Whether he intended it or not, "Blowin' in the Wind" quickly became a protest song. "We would go on to sing it in Mississippi in 1963-64 where it became a civil-rights anthem," Bob Cohen recalled on RightWingBob.com. Cohen felt the song "reflected that yearning for justice and for peace. That the answers are blowing or blown in the wind."
The highwater mark of "Blowin' in the Wind" as a protest song came in August 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom — the same iconic event where the Rev. Martin Luther King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Peter, Paul, and Mary performed the song on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after being introduced to a crowd of more than 250,000 people by the actor and activist Ossie Davis. "And now, a group of singers who have come to help express in song what this great meeting is all about," Davis said by way of introduction before the trio launched into Dylan's song (via YouTube). Even so, Dylan continued to deny any political meaning in his tune. "I'm not politically inclined," he told a reporter (via "Revolution in the Air"). "'Blowin' in the Wind' was just a feeling I felt because I felt that way."
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