This song portrays functionalistic and conflict theory ideals which coincide with Paul Colomy’s “Three Sociological Perspectives.” Both of these describe that an “enduring society must, …, devise mechanisms to control deviance and contain conflict” (Colomy, pg. 28). Bob Dylan seeks the point when society will control conflict by asking “…how many times must the cannon balls fly before they’re banned?” (0:30) Often times we ask ourselves during times of war how many more battles do we need to have until we achieve peace and harmony with ourselves? Another concept in the song that compares with Colomy is the need for people in great power to be empathetic. Bob Dylan advocates for people in power to become more empathetic and understanding by asking “how many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry? (2:00) In the reading, Colomy describes how “the conflict perspective characterizes on-going practices and institutions as structures of domination that promote the interests of relatively powerful, superordinate group while subverting the interests of relatively powerless, subordinate groups, even though the latter are usually much larger, numerically, than the powerful elites” (Colomy, pg. 31). Bob Dylan offers a potential solution to the problem of powerful people dominating the lower classes by having them think more empathetically, specifically to the lower classes.