| Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I just realized that as much as this makes sense to me, this is blank verse. So, if you read that whole TLDR and enjoyed the way I looked at it, cool, but honestly, down rate so it doesn't show and people can form their own opinions. | |
| Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Think you're on the right track with the joker's feelings, but do you realize you're trusting the thief to be honest? Lot more goin on here. | |
| Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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First but much less importantly, on origins. I'm going to state what I am relatively certain the origins are because there's a lot of discussion on it here, but it's important to know that you do not need to understand any origin to understand the song. In fact, any preconceptions are detrimental. So forget my opinion after you've read it, until after you read the rest of this comment and the song. At that point you should have more interesting things to think about, but if you don't, knock yourself out with the origins. Belteshazzar is right that the origins are the parable of the tenants. Watchtower is in the title and the first line of the parable, and drinking my wine, digging my earth, which the tenants do, are found in the song. Dylan had started reading the Bible at this time. I'll be giving too much away here if you've read and understood the parable, but they have the same focus (Dylan broadens the lens, and it is safe to say Jesus meant the same larger applications to be seen by implication), and many, if not all, of the meanings overlap. Once you've read how to read Dylan's Watchtower below, and have read it a few times without catching the meaning, you could read the parable as a spoiler. Don't unless you have to, though, again. Better to read my hint first than the parable, so you can extract the meaning from the song. Another thing on origins, Jesus does not equal the joker just because his picture's on a tarot card. Dylan's more meaningful than that. Once you've understood the meaning you will see the reason that Jesus could not be the joker, his crucifixion's thief cannot be Dylan's thief. Although I haven't definitively overruled it yet, since there's no real reason to jump to conclusions on it, put it aside. Put all origin ideas out of your mind. As I said, doesn't matter. I just mentioned it because of the ongoing discussion. Watchtower is allegory. A lot (all? not sure) of Dylan is. Allegory is facts with hidden meaning (although "hidden" makes it sound shadier than it is). To understand allegory, momentarily assume the facts as true (although some of these facts are hidden themselves, the proper lens reveals them). By true I mean, assume with Dylan that it's an accurate picture of his subject matter, whatever you believe he's speaking about. Let the conclusions come to you without prejudice, more than seeking them out. So say you think the facts are the joker's confusion and the thief's offered comfort, and that the watchtower is an ominous picture of the mojave desert. Then what you can conclude would be that the place the joker's in just happens to be confusing, the thief desires to comfort the joker, and the mojave desert gets two thumbs down. Now, once you're done with this process, you have Dylan's meaning. Now - forget it. Go back and examine the facts. If the facts he gives you on whatever his subject matter is in the song line up with the facts of that same subject matter in our real world, or portions of it, then Dylan's meaning attaches to our world, or portions of it. If this is the case, take the meaning with you. Pour it in a cup. Fin. Couple last things. A quick aside re: origins before the hint. It's beautiful to read both parable and song, it's like Dylan drew the inverse. He forces you to draw conclusions where Jesus is explicit, and where Jesus' ends it and lets you think bigger on your own, Dylan shows you the wider picture pretty clearly once you've gotten the closeup. K. Here's your hint - - - Dylan's subject matter is people. Put yourself in the shoes of the joker. The thief. The princes. The women. The servants. What are your motivations? Actions? Types of events that have occurred in the past in your life and your responses to them in order to become what you are? |
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