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{{short description|1963 single by Bob Dylan}}{{More citations needed|date=June 2024}}{{redirect|Blowing in the Wind|the jazz album by Lou Donaldson|Blowing in the Wind (album)}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Blowin' in the Wind
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
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| recorded = July 9, 1962
| studio = [[CBS 30th Street Studio|Columbia Recording]], New York City
| genre = * [[Contemporary folk music|Folk]]
* [[protest music]]
| length = 2:48
| label = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
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It was released as a single and included on his album ''[[The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan]]'' in 1963. It has been described as a [[protest song]] and poses a series of [[rhetorical question]]s about peace, war, and freedom. The refrain "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind".<ref>Gold, Mick (2002). "Life and Life Only: Dylan at 60". ''Judas!'' magazine, April 2002. p. 43.</ref>
In 1994, the song was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame Award|Grammy Hall of Fame]]. In 2004, it was ranked number 14 on ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"]]. Despite not charting when first released as a single, it has gained
== Origins and initial response ==
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{{blockquote|"Blowin' in the Wind" marked a huge jump in Dylan's songwriting. Prior to this, efforts like "The Ballad of Donald White" and "The Death of Emmett Till" had been fairly simplistic bouts of reportage songwriting. "Blowin' in the Wind" was different: for the first time, Dylan discovered the effectiveness of moving from the particular to the general. Whereas "The Ballad of Donald White" would become completely redundant as soon as the eponymous criminal was executed, a song as vague as "Blowin' in the Wind" could be applied to just about any freedom issue. It remains the song with which Dylan's name is most inextricably linked, and safeguarded his reputation as a civil libertarian through any number of changes in style and attitude.<ref>Gill. ''My Back Pages''. p. 23</ref>}}
Dylan performed the song for the first time on television in the
An allegation that the song was written by a high-school student named Lorre Wyatt (a member of [[Millburn High School]]'s "Millburnaires" all-male folk band) and subsequently purchased or plagiarised by Dylan before he gained fame was reported in an article in ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine in November 1963. The plagiarism claim was eventually shown to be false.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/blowin.asp|title=False Claim on "Blowin' in the Wind"|date=27 January 2001 |publisher=Snopes.com, Rumor has it|access-date=2006-09-05|archive-date=
== Legacy ==
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In the 1994 film ''[[Forrest Gump]]'', Jenny sings this song for a show in a strip club and is introduced as "Bobbi Dylan". The film's soundtrack album features [[Joan Baez]]'s 1975 live recording of the song, from her 1976 album ''[[From Every Stage]]''.
In 1975, the song was included as [[poetry]] in a high-school [[English language|English]] textbook in [[Sri Lanka]]. The textbook caused controversy because it replaced [[Shakespeare]]'s work with Dylan's.<ref>{{cite web|url=
During the [[protests against the Iraq War]], commentators noted that protesters were resurrecting songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" rather than creating new ones.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/17/DD41757.DTL|title=Activists Ask, Where Have All the Peace Songs Gone?|author=Kennedy, Louise|date=2003-03-17|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=2022-07-24|archive-date=2013-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509132901/http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Activists-ask-where-have-all-the-peace-songs-2662316.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
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In 2009, Dylan licensed the song to be used in an advertisement for the British consumer-owned [[The Co-operative Group|Co-operative Group]]. The Co-op claimed that Dylan's decision was influenced by "the Co-op's high ethical guidelines regarding fair trade and the environment." The Co-op, which is owned by about 3 million consumers, also includes Britain's largest funeral parlour and farming business.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/253034,bob-dylan-allows-british-ad-to-use-blowin-in-the-wind.html|title=Bob Dylan Allows British Ad to Use Blowin' in the Wind|date=2009-01-28|access-date=2009-01-29|publisher=The Earth Times|archive-date=2012-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819180258/http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/253034,bob-dylan-allows-british-ad-to-use-blowin-in-the-wind.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jan/27/bob-dylan-song-co-op-tv-ad-commercial|title=Bob Dylan Song to Soundtrack Co-op Ad|author=Sweney, Mark|date=2009-01-28|publisher=Guardian.co.uk|access-date=2016-12-14|archive-date=2021-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309020025/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jan/27/bob-dylan-song-co-op-tv-ad-commercial|url-status=live}}</ref>
In ''[[Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle]]'', in the level "Temple of Bwahmanweewee", Beep-0 parodies this song.
Hip hop group [[Public Enemy]] reference it in their 2007 Dylan tribute song "[[Long and Whining Road]]": "Tears of rage left a friend blowing in the wind / But time is God, been back for ten years, and black again".<ref>{{Citation|title=Public Enemy – The Long and Whining Road|url=https://genius.com/Public-enemy-the-long-and-whining-road-lyrics|language=en|access-date=2021-04-12|archive-date=2021-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410201528/https://genius.com/Public-enemy-the-long-and-whining-road-lyrics|url-status=live}}</ref>
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| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
* [[Folk music|Folk]] * [[Pop music|pop]]<ref name="Number Ones 2022">{{cite book|last= Breihan|first= Tom|chapter= The Byrds - "Mr. Tambourine Man|date= November 15, 2022|title= The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music|publisher=[[Hachette Book Group]]|location= New York|page= 75}}</ref>
| length = 2:53
| label = [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]
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}}
The most commercially successful version is by [[folk music]] trio [[Peter, Paul and Mary]], who released the song in June 1963, three weeks after ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' was issued. [[Albert Grossman]], then managing both Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary, brought the trio the song which they promptly recorded (on a single take) and released.<ref name=pc19>{{Pop Chronicles |19| 3| Peter Yarrow}}</ref> The trio's version, which was the title track of their third album, peaked at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' charts behind "[[Fingertips]]" by [[Stevie Wonder]].<ref>Gray. ''The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia''. p. 63.</ref> The group's version also went to number one on the [[Hot Adult Contemporary|Middle-Road]] charts for five weeks.<ref>{{Citation|title=Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|author-link=Joel Whitburn|year=2002|publisher=Record Research|page=192}}</ref>
In
===Chart performance===
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*In 1966, [[Stevie Wonder]] recorded his own version which became a top 10 hit on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]],<ref name=pc25>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19780/m1/ |title=Show 25, The Soul Reformation: Phase Two, the Motown Story. [Part 4] }}</ref> as well as number one on the R&B charts.<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=635}}</ref> It reached #12 in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.7819.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - September 12, 1966}}</ref>
* In 2022, Dylan sold a newly recorded version of the song, produced by [[T Bone Burnett]], on a new "one of one" analogue format known as an "Ionic Original" disc. The disc was sold via [[Christie's|Christie's auction house]] for $1.78 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krol |first=Charlotte |date=2022-07-07 |title=Bob Dylan's 'Ionic Original' re-recording of 'Blowin' In The Wind" sells for £1.48million |url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/bob-dylans-ionic-original-re-recording-of-blowin-in-the-wind-sells-for-1-48million-3264455 |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=NME |language=en-AU |archive-date=2022-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708030124/https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/bob-dylans-ionic-original-re-recording-of-blowin-in-the-wind-sells-for-1-48million-3264455 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Joan Baez and Dylan have recorded this song live numerous times, and Baez recorded her own version.
== See also ==
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[[Category:The Kingston Trio songs]]
[[Category:Marlene Dietrich songs]]
[[Category:Me First and the Gimme Gimmes songs]]
[[Category:Protest songs]]
[[Category:Stevie Wonder songs]]
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