Bob Dylan once said himself: “I am the last of the best”. How humble and elegant these words are! We all know Bob Dylan is an accomplished singer, but it is his talent for creative song writing that won him a Noble Prize in Literature in 2016. In his life time, he has shown us his extraordinary gift for the word selection and composition. His word selection are typically very simple and sharp. His word composition are usually abstract and full of poetic and philosophical power. For me, it is such a joy to read his lyric. No wonder some of his songs have profound influences in our society.
Recently I watched his biography documentary movie “No Direction Home”. This title only has three simple words, but these three simple words best present Bob Dylan’s style: abstract while philosophically linked. The movie tells Bob Dylan’s life story and his music. A lot of his music are literature masterpiece. “Blowing in the Wind” is probably his most famous one:
Blowin’ in the Wind
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must the white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind
How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
How many years must some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
And how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind
How many times can a man look up
Before he sees the sky?
How many ears must one person have
Before he can hear people cry?
And how many deaths will it take ’til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind
Oh, the answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind
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