Idiot Wind

The song was written in the summer of 1974, after Dylan's comeback tour with the Band that year and separation from Sara Dylan, whom he had married in 1965. Dylan had moved to a farm in Minnesota with his brother, David Zimmerman, and there started to write the songs that were recorded for his album Blood on the Tracks.{{Cite web |title=Shelter From The Storm – the inside story of Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/shelter-from-the-storm-the-inside-story-of-bob-dylan-s-blood-on-the-tracks-15656/ |last=Hasted |first=Nick |date=15 November 2013 |website=Uncut |orig-year=2005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715011356/https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/shelter-from-the-storm-the-inside-story-of-bob-dylan-s-blood-on-the-tracks-15656 |archive-date=15 July 2018 |access-date=6 April 2020}}

In the spring of 1974, Dylan had taken art classes at Carnegie Hall and was influenced by his tutor Norman Raeben{{Cite book |last=Seth Rogovoy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IdbgeObYgIkC&pg=PA160 |title=Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet |date=24 November 2009 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-5983-2}}{{rp|160}} and, in particular, Raeben's view of time.{{Cite book |last1=Andy Gill |url=https://archive.org/details/simpletwistoffat00gill |title=A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of Blood on the Tracks |last2=Kevin Odegard |date=January 2004 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81231-6 |page=148 |url-access=registration |author2-link=Kevin Odegard }} Dylan was later to say that "Idiot Wind" was "a song I wanted to make as a painting".{{Cite book |last=Bill Flanagan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUAqAAAAQBAJ |title=Written in My Soul: Conversations with Rock's Great Songwriters |date=1 April 2010 |publisher=RosettaBooks |isbn=978-0-7953-1081-2 |access-date=6 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506011534/https://books.google.com/books?id=BUAqAAAAQBAJ |archive-date=6 May 2016 |url-status=live}} "Idiot Wind" was a derogatory phrase employed by Raeben and this may have inspired Dylan's use of it, although the term also appears in the poem June 1940 by Weldon Kees and that may have been the reference point.{{Cite book |last=Sean Wilentz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sb5UygkZlH0C&pg=PA140 |title=Bob Dylan in America |date=15 February 2011 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4070-7411-5}}{{rp|140–141}}

Dylan first recorded "Idiot Wind" in New York City on 16 September 1974 during the initial Blood on the Tracks sessions at A&R Studios. That December, working from a suggestion from his brother that the album should have a more commercial sound, Dylan re-recorded half the songs on Blood on the Tracks, including "Idiot Wind", in Minneapolis.{{Cite news |last=O'Hagan |first=Sean |date=28 October 2018 |title=The raw, painful birth of Blood on the Tracks |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/28/bob-dylan-more-blood-more-tracks-raw-painful-birth |url-status=live |access-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417055617/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/28/bob-dylan-more-blood-more-tracks-raw-painful-birth |archive-date=17 April 2019}}{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Chris |year=2007 |title=Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks Review |work=BBC |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/659x/ |url-status=live |access-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919065715/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/659x/ |archive-date=19 September 2019}}

The recordings were engineered by Phil Ramone in New York and by Paul Martinson in Minneapolis. In New York, the songs were recorded in the key of E, with Dylan's guitar tuned to open D with a capo on the second fret, while the Minneapolis recordings are in standard tuning.{{Cite book |last=Wise Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fEejDgAAQBAJ |title=Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks |date=8 April 2017 |publisher=Wise Publications |isbn=978-1-78323-916-0}}

