Blowin' in the Wind

[MikeWaters]

Until I saw the Scorsese Dylan doc (the first half), I had no idea that this Dylan song was in fact a protest song, used in the Civil Rights movement by Dylan himself.

Just think how subversive Dylan was. Singing in behalf of Civil Rights. Think of the people he must have angered. Including Mormons.

I asked my dad about it, whether Dylan was considered subversive at the time amongst more conservative folk, and he said, "Well, he was a druggie, wasn't he?"

Per wikipedia, the song was used by some Catholic and Protestant churches as a hymn.

Can you imagine this song ever being used as a special musical number in a LDS sacrament meeting? Just look at the lyrics.

Was Civil Rights an important moral issue? Maybe the most important moral issue of that time? And where was the church? Yikes.

Lesson: you cannot outsource your moral thinking.

How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?

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

How many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?

How 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

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?

And how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind...

[TripletDaddy]

You are being serious? You had no idea? What in the world did you think this song was about before you saw the documentary?

Just as an FYI, Subterranean Homesick Blues is also a political song.

[Surfah]

Have you not seen Forrest Gump?

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

You are being serious? You had no idea? What in the world did you think this song was about before you saw the documentary?

Just as an FYI, Subterranean Homesick Blues is also a political song.

Yes, serious. Didn't know.

First off with Dylan, you can't understand what he is saying. Second, the song is not specific, it's philosophical. Heck it could be anti-Communist.

Heck, Peter Paul and Mary, you listen to Puff the Magic Dragon on the record player when you are a kid, you don't associate them with the Civil Rights movement.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Yes, serious. Didn't know.

First off with Dylan, you can't understand what he is saying. Second, the song is not specific, it's philosophical. Heck it could be anti-Communist.

Heck, Peter Paul and Mary, you listen to Puff the Magic Dragon on the record player when you are a kid, you don't associate them with the Civil Rights movement.

Ha. Dylan does tend to mumble.

I just find it surprising, given that you follow music (nice B&S avatar, btw....why the kick on them lately?) to not know that BITW was a political tune. When talking about certain performers from that era....Dylan, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, etc...you can almost rest assured that there were lots of politics laced into the lyrics.

On a side note, I was just listening to Push Barman over the weekend (my kids love B&S) and enjoying that track........"everyone thought it was a shaaaaaame.....for Belle and the boy, Sebastien....." great tune). When I was in france I tried to find a copy of the children's book, but to no avail.

[YOhio]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

Just as an FYI, Subterranean Homesick Blues is also a political song.

I guess I'm just uptight, but I prefer Subterranean Homesick Alien.

[8ballrollin]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Think of the people he must have angered. Including Mormons.

I don't have a vast number of data points on this statement, but the Mormons who raised me were very much into Dylan in the mid-'60s.

Freewheelin, The Times and Bring It All Back Home were staples around our place.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

Ha. Dylan does tend to mumble.

But has there ever been a better mumbler? Two of my most listened-to songs on the iPod are "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Things Have Changed." Half of the lyrics would be incomprehensible, even if they were enunciated by John Gielgud, but there's something about the timbre and earnestness of Dylan's voice that make me never tire of listening to those tunes. Plus, when I vocalize along with Dylan, it seems like I've been blessed with a magnificent singing voice.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by PaloAltoCougar

But has there ever been a better mumbler? Two of my most listened-to songs on the iPod are "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Things Have Changed." Half of the lyrics would be incomprehensible, even if they were enunciated by John Gielgud, but there's something about the timbre and earnestness of Dylan's voice that make me never tire of listening to those tunes. Plus, when I vocalize along with Dylan, it seems like I've been blessed with a magnificent singing voice.

I concur. Plus, the other great contribution for which Dylan does not receive enough credit:

No Dylan = no Beatles smoking pot and using drugs recreationally. As a result, no "You've got to hide your love away," and possibly no "Norwegian Wood."

No Beatle drug use = no Rubber Soul, Revolver, White Album, or Sgt Peppers.

No Sgt Peppers or Revolver = no coherent reason to continue living.

On the other hand, no White Album = no Manson Murders, which would mean no Roman Polanski pedophilia, no Sharon Tate pez dispenser, and no NIN Downward Spiral.

Dylan is in all of us!

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by YOhio

I guess I'm just uptight, but I prefer Subterranean Homesick Alien.

Me, too. I am going to see them on Monday at the Hollywood Bowl and Wednesday down in San Diego.

Very excited.

It's too much
Too bright
Too powerful