Newsweek Wonders If Dylan Really Wrote “Blowin’ In The Wind”

1963

Newsweek runs a story on Bob Dylan insinuating that he stole the song “Blowin’ In The Wind.”

The feature story on the 22-year-old folk-singing sensation states, “He is a complicated young man, surrounded now by complicated rumors.” In a bit of journalistic discourtesy, the article continues:

There is even a rumor circulating that Dylan did not write ‘Blowin’ In The Wind,’ that it was written by a Millburn (NJ) High student named Lorre Wyatt, who sold it to the singer. Dylan says he did write the song and Wyatt denies authorship, but several Millburn students claim they heard the song from Wyatt before Dylan ever sang it.

The Millburn students did indeed hear Wyatt perform “Blowin’ In The Wind” before the song was released – Wyatt got the lyrics from a local music magazine (folk singers in New York City often let these magazines print words to the songs they were performing) and played the song at school. Dylan doesn’t address the issue directly, but alludes to it in his 1964 The Times They Are a-Changin’ track “Restless Farewell,” where he sings:

And the dirt of gossip blows into my face
And the dust of rumors covers me

The rumor persists for decades, and Dylan remains leery of the press throughout his career.