Bob Dylan: A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall Meaning

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall Lyrics

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...

1. kooljohn176

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   Nov 22nd 2015 !⃝

   Yes, you can say in some way this song by Bob Dylan [Robert Zimmerman] became prophetic to the people after experiencing the frighting times during this period with the Cuban president Fidel Castro and our American president John F. Kennedy that got themselves in crisis with the Russian nuclear missiles that could've went nuclear on all of us, thank God they did not, but sadly not to long after these crisis our pres. John F. Kennedy was assasinated [sacrificed] that was followed by many many tears that came down as a hard hard rain on us that slowly pushed us head long into the cultural Marxism of terrorism that was beginning to capture our young children to de-Christianized them away from family falues and to alien them in doing they own thing that also turned into a cultural pessimism in our youth and society that was breaking apart.
2. totham

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   Aug 25th 2015 !⃝

   This one is to easy. 'Rain' is a poetic reference to the lies and tyranny from the elite, the false churches, false prophets...government, the'military/industrial complex'. I. E.: any entity that lies (rain = lies) to you.
   Doesn't matter what the rest of the song is about, it's a call, a cry...to the sheep...wake the heck up is what Bob is singing about. See also lyrics to: when the rain comes, beatles. Who'll stop the rain, CCR. Many more, enough said.
   T high out,but I'd like to thank the band and I hope I passed the audition.
3. anonymous

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   Jun 29th 2015 !⃝

   I saw him in an interview and was asked about the meaning of this song. He said the skies were dark and it looked like it was gonna rain hard. No hidden meaning.
4. anonymous

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   Sep 29th 2014 !⃝

   I'd say he'd been experimenting with illegal substances when he wrote it.
5. anonymous

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   Jun 27th 2014 !⃝

   It is about a young man in a small town
   
   seeing jobs lost peoples lives lost
   
   about a man facinfg depression and fear
   
   and yet their is the will for stength to face the world around him
6. anonymous

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   Dec 21st 2013 !⃝

   My guess.
   This song is about a left leaning revolution, overthrowing what he thought were evil capitalist Christian dominated systems.
   The "blue eyed son", is the privileged white wasp who dominates the world circa 1962. He who starts wars and is a racist and subjugates the weak and the meek etc etc.
   1962 there is still Jim crow in the south and all the civil right protest etc.
   
   Look at it from a left/Jewish perspective a mere 15 years or so from the holocaust.
   I am guessing this based on the times he grew up and who he hung out with(pete seeger etc).
   He is saying look "wasp" look at what you have wrought etc.
   I am not saying I agree with the thoughts, just saying I think this is what he means by the songs.
   It also might explain why he is so coy in explaining it's meaning all these years later.
7. joseph.hester.7

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   Jan 15th 2013 !⃝

   I think it means that all these things are happenning in the world, and its going to come to a head, and something is going to happen, maybe something that will wipe the slate clean and start all over
8. anonymous

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   Sep 24th 2012 !⃝

   Its a song of hope in youth, and aplea to the people to fight injustices before they go even further. Its a fearless naming of the injustices he sees and encouragement on others to go out and fight them, it was inspired by anti racist and war movements of the time probly but signalled a large scale movement in the west to fight injustices that has blossomed into massive protest groups and ngos.
9. anonymous

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   Feb 1st 2012 !⃝

   The new born baby surrounded by wolves was Ho Chi Mins new Republic Of Vietnam and the wolves was all the countries that wanted to fill The void France left when they pulled out. And by the way, U.S. military advisors were in Vietnam in the late 50 s doing just that.
10. anonymous

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    Jul 1st 2011 !⃝

    heard the first explanation years ago about cuban Missile Crisis and yada yadayada. its just something Dylan said to get an interviewer off his back anyone who was into following Dylan (a bit too closely) knows he didn't give a straight interview ever. This song is one of my favorites and I think it means whatever you get out of it. Like Dylan's two or three, depending on how you think, surrealistic folk-rock albums, Dylan now is blown away by what he wrote...it just came through him. It took 40 years for me to find out he felt a lot like other WRITERS , poets, songwriters whatever at times feel; when you write something you know is special it feels like you are taking dictation from somewhere else. the words just come to you. I've experienced this myself. for example somewhere in No Direction Home, the film,Dylan plainly explains this. My generation had a lot of us wondering what Dylan meant and the whole time he didn't even know. Its good poetry, not the protest stuff, but "Hard Rain" "chimes of 'Freedom" and the 5t, 6th Dylan album`and maybe Blonde on Blonde songs, though I see a big dropoff on that one.
11. anonymous

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    Jun 26th 2011 !⃝

    It's God, talking to Jesus. BUT, He WON'T sink!
12. anonymous

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    May 20th 2011 !⃝

    I tried for years to figure out what a "hard rain" could possibly mean...way back when you couldn't ask a computer.
    Then one day it just came to me that the hard rain is bombs falling from the sky.
13. anonymous

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    May 7th 2011 !⃝

    It doesn't make sense that it's the young youth... I think it's a dead child; I think it would make sense if it was a parent talking to his son saying the world is screwed up..
14. anonymous

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    Feb 9th 2011 !⃝

    I always thought that the "blue eyed son" was the first A-bomb dropped on Horoshima. It was called 'little boy', hence blue eyed son was the son of America. The hard rain is the radioactive fallout. Survivors talked about 'black rain' falling out of the sky after the bomb went off. This was infact globules of dust thrown up by the explosion and formed 'droplets' as the dust was ionised by the radiation and fell to earth as black 'hard rain'
15. anonymous

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    Dec 8th 2009 !⃝

    I agree with the short and sweet guy (4 or 5 down and a sentence long.) Throughout the song he refers in first person as living, seeing and experienceing throughout numerous years. He is in effect wearing the shoes of different form of humanity over it's short run here, or entering the perspective of all these different multitudes of peoples, societies and ocasions as everlasting as time itself.
    
    The one thing learned through all of that experience and time is that no matter who you are, some conflict is headed straight for you in life and it is unavoidable and may be extremely trying.
    
    For most of us this or these conflicts (or Hard Rains. It Rains is plural. See also Led Zeplin "The Rain Song." "Upon us all, upon us all a little rain must fall.") will indeed be trying, but will shape us into who we need to be.

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