| Bob Dylan – Summer Days Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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"'Can't repeat the past?' he cried incredulously. 'Why of course you can!'" http://www.facebook.com/groups/edlis.cafe/permalink/540988712606332/ |
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| Bob Dylan – Highlands Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FPfQkRtt_N0/SDdC3_kMsWI/AAAAAAAAACo/4Hb2nB_-yNg/s1600/swan http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71833470 Taleb, Nassim. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. New York: Random House, 2007. 9781400063512 |
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| Bob Dylan – Girl from the North Country Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Okay, here's one for the folkie experts around here. On Pete Townsend's third solo album, there is a song called "North Country Girl." The credit on the disc reads, "Traditional; Arranged by Pete Townsend." The lyrics given on the LP sleeve are as follows. When you travel to the green hills of Ayr Where the sea breaks windows on the border line. Remember me to a girl who lives there, For she once was a true love of mine. Please see for me that her red hair is long, And flows and curls down her back and breast. Please see for me that her red hair is long. For that's the way I remember her the best. See that she's warm when the summer ends When trees are bare and the river freeze She washes clothes where the river bends She's working on her knees. See for me that her coat's pulled up close, And her beret frames her sweet pretty face. See that she's warm, and drink her a toast For I am exiled in a lonely place. Please let me know if she remembers me at all, A hundred times I've hoped and prayed That way up there near the Roman wall She didn't suffer when the fall-out sprayed. |
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| Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Not sure if it has already been mentioned in all these many posts, but a monkey wrench is a bordello slang term used by, among others, Bob Dylan in his songs. It is when a lady of the night takes a gentleman's erect penis back between his legs and masturbates him from behind. Weird bend of it makes it very odd. Some dictionaries say it can also be fellatio performed with that angle, which may be true. While you think of using a monkey wrench with your hand, a monkey wrench as a tool does have jaws. The term need not be bordello only, and indeed it can be homosexual in application too. Well, I peeked through the key crack Comin’ down the hall Was a long-legged man Who couldn’t hardly crawl He muttered and he uttered In broken French And he looked like he’d been through A monkey wrench Bob Dylan - New Orleans Rag |
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| Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Though I have no knowledge of the relevant religions and their literature I am happy to give my amateur readings... I include Isaiah 20 because Isaiah himself was told by God to go about naked and barefoot, which he did. This was a sign that the Emperor of Assyria will lead away the prisoners he captures in Egypt and Sudan, they will walk barefoot and naked, bringing shame on Egypt. And that is what the chapter Isaiah is all about, Judah -- the land of the Jews -- is threatened by Assyria. Isaiah, an eighth century B.C. prophet, sees that the real threat is not Assyria but Judah's own sin and disobedience to God, a lack of trust in him. God refers to Isaiah as his servant, and the theme of the Servant of the Lord is a strong one throughout. Isaiah calls us to a life of righteousness and justice, warning us that failure to listen to God will bring certain doom and destruction. The consequences of rejecting the Lord are disaster, confusion and trouble in everything we do. (Deuteronomy 28:20) You think maybe Isaiah influenced Mr Dylan at all? Any familiar themes here? :-) Anyway Isaiah 20 gets us some "barefoot servants too" wandering about naked. In Isaiah 21 we turn to a vision of the fall of Babylon. All you Bob Marley fans will know the role of Babylon, the most beautiful kingdom of all which the Lord will destroy as he did Sodom and Gomorrah, making it a place where desert animals live. The people of Judah were in exile in Babylon. Its towers will echo with the cries of hyenas and jackals. Its disaster arrives like a whirlwind sweeping across the desert, but read the chapter if you want a full picture of the vision. The vision alone gave as much pain as a woman in labour experiences, if you want something to measure it by! That wind of destruction is described elsewhere too, for example in Jeremiah 51:1. And the fall of Babylon in Revelation 18 mentions the strong wine of immoral lust, sexual immorality, and businessmen of the world growing rich from unrestrained lust... "While all the women came and went." An illustration also given in Isaiah 13 is a description of the howling in pain when the Lord's destruction arrives. In Isaiah 14 where God destroys the Philistines, they too howl and cry for help. In Isaiah 16 we hear the howling of the people of the land of Moab in its hopeless situation. In Isaiah 23 we have sailors who howl with grief at the destruction of Tyre. It is God's doing and he did it to put an end to their pride. It was the Baylonians who were his instrument here, and they devastated it so much that it was overrun by wild animals. We also find the princes here, namely merchant princes of Tyre, and we are talking serious mercantile wealth, the ancient equivalent of Sony main board directors. And earlier we had the princes of Zoan in Isaiah 19, where God punishing Egypt is described, and those princes are fools. And the princes of Jerusalem, the city of sin in Isaiah 1, they are friends of thieves, taking bribes, turning from orphans, ignoring the plight of widows... "Princes kept the view." Note also the poor forgotten prostitute in this section who plays a harp and sings. By Isaiah 24 there is no more happy singing over wine, no one enjoys its taste any more, people shout in the streets because there is no wine. In the city everything is in chaos, there is too much confusion. This will happen in every nation all over the world. Might this theme strike a chord with our man Bob? Wine, drink and drunkenness come up a lot in