Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan

Chimes of Freedom features a diverse group of artists across the generational and musical spectrum. The performers, including many of Amnesty International’s longtime supporters, range in age from Miley Cyrus, 19, to folk music legend Pete Seeger, who, at 92, records Dylan’s poignant “Forever Young,” with a children’s chorus.

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.”

50 years ago, Bob Dylan started his professional career by picking up his guitar and playing at a coffee house in Greenwich Village. That same year, British lawyer Peter Benenson launched a campaign to stand up for those imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. That campaign grew into a human rights movement, Amnesty International.

Through the decades, musicians have been among Amnesty International’s most inspiring and passionate allies in the fight against injustice. This is the concept behind the release of this very special album—Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.

This album saves lives. Click HERE to Purchase from Amnesty International

An investigation of our human responsibilities commingles with a discussion of our daily perception of reality in the film Examined Life, a documentary which places some of today’s most influential thinkers in the day to day context of our world.

It takes tremendous discipline, it takes tremendous courage to think for yourself, to examine yourself…
—Cornel West

The film includes Cornel West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Hardt, Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor.

The ironies are unmistakable- the first trans-atlantic cable was connected here on Midway; the scars from the Battle of Midway are unmistakable. Yet now, as a protected area, we can’t help but look at the role this island had in the past, and think about where we are today. This place, a historic moment in World War II, stands a turning point that launched America’s economic dominance of the 20th Century. And so it is here, sitting halfway between the consumers of North America and the consumers of Asia, that we get to stop and consider some of the unintentional consequences of growth, and the responsibilities that we have for our planet.

—Chris Jordan

For over three years Ashley Gilbertson has been investigating the less than tangible affects of war through a body of work focused on the bedrooms of deceased U.S. soldiers left intact by their families. In this work Bedrooms of the Fallen, Gilbertson seeks to explore the effects of war from a nuanced standpoint while paying homage to the lives of the fallen.

Discussing the work, Gilbertson states “…This is the closest I’ve ever got to explaining to people—who haven’t experienced what I have—what war is”. Indeed, the body of images achieves a haunting success by quietly distilling everything—the ultimate personal effects of war, the null potential of lost lives, the details left behind, the loved ones who bare witness—into the thinning air of absence that ultimately encompasses bereavement. From an individual and grippingly honest standpoint, Gilbertson further discusses some indisputably humane ideas in his recent interview The Consequences of War regarding Bedrooms of the Fallen in VII Magazine.

When viewing this work in the context of his interview with VII Magazine, another message becomes clear through Gilbertson’s discussion of how the attention deficits of our society and our media neglect to consider the long term personal, psychological and emotional fallout of our war theater. By closely coupling these quietly powerful photographs with the striking personal standpoint of the photographer, a further question might be posed: Have we come closer in turning the corner from medium is the message to the messenger is the media?

(Originally published on the APAD blog in Summer 2010)