The re-recorded versions were radical departures from the original recordings, and each new recording included changes to the lyrics from the earlier versions.{{Cite book |last=Toby Creswell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bhYnNaM0zEUC&pg=PA24 |title=1001 Songs |date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Hardie Grant Publishing |isbn=978-1-74273-148-3 |pages=24–25}}{{Cite book |last=David Dalton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDcDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT346 |title=Who Is That Man? In Search of the Real Bob Dylan |date=1 June 2012 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-779-2 |pages=346–347}} The September 1974 recording of "Idiot Wind" featured only acoustic guitar and bass accompaniment, with organ later overdubbed whereas the re-recording made on 27 December 1974 and issued on Blood on the Tracks, featured a full band. This group of local musicians had been hurriedly put together, and Dylan had not previously met them. Clinton Heylin recounts that Dylan frequently reworked the song from September to December.{{Cite book |last=Heylin |first=Clinton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaSeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT55 |title=Still on the Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan Vol. 2 1974-2008 |date=29 April 2010 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=978-1-84901-494-6 |pages=55–56}} In a 1991 interview with Paul Zollo, Dylan said that there could be many more verses for the song and that it could be constantly reworked.{{Cite web |title=Bob Dylan: The Paul Zollo Interview |url=https://americansongwriter.com/bob-dylan-the-paul-zollo-interview-3/7/ |last=Zollo |first=Paul |date=9 January 2012 |website=americansongwriter.com |publisher=American Songwriter |orig-year=1991 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407113100/https://americansongwriter.com/bob-dylan-the-paul-zollo-interview-3/7/ |archive-date=7 April 2020 |access-date=7 April 2020 |quote="there could be a myriad of verses for the thing. It doesn't stop. It wouldn't stop. Where do you end? You could still be writing it, really. It's something that could be a work continually in progress."}} Zollo contrasts the Blood on the Tracks version with the one from The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 which was Take 4, with added organ overdubs, recorded on 19 September 1974 in New York, and opines that the gentler delivery of the song in the September version "makes the inherent disquiet of the song even more disturbing".{{Cite web |title=Read the complete tracklisting for Bob Dylan's More Blood, More Tracks – The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/news/read-complete-tracklisting-bob-dylans-blood-tracks-bootleg-series-vol-14-107408/ |last=Bonner |first=Michael |date=20 September 2018 |website=Uncut |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407115523/https://www.uncut.co.uk/news/read-complete-tracklisting-bob-dylans-blood-tracks-bootleg-series-vol-14-107408/ |archive-date=7 April 2020 |access-date=7 April 2020}}

Individual outtakes from the New York sessions were released in 1991{{Cite book |last=Anthony Varesi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5M4EkqYcyJUC&pg=PA194 |title=The Bob Dylan Albums: A Critical Study |publisher=Guernica Editions |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-55071-139-4 |page=194}} on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 and in 2018 on the single-CD and 2-LP versions of The Bootleg Series Vol. 14, while the complete New York sessions were released on the deluxe edition of the latter album. The deluxe version of The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 also included a remix of the December 1974 master issued on Blood on the Tracks.{{Cite web |title=More Blood, More Tracks – The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 to Be Released on November 2 {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site |url=https://www.bobdylan.com/news/more-blood-more-tracks-the-bootleg-series-vol-14-to-be-released-on-november-2/ |website=www.bobdylan.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105064613/https://www.bobdylan.com/news/more-blood-more-tracks-the-bootleg-series-vol-14-to-be-released-on-november-2/ |archive-date=5 November 2018 |access-date=21 October 2018}}

• Bob Dylan – lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar, Hammond organ, harmonica
• Chris Weber – acoustic rhythm guitar
• Greg Inhofer – piano
• Billy Peterson – bass guitar
• Bill Berg – drums

