Masters of War- Annotations Commented [JT1]: Metaphor, referring to political leaders

and weapons manufacturers, this song’s main target

audience. ‘masters’ just shows how good they are at making
Bob Dylan war and earning money from it.

Commented [JT2]: Exclusive language and repetition of

Come you masters of war
‘you’ is used a lot in this stanza. The exclusive language used
You that build the big guns in this stanza is used to blame the ‘masters of war’, by using
You that build the death planes the repetition of ‘you’. ‘You’ draws a boundary between the
masters of war and the songwriter, clearly distinguishing the
You that build all the bombs
two, and really puts the blame and all the fault on them. The
You that hide behind walls phrase: ‘masters of war’ is a metaphor/nickname for political
You that hide behind desks leaders and weapons manufacturers who were involved with
the violence at the time.
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks Commented [JT3]: Exclusive language (‘you’), referring to
‘masters of war’
Commented [JT4]: Slang, ‘never done nothin’ makes
You that never done nothin'
songwriter’s blame and insult come from a more casual and
But build to destroy ‘street (slang)’ perspective. This has a deeper meaning; I
You play with my world think it shows that people from all categories have been
affected and are putting the blame on ‘masters of war’ for
Like it's your little toy
their disturbances. This language could just be the
You put a gun in my hand songwriter’s way of speaking though, to make the song
And you hide from my eyes sound more casual.
And you turn and run farther Commented [JT5]: This oxymoron ‘build to destroy’, shows
When the fast bullets fly that the ‘you’ (political leaders mainly or weapons
manufacturers) put effort into building up society, just to
destroy it with forms of violence and wars.
Like Judas of old
Commented [JT6]: This simile, ‘You play with my world
You lie and deceive Like it's your little toy’ shows that the ‘masters of war’
A world war can be won control and experiment with the songwriter’s life. ‘like it’s
your little toy’ refers to how easy it is to control, like playing
You want me to believe
with a child’s toy.
But I see through your eyes
Commented [JT7]: Descriptive language/imagery is used
And I see through your brain here to show the readers the situation of how cowardly the
Like I see through the water weapons manufacturers and political leaders are. ‘you put a
That runs down my drain gun in my hand, and you hide from my eyes, and you turn
and run farther when the fast bullets fly’ shows that the
weapons manufacturers and political leaders are forcing
You fasten all the triggers others to fight for them, by putting guns in their hands, but
For the others to fire running away when the action starts ‘fast bullets fly’. It’s...also
[1]
Then you sit back and watch Commented [JT8]: Biblical allusion, to Judas’ betrayal to
Jesus. Judas basically gave away the whereabouts of Jesus,
When the death count gets higher
leading to his death. So, the songwriter compares mainly
You hide in your mansion political leaders, I believe, to the characteristics of Judas-
While the young people's blood ‘you lie and deceive’ ... [2]
Flows out of their bodies Commented [JT9]: Repetition, exclusive language. The
And is buried in the mud repetition of ‘I see through (your)’ is used to show that the
songwriter can see the real or ‘hidden agenda’ of political
leaders and weapons manufacturers. In other words, the
‘masters of war’ hide things/plans from the people and ... [3]
Commented [JT10]: Metaphor, of ‘drain’ used as a place
where the rich dump their impact into the homes or places
of the poor.
Commented [JT11]: Imagery, exclusive and emotive
language.
Calls political leaders cowards, for hiding in their safe rooms,
while the younger generation are out sacrificing their lives
for them. ‘you fasten all the triggers for the others to fire’
... [4]
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled Commented [JT12]: Metaphor and exclusive language.
Fear to bring children Metaphor examples: ‘thrown the worst fear, &, …ever be
hurled’ these are used to put emphasis on how much
Into the world fear,(and how much) the masters of war have put on people.
For threatening my baby Once again, exclusive language, (‘you’) is used to put the
Unborn and unnamed blame on the masters of war.

