A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall

Bob Dylan

About A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall

"A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" is a song written by Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962 and recorded later that year for his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Its lyrical structure is thematically complex and modeled after the question and answer form of traditional ballads such as "Lord Randall". The song is characterized by dark symbolist imagery and a message communicating injustice, suffering, pollution, and warfare. Dylan has stated that all of the lyrics were taken from the initial lines of songs that "he thought he would never have time to write. " Nat Hentoff quoted Dylan as saying that he immediately wrote the song in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, although in his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One, Dylan attributed his inspiration to the feeling he got when reading microfiche newspapers in the New York Public Library: "After a while you become aware of nothing but a culture of feeling, of black days, of schism, evil for evil, the common destiny of the human being getting thrown off course. It's all one long funeral song." 


Year:
2002
5:16
39 

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Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin'
I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin'
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin'
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
Who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I met one man who was wounded in love
I met another man who was wounded with hatred
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Oh, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin'
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
Where the executioner's face is always well-hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'
But I'll know my song well before I start singin'
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan ( /ˈdɪlən/; born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and artist. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of Dylan's early songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving his initial base in the culture of folk music behind, Dylan's six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" has been described as radically altering the parameters of popular music in … more »

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Written by: BOB DYLAN

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind


11 facts about this song

Song Production
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was recorded in December 1962 and released as a single in 1963.
Album Inclusion
The song was included in Dylan's second studio album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan".
Influence
The song's title and refrain is based on the old saying, "it's a hard rain that's going to fall," which means a particularly tumultuous event is approaching.
Song Meaning
Dylan has explained that every line in the song was the start of a potentially separate song, and it describes what he saw as the hard rain of troubles falling down upon the society of his day.
Lyrics Inspiration
The lyrics were greatly influenced by the Cuban Missile Crisis, emphasising a sense of impending doom.
Awards
The song was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress in 2002.
Noteworthy Performance
A memorable rendition of the song was performed by Dylan at the 1962 Newport Folk Festival shortly after writing it.
Length
At about six and a half minutes, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is one of Dylan's longest songs.
Language Usage
The song has been interpreted as a prophecy of the nuclear annihilation of the planet, largely due to its refrain which refers to a "hard rain" which many took as a metaphor for fallout.
Covers
Many artists over the years have covered "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," including Joan Baez, The Staple Singers, and Bryan Ferry.
In Popular Culture
The song is also referenced in the 2012 James Bond movie, Skyfall, and the lyrics are quoted in the Stephen King novel, Insomnia.

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