Bob Dylan's album Highway 61 Revisited was first released on August 30, 1965. Containing classic Dylan songs such as Like A Rolling Stone and Ballad of a Thin Man, as well as the nearly 11-and-a-half-minute, stream-of-consciousness epic, Desolation Row, the album captured the political and cultural chaos of contemporary America. Author Michael Gray has argued that, in an important sense, the 1960s "started" with this album.
Thirty-four years and 10 days later, the world premier of the movie Fight Club was held on September 10, 1999. With a theme of conflict between Generation X and the value system of advertising, Fight Club was cited as one of the most controversial and talked-about films of 1999. The Guardian saw it as an omen for change in American political life, and The New York Times dubbed it the "defining cult movie of our time."
Instead of Labor Day, perhaps we should commemorate these two definitive artworks documenting class struggle and alienation and with a combined holiday on the first Monday of each September.
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