What does Blowin' In the Wind mean?

Bob Dylan: Blowin' In the Wind Meaning

Album cover for Blowin' In the Wind album cover

Song Released: 1963


Covered By: Stevie Wonder (1966), Peter Paul & Mary (1963)


Blowin' In the Wind Lyrics

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?

Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly

Before they're forever banned?

The...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 10th 2011 !⃝

    The truth is that there isnt a right or wrong answer, all Bob's questions in the song are rhetorical because we will never trully find the answer, he knows that, hence "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind", we may never catch up to the answer which is why we create our own morals and answers. Bob knows this and is asking us if we trully believe in our own morals and why.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 25th 2011 !⃝

    This song states we know the answers to his questions but like a piece of paper we try to catch the preverbal wind always keeps it just out of reach.

    He ask how many roads must a man walk before he is a man. We as humans are always proving our being our "manhood". When will man know war solves nothing. We only will silence the cannons when men stop thinking they are always better then others.

    When does opersion stop when do we have enough ears. When are all people treated the same! At the rate we are going to accept each other mountains will be washed to the sea before it happens.

    The answer is blowin the wind. We have to band together and catch that paper. We have to catch the meaning of love for each other. Otherwise the answer is just blowin in the wind waiting for us to get the meaning of peace. Peace is not the absence of war. It's acceptance of all.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 15th 2012 !⃝

    The answer is around you and it may be felt [like the wind] but you can't catch it or influence its force or direction in any way. If you blow [your truth], you do nothing. Feel the wind with an open mind and let your blowing change.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 23rd 2021 !⃝

    Believe in a more soulful interpretation, mankind needs to seek deeper why we were created by our Maker?! It's the Christmas story-a
    national holiday celebrated every year...God-Man come to be born in the flesh---
    "Christ Child" grew to be an adult,drew many men to train who had ears to hear His teachings,eyes witness Christ so many miracles!
    His mission was to shed His Blood, to be the ultimate Sacrifice on a Cross ✝️ to Conquer death, destroy Satan's evil demise on humanity!Christ own power to Arise from death gives mankind gift of Life to Eternity! "Blowin'in the Wind" actually Christ says to disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit--came as a rushing sound like the wind
    &

  5. anonymous
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    Sep 27th 2018 !⃝

    Trying to find the answer is like a person blowing in to the wind. If there is no wind you can see a very small result of your effort, but if the wind is blowing, your efforts make no difference. Remember the winds can get up beyond hurricane force but you have only a limited amount coming out of your lungs. Once the winds of war have started there is no stopping until after the destruction has occurred. The dove of peace can not fly in a strong wind.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 7th 2018 !⃝

    He is blowing in the wind when he sings, a cannon ball creates wind when it is shot through the air, same as a man walking down a road or a white dove flapping its wings across the sea, that's what it means

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 15th 2016 !⃝

    it is simply banning the nuclear arms...if we dont walk a little miles,we never can get the picture of how a nuclear war would result. No white could sail when nuclear attacks were done. and simply the cannon balls meant the nuclear warheads to be stopped...

  8. anonymous
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    Feb 28th 2015 !⃝

    Blowing in the wind=going with the flow, the word about peace is getting around.

  9. anonymous
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    Aug 14th 2014 !⃝

    I think he's talking about the black man in the US and that he is called 'boy' by the bigots and one-eyed individuals who keep him down, and if you look at the flag flying he says, we are all Americans, there is no 'boy' we are all equal.

  10. anonymous
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    Feb 21st 2013 !⃝

    No matter what we do we can't change the evil in the world. It's like blowing in the wind that does nothing....

  11. anonymous
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    Nov 20th 2012 !⃝

    How many times must man repeate his mistakes until he get's it right . Simple answer .

  12. anonymous
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    Oct 23rd 2011 !⃝

    It's not my idea, but I like it a lot (not sure whether it's what Bob meant, but it makes a lot of sense): What's blowing in the wind? US flag (or any national flag for that matter)! So, how many times (or how long) do people have to do or to be all those things they are or do? Look up on the pole: there's a flag blowing in the wind and that's your answer!

  13. mgzaw99
    click a star to vote
    Jan 4th 2011 !⃝

    From womb to tomb,we've to search the meaning of life.Existentialism? The answer is blowing in the wind.I want to know the answer from Bob Dylan because the wind can't write or read.


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