Just finished Dylan's new autobiography(the first installment) and he explains that the music of Brecht and Weill inspired him write songs, and he explains what he saw in it that layed the foundations for his writing style--He was not the first--the Gershwins and Oscar Hammerstein,Jr among others, had seen Threepenny Opera used it as their model to create the American Musical Theater as we know it today--

Brecht was the original protest singer, armed with his guitar, his intellectual leftism, his condescending attitude, and his leather motorcycle jacket, he was the first singer songwriter to take on the fascists--