April 11, 2011

Today's Song - "Blowin' in the Wind" by 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 this sand?
Yes, an' 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


How many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, an' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, an' how many times must a man turn his head
An' pretend that he just doesn't see?


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


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


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


1. How do the lyrics of this song relate to the Civil Rights Movement?

2.  When analyzing this song, what significance does Dylan's race have (he was white)? 

3.  Is this song still relevant today?  How so?

19 comments:

  1. 1) Basically, what Dylan's song is about is how long can something/someone endure until something is done about the situation. This relates to the Civil Rights movement because the question is (or was)); How long can blacks endure being treated the way they were treated until they took matters into their own hands and fought back.

    3) I believe it is still relevant. There are daily problems where something/someone just lets something go until they decide to act upon it, like watching a kid being bullied and finally standing up for them.

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  2. How do the lyrics of this song relate to the Civil Rights Movement?
    A: Some of the lyrics in this song really remind me of the Civil Rights Movement, not all of them do, but some of them. For example, "Yes, an' how many times must the cannon balls fly before they're forever banned?" This lyric really reminded me of the CRM... It really stands out to me. I think that why this relates is because there was so much fighting and the lyric is saying how many times before the fighting gets banned.

    2. Is this song still relevent to today?
    A: I think that this song is for sure still relevent to today. Maybe not in the neighborhoods and places where we live, but absolutly in some places of the world. I think in any sort of warzone this is relevent.

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  3. This song is all about how white people not only have treated black people unfairly and do not listen to there pleas, but that it was also happening when this song was created.

    The significance of Bob Dylan's race was that he was a white man writing and preforming songs about how unfair it is how white people are treating white people.

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  4. 1. I think that all of the lyrics are metaphors that ask when all people will be free, except for one that said, "how many years must some people exist, before they all are free." And that is directly relating to the Civil Rights Movement.

    3. I feel that in a way some people ignore the fact that they are going bankrupt and some of the lyrics realate to that. Also some people ignore charity and turn away until they feel that it becomes personal.

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  5. 1. How do the lyrics of this song relate to the Civil Rights movement?
    The lyrics of this song relate to the Civil Rights movement because Dylan is saying "how long can something happen before something good/bad happens." You can tranlsate that into how long are African-Americans going to be prejudiced and mistreated before they're free?

    2. When analyzing this song, what signifigance does Dylan's race have (he was white)?
    I think maybe people would see how such a famous person, as Dylan was, and see that he was white and he wasn't racist which could have made some people "get their act together"

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  6. In the song "Blowin' In The Wind", Bob Dylan sings, "Yes, an' how many years can some people exist, Before they're allowed to be free?". I think this line especially connects to the Civil Rights Movement because it's asking how long do black people have to exist before they can live freely. The significance that this song has on white people is that it might make them feel bad or try to think about what it would be like in a black persons shoes.

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  7. The lyrics of this song relate to the Civil RIghts Movement, because the song is about how long is it going to take for someone to do something, to stand up for what they believe in.
    This song is still relevant today because yet people still don't stand up for what they believe is right.

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  8. 1. How do the lyrics of this song relate to the Civil Rights Movement?
    The part when he says, "Yes, an' how many times must a man turn his head
    An' pretend that he just doesn't see?" is probably relating to how many people are killed from discrimination and lynching mobs and stuff like that. The other part when he says, "Yes, an' how many times must a man turn his head
    An' pretend that he just doesn't see?" Is referring to the government turning a blind eye on the discrimination and killings of blacks.


    2. When analyzing this song, what significance does Dylan's race have (he was white)?
    Usually it is the people who are being discriminated who are the ones singing the song. This time it is different.

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  9. How do the lyrics of this song relate to the Civil Rights Movement?

    "How many roads must a man walk down
    Before you call him a man" I think that this lyric is really relates well to our topic. Many protesters during the civil rights movement walked down roads, to in a sense, be treated as men and women, not as inferior people.

    Is this song still relevant today? How so?

    I think that this song is still relevant today It is quite inspiring, and I think many people who believe that they are treated unfairly can learn from this song.

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  10. This song is so nice. I love the beginning part about that says "how many times must the cannon balls fly before they are forever banned?" He's basically asking how long we can keep going the way we are now, with people suffering and others ignoring that suffering, with war tearing things apart. In that way, I think it's relevant today. But it also definitely relates to the Civil Rights Movement for some of the same reasons. How many things must we go through beofre we can have peace and equality?

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  11. 1. I suppose this song relates to the Civil Rights movement, since it seems to be about how you have to do a lot of things a certain times before they're recognized.

    3. This song is relevant today because we have the same kind of issues in this time period- we also want to be accepted in the community.

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  12. 1. Dylan's race had a larg significance in this song. Whe he says, "the answer is blowing in the wind." He means that it is ever present and right in front of our faces. As a white man he is urging other whites to not turn a blind eye and stand up for what the know is right.
    2. This song is still relevent today. Whenever bad things are happening and people turn a blind eye. This song is relevent. Unfortunatly this is relevent in many places including Darfur.

    Jake

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  13. I'm answering to the first and second questions;

    1.) The lyricas of this song have a lot to do with the Civil Rights Movement because he is askign the free people how long it will take before they do something about what is going on. The one line that really stood out to me was "how many ears must one man have to hear people cry.
    2.) The reason why this song is so powerful is because even though he is white and could be judge for what he is singing about, he can still speak about his opinions and what he thinks everyone should do.

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  14. I think that the lyrics of this song relate to the Civil Rights Movement becuse they seem to be asking how many time a black person must do some thing befroe they are considered a person and treated like one from the point of view of a white person.

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  15. 1) I think that this song’s lyrics relate to the Civil Rights Movement because the main message that Bob Dylan is trying to get across is how African Americans are treated poorly but nothing is done about it. A great example of this is in stanza 3 and the last two lines talk about how hatred goes unnoticed.

    2)I think that this song is still relevant today because there are still places where there is hatred and discrimination that goes unnoticed by much of the world.

    Max

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  16. I think that this song's overall message relates to the Civil Rights Movement because in some stanzas it is discussing how people can be so unrealistic and unfair that they don't realize the obvious if it doesn't effect them. In this case, whites not being realistic that blacks are being treated unfairly, and not caring.
    This song is definitely still relevant today because there are always people who are not fair to others and don't like others.

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  17. The lyrics of this song relate to the Civil Rights Movement, because the song is about how it takes a very long time for people to get the courage to stand up to what is wrong and fight for what is right. People will try to ignore the problem, maybe for many generations, but eventually, people will see the problems around them and fix them.

    The song is still relevant today, throughout the world. We still fight wars to fix problems rather than trying to work the problems out in a peaceful manner. People still turn their heads to problems, such as what happened in Darfur in the 1990's, but Obama stood up for humanitarian reasons in Libya.

    George

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  18. I think that the lyrics of this song can be related to the time of the Civil Rights Movement because Bob Dylan mentions freedom asks questions like how many years until a man can be free, which doesn't just have to relate to slavery, but can also relate to the way black people felt in 1865-1965. He also indirectly mentions violence in the beginning of the song when he talks about cannon balls and them being banned.

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  19. 1. How do the lyrics of this song relate to the Civil Rights Movement?
    In the song he says how many years can some people exist before they're allowed to be free?
    This lyrics is definitly related to the civil rights movement because it talks about how many years that the black people suffered and fought for the freedom.

    2. When analyzing this song, what significance does Dylan's race have (he was white)?
    Lots of times black people sings or talks about civil rights movement but Bob Dylan is white.He thinks that it wasnt fair for the black people

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