JH Music

Blowin’ in the Wind – by Bob Dylan

“You can hear in this a yearning and a hope and a possibility and a sadness and sometimes a triumphal proclamation of determination. The answer is blowin' in the

wind means we will find the answer.” –Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary

“Even now, more than forty years since the song's composition and after millions of renditions by innumerable singers around the world, the queries Dylan raises in it don't appear as if they are going to be answered anytime soon.…Perhaps they can never be answered properly.” –Oliver Trager, Keys To The Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia

Both of these statements refer to Bob Dylan’s song “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1962). Listen to the song and/or read the lyrics. Which of the above statements do you agree with the most? Can we ever find the answers to Dylan’s qu estions? Why or why not?

Write your answers on another page.

Lyrics: How many roads must a man walk down Pretending he just doesn’t see? Before you call him a man? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the Yes, ’n’ how many seas must a white dove wind sail The answer is blowin’ in the wind Before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, ’n’ how many times must the How many times must a man look up cannonballs fly Before he can see the sky? Before they’re forever banned? Yes, ’n’ how many ears must one man have The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the Before he can hear people cry? wind Yes, ’n’ how many deaths will it take till he The answer is blowin’ in the wind knows That too many people have died? How many years can a mountain exist The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the Before it’s washed to the sea? wind Yes, ’n’ how many years can some people The answer is blowin’ in the wind exist Before they’re allowed to be free? © 1962 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1990 Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his by Special Rider Music head