"A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" is a song written by American musician and Nobel laureate
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
in the summer of 1962 and recorded later that year for his second studio album, ''
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' (1963). Its lyrical structure is based on the question-and-answer refrain pattern of the traditional British ballad "
Lord Randall", published by
Francis Child.
The song is characterized by
symbolist imagery in the style of
Arthur Rimbaud, communicating suffering, pollution, and warfare. Dylan has said 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
Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for ''The Village Voice'' from 1958 to 2009. F ...
quoted Dylan as saying that he immediately wrote the song in response to the
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...
,
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
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...
: "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."
History
Dylan originally wrote "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" in the form of a poem. The first iteration of the lyrics was written on a typewriter in the shared apartment of Dylan's friends
Wavy Gravy and singer
Tom Paxton
Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter whose career spans more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. , within
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Significant edits occurred after this time, for instance, an earlier draft which appeared in both ''
Sing Out'' and ''
Broadside'' folk magazines contained "a highway of golden with nobody on it" rather than the final lyric "a highway of diamonds".
On September 22, 1962, Dylan appeared for the first time at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
as part of an all-star
hootenanny. His three-song set marked the first public performance of "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," One month later, on October 22, U.S. President
John F. Kennedy appeared on national television to announce the discovery of
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
missiles on the island of
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, initiating the
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...
. In the sleeve notes on the ''Freewheelin album,
Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for ''The Village Voice'' from 1958 to 2009. F ...
would quote Dylan as saying that he wrote "A Hard Rain" in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis:
"Every line in it is actually the start of a whole new song. But when I wrote it, I thought I wouldn't have enough time alive to write all those songs so I put all I could into this one." In actuality, Dylan had written the song more than a month before the crisis broke.
The song was recorded in a single take at
' Studio A on December 6, 1962.
Analysis and reception
Folk singer
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
interpreted the line "Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison" as referring to when a young person suddenly wants to leave his home but then qualified that by saying, "People are wrong when they say 'I know what he means.'"
While some have suggested that the refrain of the song refers to
nuclear fallout
Nuclear fallout is residual radioactive material that is created by the reactions producing a nuclear explosion. It is initially present in the mushroom cloud, radioactive cloud created by the explosion, and "falls out" of the cloud as it is ...
, Dylan disputed that this was a specific reference. In a radio interview with
Studs Terkel in 1963, Dylan said:
No, it's not atomic rain, it's just a hard rain. It isn't the fallout rain. I mean some sort of end that's just gotta happen ... In the last verse, when I say, "the pellets of poison are flooding the waters," that means all the lies that people get told on their radios and in their newspapers.
In ''
No Direction Home
''No Direction Home: Bob Dylan'' is a 2005 documentary film directed by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th-century American popular music and culture. The film focuses on the period between Dylan's arriva ...
'',
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's documentary on Dylan, the
Beat poet
Allen Ginsberg talked about the first time he heard Dylan's music:
When I got back from India, and got to the West Coast, there's a poet, Charlie Plymell - at a party in Bolinas — played me a record of this new young folk singer. And I heard "Hard Rain," I think. And wept. 'Cause it seemed that the torch had been passed to another generation. From earlier bohemian, or Beat illumination. And self-empowerment.
Author
Ian MacDonald referred to "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" as a "surrealistic anti-nuclear nightmare" and suggested it may possibly rival "
I am the Walrus" as the most idiosyncratic protest song ever written.
Live performance
Although Dylan may have first played the song to friends, "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" was formally premiered at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
on September 22, 1962, as part of a
hootenanny organized by
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
. Seeger recalled: "I had to announce to all the singers, 'Folks, you're gonna be limited to three songs. No more. 'Cause we each have ten minutes apiece.' And Bob raised his hand and said, 'What am I supposed to do? One of my songs is ten minutes long.'"
Dylan featured the song regularly in concerts in the years since he premiered it, and there have been several dramatic performances. An October 1963 performance at Carnegie Hall was released on ''
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home'', while another New York City performance, recorded one year later, appeared on ''
The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall''. Dylan performed the song in August 1971 at
The Concert for Bangla Desh, organized by
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...
and
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...
, for
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...
refugee relief (now independent
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
) after the
1970 Bhola cyclone and during the 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...
. On December 4, 1975, at the
Forum de Montréal, Canada, Dylan recorded an upbeat version of the song, which appeared on ''
The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue''. That rendition was featured in the 2019 Netflix documentary ''
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese'', and it also appears on the box set ''
The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings'', along with a November 21, 1975 performance and a still earlier rehearsal. On May 23, 1994, Dylan performed the song at "The Great Music Experience" festival in Japan, backed by a 90-piece symphony orchestra conducted by
Michael Kamen. At the end of 2007, Dylan recorded a new version of "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" exclusively for the
Expo 2008 Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
world fair, scheduled to open on June 8, 2008, to highlight the Expo theme of "water and sustainable development". As well as choosing local-band
Amaral to record a version of the song in Spanish, Dylan's new version ended with a few spoken words about his "being proud to be a part of the mission to make water safe and clean for every human being living in this world."