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 Commented [JT13]: Repetition of ‘you might say’ shows
But there's one thing I know that the ‘masters of war’ ‘put down’ the songwriter by
making him feel unlearned and young (unimportant). Later
Though I'm younger than you on, the songwriter ‘stands up’ and proves how he is better
That even Jesus would never than them, and that their actions are so severe that ‘Jesus
would never forgive what you do’ is sung (see next
Forgive what you do
comment)
Commented [JT14]: Suggests the songwriter is religious.
Let me ask you one question Biblical allusion of ‘that Jesus would never forgive what you
Is your money that good? do’ to the bible/Christianity, and confessions. Confessions
Will it buy you forgiveness are when people who are guilty of something or want
something forgiven go and ‘get forgiven’? The songwriter
Do you think that it could? shows that the actions of the ‘masters of war’ are so severe
I think you will find and horrifying that their acts will not be forgiven by even
When your death takes its toll Jesus.
All the money you made Commented [JT15]: Rhyme- emphasises and asks if their
Will never buy back your soul money (probably earned from war) can ever repair the
societal damage that they have caused.
Commented [JT16]: Rhyme emphasis on (toll and soul) the
And I hope that you die death and how their money is worth nothing/ doesn’t make
And your death will come soon ‘masters of war’ better people.
I'll follow your casket
By the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead Commented [JT17]: Descriptive language/imagery is used
here to show actions of the songwriter. The songwriter
shows his hatred towards the masters of war to the
audience, by hoping that they die (wow). He also describes
that he will follow their casket, making sure that their dead.
This could also mean that the songwriter strongly hopes that
when they die, they die for good, putting an end to their
actions.
Page 1: [1] Commented [JT7] Jiayi Teng 31/03/2021 09:40:00
Descriptive language/imagery is used here to show the readers the situation of how cowardly the weapons
manufacturers and political leaders are. ‘you put a gun in my hand, and you hide from my eyes, and you turn
and run farther when the fast bullets fly’ shows that the weapons manufacturers and political leaders are
forcing others to fight for them, by putting guns in their hands, but running away when the action starts ‘fast
bullets fly’. It’s also a bit ironic (irony) that the ‘masters of war’ encourage other people to handle the
weapons and run scared when those weapons are put to use!
Page 1: [2] Commented [JT8] Jiayi Teng 31/03/2021 09:48:00
Biblical allusion, to Judas’ betrayal to Jesus. Judas basically gave away the whereabouts of Jesus, leading to his
death. So, the songwriter compares mainly political leaders, I believe, to the characteristics of Judas- ‘you lie
and deceive’
‘A world war can be won, you want me to believe’ displays that political leaders lied to citizens that the wars
can be won easily. The leaders are characterized to be selfish liars. In actual fact, the wars were won, but only
by body count. This means that the wars were not as easily won than the leaders said; and not won without
lots of bloodshed. The bloodshed was not mentioned by leaders, hence the deception/lying part. ‘you lie and
deceive, A world war can be won, you want me to believe’ is also an example of end rhyme, putting emphasis
on the ‘deceive’ and the ‘believe’, which refers to ‘masters of war’ deceiving and trying to make people believe
their lies.
Page 1: [3] Commented [JT9] Jiayi Teng 10/04/2021 16:16:00
Repetition, exclusive language. The repetition of ‘I see through (your)’ is used to show that the songwriter can
see the real or ‘hidden agenda’ of political leaders and weapons manufacturers. In other words, the ‘masters
of war’ hide things/plans from the people and probably lie to their faces about them. The exclusive language
(‘you’) is used once again to put the songwriter in a different class to the blamed masters of war.
Page 1: [4] Commented [JT11] Jiayi Teng 31/03/2021 09:48:00
Imagery, exclusive and emotive language.
Calls political leaders cowards, for hiding in their safe rooms, while the younger generation are out sacrificing
their lives for them. ‘you fasten all the triggers for the others to fire’ includes exclusive language and imagery
(‘you’, refers to the masters of war), and describes their acts, putting weapons in other people’s hands, instead
of their own.

The emotive language/imagery, ‘While the young people's blood, Flows out of their bodies’ is used to make
listeners feel sorry for those who died in the war, and perhaps feel hatred towards the masters of war. All the
blame earlier on in the song already makes listeners feel hatred towards them, but the emotive language helps
with that.