File:Bob Dylan Hard Rain 1976.jpg

Barbara O'Dair links the song to two of Dylan's other compositions, "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" (1966) and "Sara" (1976), as a set of songs written across ten years "addressing a woman that bears a resemblance to his now ex-wife Sara Lowndes".{{efn|Sara Dylan was known as Sara Lownds before marrying Bob Dylan.}} O'Dair criticises the song for victim blaming.{{Cite book |last=O'Dair |first=Barbara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73eAjOofhCAC |title=The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan |date=19 February 2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-82843-7 |editor-last=Dettmar |editor-first=Kevin |page=83 |chapter=Bob Dylan and gender politics}} David Goldblatt and Edward Necarsulmer say that in the song, "Dylan explores the bitterness of resentment and revenge against a lover and one's own self who botched their love".{{Cite book |last1=Goldblatt |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JaOqtb977hQC |title=Bob Dylan and Philosophy: It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Thinking) |last2=Necarsulmer IV |first2=Edward |date=2011 |publisher=Open Court |isbn=978-0-8126-9760-5 |editor-last=Porter |editor-first=Carl J. |page=163 |chapter=Language on the Lam(b): Tarantula in Dylan and Nietzsche |editor-last2=Vernezze |editor-first2=Peter |editor-last3=Irwin |editor-first3=William |name-list-style=amp}} Dylan has denied that the song is personal, stating in 1985 that:{{Cite magazine |title=Dylan's blood-best album: 40 facts about the 40-year-old Blood On The Tracks |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dylans-bloody-best-album-40-facts-about-the-40-year-old-blood-on-the-tracks-159901/ |last=Willman |first=Chris |date=21 January 2015 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405155031/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dylans-bloody-best-album-40-facts-about-the-40-year-old-blood-on-the-tracks-159901/ |archive-date=5 April 2020 |access-date=6 April 2020}}

{{blockquote|I thought I might have gone a little bit too far with "Idiot Wind" ... I didn't really think I was giving away too much; I thought that it seemed so personal that people would think it was about so-and-so who was close to me. It wasn't ... I didn't feel that one was too personal, but I felt it seemed too personal. Which might be the same thing, I don't know.}}

Timothy Hampton takes the song as political, and a commentary on the Vietnam War,{{Cite book |last=Timothy Hampton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=51WRDwAAQBAJ |title=Bob Dylan's Poetics: How the Songs Work |date=26 March 2019 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-1-942130-15-4}} whereas David Dalton feels that Dylan draws parallels between his personal situation and the national one, and "turns his own fate into an allegory of a soured American dream".

Dylan and Lowndes' relationship deteriorated in 1976, and David Kinney relates how Dylan played "Idiot Wind" in a show at Fort Collins while Lowndes was in the audience, noting in the following sentence that the pair were divorced the following year.{{rp|95}}

This live version from 23 May 1976 is included as the closing track to Hard Rain{{Cite book |last1=Betsy Bowden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CN0HAQAAMAAJ |title=Performed Literature: Words and Music by Bob Dylan |last2=Bob Dylan |date=1 January 2001 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-1947-9}}{{Cite web |title=Hard Rain (1976) |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/hard-rain/ |last= |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102220420/http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/hard-rain/ |archive-date=2 January 2020 |access-date=6 April 2020}}{{Cite book |last=Clinton Heylin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dd5EmZDdScoC&pg=PA369 |title=Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition |date=1 April 2011 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-27241-9 |page=440}} and was also included on the Dylan album Masterpieces that was released in Japan and Australia.{{Cite book |last=Ian Bell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbx8AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT614 |title=Time Out of Mind: The Lives of Bob Dylan |date=12 September 2013 |publisher=Mainstream Publishing |isbn=978-1-78057-835-4 |page=614}} It contained lyrical changes from the album version. Mick Farren's review of the album says that "It requires a considerable sleight of hand to get across the remorseless emotional attack of, say, 'Idiot Wind' without losing the party atmosphere. I haven't quite worked out how he managed it."{{Cite magazine |last=Farren |first=Mick |date=25 September 1976 |title=Bob Dylan: Hard Rain |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/bob-dylan-hard-rain- |magazine=New Musical Express |access-date=29 April 2020 |url-access=subscription}}

In a 1985 interview with Bill Flanagan, Dylan said that although many people thought that "Idiot Wind" and the album Blood on the Tracks related to his life, "It didn't pertain to me. It was just a concept of putting in images that defy time – yesterday, today and tomorrow. I wanted to make them all connect in some kind of a strange way." In his 2004 memoir Chronicles: Volume One, Dylan claimed that Blood on the Tracks was "an entire album based on Chekhov short stories—critics thought it was autobiographical—that was fine."{{Cite book|last=Dylan|first=Bob|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56111894|title=Chronicles|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-2815-4|location=New York|pages=122|oclc=56111894}}

