toinfinince:

March 11

“Four strong winds that blow lonely

Seven seas that run high

All those things that don’t change come what may

But our good times are all gone

And I’m bound for moving on

I’ll look for you if I’m ever back this way…

– Four Strong Winds – Ian Tyson

A song about being a seasonal migrant worker and its effects on a love affair…

The very song Dylan (and others) laughed at when his English teacher played it for the class. When Sue and Tom found out from the teacher at a parent/teacher conference that Dylan had laughed, they seized the opportunity to teach him a lesson, and set him up.

“As we talked, Tom hit Play. Eventually, Dylan recognized the song coming up in the background. Knowing he’d been set up, he started to laugh.

“Why are you playing that horrible song?!”

“Why is it horrible?” I asked him. He said he hated the “weird” sound of it. We told him what the song was about. “Just listen to it with an open mind,” Tom requested. Without protest, Dylan listened to the rest of the song. When it was over, he admitted it wasn’t that bad. We told him how hurt his teacher had been, and talked about the importance of respecting the feelings of others. He admitted it had been wrong to laugh” (A Mother’s Reckoning, p. 225).

This conversation occurred March 11. It happened the night of the parent-teacher conference (and after they had visited the college in Colorado that Dylan was planning on going) where Sue and Tom found out about the disturbing paper Dylan had written.

I was re-reading Sue’s book and this chapter got me trailing off in my thoughts… I often wonder (although I think I know the answer) if Dylan did see something that he liked about the song or if he always, like in this case, just readily agreed so that he wouldn’t have to hear a lecture he didn’t care for. (I think it’s the latter.)

It’s funny to me because Dylan longed so much for love and the feelings that come along with it, and I feel that the lyrics to this song express this deep sadness of a love that was and is no more. I feel that if Dylan had listened to the lyrics, it would have drawn him in. Maybe more than he would have cared to admit.

The latter. Capitulated that ‘it wasn’t that bad’ just to get them off his case over being found out for having his own initial reaction about it which they deemed as rude.