This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Sixteen years
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves
Desperate men, desperate women divided
Spreading their wings 'neath the falling leaves
Fortune calls
I stepped forth from the shadows to the marketplace
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down
She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born
On midsummer's eve, near the tower
The cold-blooded moon
The captain waits above the celebration
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
Whose ebony face is beyond communication
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid
They shaved her head
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale
I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow
Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil
I stumbled to my feet
I rode past destruction in the ditches
With the stitches still mending 'neath a heart-shaped tattoo
Renegade priests and treacherous young witches
Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you
The palace of mirrors
Where dog soldiers are reflected
The endless road and the wailing of chimes
The empty rooms where her memory is protected
Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times
She wakes him up
Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking
Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks
She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking
He's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks
Gentlemen, he said
I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning, either getting ready for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards
Peace will come
With tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire
But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
Between the King and the Queen of Swords
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves
Desperate men, desperate women divided
Spreading their wings 'neath the falling leaves
Fortune calls
I stepped forth from the shadows to the marketplace
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down
She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born
On midsummer's eve, near the tower
The cold-blooded moon
The captain waits above the celebration
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
Whose ebony face is beyond communication
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid
They shaved her head
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale
I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow
Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil
I stumbled to my feet
I rode past destruction in the ditches
With the stitches still mending 'neath a heart-shaped tattoo
Renegade priests and treacherous young witches
Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you
The palace of mirrors
Where dog soldiers are reflected
The endless road and the wailing of chimes
The empty rooms where her memory is protected
Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times
She wakes him up
Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking
Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks
She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking
He's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks
Gentlemen, he said
I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning, either getting ready for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards
Peace will come
With tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire
But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
Between the King and the Queen of Swords
Lyrics submitted by Jack, edited by Mellow_Harsher, Tvelo42, BlackPeter
Changing Of The Guards Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Until last night I thought the lyrics were about the history of Dylan's music, but now I see it more of a love story.
I understand how a lot of people see the religious side to this, but to me the story seems to be that the girl he loves is about to get married (hence religious imagery), and he realises he must go for it now or risk losing her forever. So:
he "steps forth from the shadows, to the market place" (he stops hiding and declares his love); the "captain" about to marry her "awaits celebration" of marrying her. But Dylan explains his love and "the captain is down" upon hearing about this, but believes his "love will be repaid" (with the girl marrying him anyway).
Other key lines in the story would be 'jupiter and apollo' (which would be Dylan and his love rival); and after they'd lifted her vail: 'With the stitches still mending 'neath a heart-shaped tattoo.Renegade priests and treacherous young witches. Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you' (the pain breeding contempt towards all those involved in the wedding, eg the priest and bridesmaids).
The endless road and the wailing of chimes (the ailse and church bells seem to last forever to him) She wakes him up...near broken chains (she is now with him...broken chains of marriage) I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes (I don't need your blessing to go with the girl, I've lived a good life) Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards (so you must be prepared for the girl to 'change guards', eg, change her husband [who will look after/guard her])
The Jupiter and Apollo line could refer to the children of Israel, torn between the raw power of Rome (Jupiter), and the hedonistic appeal of Hellenistic Judaism (Apollo). <br /> <br /> 'Lifted her veil' = violated her = invaded her. (The Romans, when they conquered the last holdouts in 70AD).<br /> <br /> The 'broken chains' are normally thought of as being chains of sin. The 'rolling rock' is definitely a Jesus-image, as when they found Christ's burial site Sunday morning, the rock was rolled away and his body was gone.