Punk cover of Bob Dylan song from Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International

Rise Against’s video of The Ballad of Hollis Brown shouts the anger of the poverty in America. Dylan understated the message. Rise Against hits you in the face.

“I’ll need a job. I’ll do anything,” says the man walking a road on the Great Plains. “8 million Americans live in Poverty,” said the voice over referring to President Johnson’s War on Poverty. As of 2011, 46 million Americans live in poverty.

The song is one of 72 covers of Bob Dylan’s songs against tyranny and for freedom on Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan contributed his original Chimes of Freedom recording. It’s still chilling to hear 4 decades later.

Rise Against

Rise Against is an American punk band who gravitate to political activism and the promotion of animal rights. They are straight edge, which means no alcohol, recreational drugs, tobacco. Some straight edge are also vegans and or opposed to promiscuous sex.

They started in Chicago in 1999 and have gone platinum with several albums. If you want more information, check out their page or Wikipedia.

I’m not an expert on punk although I was asked to judge a punk/metal band contest once. This video I like.

Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International

Chimes of Freedom is a fund raising project for Amnesty International. The profits go towards Amnesty. Many of the artists have donated their time. The recording, engineering and mixing was partially donated. Bob Dylan donated his royalties to the project, which is exceedingly generous.

“The diversity of the musicians and musical genres — from rock, rap, hip-hop to pop, folk, country, jazz and blues — attests to Amnesty’s depth of support in the music community, the universal appeal of the core message of human rights, and the breadth of Dylan’s impact on culture. Almost every track on the album is being released for sale for the first time — except for the title song, Dylan’s original 1964 recording of “Chimes of Freedom.” (Amnesty International)

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Chimes of Freedom all Bob Dylan all the time

Where to purchase

iTunes
Amnesty International for CD and MP3 downloads