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Sixteen years
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves
Desperate men, desperate women divided
Spreading their wings 'neath the falling leaves
Fortune calls
I stepped forth from the shadows to the marketplace
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down
She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born
On midsummer's eve, near the tower
The cold-blooded moon
The captain waits above the celebration
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
Whose ebony face is beyond communication
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid
They shaved her head
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale
I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow
Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil
I stumbled to my feet
I rode past destruction in the ditches
With the stitches still mending 'neath a heart-shaped tattoo
Renegade priests and treacherous young witches
Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you
The palace of mirrors
Where dog soldiers are reflected
The endless road and the wailing of chimes
The empty rooms where her memory is protected
Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times
She wakes him up
Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking
Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks
She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking
He's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks
Gentlemen, he said
I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning, either getting ready for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards
Peace will come
With tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire
But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
Between the King and the Queen of Swords
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves
Desperate men, desperate women divided
Spreading their wings 'neath the falling leaves
Fortune calls
I stepped forth from the shadows to the marketplace
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down
She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born
On midsummer's eve, near the tower
The cold-blooded moon
The captain waits above the celebration
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
Whose ebony face is beyond communication
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid
They shaved her head
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale
I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow
Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil
I stumbled to my feet
I rode past destruction in the ditches
With the stitches still mending 'neath a heart-shaped tattoo
Renegade priests and treacherous young witches
Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you
The palace of mirrors
Where dog soldiers are reflected
The endless road and the wailing of chimes
The empty rooms where her memory is protected
Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times
She wakes him up
Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking
Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks
She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking
He's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks
Gentlemen, he said
I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning, either getting ready for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards
Peace will come
With tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire
But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
Between the King and the Queen of Swords
Lyrics submitted by Jack, edited by Mellow_Harsher, Tvelo42, BlackPeter
Changing Of The Guards Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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16 years crusading ( i meant). if anyone knows the history of original christianity and jesuss relation to magdalene , prory of sion etc and the johanite churches , you can see a relation although with a stretch of the imagination . not talking about da vinci code crap , but the order of sion were a genuine order , the johannite churches and southern french heretics / cathars , templars and freemasons kept the original christianity alive . ( thats why they were heretics ) the grand master of the order de notre dame de sion was called the nautonnier ( captain , navigator ). the 16 years , was dylans time spend so far " crusading " ( 16 banners ) at the place where the good shepherd (jesus ) grieves ( contemplation /enlightenment / philosophy ). "they shaved her head " .....branded her a prositute . torn between jupiter and apollo is totally consistant with the introduction of the hellenised mystery religions introduced to israel ( of which christianity was one ). renegade priests and witches refers to the orthodox church which defiled marys name and took her honours ( his flowers ) and gave them away ( to virgin mary perhaps ).look up black madonna heresy ...ebony face / black face. Dylan refers to mary magdalene in more than one song . and sarah (dylans wife ) was mary magdalene daughter by jesus. btw. sarah dylan is supposedly the most serenaded woman in history after helen of troy due to his songs. if you dont know anything about original christianity and the mystery philosopies, and the idea that magdalene was jesuss "consort" then this will be rubbish to you. if you are familiar with it , it comes together a lot more , such as rolling rock....jesus tomb (symbolic tomb, ritual of death +rebirth , which happened to all the mystery god/men and any initiates, even now in freemasonry ). did i mention in last reply that magdal means tower in hebrew . magdaleder = tower of the flock or watchtower of the flock. BUT either way dylan was influenced by rimbaud and baudelaire...as far as i remember ,they were known for the poetic sound and rhythym of their works more than the actual meaning . So ,even though no one knows what the lyrics mean , they are still high poetry, the words are just pregnant with meaning , ANY meaning. So, to know what the lyrics really refer to destroys their magic , thats why dylan always refused to explain lyrics.