| Bob Dylan – One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I agree with res07njc about the music, it is the Kurd variation of the phrygian mode, what most people would associate with Persian, or Arabian. The Gypsy Kings use it in a number of songs. Certainly gives the song an exotic feel. As to the Lyrics, I think Dylan is talking about his poetic muse. "your pleasure knows no limits Your voice is like a meadowlark But your heart is like an ocean Mysterious and dark." The muse is loyal to the art and could care less what happens to the poet, but of course the poet is the slave of the muse (When she wants you to write, you damn well better write). When one is taken over by the muse, he is in ecstasy, as Dylan describes, but eventually has to return to earth, which is a bit of a downer (pun intended). Also this line, "Your sister sees the future Like your mama and yourself." There were originally three muses: "They were Melete or Practice, Mneme or Memory and Aoide or Song." Inspiration has certain precognitive aspects. As with any of Dylan's better poem/lyrics, this has multiple levels. There are some mythological comparisons one could make to her "daddy", but I think that description applies to a different level and would be a stretch, plus he might have just thrown it in there to flesh it out, as that description is really not connected directly connect to her. Another description of her father could be substituted equally well. However the this one helps to lock in the idea of gypsies, which I suspect was his intention, along with the idea that gypsies were known as prostitutes, fortune tellers, thieves, and illiterate, as well as handy with a knife. Although they were not generally considered outlaws, and did not stay in one place, though kingdom could be interpreted as not a place but an organization, although I don't think that is the case here, as it is very place specific in relation to the speaker. So for me there is some contradiction in the description of her father. It doesn't seem like Dylan was real settled on that aspect of this song, and supports the idea that it is used more for creating a mood, than as being connected to who or what the girl is. I know it is not neat, but oftentimes poems/lyrics are not neat and tidy, and this strikes me as one of those times. This is a song like "The Weight". I doubt anyone will ever come up with an explanation that takes into account all the aspects of the song. |
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| Bob Dylan – Baby, Let Me Follow You Down Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I really enjoyed him doing this during the Last Waltz. I think Eric (Ric) Von Schmidt may have written this song (probably like FackingHell said, as an adaptation), but Dylan learned it from Dave Van Ronk. At least that is what I remember from the film, "No Direction Home". | |
| Bob Dylan – (My God) They Killed Him Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Actually this song was written by Kris Kristofferson. Never have really liked it to much myself, just a bit too pedantic for my taste. Also, the idea it is not exactly original. This is not a knock on Kristofferson, in fact some of my favorite songs are by him, this just isn't one of them. | |
| Bob Dylan – Changing of the Guards Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Just a note: Jupiter, is not exactly the same as the Greek Zeus, although many make this assumption. One of the major differences is that Jupiter was the upholder of the Roman state, that is , the head of the religion supported the state; a concept that would later manifest as "divine right". In other words, Jupiter, not Zeus, represents tradition. Apollo, conversely, represents the breaking of tradition. He is the god of inspiration, or truth, and new awareness. People seem to refuse to see that Dylan was always involved in mythologizing Dylan. For Dylan, (see Joan Baez's comments in the film, "No direction Home", everything was personal. It just so happened that what happened to him also reflected what was happening at the time in the larger, cultural arena. Dylan says that he was constantly reinventing himself: Jupiter was always at war with Apollo. Dylan never identified himself with being the head or even an influence of the 60's counterculture, because he was always just writing about what was happening to him. The black woman in the song is reflective of Dylan's current love interest at that point in time (1978), Carolyn Dennis, who was one of three backup singer for the album "Street Legal", and the "World Tour 1978", and was a major influence on him being involved in the born again Christian movement, and also whom he married in 1986. I say reflective because it is not her, the woman is black because he is in love with her at the time. The woman in the song is ultimately not a who but a what, as she represents some aspect of Dylan's ongoing mythologized evolution, just as Jupiter and Apollo are both aspects of Dylan. Does this mean that one can’t interpret Dylan’s lyrics as they relate to society at large? Of course not. Every good poem has multiple levels. But Dylan, as with any good poet, is foremost and firstly speaking about themselves. As Walt Whitman said, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Re: olliephelan's question: Considering the British Empire motif in the song, a dog soldier would refer to someone like Gunga Din (a person from the country of India, not a Cheyenne (Indian, Dog Soldier), in the poem by the same name, by Kipling. In fact the rise and fall of the British Empire is the primary motif of the song (I don't know if anyone else mentioned that or not as I did not read every comment). I'll let you research it from there olliephelan . |
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