Chapter 3 uses a modified version of R. Serge Denisoff’s (1968) Marxist analysis of class consciousness in protest music to explain the differences in Dylan’s and Lennon’s anti-war output during the Vietnam era. It synthesises this with Ron Eyerman and Andrew Jamison’ (1998) theorisation of the ‘movement artist’, offering new explanations for the divergence in Dylan’s and Lennon’s outlook. Dylan’s initial period as a peace campaigner was surprisingly brief, lasting for just over a year, at which point he turned towards more ambiguous anti-war lyrics. Meanwhile, at the height of the Beatles’ international popularity, Lennon began to advocate for universal love but was gradually drawn into militant revolutionary politics. Their work traced a mirror image – just as Dylan retreated from the role of movement artist, Lennon enthusiastically embraced it.

The book closes by reviewing how the three themes of protest, history and spirituality intersect with each other, and drawing out some of the parallels between Dylan’s and Lennon’s different approaches to protest music, their historicism and their faith. In retrospect, it suggests, their output can only be understood in relation to its economic context – the collapse of the British Empire and the shift from Fordism to multinational capitalism. Notwithstanding their reputation

Chapter 1 explains the rationale for the book and the principles underlying its methodology. It introduces the two artists covered, Bob Dylan and John Lennon, and the theorists used to contextualise their work: R. Serge Denisoff, Fredric Jameson, J. Anderson Thomson and Clare Aukofer. It summarises the concepts underlying each chapter – dual biography, protest music, history and spirituality – and explores the connections between these themes.