Dylan performed "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" about a month before
President John F. Kennedy announced the discovery of Soviet missiles in
Cuba. He wrote the song as an anti-war protest against the Vietnam War and nuclear warfare. During the Cold War tensions were rising and many people were afraid of a possible third world war using nuclear weapons. The 1960s was a time period filled with anger and sadness. Dylan used his songs as a way to get people's attention and to get them thinking. His lyrics "I saw a newborn baby newborn baby with wild wolves all around it" could represent how newborns were being born into a world of violence and beasts fighting with each other. "I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it" could be a criticism of urbanization and the usage of materials harmful to the environment, and "Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters" is a reference to the large amounts of pollution infecting the environment. "I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'" could be a representation of the violence against blacks during this time period.
Nice analysis of the song lyrics. I think that the line about the newborn growing up around wolves could also imply that people are growing up but they have no idea who they really are. They are growing up with strangers around them and people that they can not relate with.
ReplyDeleteI like the historical analysis of the song. I think that the interpretations of the select lyrics could be taken differently. Perhaps the "highway of diamonds" is the moral high road that no one is taking? Or the "pellets of poison" is representative of bad ideas emerging? I'm just offering a different perspective.
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