Duquesne Whistle Lyrics
Blowing like it's gonna sweep my world away
I wanna stop at Carbondale and keep on going
That Duquesne train gon' rock me night and day
But I ain't neither one
Sounding like it's on a final run
Blowing like she never blowed before
Blue light blinking, red light glowing
Blowing like she's at my chamber door
Just like you always smiled before
Blowing like she ain't gon' blow no more
Blowing like the sky's gonna blow apart
You're the only thing alive that keeps me going
You're like a time bomb in my heart
Must be the mother of our lord
Blowing like my woman's on board
Blowing like it's gon' blow my blues away
You old rascal, I know exactly where you're going
I'll lead you there myself at the break of day
Everybody telling me she's gone to my head
Blowing like it's gon' kill me dead
Blowing through another no good town
I wonder if they'll know me next time 'round
I wonder if that old oak tree's still standing
That old oak tree, the one we used to climb
Blowing like she's blowing right on time
I think the 'Duquesne Whistle' of which Dylan sings is the Joplin, Missouri tornado of May 2011 which nearly leveled Joplin and the small neighboring town of Duquesne, Missouri, but no one ever heard about Duquesne in the news.
"Blowing like it's gonna sweep my world away..." "Blowing like the sky's gonna blow apart..." "Wonder if that old oak tree's still standing..."
Great lyrics about a terrible tragedy. You're still the voice of America Bob.
Based on the video, I think the song is about Dylan vs. music. In the video a young man tries to attract a lovely young woman (=music). In the beginning he fails and gets pepper spray in his eyes, gets beaten up (=negative reactions to starting to play electric/religious music). Finally, he succeeds and enters into his present iconic role, with people following him. He must have a complex relation to music. On the negative side all demands and impositions from his world wide audience, on the positive side his love for music, particularly american "root" music, american symbols like...
Based on the video, I think the song is about Dylan vs. music. In the video a young man tries to attract a lovely young woman (=music). In the beginning he fails and gets pepper spray in his eyes, gets beaten up (=negative reactions to starting to play electric/religious music). Finally, he succeeds and enters into his present iconic role, with people following him. He must have a complex relation to music. On the negative side all demands and impositions from his world wide audience, on the positive side his love for music, particularly american "root" music, american symbols like the train, the oak tree, the whistle. There may also be some allusions to death and transience.
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like it's gonna sweep my world away I'm gonna stop in Carbondale and keep on going That Duquesne train gonna ride me night and day If one mentions "Duquesne" (read Du Quoin, Illinois) and Carbondale, then this song is historically talking about Amtrak's City of New Orleans (although the train runs are called the Illini and the Saluki today).The train still brings the kids from the city to the woods(Chicago- Du Quoin- Carbondale on to New Orleans). Blues men riding the train in the 20's creating songs on the way....
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like it's gonna sweep my world away I'm gonna stop in Carbondale and keep on going That Duquesne train gonna ride me night and day If one mentions "Duquesne" (read Du Quoin, Illinois) and Carbondale, then this song is historically talking about Amtrak's City of New Orleans (although the train runs are called the Illini and the Saluki today).The train still brings the kids from the city to the woods(Chicago- Du Quoin- Carbondale on to New Orleans). Blues men riding the train in the 20's creating songs on the way.
I think it sings about the returning of Christ, The Trumpets sound, The Apocalypse - Tragedy that follows it.Dylan is calling us to be prepared as Christians. May we be through God's grace
And as we know, the Album's title song was called tempest
And as we know, the Album's title song was called tempest
I've no idea what it's about, but it's just a cool tune, very fun to listen to. Very repetitive, makes you feel like in a old cowboy saloon drinkin' whiskey and blowing the blues away