Talk:Blowin' in the Wind

Discussion
The young man in Millburn, New Jersey was Lorre Wyatt, not Wyman. Whatever the legend, at least get his name right. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.188.117.9 (talk) 19:28, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
 * And you might try being polite!Lion King 17:48, 8 November 2005 (UTC) :::PS; I heard the little swine(Wyatt) had only intended to pinch the title and call his song; "Freedom Is Blowing In The Wind", but ended up swiping the lot! Lion King 23:01, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Lyric copyright infringement
Thanks,

Pepperstool 12:26, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

what?
does anyone have sources to prove the author thing? and if its true then why call it urban legend? absolutly ridiculous

Another singer
At the moment I don't have time to learn how to edit an article but wanted to note that Odetta released her version of "Blowing in the Wind" in the early-mid 1960's - I have it. 64.230.116.131 16:57, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Question
Please, what is the scale of the guitar and what harmonica tonality accompanies? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.43.222.29 (talk) 22:26, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Original research
"The fact that its popularity has not greatly diminished over time can perhaps be attributed to the fact that while the song asks these questions, it does not refer specifically to any particular political event." is original research.


 * Research? What research do you imagine would go into reaching such an obvious conclusion as that? 91.105.21.47 22:47, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Origins
The Origins section has been practically entirely erased and I see no reason for that. I have reinstated it. Adrian Paunescu is not the author, but a translator for the song verses, as far as I know (the version sung by "Pasarea Colibri" had both English and Romanian verses). I hope that any such massive modification of the article will be motivated here. Ferred 11:16, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

The origins of this song are further explored on the Bert Jansch documentary Acoustic Routes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGOntDob_RU&feature=related at 3:53 in). In a story previously unknown to me, it is stated that in early 1962 Dylan was brought over to London to act in a play, Madhouse on Castle Street and he was part way through writing Blowin' in the Wind, which was included in the play. The website Songfacts states that: 'Dylan performed this in the BBC play Madhouse On Castle Street, which aired January 13, 1963. Dylan performed songs throughout the play, closing with "Blowin' In The Wind." (http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1669). Interesting part of its evolution even if it doesn't constitute the song's first performance as the documentary claims — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dominicjones (talk • contribs) 11:17, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

Infobox request
An infobox was requested for the 1963 Peter, Paul & Mary recording of "Blowin' in the Wind" at WikiProject_Missing_encyclopedic_articles/List_of_notable_songs/2. —Preceding unsigned comment added by InnocuousPseudonym (talk • contribs) 18:36, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

Dodgy word choice

 * In 2007, however, the current pope Benedict XVI, who was also in attendance, expressed that he was and still is skeptical of Dylan performing the song in a church environment.

Skeptical? That seems a very odd word to use.

I'm not sure what the best phrasing is, but for now I'm going to replace skeptical of with uncomfortable with. At least that's proper English. If you can improve it, please do.

TRiG (talk) 10:48, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

"Urban Legend" to "False Allegation"
I've changed the section heading about Dylan's plagiarising 'Blowin' The Wind' from 'Urban Legend' to 'False Allegation of Plagiarism'. It wasn't an urban legend. It was a lie that was published in Newsweek in November 1963, and which dogged Dyan's career for many years. Thee's a footnote to snopes.com which has a good account of how this lie achieved widespread currency. Mick gold (talk) 08:02, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

If Bob Dylan is the composer/writer in 1963, how does Marlene Dietrich sing it before that? Please enlighten! Directorati (talk) 06:10, 23 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Dylan wrote it in a matter of minutes in a cafe across the street from The Gaslight in 1962, and where does it say Dietrich sang it before 1963? She started singing it in 1964 after she had released it as a single 650 Norton (1951) (talk) 17:57, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

Isn't This About...
Newspapers?

I heard that somewhere...

