Life and Death

... for one so young, [Dylan has] a curious preoccupation with songs about death. Although he is rarely inarticulate, Dylan can't explain the attraction of these songs, beyond the power and emotional wallop they give him, and which he passes on to his listeners. It may be that three years ago, when a serious illness struck him, that he got an indelible insight into what those death-haunted blues men were singing about. 

- from the sleeve notes to the album Bob Dylan, released in March 1962 by Colombia Records. 

I don't sing songs which hope people will die, but I couldn't help it in this one. [Masters of War] The song is a sort of striking out, a reaction to the last straw, a feeling of what can you do? 

- from the sleeve notes to the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, released in May 1963 by Colombia Records.

i would not want t be bach. mozart. tolstoy. joe hill. gertrude stein or james dean / they are all dead. the Great books've been written. the Great sayings have all been said

- from the sleeve notes to the album Bringing It All Back Home, released March 1965 by Colombia Records.

i do know that we're all gonna die someday an that no death has ever stopped the world.

- from the sleeve notes to the album Bringing It All Back Home, released March 1965 by Colombia Records.