The album Blood on the Tracks received mixed reviews on release.{{Cite book |last=Nigel Williamson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R2c8AQAAIAAJ |title=The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-84353-139-5}} Rolling Stone carried two reviews.{{Cite magazine |title=10 Classic Albums Rolling Stone Originally Panned |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/10-classic-albums-rolling-stone-originally-panned-101316/bob-dylan-blood-on-the-tracks-1975-101880/ |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=25 July 2016 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=6 April 2020}} Jonathan Cott described the album as "magnificent and memorable" and "Idiot Wind", which was as accomplished as the other songs in his view, as "explosive and bitter", Cott observed that it was the first time that Dylan had included himself in a condemnation in one of his songs, with the line "We're idiots, babe/It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves".{{Cite magazine |title=Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-blood-on-the-tracks-55031/ |last=Cott |first=Jonathan |date=13 March 1975 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=6 April 2020}} Meanwhile, in the other Rolling Stone review, Jon Landau disparaged "the childishness (without any redeeming childlike wonder) of so much of 'Idiot Wind{{'"}}.{{Cite magazine |title=Blood on the Tracks |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/blood-on-the-tracks-255430/ |last=Landau |first=Jon |date=13 March 1975 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230122112/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/blood-on-the-tracks-255430/ |archive-date=30 December 2019 |access-date=6 April 2020}} Music critic Lester Bangs originally regarded the song as "ridiculously spiteful" and was unimpressed, although he soon found himself listening to the album frequently.{{Cite book |last=Kinney |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TBvAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA129 |title=The Dylanologists: Adventures in the Land of Bob |date=13 May 2014 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4516-2694-0}}{{rp|95}}

In his 2003 book Dylan's Visions of Sin, literary scholar Christopher Ricks discusses a particular lyrical couplet from the song, namely: "Blowing like a circle around my skull/From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol". Ricks praises this as:{{Cite book |last=Ricks |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jlDWua9p8lEC |title=Dylan's Visions of Sin |date=5 May 2011 |publisher=Canongate Books |isbn=978-0-85786-202-0 |author-link=Christopher Ricks}} {{blockquote|fierce ... And it's a true rhyme because of the metaphorical relation, because of what a head of state is, and the body politic, and because of the relation of the Capitol to the skull (another of those white domes), with which it disconcertingly rhymes. An imperfect rhyme, perfectly judged.}} The same rhyme had impressed Allen Ginsberg, who wrote to Dylan comparing it to an image from The Bridge by Hart Crane. Dylan was apparently gratified to receive Ginsberg's letter, and it was a contributing factor in leading to Ginsberg being invited onto the Rolling Thunder Revue tour.{{Cite magazine |title=On the Road With Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and the Rolling Thunder Revue |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/on-the-road-with-bob-dylan-joan-baez-and-the-rolling-thunder-revue-183508/ |last=Hentoff |first=Nat |date=15 January 1976 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=6 April 2020}} In his 1976 review in The Village Voice, Paul Cowan also referred to these lyrics, saying that they evoked both Woody Guthrie in the language used and T. S. Eliot in the delivery of the vocal. Like Cott, Cowan noted the ultimately self-accusatory nature of the lyrics, which he felt provided a surprising conclusion to the song.{{Cite web |title=Riffs: Bob Dylan's Pain — Flip Side of Cruelty |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2020/02/13/bob-dylans-pain-flip-side-of-cruelty/ |last=Cowan |first=Paul |date=13 February 2020 |website=The Village Voice |orig-year=1975 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316142900/https://www.villagevoice.com/2020/02/13/bob-dylans-pain-flip-side-of-cruelty/ |archive-date=16 March 2020 |access-date=6 April 2020}} The lyrics referencing the Capitol replaced the earlier "Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your jaw/From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Mardi Gras" used in New York.{{Cite book |last=Jeff Burger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kVo4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT257 |title=Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters |date=1 May 2018 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-0-912777-44-3 |page=257}} Zollo also felt that this pair of lines was the highlight of the song.{{Cite web |title=Bob Dylan: The Paul Zollo Interview |url=https://americansongwriter.com/bob-dylan-the-paul-zollo-interview-3/2/ |last=Zollo |first=Paul |date=9 January 2012 |website=americansongwriter.com |publisher=American Songwriter |orig-year=1991 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407120144/https://americansongwriter.com/bob-dylan-the-paul-zollo-interview-3/2/ |archive-date=7 April 2020 |access-date=7 April 2020}}

