Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind"

 

Bob Dylan rose to fame as an iconic musician and writer decades ago. His work has become significant with his combination of folk music and poetic techniques. His fame came in the 1960s with his move from rural Minnesota to New York City creating breakthrough albums in the early 60s. His work is well renowned and often explores societal challenges and themes such as civil rights; specifically in the song Blowin’ in the Wind. 

Blowin’ in the Wind was released on August 13, 1963 on the album “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” The song became a token of the civil rights movement that was significantly active and gaining widespread national attention at the time. His influence came from other artists’ music towards civil rights freedoms, such as The New World Singers’ work. The song is filled with rhetorical questions, beginning with “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?” to the tune of No More Auction Block. The popularity of the song and its message gained attention asking questions about morality and freedom, even performing a couple hours before Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech. 

Dylan’s creative process stems from the extrinsic motivation to challenge society through music. He used what he knows about music to make something that became a hit and got people to listen to the message. Dylan himself never gave any lengthy explanation of the song other than saying that the answer is blowing in the wind. This interpretive answer allows people to find reason for themselves, because the answer could be blowing right in your face or as abstract as the wind, making it timeless and applicable to any injustice. 

Rick Rubin explained a similar idea in the “The Creative Act: A Way of Being.” He writes about how the purpose of self-expression is not really about the person creating the art. Artists generally have the instinct to create, influenced by their own emotions, but it isn’t about finding yourself but instead sharing it. Everyone’s point of view is shared and put together constantly creating new understandings of life without limitations. Dylan had a similar effect with Blowin’ in the Wind. His singular perspective of society he was living in at the time influenced everyone who listened and came after him, specifically with freedom and peace.