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

Though I know that evening's empire has returned into sand
Vanished from my hand
Left me blindly here to stand, but still not sleeping
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming

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 on a trip upon your magic swirling ship
My senses have been stripped
My hands can't feel to grip
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
Into 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

Though you might hear laughing, spinning, swinging madly across the sun
It's not aimed at anyone
It's just escaping on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facing
And if you hear vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time
It's just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn't pay it any mind
It's just a shadow you're seeing that he's chasing

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

And take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time
Far past the frozen leaves
The haunted frightened trees
Out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky
With one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea
Circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate
Driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow

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 oofus

Mr. Tambourine Man Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Mr. Tambourine Man song meanings
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    My Interpretation

    For those resisting some of the people who interpret this as a drug song, let me begin by saying I totally understand. How tiresome it must be to hear people who clearly don't understand lyrics use drugs as their reasoning. That said, it is very hard to interpret these words for anything else... "Take me on a trip upon your magic swirling ship My senses have been stripped May hands can't feel to grip 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 Into my own parade Cast your dancing spell my way, I promise to go under it". If I had to guess I'd say much is referring to the meaninglessness and therefore the emptiness of life and the results of such a feeling. He says "Though I know that evenings empire has returned into sand Vanished from my hand Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet I have no one to meet And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming" I think the sleep he is referring to is death itself. There is no stimulus in his world (the street's are too empty to dream) yet he is still forced by something unknown to stand. He probably wants to kill himself (My weariness amazes me) or at least he can't understand why he is both so tired (over life) and still standing (Resisting his true thoughts thanks to instinct or something along those lines). He wants there to be purpose but he is always let down (Though you might hear laughing, spinning, swinging madly across the sun It's not aimed at anyone) and so when he asks Mr Tambourine man to play a song he will inevitably be disappointed as it is extremely difficult to play a "song" with an instrument whose most easily compared to the triangle. So, of course, he takes his drugs to leave this world. His mind flees the physical and for a temporary moment in time the world is his parade. Speaking of temporary, "Though I know that evenings empire has returned into sand Vanished from my hand". It sounds like this is something he often does but like any structure made from sand, it is only a temporary state and he must then face the harsh reality of his world.

    BabyEater75on October 09, 2015   Link

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