Mid-Week Hard Rain Song

The Nobel Awards ceremony was held last Saturday in Stockholm, where an absent Bob Dylan received the Nobel Prize for Literature. He sent a heartfelt message that was read at the banquet following the ceremony by the U.S. Ambassador, and his civil rights era anthem "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall' was performed in his absence by his close friend, singer/songwriter Patti Smith (who was so nervous she froze on some verses, but finished and was warmly applauded by the appreciative audience). Listening closely to the anguished lyrics and strong symbolism, it could be sung today as an anthem of conscience and resistance.

Here is Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan performing that song in 1964.