Spanish Harlem Incident Lyrics
Marvellous little song - it's easy to picture this wildcat described in the first verse and how after their encounter in the second verse (probably the most explicitly vague erotics he's ever written) and how he's completely lost in her memory in the third, the exhilirating and terrifying feelings from a hot one-night-stand when you don't know if you'll ever see her again.
Your flaming feet are burnin up the street.
Let me know, babe, I'm nearly drowning, If it's you my lifelines trace.
I got to know, babe, eh, will you surround me? So I can know if I am really real.
I've heard this has to do with Dylan's self-consciousness about being a white boy playing the blues and how he's also attracted to the fiery black women of Harlem. "the night is pitch black, come and make my pale face fit into place ah please". also in other songs, he often depicts his woman as a soulful "junkyard angel"... a real bluesy kinda dame. i dunno
Just so you all know, spanish harlem is an area in New York consisting predominately of hispanics. They're mostly puerto rican, but its a mix of everything - it is often used as a symbol of the mix of their original cultures and US culture.-- it has nothing to do with harlem; not black people
Just so you all know, spanish harlem is an area in New York consisting predominately of hispanics. They're mostly puerto rican, but its a mix of everything - it is often used as a symbol of the mix of their original cultures and US culture.-- it has nothing to do with harlem; not black people
this is one of my favorite bob dylan songs. almost unknown, that's why i like it. so beautiful.
i never thought this song to be unknown, it's always been a favorite of mine (like so many others). i think a lot of songmeanings users have been heavily drinking lately, which explains lack of posts on a lot of good songs.
i dont know, but it always makes me think of the first girl i loved, being a lesbian and she being straight i could never say anything. and she was a beautiful gypsie type hippie. and the anguish in my heart!! i could probably write my own song about her!! not a bad idea!
I think Dylan recent ammitted that even he couldn't connect a meaning to the song.
Well Bob's also an obsessive compulsive liar lol...even if he says the song meant nothing to him, that might not even be true.
Anyway, in my opinion, it sounds like Joan Baez might've been the influence behind this. I dont know why, but shes the first woman that comes to mind when I hear these lyrics.
What I get from this song..... is seeing a woman from a totally different world and being absolutely infactuated with her. Dylan is so good at expressing vulnerability in a very cool way. I've been there many times. I love this song.
man it depresses me to see such few comments especially on such a well written song i like the idea of joan baez being the inspiration for this song, especially since bobby was still young when he wrote this and though he was wise beyond his years this song proves that even he doesnt know how to fully understand and express his feelings toward women
the lyrics are wrong, ....it's let me know babe-i'm nearly drowning..... and will you surround me so i can know if i am really real .. at the end of the 2 verses. sdfjjlsf. this song is beautiful.
I think everyone so far has been a bit off on this Dylan song...although I don't believe Bob Dylan doesn't know what this song is about.
I think everyone so far has been a bit off on this Dylan song...although I don't believe Bob Dylan doesn't know what this song is about.
It's pretty simple: it's about a man who goes to a fortune teller in Spanish Harlem and gets his palm read. In the intimacy of that moment, touching hands, he feels erotic lust, love and mysterious curiosity for her.
It's pretty simple: it's about a man who goes to a fortune teller in Spanish Harlem and gets his palm read. In the intimacy of that moment, touching hands, he feels erotic lust, love and mysterious curiosity for her.
The song is much easier to understand if you don't assume it's in chronological order (this is Bob Dylan, after all)
The song is much easier to understand if you don't assume it's in chronological order (this is Bob Dylan, after all)
In the first verse, he's describing her in poetic language: she's so freaking...
In the first verse, he's describing her in poetic language: she's so freaking hot, she even heats up the pavement of steamy Spanish Harlem (Harlem is no comparison to how hot you are, two meanings for the word "heat.") He convinces her to read his fortune "let me know, babe, about my fortune, all along my restless palms."
The second verse is him really falling for her when she touches his face and hands. It seems to me that he really doesn't buy the fortune telling, he just wants to be with her in a dark room and watch her talk. "Let me know babe, I got to know babe, if it's you my lifelines trace." He wants to know if she's in his future, and he really doesn't care about anything else.
The third verse is actually the moment he first sees her (this is the beginning chronologically). "I been wonderin' all about me, ever since I seen you there". He says, "will I be touching you, so I can tell if I'm really real?" and "I know I'm 'round you but I don't know where" (he can feel her presence in Spanish Harlem, but he doesn't know exactly where she is at that moment). That's when he decides to visit her and get his palm read.
That's the main story in the song. There are also echoes of vulnerability (weakness) and some self-consciousness (she is not white, which is why his pale skin is significant) as pointed out by other posters.
eh, your reading too much into it
eh, your reading too much into it