So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Crickets are chirpin' the water is high
There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry
Window wide open African trees
Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze
Not a word of goodbye not even a note
She gone with the man in the long black coat
Somebody seen him hangin' around
At the old dance hall on the outskirts of town
He looked into her eyes when she stopped him to ask
If he wanted to dance he had a face like a mask
Somebody said from the bible he'd quote
There was dust on the man in the long black coat
Preacher was talking there's a sermon he gave
He said every man's conscience is vile and depraved
You cannot depend on it to be your guide
When it's you who must keep it satisfied
It ain't easy to swallow it sticks in the throat
She gave her heart to the man in the long black coat
There are no mistakes in life some people say
It is true sometimes you can see it that way
But people don't live or die people just float
She went with the man in the long black coat
There's smoke on the water it's been there since June
Tree trunks uprooted beneath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating on a dead horse
She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote
She gone with the man in the long black coat
There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry
Window wide open African trees
Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze
Not a word of goodbye not even a note
She gone with the man in the long black coat
Somebody seen him hangin' around
At the old dance hall on the outskirts of town
He looked into her eyes when she stopped him to ask
If he wanted to dance he had a face like a mask
Somebody said from the bible he'd quote
There was dust on the man in the long black coat
Preacher was talking there's a sermon he gave
He said every man's conscience is vile and depraved
You cannot depend on it to be your guide
When it's you who must keep it satisfied
It ain't easy to swallow it sticks in the throat
She gave her heart to the man in the long black coat
There are no mistakes in life some people say
It is true sometimes you can see it that way
But people don't live or die people just float
She went with the man in the long black coat
There's smoke on the water it's been there since June
Tree trunks uprooted beneath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating on a dead horse
She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote
She gone with the man in the long black coat
Lyrics submitted by snarflegnarfen, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Man in the Long Black Coat Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
The first stanza brings a feeling of a small Soutern community, maybe somewhere near New Orleans? It is a prequel of what happens in the song.
Contrary to popular belief, i think the man in the long black coat is not Death, or Satan, or even dark at all. He hangs around the outskirts. I think he is a loner, a journeyman, someone who travels without a home. The dust on is coat further symbolizes travel; the Grim Reaper would never be seen with a dirty cloak. The face like a mask shows that he has seen so much in his life that emotion has worn thin,like a man weary of so much experience.
I dont have much to say about the preacher.
There are no mistakes in life. The journeyman took her with him, but not for a dark purpose. I think he saved her life.
Treetrunks uprooted, smoke on water,added to the first stanza's mention of urricane breezes,makes me believe that something horrible hapened to the place where the girl lived. Maybe there was a storm and everything was destroyed,all her family died except for her,because the man saved her. "Beating on a dead horse" means that a particular conversation has ended, and coupled with the lines about her not speaking, probably means that she never told anybody about what had happened.
The lone journeyman, in a dusty blackcoat, knew that this town was going to be destroyed. He couldn't save the town,but one girl invited him to dance, and so she was the one he led away. It was no mistake that she survived,and when he brought her back, she was distrought, demanding to know why she had been the one saved, and not her friends and family. But he was silent, resolutein his decision. He left, and she never told anyone what had happened.
I found out my own interpretation throgh this paragraph :<br /> <br /> "He said every man's conscience is vile and depraved,<br /> You cannot depend on it to be your guide<br /> When it's you who must keep it satisfied.<br /> It ain't easy to swallow, it sticks in the throat.... "<br /> <br /> The man in the long black coat renounces to his own conscience ("cannot depend on it to be your guide" ), because he saw in himself, like in others, "vileness and depravation". It´s hard to accept that truth for the young ( innocent) woman, but she goes with him, with the man that doubt. There is some resignation when she goes, but also some kind of kidnapping, she left no "note even a note", not enthusiasm to go with him...<br /> <br /> For me, the man in the long black coat and the young ( innocent) woman are, both the same person: Robert Zimmerman, he and his soul. Two aspects: the innocent soul - and the slynees soul contaminate for the world. <br /> Robert Zimmermann had always a mask to protect himself "he had a face like a mask" that´s why his lyrics have always a secret to reveal; a Robert Zimmermann behind Bob Dylan.<br /> BasilMelmothon March 19, 2014