This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Standing on the waters casting your bread
While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing
Distant ships sailing into the mist,
You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing
Freedom just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
So swiftly the sun sets in the sky,
You rise up and say goodbye to no one
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,
Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don't show why
Shedding off one more layer of skin,
Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
You're a man of the mountains, you can walk on the clouds,
Manipulator of crowds, you're a dream twister
You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah
But what do you care? Ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister
Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame,
You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy,
The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers
In the smoke of the twilight on a milk-white steed,
Michelangelo indeed could've carved out your features
Resting in the fields, far from the turbulent space,
Half asleep near the stars with a small dog licking your face
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
Well, the rifleman's stalking the sick and the lame,
Preacherman seeks the same, who'll get there first is uncertain
Nightsticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks,
Molotov cocktails and rocks behind every curtain,
False-hearted judges dying in the webs that they spin,
Only a matter of time 'til night comes steppin' in
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
It's a shadowy world, skies are slippery gray,
A woman just gave birth to a prince today and dressed him in scarlet
He'll put the priest in his pocket, put the blade to the heat,
Take the motherless children off the street
And place them at the feet of a harlot
Oh, Jokerman, you know what he wants,
Oh, Jokerman, you don't show any response
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing
Distant ships sailing into the mist,
You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing
Freedom just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
So swiftly the sun sets in the sky,
You rise up and say goodbye to no one
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,
Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don't show why
Shedding off one more layer of skin,
Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
You're a man of the mountains, you can walk on the clouds,
Manipulator of crowds, you're a dream twister
You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah
But what do you care? Ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister
Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame,
You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy,
The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers
In the smoke of the twilight on a milk-white steed,
Michelangelo indeed could've carved out your features
Resting in the fields, far from the turbulent space,
Half asleep near the stars with a small dog licking your face
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
Well, the rifleman's stalking the sick and the lame,
Preacherman seeks the same, who'll get there first is uncertain
Nightsticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks,
Molotov cocktails and rocks behind every curtain,
False-hearted judges dying in the webs that they spin,
Only a matter of time 'til night comes steppin' in
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
It's a shadowy world, skies are slippery gray,
A woman just gave birth to a prince today and dressed him in scarlet
He'll put the priest in his pocket, put the blade to the heat,
Take the motherless children off the street
And place them at the feet of a harlot
Oh, Jokerman, you know what he wants,
Oh, Jokerman, you don't show any response
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman
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I love Dylan and this is one of my all-time favourite songs. Here's my take on it. The defining traits of the jokerman are that he is a night-dweller; he's a mocker; he's arrogant and narcissistic; he's an idolator and he will come to a bad end. All his mockery will cease when he at last has to face the consequences of his choices.
This was written when all Dylan's songs had astonishingly insightful Biblical connections. How are these for starters? Psalm 1:1 "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked... nor sit in the seat of scoffers!" The jokerman is the wordly-wise scoffer, mocking everything that is holy. He thinks this will bring him freedom but doesn't see that freedom only comes from finding and walking in the truth (John 8:31-32).
The idol with the iron head and glowing eyes refers to the ancient Cannanite fertility rites where they sacrificed their own children (Ezekiel 20:31).
And Romans 13:12 - "The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light". The jokerman, however, loves the night, rushing in where even angels and fools won't go.
The only changes he thinks he needs are external but, like a snake, the shed skin only reveals the same snake and that will never satisfy his internal persecutor - his own conscience (Romans 2:14-15)
He can please all the crowds, taking every politically correct view, not worrying about society becoming like Sodom & Gomorrah (Luke 17:28-30) because "nobody there would want to marry your sister"!
"The fiery furnace and rich man without any name" comes from Luke 16:19-31), wrning the jokerman that all his fame and riches will mean nothing in the after-life.
The references to Leviticus, Deuteronomy, the law of the jungle and the sea as his "only teachers" reveal his ruthless, survival of the fittest, self-obsession so that he thinks he's truly heroic and worthy of adulation.
He doesn't see that the whole, vulnerable world that we are is actually being approached from only two angles - the sniper (Satan) and the preacher (anyone with the message of Jesus). In this vicious spiritual warfare, we will be caught in any falsehood that we tolerate.
The woman is Babylon the harlot (Revelation, chap 17-18), who gives birth to the final Antichrist - when the jokerman sees this final act, he'll see the outcome of his mockery and know he's lost his soul.
So who's the jokerman?
The defining traits of the jokerman are that he is a night-dweller; he's a mocker; he's arrogant and narcissistic; he's an idolator and he will come to a bad end. All his mockery will cease when he at last has to face the consequences of his choices. -Priceless
Everything else you said is mind blowing. Wish I could utilize what ever vocabulary I have to be able to speak so eloquently like you.
Its the Fool Tarot Card<br /> youtube.com/watch