When I first listened to this song I thought it was one of the most beautiful and sad songs that I had ever heard, but I didn’t understand the full meaning of "let me die in my footsteps before I go down under the ground." Then I saw ‘No Direction Home’ on PBS and it described the fall out shelter explanation that Willard cited. It gave a completely different perspective and fuller meaning to the song, something that I could never realize before because I didn’t grow up in that era. Despite the obvious anti-war message, the more I hear it the more I realize that the song is not meant to be so much a protest to war as it is to be a protest to fear.
When I first listened to this song I thought it was one of the most beautiful and sad songs that I had ever heard, but I didn’t understand the full meaning of "let me die in my footsteps before I go down under the ground." Then I saw ‘No Direction Home’ on PBS and it described the fall out shelter explanation that Willard cited. It gave a completely different perspective and fuller meaning to the song, something that I could never realize before because I didn’t grow up in that era. Despite the obvious anti-war message, the more I hear it the more I realize that the song is not meant to be so much a protest to war as it is to be a protest to fear.