 In music writer Dave Marsh's view, it was one of a wave of songs in 1965, by artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan, that ushered in a new role for rock music as a vehicle for common perception and as a force for social consciousness.Writer Craig Werner sees the song as reflecting the desire of people to take a hard look at their own lives and the community they come from.Burdon later said, "The song became an anthem for different people – everybody at some time wants to get out of the situation they're in."