Blowin' in the Wind

At just 21 years old, Bob Dylan walked into Columbia Studios and recorded what became one of the defining songs of the 1960s folk revival. For "Blowin' in the Wind," Dylan borrowed the melody from the traditional African American spiritual "No More Auction Block." Accompanying himself with brisk acoustic guitar strumming and raw, unpolished harmonica blasts, Dylan delivered a series of rhetorical questions about peace, war, and civil rights. The spare, direct recording stood in sharp contrast to the polished pop of the era, setting a new standard for lyrical ambition in popular songwriting.