Blowin’ in the Wind

This week we go back to the 1960s (most o you remember that decade). We start out with one of the best. “Blowin’ in the Wind” is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962. It was released as a single and included on his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in 1963. It has been described as a protest song and 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”. Despite not charting when first released as a single, it has gained a lot of radio airplay, ultimately reaching #3 as its highest chart position in France, on the airplay chart.Origins and initial response Dylan originally wrote and performed a two-verse version of the song; its first public performance, at Gerde’s Folk City on April 16, 1962, was recorded and circulated among Dylan collectors. Shortly after this performance, he added the middle verse to the song. Some published versions of the lyrics reverse the order of the second and third verses, apparently because Dylan simply appended the middle verse to his original manuscript, rather than writing out a new copy with the verses in proper order. The song was published for the first time in May 1962, in the sixth issue of Broadside, the magazine founded by Pete Seeger and devoted to topical songs. The theme may have been taken from a passage in Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, Bound for Glory, in which Guthrie compared his political sensibility to newspapers blowing in the winds of New York City streets and alleys. Dylan was certainly familiar with Guthrie’s work; his reading of it had been a major turning point in his intellectual and political development. In June 1962, the song was published in Sing Out!, accompanied by Dylan’s comments: There ain’t too much I can say about this song except that the answer is blowing in the wind. It ain’t in no book or movie or TV show or discussion group. Man, it’s in the wind – and it’s blowing in the wind. Too many of these hip people are telling me where the answer is but oh I won’t believe that. I still say it’s in the wind and just like a restless piece of paper it’s got to come down some … But the only trouble is that no one picks up the answer when it comes down so not too many people get to see and know … and then it flies away. I still say that some of the biggest criminals are those that turn their heads away when they see wrong and know it’s wrong. I’m only 21 years old and I know that there’s been too many wars … You people over 21, you’re older and smarter. Dylan recorded “Blowin’ in the Wind” on July 9, 1962, for inclusion on his second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, released in May, 1963. Bobby Darin recorded “Blowin’ in the Wind” on July 30, 1962, for inclusion on his album, Golden Folk Hits, also released in 1963. Arranged by Walter Raim, there was Roger Mcguinn, Glen Campbell, James Burton, and Phil Ochs all on guitar, and singing harmony.
In his sleeve notes for The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991, John Bauldie wrote that Pete Seeger first identified the melody of “Blowin’ in the Wind” as an adaptation of the old African-American spiritual “No More Auction Block/We Shall Overcome”. According to Alan Lomax’s The Folk Songs of North America, the song was sung by former slaves who fled to Nova Scotia after Britain abolished slavery in 1833. In 1978, 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.”[8] Dylan’s performance of “No More Auction Block” was recorded at the Gaslight Cafe in October 1962, and appeared on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991. The critic Michael Gray suggested that the lyric is an example of Dylan’s “quiet incorporation of Biblical rhetoric into his own”, starting with a text from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel (12:1–2): “Son of Man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see and see not; they have ears to hear and hear not.” which Dylan transforms into: “Yes’ n’ how many times must a man turn his head / Pretending he just doesn’t see?” and “Yes’n’ how many ears must one man have / Before he can hear people cry?” “Blowin’ in the Wind” has been described as an anthem of the civil rights movement. In Martin Scorsese’s documentary on Dylan, No Direction Home, Mavis Staples expressed her astonishment on first hearing the song and said she could not understand how a young white man could write something that captured the frustration and aspirations of black people so powerfully. Sam Cooke was similarly deeply impressed by the song, incorporating it into his repertoire soon after its release (a version would be included on Sam Cooke at the Copa), and being inspired by it to write “A Change Is Gonna Come”.
“Blowin’ in the Wind” was first covered by the Chad Mitchell Trio, but their record company delayed release of the album containing it because the song included the word death, so the trio lost out to Peter, Paul and Mary, who were represented by Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman. The single sold a phenomenal 300,000 copies in the first week of release and made the song world-famous. On August 17, 1963, it reached number two on the Billboard pop chart, with sales exceeding one million copies. Peter Yarrow recalled that, when he told Dylan he would make more than $5,000 (equivalent to $44,000 in 2021 from the publishing rights, Dylan was speechless.] Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of the song also spent five weeks atop the easy listening chart. The critic Andy Gill wrote, “Blowin’ in the Wind” marked a huge jump in Dylan’s songwriting. Prior to this, efforts like “The Ballad of Donald White” and “The Death of Emmett Till” had been fairly simplistic bouts of reportage songwriting. “Blowin’ in the Wind” was different: for the first time, Dylan discovered the effectiveness of moving from the particular to the general. Whereas “The Ballad of Donald White” would become completely redundant as soon as the eponymous criminal was executed, a song as vague as “Blowin’ in the Wind” could be applied to just about any freedom issue. It remains the song with which Dylan’s name is most inextricably linked, and safeguarded his reputation as a civil libertarian through any number of changes in style and attitude. Dylan performed the song for the first time on television in the UK in January 1963, when he appeared in the BBC television play Madhouse on Castle Street. He also performed the song during his first national US television appearance, filmed in March 1963, a performance made available in 2005 on the DVD release of Martin Scorsese’s PBS television documentary on Dylan, No Direction Home. An allegation that the song was written by a high-school student named Lorre Wyatt (a member of Millburn High School’s “Millburnaires” all-male folk band) and subsequently purchased or plagiarised by Dylan before he gained fame was reported in an article in Newsweek magazine in November 1963. The plagiarism claim was eventually shown to be false.