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INTERDISCIPLINARY LESSON: “BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND” OVERVIEW ESSENTIAL QUESTION How does the song “Blowin’ in the Wind” use poetic devices to communicate an open-ended yet powerful message about the human condition, without ever losing its historical specificity? OVERVIEW Person: Bob Dylan Born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, Bob Dylan is revered by many as one of the most influential figures in Folk and Rock. He is often credited with establishing a new understanding of the “singer-songwriter,” combining poetic lyricism with a sometimes confessional, sometimes enigmatic, and often compelling delivery. In the mid-1950s, Bob Dylan was a teenager when Rock and Roll broke onto the American musical scene. He and his high school band, the Golden Chords, were avid fans of early Rock and Roll and would cover songs by artists like Little Richard and Elvis Presley. However, by the time Dylan graduated high school, his early musical influences had been eclipsed by an obsession with Folk singer Woody Guthrie. Unlike Rock and Roll combos, Guthrie performed solo on guitar and at times lived an itinerant lifestyle, travelling the country and singing his songs. Furthermore, much of Guthrie’s music had a clear social and political message. Dylan would follow Guthrie’s path, eventually moving to New York City to immerse himself in the Greenwich Village Folk music scene. It was while living there, surrounded by artists and in a politically-charged 1960s climate, that in 1962 Dylan wrote “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Dylan’s early socially-conscious songs, which in addition to “Blowin’ in the Wind” include “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” and others, were enmeshed with the 1960s antiwar and Civil Rights movements. In 1963, he was one of the artists invited to perform at the historic March on Washington, taking the stage along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Though in the mid-1960s Dylan’s work began to shift away from social activist issues, his early works are an expression of the desire for social and political change that distinguished 60s youth culture. PARTNERSHIP LESSONS: LITTLE KIDS ROCK INTERDISCIPLINARY LESSON: “BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND” OVERVIEW (CONTINUED) Place: New York City The Greenwich Village neighborhood in New York City is widely considered one of America’s centers of bohemian culture. In the decades before Bob Dylan’s 1961 arrival in New York City, the “Village” was a gathering place for artists. Beat Generation writers such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac frequented — and sometimes wrote about — life in the Village. Clubs including Cafe Wha?, the Gaslight Cafe, and Gerde’s Folk City served as venues for up-and-coming Folk artists, including Joan Baez, Dave Van Ronk, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, who would take their turns on the stages playing both traditional songs and, in some cases, original material. Bob Dylan had moved to the city in 1961 to follow in the footsteps of his musical role model, Woody Guthrie. Dylan even went to visit Guthrie’s family home in Coney Island, along with visiting Guthrie himself (who had been confined to a hospital in New Jersey by that time). In New York City, Dylan wasted no time trying to become a part of the Village Folk scene. In fact, it was at Gerde’s Folk City, in the spring of 1962, when a still relatively-unknown Bob Dylan walked onto the stage to perform a song he had recently written called “Blowin’ in the Wind.” He went on to record the song at Columbia Records the following year. Timeline: The lyrics to “Blowin’ in the Wind” are structured as a series of open-ended questions. The song asks, “How many years can some people exist, before they’re allowed to be free?” Providing no clear answers, the questions alone command attention and encourage reflection. Looking at the time period in which “Blowin’ in the Wind” was written can help us place the song’s open-ended questions in context. With the U.S. embroiled in struggles surrounding both Civil Rights and escalating tensions with the Soviet Union, Dylan’s song had particular resonance. FEBRUARY 1960: LUNCH COUNTER SIT-IN IN GREENSBORO, NC -- Four college students stage a lunch counter sit-in at the Woolworth’s department store in Greensboro, N.C. to protest segregation in cafes and restaurants. This sparked a wave of other sit-ins in college towns across the South. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC (pronounced “snick”), was created. PARTNERSHIP LESSONS: LITTLE KIDS ROCK INTERDISCIPLINARY LESSON: “BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND” OVERVIEW (CONTINUED) JANUARY 1961: BOB DYLAN ARRIVES IN NEW YORK CITY -- At 19 years old, Bob Dylan arrives in New York City. One of the first things he does is visit Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village to try and secure a gig. MAY 1961: FREEDOM RIDERS TRAVEL TO THE AMERICAN SOUTH -- An integrated group of protesters begin their trip riding buses throughout the South to test new court orders that outlaw segregation on interstate public buses. Non-violent black and white riders are beaten by mobs in several cities. OCTOBER 1961: RUSSIANS TEST HYDROGEN BOMB -- Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon to ever be detonated, is exploded in the Arctic Ocean, north of Russia. Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the U.S., both armed with nuclear weapons, escalate heavily. AUGUST 1963: MARCH ON WASHINGTON - Several hundred thousand Americans participate in the historic Civil Rights march, featuring Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Musical acts also perform throughout the day, including Bob Dylan. That same month, Dylan releases a recording of “Blowin’ in the Wind.” The song establishes him as a powerful singer-songwriter capable of penning and performing his own material. PARTNERSHIP LESSONS: LITTLE KIDS ROCK INTERDISCIPLINARY LESSON: “BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND” OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, students will: 1. KNOW (KNOWLEDGE): 2. BE ABLE TO (SKILLS): • How the lyrics to “Blowin’ in the Wind” employ • Identify and interpret symbolic language within poetic language and can be interpreted in the lyrics of a song multiple ways • Demonstrate understanding of figurative • The political and social climate of the early language, word relationships, and nuances in 1960s, including the Civil Rights movement word meanings (Common Core State Standard: and United States’s escalating tensions with the Language 5) Soviet Union ACTIVITIES PROCEDURE: 3. Read the following quote from Bob Dylan to the class: “I consider myself a poet first 1. Play an audio clip of Bob Dylan and a musician second.” Ask students: performing “Blowin’ in the Wind.” • What do you think is the difference between a Explain to the students that it is a poem and a song? A poet and a songwriter? song he wrote and first performed in New York City in 1962. To generate • What do you think is the difference between classroom discussion, ask the students a poem and a song? A poet and a songwriter? With those answers in mind, what do you think how the song and its recording compare Bob Dylan is getting at in describing himself and to the pop music of today. his music in this way? [Answers may include: A songwriter sets lyrics to music, while a poet sets 2. Distribute a handout of the lyrics to words upon the page. Songs may have a clear “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Invite one student rhyming structure and repetitive verses, while poems may not. Dylan may be trying to assert that to read the lyrics aloud. he takes his words, or his lyrics, very seriously, etc.] Ask the students: How would you 4. Direct students to the song lyric, “How describe the message or mood of this many years can a mountain exist before it song? [Answers may include: the singer is washed to the sea?” As a class, discuss sounds like he’s addressing a particular the image of the “mountain”: Consider the group, the singer is posing provocative “mountain” the lyrics are referencing. Within questions to the listener, the mood is the context of the song, do you think this a straight-forward or somber, etc. You literal mountain, or is the mountain a symbol may also want to discuss the simple for something different? Have students instrumentation and how that affects the defend their answers. delivery.] PARTNERSHIP LESSONS: LITTLE KIDS ROCK INTERDISCIPLINARY LESSON: “BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND” PROCEDURE: (CONTINUED) 5. Break students into small groups. Distribute segregation, injustice, the threat of war, etc.] to each group a handout featuring a timeline of the early 1960s. Have groups read • Invite groups to share out their responses. Ask the class: Why do you think different groups were able through the timeline before referring back to come up with different interpretations of the to the lyrics to “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Ask lyrics? students to discuss the social and political issues that were prominent around the time 7. Discuss as a class: If you were to perform a Bob Dylan composed “Blowin’ in the Wind.” cover of “Blowin’ in the Wind” today, what How might these issues connect to the song are some current social issues, or events lyrics? in our community, to which the song might apply? Write suggestions and generate a list 6. Read aloud the following lyric to your on the board. students: “How many ears must one man have, before he can hear people cry? / Yes 8. Have individual students pick an issue and how many deaths will it take ‘til he from the list. In a one-paragraph response, knows, that too many people have died?” students should explain specifically how the Using the timeline as a reference, groups issue they have selected may be applied to should discuss the following question: lyrics from “Blowin’ in the Wind.” • What is one issue or event on the timeline that 9.

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