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Title: In the Wind
By: Peter, Paul and Mary
Released by: Warner Bros.
Released on: 1963
Rating (out of 10): 10
Date: 05/18/2001

A Life- and Society-Changing Album

Some of us can point to events in our lives that mark definite turning points. Others may be able to point out songs or musical artists that changed the way they began to see things.

Such is the case for me with Peter, Paul and Mary’s In the Wind album. The year was 1963 when one song from the album hit high on the charts and frequented the radio waves around the U.S. It was a simple song on the surface, and it asked a series of questions. Simple questions really, but the answers caused consternation.

I remember the first time that I heard PP & M’s version of Dylan’s “Blowin' In the Wind” on the radio. I was struck immediately. Who was this group? I’d never heard a song that had addressed issues of peace and justice and freedom so profoundly before. I simply had to get that album, and I decided right then that I was going to get everything that this group had recorded.

It may sound cliché and schmaltzy, but this is the first time that I had heard a song that struck my soul and expressed in words what I felt but couldn’t articulate coherently. "Blowin' In the Wind" was the song that first got my attention and soon led me to everything else that Peter, Paul and Mary ever did and would do; it also led me to folk music in general, and to Bob Dylan in particular.

In my young, ignorant days I wouldn’t listen to much from the poet-genius directly, preferring PP & M covers of his material. They cover three of his songs for the first time on In the Wind, and the most profound of course is “Blowing in the Wind.”

A few years later, when I began playing folk guitar and doing a few amateur performances of folk songs, "Blowin' In the Wind" is the one song I would always do that people would always at least join in with the chorus, and that is due to PP & M’s popularization of the song.

I found that I had to defend “Blowin' In the Wind” in 1970, when I was working at a camp in northern Michigan that was for rich kids and run by a man who wanted to develop “the all-American boy.” After he had heard me do a few folk songs during one of their large gatherings, he wanted all the lyrics of any songs I might do in the future and called me into his office. He especially focused on “Blowin' In the Wind,” saying that he didn’t think I should do this song about ending war because “it was too radical.”

I was incredulous. A shot from left field that I hadn’t anticipated. I thought he would have picked on another song that talked metaphorically about tearing down the system, but he had picked on an icon of the era. Of course, he was right in a way. It is radical because "Blowin' In the Wind" makes people think. Rhetorical questions do this, as in the verse he pounced upon:

How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?


Knowing that it was pointless to contradict this man directly because he was convinced that he was God’s gift to mankind and was righteously making the world safe for conservatism and family values, I let him know that I understood his concerns about the “radical” idea of eliminating warfare. However, I reminded him that these were merely questions and that he should focus on the answer:

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.


Knowing his mindset, I let him know that this was the main point of "Blowin' In the Wind." We have a series of nine questions, but there are no “radical” solutions offered. It was a simple statement that we are not in control of this situation; it’s all in “God’s” hands. Thus Dylan’s “radical” ideas are tempered with statements that acknowledge our powerlessness and to leave such things with the Almighty.

It worked. He relented and let me do "Blowin' In the Wind." I have no idea if any of those young campers had Dylan’s lyrics smack them upside their heads. No idea if the questions awakened any social awareness that would inspire them in turn to question authority figures and question the whole unjust and hypocritical system. I just know that this song did that to me, and it was PP & M’s wondrous harmonic and heartfelt version that first struck me.

Listening to Peter’s tenor, Mary’s alto, and Paul’s bass voice blend together and cut loose for the occasional solo, you can sense their sincerity and believe in the ideas behind the lyrics. Sure enough, they have lived the lyrics as well, singing "Blowin' In the Wind" and others at Martin Luther King’s march on Washington in 1963, participating in numerous civil-rights demonstrations and antiwar demonstrations, and getting arrested for peacefully practicing civil disobedience. So they are the real deal.


But "Blowin' In the Wind" is only one song. Although In the Wind is most famous for introducing Bob Dylan to the mass public with their hit song, PP & M also cover Dylan for the first time on two other songs—“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and “Quit Your Low Down Ways.” The former song is also included on PP & M’s greatest-hits album, and Paul’s solo version about a busted relationship may actually be more familiar to the public than the original Dylan one. Don’t expect any deep meanings with this one, though it can be a comfort for someone who’s going through hurting times like these, as the singer takes an attitude of detachment as he’s leaving a woman who wanted more in the relationship than he was willing to give.

It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe,
It don't matter, anyhow.
And it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe,
If you don't know by now.
When the rooster crows at the break of dawn,
Look out your window and I'll be gone
You're the reason I'm travelin' on,
Don't think twice it's all right.



Certain Dylan songs are nearly impossible for anyone else to do. For instance, I can’t imagine anyone attempting to cover “Subterranean Homesick Blues” or one of Dylan’s talking blues songs like “Talkin’ New York.” “Quit Your Low Down Ways” borders on this; however, Paul Stookey shows that he is up to the task on this one as he expertly interprets this 2-minute song that racks hypocrites. In fact this is the only version you could find for years since Dylan never released it until his Bootleg Series came out:

You can read out your Bible,
You can fall down on your knees pretty momma
And pray to the Lord but it ain't gonna do you no good.

