A lot of life’s answers are blowing in the wind, as the Bob Dylan song asserts. But what does that mean? Some people think it means the answers are right in front of our faces – answers we could pluck from the air if we only chose to do so. Myself, I think it means that the answers are unknowable, as imperceptible as the molecules on the wind. Of course, Bob Dylan’s explanation is as ambiguous as the song.
There ain’t too much I can say about this song except that the answer is blowing in the wind. It ain’t in no book or movie or TV show or discussion group. Man, it’s in the wind – and it’s blowing in the wind. Too many of these hip people are telling me where the answer is but oh I won’t believe that. I still say it’s in the wind and just like a restless piece of paper it’s got to come down some …But the only trouble is that no one picks up the answer when it comes down so not too many people get to see and know . . . and then it flies away. I still say that some of the biggest criminals are those that turn their heads away when they see wrong and know it’s wrong. I’m only 21 years old and I know that there’s been too many . . . You people over 21, you’re older and smarter.[*]