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
performed the song with orchestral accompaniment at the
Nobel Prize Award Ceremony on December 10, 2016, to commemorate Dylan receiving the
Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...
. During the rendition, Smith was overcome with emotion and missed several key lines. She apologized and explained to the audience that she was nervous about performing the iconic song.
Covers
*
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
: ''
We Shall Overcome (Pete Seeger album)'' (1963); ''World of Pete Seeger'' (1973); ''We Shall Overcome: Complete Carnegie Hall Concert'' (1989); ''The Best of Broadside 1962–1988'' (2000)
*
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...
: ''
Farewell Angelina'' (1965); ''
The First 10 Years'' (1970); ''
Live -Europe '83: Children of the Eighties'' (1983); ''
Rare, Live & Classic'' (1993)
*
Rod MacKinnon: ''Folk Concert Down Under'' (1965)
*
Leon Russell: 1971 single release, from ''
Leon Russell and the Shelter People''
*
Bryan Ferry: the single from ''
These Foolish Things'' (1973) reached number 10 in the
UK Singles Chart in September 1973 and appeared on compilation albums ''
Street Life: 20 Great Hits'' (1986) and ''
More Than This: The Best of Bryan Ferry'' (1999)
*
The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American Gospel music, gospel, soul music, soul, and Rhythm and blues, R&B singing group. Pops Staples, Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group w ...
: '' What the World Needs Now'' (1968);''Use What You Got'' (1973)
*
Nana Mouskouri
Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( ; born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer and politician. Over the span of her career, she has released an estimated 450 albums in at least thirteen languages, including Greek language, Greek, French language, French, ...
: ''Le ciel est noir - Nana Mouskouri au Théâtre des Champs-Élysées'' (1974 live release); ''À Paris'' (1979 live release); ''Le Ciel est Noir - Les 50 Plus Belles Chansons de Nana Mouskouri'' (2007 release); Rendez-Vous (2011 release, recorded as a duet with Canadian singer
Garou).
*
Willie Nile: on ''
Positively Bob: Willie Nile Sings Bob Dylan'' (2017)
*
Edie Brickell and New Bohemians: ''
Born on the Fourth of July'' (soundtrack) (1989)
*
Barbara Dickson: ''Don't Think Twice, It's Alright'' (1992)
*
Melanie: ''Silence Is King'' (1993)
*
Hanne Boel: ''Misty Paradise'' (1994)
*
Arthur Brown ''Live in Bristol'' (2002)
*
Aviv Geffen ''Geshem Kaved Omed Lipol'' (in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: גשם כבד עומד ליפול)
*
Andy Hill: ''It Takes a Lot to Laugh'' (2000)
*
Bill Frisell: guitar instrumental version on live album ''East/West'' (2005)
*
Jason Mraz
Jason Thomas Mraz ( ; born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single "The Remedy (I Won't Wo ...
: ''
Listen to Bob Dylan: A Tribute'' (2005)
*
Faust: ''Nodutgang'' (compilation) (2006)
*
Ann Wilson (lead singer of
Heart
The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...
): ''
Hope & Glory'' (2007 solo release) (with
Rufus Wainwright &
Shawn Colvin)
*
Les Fradkin: ''12'' (2007)
*
Robert Křesťan: ''Dylanovky'' (2007)
*
Amaral:
Spanish version for EXPO
Zaragoza 2008 called ''Llegará la tormenta'' (The storm will arrive)
*
Ernst Jansz: have translated the song in Dutch: Zware regen. From his CD Dromen van Johanna (Visions of Johanna)
*
Jimmy Cliff
James Chambers, Jamaican Order of Merit, OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hol ...
: ''Sacred Fire EP'' (2011)
*
Walk Off the Earth: ''A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall - Marshall and Sarah Blackwood'' (2011)
*
Tom Russell with
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...
and
Calexico: ''Mesabi'' (2011)
*
Jamie Hartman with
Rosi Golan: III (2012)
*
Laura Marling
Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is an English Folk music, folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist, Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for th ...
: covered the song in 2017 for the season four finale of
Peaky Blinders
The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...
.
*
Kurt Elling: ''The Questions'' (2018)
*
Jack DeJohnette: ''
Hudson'' (2017)
*
Eliza Gilkyson: ''2020'' (2020)
Other media
Photographer Mark Edwards took a series of photographs illustrating the lyrics of the song which were exhibited in many locations such as the
United Nations headquarters
The headquarters of the United Nations (UN) is on of grounds in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It borders First Avenue (Manhattan), First Avenue to the west, 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd ...
. These were published in a book in 2006. The song is also mentioned prominently at the end of
Haruki Murakami
is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for hi ...
's novel ''
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World''.
See also
*
List of Bob Dylan songs based on earlier tunes
Notes
References
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External links
Lyricsat Bob Dylan's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, A
1962 songs
Bob Dylan songs
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians songs
Joan Baez songs
List songs
Pete Seeger songs
Song recordings produced by John Hammond (record producer)
Songs written by Bob Dylan