Isaiah. In Isaiah 28 we get a vivid picture of prophets staggering around in confusion too drunk to get their message across clearly. Hmmmmmm. Lots of vomit all over the place, that kind of scene. Arrogance. Earlier (Isaiah 5) evil was discussed. The example of those who are doomed was of those who get up and then immediately start drinking, spending long evenings getting drunk, playing harps, tambourines and flutes, with no understanding of what the Lord is doing. In Isaiah 19 we see how Egypt is in confusion, doing everything wrong, staggering like a drunk slipping on his own vomit. And in Isaiah 34 where God is punishing his enemies we see the day of vengeance with its line of confusion and chaos. "There's too much confusion." In Isaiah 10 the Emperor of Assyria takes the credit for his military successes, not realising he is merely an instrument of the Lord, like a saw or a club is the instrument of a man. Missing the real power causing things to happen, "None of them along the line know what any of it is worth." A theme of wine as the blood of Christ is here too (Matthew 26:28), drinking sacramental wine without a proper consideration for its meaning. A banquet is taking place when the disaster strikes Babylon in Isaiah 21, the guests are eating and drinking. "Businessmen, they drink my wine". From the watchtower a sentry reports two men coming on horseback. This is not good news. They tell us that Babylon has fallen. Moving on, by Isaiah 25 God is preparing a banquet of rich food and fine wine on Mount Zion. Sorrow will be removed. He will destroy death forever. That is, if you trust in the Lord then you will be saved. Familiar themes in Judaism, Christianity, America and Dylan, yes? In Isaiah 30 God descibes the dangerous country of the southern desert where lions live... lions that growl in Isaiah 5, carrying what they have killed and guarding it fiercely. "Outside in the distance, a wildcat did growl." Many people have commented that the substitution of wildcats for lions and the like gives the song an American sheen, so the lyrics have a threefold application, to God, to America, and to Bob Dylan. And when we get the description of God coming to rescue his people, the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob, from east to west everyone fears him and he arrives like a great strong wind! "The wind began to howl!". Isaiah 61 describes the deliverance, where the people of the Lord will be so well off they will have servants, hiring foreigners for labouring tasks, ploughing the earth, tending the animals, tending the vineyards. "Plowmen dig my earth." In Isaiah 62 the promise of no longer being enslaved to others is made, their grain is no longer to be food for their enemies, foreigners will no longer drink their wine. Etc etc etc... The structure of the song itself is unusual. It is common for people to comment that the song is rather circular, and could start differently from how Bob Dylan performs it, it could start with the title: All along the watchtower, princes kept the view While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too. Outside in the distance, a wildcat did growl, Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl. "There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief "There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief. Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth, None of them along the line know what any of it is worth." "No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke, "There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke. But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate, So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late." Then the two riders are the joker and the thief. Dylan himself could be both of these characters? Probably not in this context. The joker could be Death, the thief Time? Probably not. Two thieves were crucified with Christ. (Matthew 27) Might the two riders we see be Bob Dylan and Jesus Christ, chatting together? Christ himself comes to those who do not awake, do not turn from their sins, like a thief, in the message to Sardis (Revelation 3:3) and also at the assembly of Armageddon (Revelation 16:15-16). If you knew a thief was coming to your house you would be certain to be awake, yes? (Matthew 36) Anyway I hope I have scratched the surface of the Biblical elements in this one song, set some discussion in motion, so much more could be said. And do bear in mind this is how Bob Dylan writes BEFORE he has his born-again phase! Lot's to discuss for such a short song. I think Mr Dylan has given a very profound presentation of his own inklings that Jesus was coming to meet him. I have met many concert goers who are bored with this song and think it has been over- played as a trusty crowd pleaser. But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate, so let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late... :-) For many of you he will be playing this song in a venue nearby soon. Go and relisten. Watch especially his eyes. He ain't kidding and this is not filler, it is essence of Dylan. Now take it away with your ideas... |
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| Bob Dylan – A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8397283.stm The United Nations has adopted one of Bob Dylan's songs, A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall, as its unofficial anthem for the 2009 talks at the climate change summit in Copenhagen. What Dylan meant at that moment is irrelevant to this usage of the song in this situation. It was powerful and evocative of widespread human concerns then and is again now. Art does not belong only to the time in which it was created. |
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| Don McLean – American Pie Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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http://www.edlis.org/twice/threads/american_pie.html Don McLean's American Pie is generally regarded as a tribute to Buddy Holly and a commentary on how rock and roll changed in the years since his death. There are thought to be several Dylan references in the song. Each line in the song has been extensively analyzed. Some would say too much so. The Microsoft Conspiracy Interpretation of American Pi appeals to others. http://www.edlis.org/twice/ |
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