Bob Dylan – Blowin' In The Wind Lyrics
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' 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 can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' 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?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' 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
From Dylan’s second album “The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.”
In this song, Dylan poses a list of hypothetical questions; questions people may say cannot be answered, comparing them to the Civil Rights Struggle. An anthem for black people during the 60s, it even inspired Sam Cooke to write “A Change is Gonna Come”. Dylan does not claim to know the answers, but beautifully says the answers are out there ‘blowin’ in the wind.'
The melody of “Blowin' in the Wind” is Dylan’s adaptation of the old Negro spiritual “No More Auction Block”. 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.” — WP
