Yesterday, I played a song that I thought I had only played once, back in 2019!  In his comment, Clive said he still liked it, just as he had when I played it two months ago!  I went back and re-checked the archives, and sure ’nuff, I had played it back in August!  My mind … I tell you, I’m losing it!  So, it is with some trepidation that I tell you I last played this one back in August 2019 … but I really think that was the only time I’ve played it before!  Honest!

This morning’s post was my reflection about the divisiveness in this nation, about how far apart those on the political right and left are, and whether there is any hope for a meeting in the middle, or whether we are bent on the destruction of the nation.  When you spend as much time as I do reading, observing, researching, and thinking about these things, you don’t just flip a switch and bring your head back to a happy place.  The darkness remains even long after the post has been scheduled and put to bed.  Tonight’s song is a reflection of what I see happening, what I think and feel.

This song was written by Bob Dylan who claims that he wrote it in about 10 minutes one afternoon. He put words to the melody of an old slave song called “No More Auction Block,” which he might have learned from Carter family records. In the evening, Dylan took the song to the nightclub Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village, where he was due to play a set. Before playing it, he announced, “This here ain’t no protest song or anything like that, ’cause I don’t write no protest songs.” During this first performance, Dylan couldn’t read some of his own handwriting and made up some of the lyrics as he went along.

The Dylan version of this song was never a hit – it was a cover by Peter, Paul & Mary that made #2 in the US in February 1963, introducing many people to the music of Bob Dylan, who was an obscure folk singer at the time.

“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 … You people over 21, you’re older and smarter.”

One line, the one in bold typeface, says so much about our troubles today.

As I like both the Bob Dylan and the Peter, Paul and Mary versions, I present you with both for your listening pleasure.

Blowin’ in the Wind
Bob Dylan

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, ‘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

Yes, ‘n’ how many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s 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

Yes, ‘n’ 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

Songwriters: Bob Dylan
Blowin’ in the Wind lyrics © Audiam, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group