Cause you gonna need—
You gonna need my help someday
Well if you can't stop your sinnin' please,
Quit your low down ways.



So historically, In the Wind, and more specifically the single release of Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of “Blowin' In the Wind” introduced Bob Dylan to the consciousness of a mass audience. No longer would Dylan be the local wonderkid of the folk crowds that hung out in the Village; he now became a nationally known figure through PP & M’s promotion. Dylan returns the favor by writing the liner notes in his usual beat style, in the form of a poem that I’m sure flowed freely when he sat down to write it. He captures his impressions of the trio back in those early '60s days at the Gaslight and other places on MacDougal Street. An excerpt:

Anyway it was one a these nites when Paul said
’Yuh gotta now hear me an Peter an Mary sing’
Mary's hair was down almost t her waist then-
An Peter's beard was only about half grown-
An the Gaslight stage was smaller
An the song they sung was younger-
But the walls shook
An everybody smiled-
An everybody felt good-
An down there approval didn't come with the clappin a hands
at the end 'f the song-
It came burstin out anytime any way it felt like
burstin out-
An they were approved —


Dylan captures the spirit you’ll find on In the Wind here. It just makes you feel good. They are simple songs, often adapted from traditional folk ballads that invite you to sing along, like “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” “Stewball,” and “All My Trials.” As simple as the songs are, PP & M renew them because they deliberately use variety with their vocal presentations. The three alternate with solo portions before they join their unique harmonies. Additionally, this is the first album on which PP & M added an additional instrument to their usual pair of acoustic guitars by adding a string bass to the mix. They liked the effect so much that a string bass became part of each subsequent album and became the fourth member of their concert presentations.

Although all the songs are professionally constructed, there are three more I really enjoy that you won’t find on any greatest-hits albums and are rarely performed anymore. These personal picks are “Very Last Day,” “Polly Von,” and “Freight Train.”

“Very Last Day” opens In the Wind with an upbeat song that has scriptural references. It’s hardly a secret that PP & M are concerned with spiritual matters, as their music consistently alludes to religious messages—mostly reflecting their Judeo-Christian backgrounds, but they also refer to Eastern philosophy on later albums. This particular song is about as didactic as PP & M will get on these matters. It directly exhorts us to do the right thing and live righteously before the Judgment Day. It was occasionally sung at civil-rights demonstrations to remind people of their spiritual roots and scriptural obligations:

Everybody gonna pray on the very last day
Oh when they hear that bell a-ring the world away
Everybody gonna pray to the heavens on the judgement day.

Well you can sing about the great king David
And you can preach about the wisdom of Saul
But the judgement falls on all mankind
When the trumpet sounds the call.
All equal and the same
When the Lord He calls your name
Get ready, brother, for that day.



Peter, Paul and Mary adapted the traditional folk song “Polly Von” and made a beautiful ballad that is a real heartbreaker. It starts with Peter singing soulfully, and right from the beginning we realize that the narrator has tragically and mistakenly taken the life of his lover. I always kind of wondered why he’d be shooting arrows at swans, but forgave that concept, figuring that the only logical reason was to make a rhyme with Polly’s last name. It does pay homage to the traditional murder ballad in a soulful way, ending as follows:

He roamed near the place where his true love was slain
He wept bitter tears, but his cries were all in vain.
As he looked on the lake, a swan glided by
And the sun slowly sank in the grey of the sky.

"But she'd her apron wrapped about her
and I took her for a swan,
And it's oh and alas it was she, Polly Von."


No deep meanings are found in “Freight Train” either. It’s a fun nostalgic song that comes from a traditional Blue Ridge Mountain-area folk song that PP & M adapted. Mary is the one who inserted the verse that refers to her hanging at the Italian groceries and outdoor markets at Bleecker Street. It’s an upbeat song that encourages much singing along and harmonizing with many repetitions of the chorus.

Freight train freight train goin' so fast
Freight train freight train goin' so fast
Please don't tell what train I'm on
So they won't know where I've gone.

When I die please bury me deep
Down at the end of Bleecker Street
So I can hear ol' Number Nine
As she goes rollin' by.


In the Wind is one of Peter, Paul and Mary’s best albums and is certainly historically important primarily for introducing Bob Dylan to a wider audience. I was among many back then who loved Dylan’s words but had a difficult time listening to his voice. After all, Dylan wasn't exactly the Caruso that he claims to be in Don’t Look Back. What PP & M were able to do was retain the spirit of his classic “Blowin' In the Wind” and offer a polished, professional version that hit the airwaves with a hurricane force that changed many of our lives.

Not only did "Blowin' In the Wind" usher in a greater awareness of Dylan, but also it introduced a larger audience to urban folk music itself. Even greater, it struck a chord with many of our hearts and those nine questions penetrated our consciousness and helped fuel a movement.

I am continually amazed by the genius of "Blowin' In the Wind," a song that potentially can radically transform a soul yet remain palatable to people who have yet to think about social consciousness. Most people still remember the song, and it’s the PP & M version that they know. Sooner or later Dylan’s words take effect as they are passed down from generation to generation. The questions remain as relevant today as they ever were in the early 1960s.

If you’re looking for landmark albums, In the Wind belongs in such a collection.


© Copyright CultureDose.com 05/18/2001

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