"Masters Of War" is one of the very few songs where Dylan has come out and taken issue with people's interpretations of it. He's said directly on a number of occasions that the song has "nothing to do with being anti-war," (most recently in Rolling Stone November 2001 issue) but was inspired by Eisenhower's warning about the military/industrial complex.
You can take issue with the clarity of his expression in the song - obviously it does strike most people as a simple anti-war song - but that wasn't his intent. Somehow his protestations to the contrary have always been swept under the rug. Helps keep the image of him intact as a knee-jerk lefty balladeer - which is what the good old mainstream media want to preserve. It looks like his book is going to make that harder for them ...
"...You can take issue with the clarity of his expression in the song - obviously it does strike most people as a simple anti-war song - but that wasn't his intent."
OK, here's the song...
Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead
Copyright © 1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music
Ummmm, the lyrics, esp. the 'sure that you're dead' part, seems pretty intensely anti-war. BUT, I also can accept the need for artistic license, and the need to express a feeling / concept fully.
So I can be open to Bob Dylan not being as anti-war as the song he wrote. But he shouldn't complain too much about people misreading his intent.
-- Joe