Blowing In The Wind: Pretty Straightforward, Isn't It? Or Is It?

Proverbial wisdom: the accumulated ethical values of ordinary people in early modern England. 

Young Bob (Illus. by the author)

Bob Dylan wrote this timeless song in 1962, the year he turned 21. It appeared on his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, in 1963.

I frequently like to examine what young Dylan was doing and compare it to what was happening in the popular culture. Some of the "big hits" of 1962, when he wrote this, included The Twist (Chubby Checker), Mashed Potato Time (Dee Dee Sharp), I Can't Stop Loving You (Ray Charles), The Loco-Motion (Little Eva), and Stranger on the Shore at #1 by Acker Bilk. 

Dylan first performed a two verse version of this song at Gerde's Folk City (See Peter McKenzie's book (Bob Dylan: On A Couch & Fifty Cents A Day) for more details about this time in the young singer/songwriter's life. The date of that performance was in April, so he was still twenty.

The past few days a group of Airstreamers has been in town on a journey from the North Country here down into the deep roots of the blues, taking in the Crossroads, Memphis and other historic places from music history. One of them mentioned to me how she didn't know, like many others, that "Blowin' in the Wind" was not written by Peter, Paul & Mary.

The song has been recorded extensively by other artists including a German version by none other than Marlene Dietrich. 

Much has been written about this song through the decades and it's message never seems to grow stale. By means of a few simple questions it forcefully cuts to the root of a number of issues. 27 years later Dylan would use this same technique of asking questions in a lyrical format, except the questions are turned inward. "What good am I if I'm like all the rest, if I just turn away when I see how you're dressed?" ("What Good Am I?", Oh Mercy) This rhetorical style is repeated two tracks later in the song "What Was It You Wanted?" There's nothing ambiguous about the first, and plenty of fog, shadow and mist in the second.

Blowin' in the Wind

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand? *
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
And how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and 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

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
And how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

© 1962 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1990 by Special Rider Music

* * * 

A lot has been written about this song. You can learn more about nearly any song on Wikipedia. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994. Ten years later it held the #14 position in Rolling Stones' 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

* "And the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth." --Genesis 8:11

Related Links

A Visit with Peter McKenzie, Author of Bob Dylan: On A Couch & Fifty Cents A Day (Part One)

On Amazon: On a Counch & Fifty Cents a Day

Airstreamers Arrive in Dylan Country

Kim Kervina welcomes the Airstreamers to Duluth
at Indian Point Campground.

If you're a fan of music history, especially the roots of Americana, you'll very likely be jealous of the caravan of Airstreamers that rolled into Duluth this weekend. Street rodders have their road tours, as do bikers. Till recently I was unaware, though, of the passion for doing the caravan thing that Airstreamers have been sharing and experiencing. They have seen a lot over the years.

This year's Airstreamer caravan consists of people from Ontario and Maine to Florida, Texas, New Mexico, California and everywhere in between.

The theme for this year's traveling road tour is Highway 61 Revisited. It's certain to be a music and blues fan dream, led by Mary & Ingo Werk.

When you look at the itinerary you realize how much work goes into this month-long happening. Here's a synopsis from their H61R Driver Manual:

The Caravan starts in Duluth MN, where the iconic singer-songwriter, musician, author, artist and recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature Bob Dylan was born. We tour all Bob Dylan sites of significance in Duluth as well as in Hibbing MN, where he grew up. His 1965 album “Highway 61 Revisited” inspired this Caravan, as this once major American highway still connects us to the places known for their musical heritage. 

Next are the Twin Cities, where the multi-talented recording artist Prince, who passed away in 2016, resided. We tour his extraordinary private estate and production complex just outside of Minneapolis. Going South on 61, Memphis TN is a music explorer’s delight: Elvis Presley’s Graceland, Beale Street, Sun Records where Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash cut their first record, Stax Studios of Otis Redding fame and the birth of Soul Music. We see it all, and much more. Crossing the state line to Mississippi, 61 turns into the Blues Highway. This stretch is an education of the Mississippi Delta Blues and the rich history of this unique art form. We visit the Blues Museums featuring legends as well as Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club. We even visit a Grammy Museum dedicated to the Blues in the middle of nowhere. Heading South, Louisiana has its own music traditions. Our final destination is New Orleans LA, the birthplace of Jazz: Dixieland, Louis Armstrong, French Quarter, Fats Domino, etc. The Big Easy is this Caravan’s Grand Finale. If you got the rhythm, this Caravan is for you!