In his book 1001 Songs, Toby Creswell says that the track is an "epic of elegantly phrased bile" and is "not ... based on logical exposition". The song was 16th on American Songwriter magazine's 2009 ranking of The 30 Greatest Dylan Songs,{{Cite web |title=The 30 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs: #16, "Idiot Wind" |url=https://americansongwriter.com/the-30-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-16-idiot-wind/ |last=Schlansky, Evan |date=20 April 2009 |publisher=americansongwriter.com |access-date=6 April 2020}} and placed fourth in Jim Beviglia's 2013 book Counting Down Bob Dylan: His 100 Finest Songs.{{Cite book |last=Jim Beviglia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRMeAAAAQBAJ |title=Counting Down Bob Dylan: His 100 Finest Songs |date=11 July 2013 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-8824-1}} In a 2020 article for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis ranked it the third-greatest of Dylan's songs, praising it as "extraordinary, harrowing listening" and quoting the lyric "I haven't known peace and quiet for so long I can't remember what it's like", commenting "its author isn't just hurling bitter accusations, he's writhing in agony".{{Cite news |last=Petridis |first=Alexis |date=9 April 2020 |title=Bob Dylan's 50 greatest songs – ranked! |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/09/bob-dylans-50-greatest-songs-ranked |url-status=live |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409235447/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/09/bob-dylans-50-greatest-songs-ranked |archive-date=9 April 2020}}

In a review of The Bootleg Series Vol. 14, Sean O'Hagan remarked of the song "By turns paranoid, derisory and vengeful, it is a dark masterpiece of venomous intent, a great part of its raw power resting in the very discomfort the listener feels as it gathers momentum and the tone becomes ever more bitter." When Dylan won the Nobel prize for literature in 2016, The Guardian cited "Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth/ You're an idiot, babe/ It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe" from "Idiot Wind" as one of his greatest lyrics.{{Cite news |last= |date=13 October 2016 |title=Are these the lyrics that won Bob Dylan a Nobel prize? |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/13/are-these-the-lyrics-that-won-bob-dylan-a-nobel-prize |url-status=live |access-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521040933/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/13/are-these-the-lyrics-that-won-bob-dylan-a-nobel-prize |archive-date=21 May 2019}}

A 2021 Guardian article included it on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know".{{Cite web|date=2021-05-22|title=Beyond Mr Tambourine Man: 80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/22/beyond-mr-tambourine-man-80-bob-dylan-songs-everyone-should-know|access-date=2021-05-22|website=the Guardian|language=en}}

Dylan has performed the song live only 55 times. The first was on 18 April 1976 at Civic Centre, Lakeland, Florida. He retired the song from his setlist the following month and did not perform it again until April 1992, retiring it again in August of that year.{{Cite web |title=Setlists that contain Idiot Wind |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/setlists/?id_song=26007 |last= |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902230721/http://www.bobdylan.com/setlists/?id_song=26007 |archive-date=2 September 2019 |access-date=5 April 2020}}{{Cite web |title=Setlists |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/setlists/?id_song=26007 |last= |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902230721/http://www.bobdylan.com/setlists/?id_song=26007 |archive-date=2 September 2019 |access-date=5 April 2020}} In 1992, Clinton Heylin, a prolific author of material about Dylan, flew from England to California to attend Dylan's shows when he heard that "Idiot Wind" was being played live again.{{rp|129}}

