A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall Analysis

            Revolving around a rather macabre inquisition with his son in “A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall”, Bob Dylan constructs the song via the use of rhythmic syntactical patterns which include numerable sporadic verses of abstract irony, and paradoxical allusions to the world to convey the pain and pelting burden of this “Hard Rain”.

`           Throughout the entire song, Dylan utilizes a rhythmic syntactical pattern in which he repeats a select phrase in every stanza, unique to each specific stanza. For example: “I’ve” (Stanza 1), “I saw” (Stanza 2), “Heard” (Stanza 3), “I met” (Stanza 4), and “Where” (Stanza 5). In addition, Dylan concludes each stanza with the chorus which aids to hold and reinforce the song’ meaning. Dylan’s purpose behind structuring his song in this manner was likely to create an almost pulsating effect, like the patter of “rain”, in which his meaning, to make obvious the irony of our world strikes deep into the hearts and souls of the audience. The pattern, though at first glance redundant, actually serves to insure the communication of Dylan to his audience, from the enigmatic mind of his own to the willing minds of theirs.

            Defining the song is simple, for Dylan’s prevalent use of irony is inescapably present. The irony Dylan employs is unrelated to any single object or idea, besides that of irony’s own independent existence in our world. “I saw a newborn babe with wild wolves all around it” juxtaposes the innocence and vulnerability associated with newborns to the evil and malicious intent attached to wolves. One would expect the caring arms of a mother to hold and cherish her child, not the cold breath and hunger of a wild wolf; thus the irony is created. A deeper more figurative example of Dylan’s sporadic irony would be “I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken”. Here, the expectation is common sense, a talker would no doubt be expected to talk but , in contrast, their tongues are broken forever silencing them from the world around them. Through this veil of irony Dylan weaves, he makes an allusion to the modern world and the countless who suffer day by day, with minds, mouths, and voices of their own who will never be heard.

            Within Dylan’s facade of irony lies paradox, mind-bending ideas that through their confusion and haze hold meaning, evocative meaning. “I met one man who was wounded in love- I met another man who was wounded with hatred” The first verse in this line holds the paradox while the other holds the more common understandable example. At first glance, love is not something that brings pain, suffering, or a wound. However, under this first level, love can in truth bring pain or wound. An absence of love can scar or damage one’s soul.

Song Analysis 1

            Moving from the wars of the time to the imminent destruction of mankind in War Pigs, Black Sabbath covers their true purpose of the protesting the Vietnam War, with a façade of off-topic analogies, metaphoric symbolism, and reoccurring allusions to paint a bleak and grotesque portrait of war and the inevitable annihilation of the world if this “war machine keeps turning”.

            To set a sturdy foundation for their song, Sabbath uses the universal truth of the horror of war as their backdrop or stepping stone into the piece. The first six lines of the song are pairs of dark statements in regards to war but lines 2, 4, and 6 each paint a more vivid picture via an abstract analogy of the line it follows. In doing so, the song as a whole adopts a darker mood as if a cloak pitch blackness was thrown over the words. “Just like witches at black masses” (Line 2) analogizes the “Generals” (Line 1) of war by attaching the evil doings and machinations of witches to them, being an inherent symbol of evil. “As the war machine keeps turning” (Line 6) analogizes the “bodies burning” (Line 5) to fuel for this massive, churning engine; almost as if death was necessary or desired by the men running this machine.

            The song’s title War Pigs is in and of itself a metaphor, to demonstrate how the men who proctor and oversee these wars are nothing more than pigs. The pig has, in fact, been used countless times as a symbol of greed and glutton, two of the seven deadly sins, and here it applies in a grand fashion. Sabbath attacks them for “Making war just for fun” (Line 15) as if it was for entertainment or to serve as a feast to quench their appetite for death and destruction-glutton. Idolizing the movements of the 60’s, in contrast, which stressed the importance of life and love, Sabbath saw them as seeing war as nothing more than a game: “Treating people just like pawns in chess” (Line 16). Like the people of the time, Sabbath preached the value of life, and that all of the men and women fighting were real people and not just hollow pieces on a game board to be used and manipulated at will.

            Encompassing the entire song is an allusion to the end of mankind or the “day of judgment” (Line 23) if war is left unchecked to run amok and continue to char the earth and the innocent. Sabbath foretells of a world where “No more war pigs have the power” (Line 21), a world where the “Hand of God has struck the hour” (Line 22), and through a sick, twisted rhyme they convey the immensely powerful idea of absolute destruction, a true end. And as the world seemingly falls into destruction, and as “Satan laughing, spreads his wings”, Sabbath presents the question “is man truly evil”? Or for a more potent effect, “are we going to let our world be burnt to the ground?”; two questions that would dive into the inner soul of anyone, everyone.

            Hands down, Black Sabbath succeeds unanimously in their thematic purpose to promote anti-war ideas, while simultaneously tearing the veil covering war’s real horror to shreds. From beginning to end, the song builds in intensity, beginning with the present and ending with Armageddon, the very Armageddon they hoped and fought for to never see.