Script From Masters of War For Guillermo Padilla

[Start with Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize]

Bob Dylan, the first singer-sonwriter to win a Nobel Prize, and today, I, Guillermo Padilla, will tell
you about one of the best songs from bob dylan; titled “Masters of War”

Dylan wrote this song in criticism of American leaders and officials. It was meant as a realization of
the times, what war was coming to and why war became a pointless act, rather than a means of
defense.

Starting this way

You that build the death planes

You that build all the bombs

You that hide behind walls

You that hide behind desks

I just want you to know

I can see through your masks

In the liner notes to The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Dylan says of "Masters Of War": "I've never really
written anything like that before. I don't sing songs which hope people will die, but I couldn't help
it with this one. The song is a soft of striking out, a reaction to the last straw, a feeling of what can
you do?"

Dylan would be labelled a conspiracy theorist if he released this song today. In it, he bitterly points
the finger at hidden "masters" who manufacture wars for profit and gain.

You play with my world Like it's your little toy

You put a gun in my hand And you hide from my eyes

The song condemns these masters of war, but Dylan doesn't consider it an "anti-war" song. He's
speaking more specifically to the world's power brokers and the way (according to him and many
others) they manufacture international conflict.