Bob Dylan released his second studio effort “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” on May 27, 1963. The album followed Dylan’s 1962 self-titled debut and cemented him as a face of the 1960s folk revival movement. Dylan had already gained a significant following on the New York City folk scene with his solo debut, and his new single “Blowin’ In the Wind” would bring him a national audience. The album marked a shift in the content of Dylan’s lyrics, from traditional folk themes to politically-charged protests. Along with “Blowin’ In The Wind,” “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” included “Masters of War,” “Don’t Think Now, It’s Alright” and “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall.” At this period, Dylan was highly influenced by the political and social leanings of his then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo. "She'll tell you how many nights I stayed up and wrote songs and showed them to her and asked her, 'Is this right?' because her father and her mother were associated with unions and she was into this equality-freedom thing long before I was," Dylan told The New York Times’ Robert Shelton of Rotolo.