The opening event at noon Sunday was an hour long welcome from a few members from the Duluth contingent. After a bit of pot luck eats (yummm!) Ingo Werk briefly shared that there was a 100% Present attendance for this tour, the last Airstreamer arriving to the campground at approximately 11:28 p.m. last night. Ingo then led us in song, the first verse of Blowin' in the Wind, setting the one for this first leg of the tour.

Ingo then introduced Kim Kervina, from Visit Duluth, who played a role in orchestrating this first portion of the Airstreamers' adventure. Kim was followed by Ed Newman who gave a 20-minute talk titled Bob Dylan 101, primarily detailing key events in Dylan's early life, including his 1959 encounter with Buddy Holly at the Duluth Armory, interweaving stories and connecting a few dots. As Alexander Pope was observed, "If a man is worth knowing at all he is worth knowing well."

This spring on Bob Dylan’s birthday May 24 Duluth Mayor Emily Larson opened her remarks by asking, “How much of who we are has been influenced by our first formative years?” These first few days in the Northland will provide the Airstreamers numerous clues regarding those influences that you might not readily grasp from just reading a book or two about Duluth's native son.

Left to Right: Zane Bail, "Ennyman", Ingo Werk & Miriam Hanson

For me, one of the notable features of living in this region and circulating amongst other fans of the Nobel Laureate is that because of the proximity one will occasionally meet people with one or two degrees of separation from Dylan. Nearly every one has a story, or stories of others with stories. The net impact is that Bob Dylan isn't a storybook character in some mythological fairy tale, but rather a real person who went to school, read books, liked to do thing kids do, went to summer camp, listened to the radio, enjoyed music, signed other kids' yearbooks, liked motorcycles... and more.

Zane Bail then shared the backstory on how Bob Dylan Way came into existence through the efforts of her husband Don Dass, city council president Don Ness (who was later elected Mayor) and the late Steve O'Neil, a county commissioner. After decades of wrangling over whether or not to do it, and where, Don Dass wrote a letter suggesting Leif Erickson Park be re-named. This was a trigger that set in motion a real solution which now runs from the Duluth Depot to the Armory and includes three Dylan-themed manhole covers.

Zane then introduced Miriam Hanson who spoke briefly about the influence of John Bushey and his KUMD radio hour Highway 61 Revisited, which aired for over 26 years. Miriam was "knighted" by John Bushey to carry the torch after his passing in February and she's done an admirable job filling John's large shoes.

Miriam's story begins with listening to Highway 61 Revisited as a 15-year-old teen, finding inspiration to see the larger world. She began her life here in Duluth but left and spent a dozen years in the Caribbean before returning to Duluth, living once again in the Central Hillside, recalling for us how when Bob was here with Paul Simon he pointed up to the hills of Duluth and remembered them well.

I brought some of my books to share.

Monday the Airstreamers will be taking in Dylan-related points of interest in Duluth including his birth home on the Hillside where he lived till he was six and the Armory where Robert Zimmerman saw Buddy Holly perform just days before "the music died." A portion of the Bill Pagel Archives will be on display at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum Library. Tuesday will be a tour of several points of interest in Hibbing where young Bob grew up.

Wednesday the Airstreamer Caravan will leave the Northland and make their way to the Twin Cities where they will take time to take in additional sites in Minnesota, with tour guide Magic Marc Percansky sharing some points of interest.

One of the scheduled stops this week will be Red Wing, MN, so as a closing number it seems a good place to share the opening lines of Dylan's Walls of Red Wing.

Related Links
The Day the Music Almost Died
Highway 61 Revisited, Streaming Live on KUMD
Boblinks.com
Ennyman's Dylan Gallery (Paintings & Drawings)

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Get into it.