Artist Mohammad Omer Khalil produced a series of etchings, inspired by Dylan's music, that were displayed at the National Museum of African Art in 1994, including one entitled Idiot Wind.{{Cite web |title=Idiot Wind |url=https://africa.si.edu/collections/view/objects/asitem/People@120/2?t:state:flow=847c62c4-c3b4-469a-baaf-52952b9c28ed |last= |website=africa.si.edu |publisher=National Museum of African Art |access-date=7 April 2020 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In a reply to a question on the "Ask Lou" section of his website in 2007, singer-songwriter Lou Reed picked "Idiot Wind" as the song he wished he had written.{{Cite web |title=Ask Lou |url=http://www.loureed.com/forum/index.php?p=%2Fdiscussion%2F2%2Fask-lou%2Fp1 |date=December 2007 |website=loureed.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415130637/http://www.loureed.com/forum/index.php?p=%2Fdiscussion%2F2%2Fask-lou%2Fp1 |archive-date=15 April 2014 |access-date=12 September 2018 |df=dmy}} Novelist Peter Carey included "Idiot Wind" as one of his eight records for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 2008.{{Cite web |title=Peter Carey |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c1q5q |last= |date=20 June 2008 |website=bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702063046/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c1q5q |archive-date=2 July 2017 |access-date=7 April 2020}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download/proto/https/vpid/p02pp00s.mp3 |title=Peter Carey |date=20 June 2008 |last=Young, Christie; Carey, Peter |language=en |publisher=BBC Radio 5 |time=24:23 |access-date=27 April 2020 |format=mp3 |quote=This mad, raging song was a source of great comfort to me. |work=Desert Island Discs |medium=Podcast}}

Some of the lyrics of "Idiot Wind" are mentioned in the 1995 song "Only Wanna Be with You" by American band Hootie & the Blowfish. The use of Dylan's lyrics reportedly led to an out-of-court settlement, with Dylan receiving money from Hootie & the Blowfish.{{Cite magazine |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=19 July 2013 |title=Darius Rucker on 'Wagon Wheel' and the Future of Hootie |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/darius-rucker-on-wagon-wheel-and-the-future-of-hootie-234316/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023200015/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/darius-rucker-on-wagon-wheel-and-the-future-of-hootie-234316/ |archive-date=23 October 2018}} Swedish musician Amanda Bergman used to perform under the stage name Idiot Wind, after the song.{{Cite web |title=Hajen som blev Jaw Lesson blir nu Idiot Wind |url=http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2010/09/13/hajen-som-blev-jaw-lesson-blir-nu-idiot-wind/ |last=Beckman |first=Eva |date=13 September 2010 |website=svt.se |publisher=Sveriges Television |language=Swedish |trans-title=The shark that became Jaw Lesson is now Idiot Wind |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426205311/http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2010/09/13/hajen-som-blev-jaw-lesson-blir-nu-idiot-wind/ |archive-date=26 April 2012}}{{Cite web |title=The 9 Best Covers of Bob Dylan's 1964 Classic "Mama You Been on My Mind" |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/bob-dylan/bob-dylan-you-been-on-my-mind-9-best-covers/ |last=Burgos |first=Jenzia |date=8 June 2018 |website=pastemagazine.com |publisher=Paste Media Group |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411101835/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/bob-dylan/bob-dylan-you-been-on-my-mind-9-best-covers/ |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=29 April 2020}} Peter Kaldheim's 2019 novel Idiot Wind: A Memoir was published by Canongate.{{Cite web |title=Idiot Wind by Peter Kaldheim – Canongate Books |url=https://canongate.co.uk/books/2859-idiot-wind-a-memoir/ |website=canongate.co.uk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715152051/https://canongate.co.uk/books/2859-idiot-wind-a-memoir/ |archive-date=15 July 2019 |access-date=15 July 2019}}{{Cite web |title=In Idiot Wind, a Lost Soul Finds His Way Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/books/idiot-wind-peter-kaldheim.html |last=Williams |first=John |date=28 July 2019 |website=The New York Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729233051/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/books/idiot-wind-peter-kaldheim.html |archive-date=29 July 2019 |access-date=6 April 2020}}

