Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you
Take me for a trip upon your magic swirling ship
All my senses have been stripped, and my hands can't feel to grip
And my toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wandering
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Onto my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you
Take me for a trip upon your magic swirling ship
All my senses have been stripped, and my hands can't feel to grip
And my toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wandering
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Onto my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you
Lyrics submitted by planetearth, edited by Paymaan
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Now that im older, I must admit that it does suggest drugs or something of the sort.
Infact, reading over the lyrics, im almost postive. Alot of the words symbolise drugs.
However it would make me happier if it was just innocent words thrown together :)
Either way, this is a beautiful song! I love it, its just one of those songs I will never forget.
The narrator is numb and has the dumbs, fried from last night's trip. "Evening's empire" refers to last night's hallucinations. He's come down, mostly, but is still strung out and can't sleep.
But it was a great trip. A fantastic trip. He's maybe never had such a heavy acid trip, but his mind is blown, he's astounded by the possibilities and the brilliant glory of LSD.
He's burned out. He can't sleep, his body and brain are numb, he's walking funny and everything seems gray and dead.
But he's ready to do it again.
The second layer of meaning of this song is about the crazy, freewheeling sensation of the 1960s. The possibilities seemed limitless.
And they still are limitless. The Big Lie is that they ever went away. Hippie culture is still around if you look. It's one of the few functioning, healthy communities left.
I mean no disrespect to you. Clearly, we each have our own opinions. And mine is no better than yours, but it is what I believe. Thank you.
Dylan's own words from the "Biography" set - " Mr. Tambourine Man, I think, was inspired by Bruce Langhorne. Bruce was playing guitar with me on a bunch of early records. On one session Tom Wilson had asked him to play tambourine. And he had a gigantic tambourine. It was like, really big. It was as big as a wagonwheel. He was playing, and this vision of him playing this tambourine just stuck in my mind... Drugs never played a part in that song, "disappearing in the smoke rings in my mind", that's not drugs, drugs were never that big a thing with me. I could take 'em or leave 'em, never hung me up". It's a common mistake to think it's about drugs.
It's just Life, it's how people think, talk, and respond is how you figure people out.
"Don't let it bring you down, it's only castles burning. Find someone who's turning...and you will come around."- (Neil Young-Don't let it bring you Down)