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I Shall Be Released Lyrics

They say ev'rything can be replaced,
Yet ev'ry distance is not near.
So I remember ev'ry face
Of ev'ry man who put me here.
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east.
Any day now, any day now,
I shall be released.

They say ev'ry man needs protection,
They say ev'ry man must fall.
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Some place so high above this wall.
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east.
Any day now, any day now,
I shall be released.

Standing next to me in this lonely crowd,
Is a man who swears he's not to blame.
All day long I hear him shout so loud,
Crying out that he was framed.
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east.
Any day now, any day now,
I shall be released.
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Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

I always thought that this profoundly impressive song is about alienation and salvation a la mode Dylanesque. It may contain but cannot be limited to an anti-death penalty theme.

Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

A man in prison waiting either to get out or be executed

Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

I see this as an anti-death penalty song. Written from the point of view of a man who is on death row and is innocent. He knows he will be released in a figurative sense when he is finally executed.

Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

"I see my light come shining From the west unto the east."

If sunlight is shining from the west unto the east, the sun is in the west and about to set. So if his light is shining from the west unto the east, his life is about to set (end).

My Interpretation

@eawgoalie I have another, simpler meaning for this line. See the man is in prison, and he is despondent, so he just sits there with his head down and stares at the floor. Now in the proverbial prison cell there is just a small slit in the wall, high above, that lets in light. And when the sun rising in the EAST, the slit in the wall lights up the WEST side of the cell. As the day goes by and the sun travels to the WEST, the last light shines on the EAST side of...

@shaytee

Yes, this is what is probably happening in the literal sense. Leaving it there shortchanges the lyric though, as all it does it give imagery without too much deeper meaning - a prisoner waiting to die - pictured by the passing of time. The deeper poetic meaning behind the line, I would personally say, is most likely my interpretation.

It's definitely has double meaning though and I would be pretty confident in saying that we each got half of it. Which actually is maybe what you're saying upon re-reading your post.

@eawgoalie Yes, exactly! These are levels of meaning here, as you noted. Which is why I think that this is one of Dylan's most sublime and powerful lines. His brilliance should get him a Nobel Prize! (LOL!).

Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

incredible version at the band's The Last Waltz go get the dvd and be shockandawed

Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

The existentialist Dylan again - crying out that he was framed by every face of every man who put him there. Isn't that all our lives - there is only so much freedom in this world.

Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

he's very well read it's well known come on folks Great Gatsby? I see my light shinin' from the West on to the East let's discuss lepers and crooks for a minute here thats what its about Its about Jay

@nmustapha You're mixing two songs up though? Not saying it wasn't intentional, i just don't get it.

Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

my reference: the myth of the cave. our world of shadows. (Socrates / Plato)

Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

I think "So I remember ev'ry face, of ev'ry man who put me here" is about how every person who comes into our lives teaches us something about ourselves, both good and bad, and that these teachings have made us who we are at this point in time. "....they say ev'ry man must fall. Yet I swear I see my reflection, some place so high above the wall." The perverbial "they". Who is "they"? Mother Culture, of course. Yet the writer sees the reflection of his true, higher self and "swears" he won't fall. The writer is also a product of the pain others have caused.......he's in great grief which, in and of itself, delivers him to a higher plane. However, when he sees his light come shining. so brightly that it seems to be coming from the west unto the east (which is backward from a normal day) that bright light beckons him to peace, which is the meaning of "I Shall Be Released".

My Interpretation
Cover art for I Shall Be Released lyrics by Bob Dylan

Each time I listen to this song, it reminds me of the story of the Count of Monte Cristo. Seeing that Dylan liked the book (I think I read that in Chronicles Volume One), maybe he tried to tell this story, though with the intent to touch one or more themes discussed above.