The song appears in Conor McPherson's play Girl from the North Country.{{Cite book |last=Conor McPherson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2FhDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT9 |title=Girl from the North Country |date=20 November 2017 |publisher=Theatre Communications Group |isbn=978-1-55936-882-7 |page=9}} In the original 2017 London production at The Old Vic and the subsequent transfer to the West End it was sung by Sheila Atim, playing the role of Marianne Laine, as part of a medley with "Hurricane" and "All Along the Watchtower" sung by Arinzé Kene.{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Richard |date=17 January 2018 |title=Girl from the North Country lets us hear Bob Dylan's mysteries anew |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/jan/17/girl-from-the-north-country-bob-dylan-london-theatre |url-status=live |access-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406150058/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/jan/17/girl-from-the-north-country-bob-dylan-london-theatre |archive-date=6 April 2020}}{{Cite news |last=Bano |first=Tim |date=15 January 2019 |title=Girl from the North Country star Sheila Atim: 'You don't want to be a freedom fighter every time you enter a job' |work=The Stage |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/interviews/2019/girl-north-country-star-sheila-atim-time-is-love-les-blancs-game-of-thrones/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707225258/https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/interviews/2019/girl-north-country-star-sheila-atim-time-is-love-les-blancs-game-of-thrones/ |archive-date=7 July 2019}} Atim won the 2018 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role.{{Cite news |last= |date=9 April 2018 |title=Olivier Awards 2018: Winners in full |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43668013 |url-status=live |access-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930235126/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43668013 |archive-date=30 September 2019}} The cast recording, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, includes the song in a medley performed by Atim and Kene, as per the original London production.{{Cite web |title=The Girl from the North Country cast recording is here |url=https://www.oldvictheatre.com/news/2017/08/the-girl-from-the-north-country-cast-recording |last= |date=30 August 2017 |website=oldvictheatre.com |publisher=The Old Vic |access-date=6 April 2020}}

The officially released versions of the song on Bob Dylan albums are below.{{Cite web |title=Idiot Wind |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/idiot-wind/ |last= |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904013229/https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/idiot-wind/ |archive-date=4 September 2019 |access-date=7 April 2020}}{{Cite web |title=1976 soon to be divorced |url=http://www.bjorner.com/76-2.htm |last= |website=bjorner.com |publisher=Olof Björner |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212094032/http://www.bjorner.com/76-2.htm |archive-date=12 February 2018 |access-date=7 April 2020}}{{Cite web |title=Still on the road: 1976 Rolling Thunder Revue II |url=http://www.bjorner.com/DSN03275%201976%20Rolling%20Thunder%20Revue%20II.htm |last= |website=bjorner.com |publisher=Olof Bjorner |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901094048/http://bjorner.com/DSN03275%201976%20Rolling%20Thunder%20Revue%20II.htm |archive-date=1 September 2019 |access-date=7 April 2020}}{{Cite web |title=Bob Dylan's The Music Which Inspired Girl From The North Country announced |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/news/bob-dylans-music-inspired-girl-north-country-announced-102635/ |last=Bonner |first=Michael |date=19 December 2017 |website=Uncut |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407190304/https://www.uncut.co.uk/news/bob-dylans-music-inspired-girl-north-country-announced-102635/ |archive-date=7 April 2020 |access-date=7 April 2020}}

Mary Lee's Corvette covered the entire Blood on The Tracks album in 2002, including "Idiot Wind".{{Cite web |title=Mary Lee's Corvette – Blood on the Tracks |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/mary-lees-corvette-blood-on-the-tracks-28113/ |last= |date=1 February 2003 |website=Uncut |access-date=6 April 2020}} A cover of "Idiot Wind" was included on the Coal Porters album How Dark This Earth Will Shine.{{Cite web |title=Bob Dylan – Uncut January 2005 CDs |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/bob-dylan-uncut-january-2005-cds-44438/ |last= |date=10 November 2004 |website=Uncut |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407154525/https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/bob-dylan-uncut-january-2005-cds-44438/ |archive-date=7 April 2020 |access-date=7 April 2020}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/idiot-wind Lyrics] at Bob Dylan's official site

{{Bob Dylan}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Songs written by Bob Dylan

Category:Bob Dylan songs

Category:1975 songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Bob Dylan