A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall Lyric Analysis

       Dylan’s song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” is meant to protest the negativity in the world and fight for change.  The audience of this song was intended to be those living in the 1960’s. These people may not believe anything was wrong during this time, but after listening to the song they will see certain hardships during this time period.  Dylan implores ethos in each line because he personally experienced all of the events he was singing about, including “I’ve stumbled on the side of twenty misty mountains.. I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests” which gives his lyrics credibility.  This is similar to the second text, “Wake me up when September Ends” because Armstrong also uses ethos to give his lyrics credibility.  Armstrong implores ethos when expressing his feelings about his father’s death, “like my father’s pass, seven years have gone so fast, wake me up when September ends”.  Both lyrics express a sense of something negative, waiting for a change to occur. Dylan also implores pathos when personifying the “sad forest”, “misty mountains”, and “dozen dead oceans”, to cause the listener to feel sympathy for the destruction happening to nature. Armstrong is also using pathos when talking about his father’s death because death usually creates a melancholy feeling in most people. 

Sources:  http://www.geekstinkbreath.net/greenday/song-meanings/wake-me-up-when-september-ends/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Rain%27s_a-Gonna_Fall