I Shall Be Released Lyrics
They say every distance is not near
So I remember every face
Of every man who put me here
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
They say that every man must fall
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Somewhere so high above this wall
A man who swears he's not to blame
All day long I hear him shouting so loud
Just crying out that he was framed
I think the prison is a methaphor here. I'm reminded of this bit of poetry by Thomas Wolfe: "Which of us has known his brother? Which of us has looked into his father's heart? Which of us has not remained forever prison-pent? Which of us is not forever a stranger and alone?"
This is pretty obvious looking over the lyrics but it actually didn't hit me till today that this is written from the perspective of someone in prison. I had known the song for a while but associated it most with Richard Manuel (member of the Band, singer of the original version). It was played at his funeral and was one of the Band's most powerful songs because of his vocals on it.
Hard to believe there aren't any other comments on this.
It's definitely got a few interpretations
@music1994 you have got it. Would love it if someone wrote a biography of Richard Manuel
@music1994 you have got it. Would love it if someone wrote a biography of Richard Manuel
yeah, i'm with music1994 on this one. it's an utterly utterly beautiful song.
definitely one of their best.
I agree with clovus, it's a metaphor. The "prison" is loneliness and isolation.
The song was written by Dylan, btw. The version on "The Last Waltz" is just epic.
just got released from jail and this is not a metaohor haha. definitely sang this song to myself. i had to sleep next to a prisoner who went mad in her cell where she;d shout all day long that she was not to blame. very sad, very frightening. it ain;t right
the hope of the final ,definitive and perhaps deserved Freedom .No disgrace lasts forever!!! The way I feel about my incoming final moments of this parentheses we call life