I Shall Be Released Lyrics
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.
A man in prison waiting either to get out or be executed
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.
"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).
@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...
@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 the cell floor.. So all day long the prisoner just watches the small shaft of light on the floor travel from the "west down to the east". One of Dylan's deepest and sublime lines.
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.
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.
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!).
@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!).
incredible version at the band's The Last Waltz go get the dvd and be shockandawed
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.
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.
@nmustapha You're mixing two songs up though? Not saying it wasn't intentional, i just don't get it.
my reference: the myth of the cave. our world of shadows. (Socrates / Plato)
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".
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.