Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

 

Q: Is "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" about a conversation between God and Jesus?
Who actually wrote the lyrics?
Thanks! Paul

 

A: Hi Paul-

Thanks for taking the time to send me your question.

That song was written by Bob Dylan and first appeared on his 1963 album "Freewheelin' Bob Dylan". Dylan has never given a definitive answer as to the meaning - or meanings - behind this song. He has a bad habit of trying to confuse interviewers and readers by changing stories. The explanation he has give most often is that with the Cuban Missile Crisis escalating he felt he wouldn't have time to complete all the songs he had ideas for, so he just put all the lines he had into one song. However, recordings of this song made prior to the crisis ("the Gaslight recordings") where the audience clearly knows the song and sings along would indicate that it had to be written before the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 18 - 19, 1962). Dylan also said in an interview "It's not atomic rain, it's not fallout rain... I [just] mean some sort of end that's just got to happen".

Some feel that the song is about nuclear war and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Others believe it is about racism/Civil Rights. Some see it as a Vietnam War protest song. Then there are those who think it is just Dylan reflecting on the way he viewed the state of the world at that time. The song is told from the perspective of a mother asking her "blue-eyed boy" questions. I do not personally believe it is a conversation with God because of the references to God. Also, I feel it is his mother and not his father because the tone of the questions and the fact that this song was an adaptation of the traditional "Lord Randall" which is told from that perspective.

Hope that helps.

Raven