How many ears must one man have

before he can hear people cry?
Yes, how many deaths will it take til he knows
that too many people have died?
The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
-Bob Dylan, Blowin' in the Wind

One day after Lady Gaga's new album caused an amazon overload because it was $1, Bob Dylan turned 70. On the one hand, we have a woman capable of entertaining like the best of them. Of writing songs so catchy, we could care less about the content, but download her album like crazy because it's $1. On the other hand, we have someone who pissed people off because he wouldn't fit one music mold, but still wrote songs that became anthems for a generation (i.e. 'Blowin' in the Wind', 'The Times They are a-Changing', 'Forever Young'). Someone who's personal life remains an enigma. Someone who, along with the likes of Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young, remains one of the greatest living song-writers. Someone who's voice is so raspy that it takes nothing less than a long journey to appreciate his music. To that end, I offer 7 brief reflections based on my 7 favorite Bob Dylan songs that shed light on my journey to a full-boar appreciation of Bob Dylan's music:

7. Desolation Row, off Highway 61 Revisited
This 11-minute ballad has no chorus, taking your imagination down countless trails, ranging from Cinderella to the Hunchback of Notre Dame to the Phantom of the Opera to Einstein disguised as Robin Hood. To me, the largest impact comes in the verse on Ophelia, sadly, but vividly portraying someone who grew old long before her time: "Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window. For her I feel so afraid. On her 22nd birthday, she already is an old maid. To her, death is quite romantic...And though her eyes are fixed on Noah's great rainbow, she spends her time peeking into desolation row."

6. It Ain't Me Babe off Another Side of Bob Dylan
Yeah, this song was NOT written by Johnny Cash. And Bob Dylan's version is better. Bob Dylan was the master of writing all kinds of love songs, whether it's on a worked-at, enduring love (i.e. Nettie Moore, Make You Feel My Love), on love that dissolves into animosity (i.e. Idiot Wind, Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat), or, as in this case, on mistaken love (also see: Visions of Joanna).

5. Lay Lady Lay off Nashville Skyline
Suffice it to say I totally thought the chorus to this song was something different. And sung it that way until my roomates laughed at me and corrected me on the way home from a Dylan concert. This song is the one that brings back great memories of good times with friends and actually seeing Bob Dylan (though, ironically, he didn't play this song that night).

4. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again off Blonde on Blonde
The first Bob Dylan song I fell in love with. As such, it holds a special spot in my heart. The lyrics to this song are amazing, as Bob subtly interchanges verbs. For example, "And I would send a message, to find out if she's talked. But the post office has been stolen, and the mailbox is locked."

3. Tangled up in Blue off Blood on the Tracks
For one, I would argue that Blood on the Tracks is Dylan's most accessible album, as his voice is the most melodic. Additionally, my favorite authors include Steinbeck and Irving, two authors who fully embrace the 'americana theme.' So much so that Irving quotes this song in his latest novel: "I had a job in the great north woods working as a cook for a spell. But I never did like it all that much and one day the ax just fell."

2. Mississippi off Love & Theft
With an 'americana' setting, this song represents a tragic reflection on and the desire to rekindle a love that went south. It's also proof that Dylan can still make some of his best music in his 60's. "Only one thing I did wrong, stayed in Mississippi a day too long."

1. Positively 4th Street found on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits
At the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, Dylan went electric, creating an uproar from fans who thought he was 'selling out.' He wrote this in response, criticizing his fans for trying to keep him in a particular mold, while lamenting on how difficult it is to be a musician. "You say, how are you? Good luck. But you don't mean it, when you know as well as me, you'd rather see me paralyzed. Why don't you just come out once and scream it?"

Happy 70th, Robert Zimmerman!