| Bob Dylan – Visions of Johanna Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"Just Louise and her lover so entwined / And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind" For these lines I've always that that "her lover" was in fact Dylan (or the narrator if you'd rather). This synecdoche tells the truth of the relationship but minimalizes the personal experience involved. I associate this song with lyrics from a Hold Steady song, How a Resurrection Really Feels: "She said 'I've laid beneath my lovers, but I've never gotten laid." Also I think these lyrics from The Hold Steady are particularly useful in explaining my interpretation of Visions of Johanna. I am of the opinion, however self indulgent it may be, that the lyricist of Hold Steady was very familiar with this song and had it in mind when devising this phrase. But as for the idea that they are both getting at: I think it's about being in a relationship that is so consumed by lust that it begs the definition of 'a relationship'. All the fixings may be there, all the necessary parts of a relationship: communication, interest, challenge, sexual chemistry are there, but what's missing is the spark that makes you more fully yourself in their presence, that moves you to see yourself and the world anew. It's like going through the motions -physically, literally-. The Hold Steady's lyrics focus on the underlying conflict between love and lust that drives and destroys sexual relationships. Halleluiah, the protagonist of the Hold Steady's song, has experienced sex as a fulfilment of someone'(s) need at some time(s), but it was never as it should have been; she was never fully 'laid' or thrown head-over-heals --metaphorically-- (heh); her needs were never fulfilled. The reason for this? Unmet expectations, dreams of something difference, better or the like-- or as Dylan explains it: "these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind". For Visions of Johanna, the narrator's haunting love of another woman keeps him from feeling fulfilled by the triumphs of his lust. |
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| The Walkmen – Bows + Arrows Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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The title of this song/album is probably reference to William Shakespeare's Hamlet's soliloquy To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?... Slings are bows. This ties in the tragic interpersonal-relationships theme of this album. |
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| The Walkmen – Thinking of a Dream I had Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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The Walkmen were influenced by Bob Dylan who like his peers and predecessors tended to use Train to symbolize lust, sexual drive, desire, love etc. You can see the symbolism. Applied to this song, he's been waiting on the train (desire fulfillment), but the woman's probably just leading him on. |
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