Question

Take a close look at the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s song “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and then answer the question.

How does the song reflect the counterculture’s ideas?

The singer questions the value of private property.

The singer denounces authority figures in a series of bold statements.

The singer wishes for an end to conflict, but does not know when it will come.
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, how many times can a man turn

Answer 1

The third choice is correct.

Dylan’s lyrics repeatedly ask when war, injustice, and oppression will end (“how many times must the cannon balls fly…before they're forever banned?,” “how many years can some people exist / Before they're allowed to be free?”) but never supply a definite answer—only the refrain “The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind.” That expresses the counterculture’s yearning for peace and social change while acknowledging uncertainty about when it will arrive.

The other options are wrong because the song doesn’t attack authority figures directly with bold denunciations, nor does it question private property.