The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #115502   Message #2481655
Posted By: GUEST,big tim
01-Nov-08 - 11:43 AM
Thread Name: There but for fortune/blowin in the wind
Subject: RE: There but for fortune/blowin in the wind
'Fortune' is a decent song but just a simple idea: 'there but for the grace of God, go I'. Show me this or that unfortunate, thank God it's not me. One dimensional.

'Wind' is philosophy, and on many levels. It can't be pinned down (except for it being antiwar and anti racist). But where's the answer to these problems, they must be out there somewhere in the human psyche, blowin in the wind. If only we could find them, maybe we will some day, I doubt it but you never know. For me, that's what Dylan was trying to convey. Heavy man!                              

The song is often criticised, wrongly IMO, for simply asking questions and providing no answers. However, Dylan, age 22, was wise enough to realise that there are no simple answers to these questions. Or at least we haven't found them yet after 10,000 years of 'civilisation'. The world is still awash with war and racism. I din't know what the 'answer' is. It's a timeless song, one of Dylan's very finest, and that saying something.