In 2012, the world will recognize the 40 years of iconic songs and performances by Robert Allen Zimmerman.

You may only know him as Bob Dylan.

Maybe it’s time to step back and take another look at the content of the music from an amazing, one-of-a-kind musician, songwriter, performer, and poet.

One of the most amazing things happens when you hear an original Bob Dylan tune, one recorded during the first 10 years of his ascension into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stardom – you can actually understand the lyrics! Satellite radio, and its programming-by-the-decade format, brings the music of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s into my car for long trips back and forth to Vermont with the family, including the soon-to-be teenagers in the back seat.

You see, we have a “music truce” in my car. I’ll keep the radio tuned to pop hits and tolerate the new release stuff that comes out from Maroon Five and Katie Perry (foul mouth and all) for as long as possible. But as soon as the speakers start to throb with the electronica nonsense or quasi-rap drivel, I start punching buttons. It’s my opportunity to be sure that my kids have some music history education.

They won’t always admit it, but I think that some of the music gets through to them. That includes the 60’s folk songs that I had the benefit of growing up with, thanks to an older sister.

When my kids heard Mr. Dylan’s emotional and powerful delivery of Blowin’ In The Wind recently, they actually sat and listened quietly, and I heard them joining in on the chorus by the end. The messages in the song are sobering, but Bob’s delivery is haunting. The song will do that to you. In fact, if you don’t feel an emotional reaction listening to an anthem that has inspired people around the globe and can drive many people to tears, you might want to have your heart checked, just to be sure that it’s still there.

I have a long and rocky history with Bob Dylan.

I walked out of a concert in Dayton, Ohio in the late 80’s when he was living thorough his “hard rock” phase. Me, and every other fan-of-a-certain age had had enough. He also went through a religious phase, God help us.

But I always came back.

Yes’ n’ how many times must a man turn his head / Pretending he just doesn’t see?

Go ahead and listen to it. 30 years later, it still rings true. The message is still strong and highly relevant, even in 2011.

Some nights, when the wind is actually blowing across Long Island Sound or the Green Mountains of Vermont, and the only sound is the movement of air, I can’t help but think of the lyrics and quietly sing along with the music of the wind.

Thanks, Bob. Today, 40 years later, the answer is still Blowin’ In The Wind.