DarkestMoonlight (talk) 23:45, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

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Sailing doves
"Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand?" Do white doves sail? Do they sail seas? Do they sleep in sand? I don't even know if they sleep. I'm not an ornithologist. Perhaps he really means some kind of pigeon? --Tsinfandel (talk) 15:29, 1 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi, Tsinfandel. You don't need an ornithological degree to tell which way the doves sail. The general view of these allusions, as I've understood them, is to the dove as a symbol of peace, to the journey the dove made as Noah's floods receded, and to the eons as represented by the sands. Regarding the ornithology, according to their wiki page, doves live almost everywhere, even on islands though not in the driest regions of the Sahara. And among other things I didn't know but should have wondered long ago, doves and pigeons are more than cousins; they're one and the same. Thanks for the playful deconstructionism and sparking my first exercise of the day. Allreet (talk) 16:34, 1 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Do white doves sail? Yes when a Persian fleet takes them to war, see La Paloma — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.217.129.106 (talk) 13:51, 4 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Don't know about doves in particular but yes, birds sleep, including in flight. They can stay aloft for months at a time.  Yes I researched this because of the white dove lyric ;). 50.0.136.56 (talk) 02:58, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

Re: "And among other things I didn't know but should have wondered long ago, doves and pigeons are more than cousins; they're one and the same."

Not exactly. A pigeon is actually a particular kind of dove, a rock dove. Pigeons live comfortably in big cities because the ledges on tall buildings are similar to their natural habit. TheScotch (talk) 12:50, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

Origins section needs revision
The Origins and Initial Response section needs additional research, revisions and more citations. The section states that Dylan first performed the song at Gerde's on April 16, 1962, and that a version of this song was recorded and circulated. No citation is given. Here's what I've been able to dig up:


 * According to Michael Gray's Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, p. 63-64; Robert Woliver's Bringing It All Back Home history of Gerde's, p. 83-84; and Anthony Scaduto's An Intimate Biography, p. 139, the song was finished in a cafe across from Gerde's and was performed that night at a Gerde's hootenanny by Gil Turner. None of these authors gives a date, and only Gray ventures a guess: "probably late April."
 * The story told by Gray, Woliver and Scaduto comes from David Cohen (David Blue), a reliable enough source who's quoted at length by Gray and Woliver and briefly by Scaduto.
 * Clinton Heylin in Behind the Shades Revisited, p. 93, mentions a late April performance of the song but not much else.
 * Howard Sounes in Down the Highway, p. 114, does not mention Turner (or Dylan) performing it and confuses the place where it was written as across from the Gaslight.
 * Olof Bjorner in "Yearly Chronicles" (Bound for Glory, 1962) indicates the song was performed at Gerde's on April 16 or 23 by Pete Seeger and that Dylan taught him the chords backstage. In Still on the Road, Bjorner lists a recording session for Gerde's only as April or May 1962.

My opinion is that the Origins section should include the generally accepted Gray-Woliver-Scaduto account of the writing and Turner's performance. Since the dates of Turner's and Dylan's performances are probably lost to history, they should be generalized in keeping with Gray-Bjorner. I further believe that this section has become bloated with all matter of issues and that it should be re-written with additional sections for anything that doesn't relate to the writing and early performances/recordings. Besides mention of the Gerde's bootlegged performance, two other early recordings should be noted: the WBAI/Folkways Broadside Reunion version and the Witmark demos version. Allreet (talk) 07:15, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

plagiarism accusation section
That section doesn't seem important to the song exigesis by now. I'd like to chop it or cut it down to a sentence or so. Comments? 50.0.136.56 (talk) 03:00, 29 October 2016 (UTC)


 * If the claim was patently false as this Wikipedia article (currently) maintains, then, yes, I quite agree that an entire section devoted to it is overkill and "undue weight". TheScotch (talk) 12:33, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

I've now shortened the essay about the charge to two sentences and removed the section banner. For now I've left these two sentences where the former section was because I'm undecided where the best place for them is. If anyone feels they belong somewhere else in the article, please feel free to move them.TheScotch (talk) 12:54, 29 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Looks good. I don't know where the best place for it is either, but where it is now is at least ok.  Thanks. 50.0.136.56 (talk) 21:09, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

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What is the last paragraph, in the "Other versions" section at 2018/01/20, about?
Today, which is 2018/01/20 (year/month/day), the last paragraph in the "Other versions" section is exactly:

“How many words can be written on a page, before they begin to bleed? How many books can one man own, before he has learned to read? How many meanings can he give to a phrase, before, from his lexicon he’s freed?”

What is that? Why is it quoted?

Is this paragraph a complete given lyric of another version for the song? If it is, shouldn't it be clearly pointed as such? And shouldn't it be credited to whom created it?

--Rapidim (talk) 18:57, 20 January 2018 (UTC)


 * The lyric above comes nowhere near to scanning. It's pathetic, and its author should be ashamed of humself. TheScotch (talk) 21:09, 24 June 2021 (UTC)