| Paul Simon – The Boxer Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| I think it was based on Hemingway's Nick Adams stories which eventually became a movie Adventures of a Young Man (1961) | |
| Bob Dylan – Visions of Johanna Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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What makes this song so spectacular is that everyone can approach it from a different direction and draw different meanings. Overall I see a very frustrated artist negotiating with his muse-Johanna-for just a little inspiration. The things right before him are not doing the job, Louise, maybe a friend but I get the feeling a former lover is sympathetic but no help as she might have been in an earlier form. Everything, the heat pipes, the country music, the all night girls are distractions or dead ends. Johanna's not here. One can almost here Dylan crumple another piece of paper and throw it on to the floor. So if the all night girls aren't getting the job done maybe we can look at the masters in the museum, maybe they will give what Johanna is withholding. But stealing inspiration sounds a little inauthentic so there's a price to be paid for that. Even after all this Madonna (the piece he's working on) still has not showed and he's left with fleeting glimpses of his muse (Johanna). The song/poem melds insomnia with the creative process when its a struggle not when it comes into your head fully formed. |
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