So All Souls Can See It

where have you been
my blue-eyed son?
where have you been
my darling young one?
i’ve stumbled on the side
of twelve misty mountains
i’ve walked and i’ve crawled
on six crooked highways
i’ve stepped in the middle
of seven sad forests
i’ve been out in front
of a dozen dead oceans
i’ve been ten thousand miles
in the mouth of a graveyard
and it’s a hard, it’s a hard
it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

what did you see
my blue-eyed son?
what did you see
my darling young one?
i saw a newborn baby
with wild wolves all around it
i saw a highway of diamonds
with nobody on it
i saw a black branch
with blood that kept dripping
i saw a room full of men
with their hammers a-bleeding
i saw a white ladder
all covered with water
i saw ten thousand talkers
whose tongues were all broken
i saw guns and sharp swords
in the hands of young children
and it’s a hard, it’s a hard
it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

what did you hear
my blue-eyed son?
what did you hear
my darling young one?
i heard the sound
of a thunder
it roared out a warning
heard the roar of a wave
that could drown
the whole world
heard one hundred drummers
whose hands were a-blazing
heard ten thousand whispering
and nobody listening
heard one person starve
i heard many people laughing
heard the song of a poet
who died in the gutter
heard the sound of a clown
who cried in the alley
and it’s a hard, it’s a hard
it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

who did you meet
my blue-eyed son?
who did you meet
my darling young one?
i met a young child
beside a dead pony
i met a white man
who walked a black dog
i met a young woman
whose body was burning
i met a young girl
she gave me a rainbow
i met one man
who was wounded in love
i met another man
who was wounded with hatred
and it’s a hard, it’s a hard
it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

what’ll you do now
my blue-eyed son?
what’ll you do now
my darling young one?
i’m a-going back out before
the rain starts a-falling
i’ll walk to the depths
of the deepest black forest
where the people are many
and their hands are all empty
where the pellets of poison
are flooding their waters
where the home in the valley
meets the damp dirty prison
where the executioner’s face
is always well hidden
where hunger is ugly
where souls are forgotten
where black is the color
where none is the number
and i’ll tell it and think it

and speak it and breathe it
and reflect from the mountain
so all souls can see it
then i’ll stand on the ocean
until i start sinking
but i’ll know my song well
before i start singing
and it’s a hard, it’s a hard
it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

--bob dylan
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Mt. Huethawali from Havasupai Point
Scorpion and Sagittarius Ridge
Pete Seeger: "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall "
lower Chayava Falls
Colorado River from outside Salt Canyon
pilgrim on Boucher Trail
Crystal Rapid
Wotans Throne
nomad encampment below Royal Arch