Blowin in the Wind- Bob Dylan

For my song choice, I had chosen the song “Blowin in the Wind” by Bob Dylan as my song choice. My annotations are as below.

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?

This paragraph is Dylan introducing the idea of why does this nation acts the way we acting. He starts the stanzas off kind of peaceful in a sense, then gets slightly violent with the cannonballs. 

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

The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist

Before it's washed to the sea?

Yes, 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 pretending that he just doesn't see?

This stanza continues the idea of “why must we be the way we are” but in this stanza it goes on discrimination and ignorance 

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

The answer is blowin' in the wind

This chorus emphasizes the idea that no one really knows what they’re doing, so the solutions to these problems  are really in the unknown. 

Yes, and how many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky?

Yes, 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?

This last stanza highlights the suffering of the people. Everyone is out here hurting and dying and no one even knows why. 

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

The answer is blowin' in the wind

This song was excellently written by Dylan. It is a simple song of peace among a land of war, and honestly, it’s a song we needed both then and now.