being big Dylan lovers, even we’re surprised to read that not only did Dylan’s lyrics define the vocabulary of much popular culture, but they are cited in court opinions and briefs, than any other musician. Even the US Supreme Court has used Dylan’s lyrics in writing court opinions.
His signature protest songs, “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” gave voice and vocabulary to the antiwar and civil rights marches. His most powerful ballads, “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” and “Hurricane,” have become models for legal storytelling and using music to make a point, writes the LA Times
Alex Long, a University of Texas law professor who has researched the penetration of political songwriting into the legal system combed legal databases to identify lyrics in court filings and scholarly publications, finding Dylan cited 186 times, far outpacing the rest of the top 10: the Beatles, 74; Bruce Springsteen, 69; Paul Simon, 59; Woody Guthrie, 43; the Rolling Stones, 39; the Grateful Dead, 32; Simon & Garfunkel, 30; Joni Mitchell, 28; and R.E.M., 27.
How about rappers?