Don McLean said Bob Dylan’s 1963 song ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’ made him realise that music had changed permanently. He viewed it as far more than a conventional folk song, describing its apocalyptic force and ambition as a major turning point for songwriting.

McLean recalled hearing Dylan perform the song and later compared its impact to landmark recordings including The Beatles’ ‘A Day in the Life’ and The Beach Boys’ ‘Good Vibrations’. ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’ appeared on Dylan’s 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, combining a traditional folk structure with vivid, unsettling imagery.