Blowing in the wind

billzhao · 发表于 2018-5-24 08:48

本帖最后由 billzhao 于 2018-5-24 21:43 编辑

"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962 and released as a single and on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of rhetorical questions about peace, war, and freedom. The refrain "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind".

In 1994, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, it was ranked number 14 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

[Verse 1]
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, and how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

[Verse 2]
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it is 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 blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

[Verse 3]
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 'til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

https://youtu.be/oKNCv5ZUCKI

billzhao · 发表于 2018-5-24 08:59

“How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?“

One interpretation of this line is that it refers to civil rights marches in the American South. Others have seen it more allegorically, like the following two lines. At what exact point in life is a boy now recognized as a man? Dylan uses roads as a metaphor for life experiences.

“Yes, and how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?”

Dylan is using this as a metaphor for life, asking how much one must accomplish before they are content with having done enough, being able to finally rest. The words “a white dove” could also be used to denote peace, unity or harmony. There’s also the religious significance, ie the two white doves flying from Noah’s Ark across the flooded earth to see if there was any place in the world to land and rest

"Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?"

Dylan thinks that cannonballs are a harm to mankind, and that banning it will bring more good than bad, as a conclusion, arms disrupt the peace in our lives.

"The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind"

The questions posed within the song have answers; they’re out there, but we have yet to find them.

The theme, “Blowin' in the Wind” is taken from a passage in Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, Bound for Glory, where Guthrie compares his political sensibilities to newspapers blowing in the winds of New York City. Dylan said that reading the book was a turning point in his political thinking.

Pete Seeger was the first to identify the melody of “Blowin' in the Wind” as Dylan’s adaptation of an old Negro spiritual, “No More Auction Block”.

That song originated in Canada and was sung by former slaves who fled there after Britain abolished slavery in 1833. Dylan acknowledged the source when he told journalist Marc Rowland: “‘Blowin in the Wind’ has always been a spiritual. I took it off a song called ‘No More Auction Block’ – that’s a spiritual, and ‘Blowin’ in the Wind' follows the same feeling.”

billzhao · 发表于 2018-5-24 09:03

[Verse 2]
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?

Another metaphor of life. Dylan is posing the question of how long can something so great and beautiful exist until it is its time to come to an end. Because we all know that all good things must come to an end.

"Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?"

Written during the Civil Rights Era, Dylan is pointing out that in a “free country”, African-Americans are being treated as second class citizens. When will they be granted their freedom from oppression and bigotry?

This also seems to be a nod to his Jewish heritage.

"Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?"

At what point does a person realize they cannot continue to deny the reality surrounding them and finally speak up to the oppressors on behalf of the oppressed?

This lyric supports Bob Dylan’s comment when asked about the song, when he states that while he is only 21 and sees the wrong-doings of the world, others, who are older and smarter, seem to ignore the facts and crimes he lists.

These four lines of the song, starting with “Yes, and how many years can some people exist” show Dylan driving the point home. The Declaration of Independence, the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance are nothing more than pieces of paper until we have the strength of conviction to make them real for each of us.

"The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind"

The questions posed within the song have answers; they’re out there, but we have yet to find them.

He later described that this meant that the answer to many of society’s problems is there, but many are not willing to grasp it.

billzhao · 发表于 2018-5-24 09:06

[Verse 3]
Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?

For Bob Dylan, the infiniteness of the sky is a symbol of unlimited freedom and opportunities. His rhetorical question expresses his belief that everyone should have the ability to pursue their dreams, no matter how far fetched they may seem, since, as the old saying goes, “the sky is the limit.” This is his vision of the American Dream, where every person could reasonably expect an equal opportunity to make a name for himself than anybody else, regardless of race, gender, or social class.

Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?

This is taking aim at U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War, and the build-up to what ultimately became U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?

During the Vietnam war more and more troops were repeatedly sent in with the promise that the war would end soon, but it seemed to never cease. A possible reference to the choice President Truman was forced to make about whether or not to drop nuclear bombs on Japan; we would kill innocent Japanese people, but save countless American soldiers. How many deaths does it take to make people realize that all this fighting is going nowhere?

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

The refrain has taken on new meaning by the end of the song. It’s no longer ethereal; it’s a challenge. If we don’t do the right thing, there’s going to be a war in the streets. In retrospect, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement really did come to that.

潇洒哥 · 发表于 2018-5-24 22:39

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Blowing in the wind

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