I’m Walkin’ Down the Line by Bob Dylan
Literacy
I’ve had great conversations with children by asking what the song means. What does this mean: “I’m walking down the line”? Children will have lots of ideas, and then you can move onto “My feet’ll be flying” – my feet will be flying. So after they walk down this line, then their feet are flying? What does that mean? Finally, after this person is walking and then their feet are flying, why are they doing this: “to tell you about my troubled mind.” What does it mean to have a troubled mind? Has anyone felt this way? Tell us about it. Can we act this song out? Can we walk down a line, then our feet are flying, and then show and/or tell what we’re troubled about?
In this we promote critical, imaginative thinking, We engage them physically, musically, socially and emotionally, just through these three lines.
I generally stick with the verses below. There are others:
I’ve got a heavy-headed gal (3x) She ain’t doing too well, when she’s better only time will tell.
I got my walkin’ shoes 3x An’ I ain’t a-gonna lose. I believe I got the walkin’ blues
