Blowin' in the Wind
Life has some difficult questions that seem to have an obvious answer but still present challenges. Dylan asks these questions in his song.
Important FiguresThis song does not point at any one person, but instead at society as a whole. Society accepts the awful atrocities pointed out in this songs as part of life, especially American society. it is easy to look at other people for this song, such as the government, corporations, or other countries, and ask them these questions, but this song feels aimed towards the listener to change their own ways. Once the listener changes, others will begin to follow as well. So for this song, the only important figures are you and Bob Dylan.
People's ResponseThis song received a mix of responses. On one side, people judged it as taking lines directly out of the Bible. While this is true to a degree, especially on the verse about turning heads and crying to a man who will not listen, themes such as these are universal and are not owned by a book. Dylan wrote this because society still struggles with people not being compassionate towards his fellow man. On the other hand, the civil rights movement loved this song. Activist artists such as Sam Cooke and Mavis Staples felt an uncanny connection to the song despite being from a boy of very different origins.
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The SongDylan asks some tough questions to society in this tune. Dylan's first verse starts off simply but quickly changes. He starts by questioning what makes a man a man, or an adult an adult. This is different to every person, age, experience, or proof. This is interesting because this is a time when boys are unwillingly shipped off to war but still cannot vote, drink, or really have their own voice because they are regarded as too young. His next question does not actually have a specific target. For me, the white dove is anything innocent or untouched that is forced to move around. I think of Native Americans or African Americans who have been historically very discriminated against and often forced to relocate. The final question of this verse asks how long war will be around. This is a valid question considering the pointlessness of the Vietnam War. In his next verse, Dylan begins by asking how long mountains will exist. This relates to the rapidly increasing pollution of the time. As world population grew, so did the number of cars and factories, all which polluted heavily. His next question is how long people will be restricted by others. This has obvious slavery ties, but even after slavery was abolished, the racism in America caused African Americans especially to be forced to live a certain way. In the final question of the second verse, Dylan wonders how long people will ignore these issues. Although there was progress and change happening on a federal level, it was much too slow and often was much too late. This is most obvious by the thousands of people killed in Vietnam while America kept pushing the war. It is also apparent by the racism running rampant in the South as the government did nothing. Dylan's final verse begins by asking when a man will be able to see the sky. This most obviously connects to air pollutions and the bright orange and white gas coming from factories. This connects back to rising water levels previously asked about. He also asks how much the people must cry out before one man hears. This connects to the common people protesting war and rights to the government as the sat back and watched. The final question asks how many people must die before things change. This can connect to war and racial injustice equally. Amazingly, years after Bob Dylan made these questions famous in a song, the answer still seems to be blowing in the wind.
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How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind