Masters Of War Bob Dylan Meaning

Bob Dylan has been one of the most influential singer/songwriter for decades, being well-known for his protest songs. “Masters of War” written by Dylan appeared on his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan which was released in May of 1963. The song is about the military industrial complex that Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the American people about during his Farewell Address. The song deals with social issue of those who profit from the war, and the anger many people felt at the time.
Dylan begins the song by calling out those who profit from the war, to hear his objections. In the first verse he sings the lyrics “You that build the death planes/ You that build all the bombs/ You that hide behind walls/ You that hide behind desk” he is emphasizing the main problem with the weapon manufactures, and profiteers; that they help build and maintain the war but are nowhere to be seen. In verse two he sings the lyrics “You play with my world/Like it’s your little toy/You put a gun in my hand/And hide from my eyes” to continue to show how they don’t
The drain could convey how he feels about their true motivations of money as waste. The narrator begins to ask these profiteers if everything they’ve done, is worth the pay day. “Will it buy you forgiveness/Do you think that it could”, these people believe money can be anything, he’s not necessarily asking if they can buy salvation, he’s asking if they had that amount of money, should they have the option to. He believes that money will never fill what you have lost to gain it, he shows this in the seventh verse when he says, “All the money you made/ Will never buy back your soul.” When he says, “buy back”, it’s as if they sold it to the devil. To be soulless is to have lost all human qualities, such as compassion and kindness. To the narrator they seem soulless, because why else would someone further themselves at the dispense of