The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Farewell Angelina
The bells of the crown
Are being stolen by bandits
I must follow the sound
The triangle tingles
And the trumpet play slow
Farewell Angelina
The sky is on fire
And I must go
There's no need for anger
There's no need for blame
There's nothing to prove
Everything's still the same
Just a table standing empty
By the edge of the sea
Farewell Angelina
The sky is trembling
And I must leave
The jacks and queens
Have forsaken the courtyard
Fifty-two gypsies
Now file past the guards
In the space where the deuce
And the ace once ran wild
Farewell Angelina
The sky is folding
I'll see you in a while
See the cross-eyed pirates sitting
Perched in the sun
Shooting tin cans
With a sawed-off shotgun
And the neighbors they clap
And they cheer with each blast
Farewell Angelina
The sky's changing color
And I must leave fast
King Kong, little elves
On the rooftops they dance
Valentino-type tangos
While the make-up man's hands
Shut the eyes of the dead
Not to embarrass anyone
Farewell Angelina
The sky is embarrassed
And I must be gone
The machine guns are roaring
The puppets heave rocks
The fiends nail time bombs
To the hands of the clocks
Call me any name you like
I will never deny it
Farewell Angelina
The sky is erupting
I must go where it's quiet
The bells of the crown
Are being stolen by bandits
I must follow the sound
The triangle tingles
And the trumpet play slow
Farewell Angelina
The sky is on fire
And I must go
There's no need for anger
There's no need for blame
There's nothing to prove
Everything's still the same
Just a table standing empty
By the edge of the sea
Farewell Angelina
The sky is trembling
And I must leave
The jacks and queens
Have forsaken the courtyard
Fifty-two gypsies
Now file past the guards
In the space where the deuce
And the ace once ran wild
Farewell Angelina
The sky is folding
I'll see you in a while
See the cross-eyed pirates sitting
Perched in the sun
Shooting tin cans
With a sawed-off shotgun
And the neighbors they clap
And they cheer with each blast
Farewell Angelina
The sky's changing color
And I must leave fast
King Kong, little elves
On the rooftops they dance
Valentino-type tangos
While the make-up man's hands
Shut the eyes of the dead
Not to embarrass anyone
Farewell Angelina
The sky is embarrassed
And I must be gone
The machine guns are roaring
The puppets heave rocks
The fiends nail time bombs
To the hands of the clocks
Call me any name you like
I will never deny it
Farewell Angelina
The sky is erupting
I must go where it's quiet
Lyrics submitted by typo, edited by nelliewilson
Farewell, Angelina Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
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This is pretty clearly an anti-war/love song
"Farewell Angelina - He is leaving his lover The bells of the crown - The reason for war Are being stolen by bandits - Someone is in the wrong I must follow the sound - The sound is of a funeral march The triangle tingles - The sound is of a funeral march And the trumpet play slow -The sound is of a funeral march Farewell Angelina - The sound is of a funeral march The sky is on fire - The war is starting And I must go The war is starting
There's no need for anger -Let's enjoy our final time together There's no need for blame - The decision wasn't up to me There's nothing to prove - We know we love eachother Everything's still the same - We will always love eachother Just a table standing empty - Our future meteaphorical table is empty because I will die By the edge of the sea - He will be taking a ship to go over to fight the war and not be coming back Farewell Angelina - bye forever The sky is trembling - He is nervous to go to war And I must leave - But this is his duty
The jacks and queens -metaphor for politicians Have forsaken the courtyard - the are making the decisions Fifty-two gypsies - cards are a metaphor for gambling Now file past the guards - cards are a metaphor for gambling In the space where the deuce - they always gambled with lives And the ace once ran wild - they used to play this kind of poker Farewell Angelina - Bye forever The sky is folding - The sky folding could refer to god folding his hand on society. It is essentially some super natural power is being shock I'll see you in a while - In a while would refer to when she dies which is in reference to the supernatural above.
See the cross-eyed pirates sitting - People at home who are enjoying the war have a negative connation Perched in the sun - Basically to them the war is bliss Shooting tin cans - Barbaric activities fun at home With a sawed-off shotgun - Sawed off showing they are actually low class And the neighbors they clap - Everyone loves the idea of war And they cheer with each blast - People at home love war Farewell Angelina - He has to go The sky's changing color - A new somber mood And I must leave fast - He just left
King Kong, little elves - metaphor for battle. King Kong fights people On the rooftops they dance - King kong climbs roof, dancing is a metaphor for fighting Valentino-type tangos - Tango another danving metaphor for fighting While the make-up man's hands -hand to hand combat Shut the eyes of the dead - One of Dylan's best lyrics ever. He even wants to shut the eyes of the dead Not to embarrass anyone - because he feels the way they died is so emberrassing and such a waste Farewell Angelina - He is surely going to die but not yet The sky is embarrassed - God and everyone is emberrassed And I must be gone - After all this he knows he won't survive.
Let's add in the verse from the original
The camouflaged parrot, he flutters from fear -camouflage is a metaphor for someone in army gear. A parrot repeats what is told of them. Despite being parrots they are scared When something he doesn't know about suddenly appears - The parrot is the guy singing the song. Someone appears out of nowhere What cannot be imitated perfect must die - His training wasn't perfect and he will die here Farewell Angelina, the sky is flooding over and I must go where it is dry - Could be a reference to blood and getting out of the battle
The machine guns are roaring - battle continues The puppets heave rocks - puppets are the soldiers who follow orders they hurl grenades and bombs The fiends nail time bombs - Everyones life has a time limit on it To the hands of the clocks - Clock is in reference to when you die but could also be a tombstone which is dated Call me any name you like - His lover can say anything to him now I will never deny it - He can't defend himself because he is dead Farewell Angelina - Bye for now The sky is erupting - War is terrible I must go where it's quiet - Rest in Peace
The pressures of the world that urge people to accomplish certain things, be a certain person, live a certain way.
Love the line- 'See the cross-eyed pirates sitting Perched in the sun Shooting tin cans With a sawed-off shotgun And the neighbors they clap And they cheer with each blast'
I think it perfectly shows the destructive nature of society.
I agree with you Drake. Dylan is singing this love song to Angelina riddled with a larger metaphor about the banes of society in general, war and violence a particular topic he brings up again and again, to explain the ups and downs (mostly downs) of his love with Angelina. <br /> <br /> The jacks and queens<br /> Have forsaked the courtyard<br /> Fifty-two gypsies<br /> Now file past the guards<br /> <br /> This to me does remind me of the Holocaust. Jacks and the Queens, higher in a deck of cards, the higher-ups in society who had the power to actually do something to stop the horrors of the Holocaust, turned their backs and the fifty-two gypsies are either Jews or perhaps literally the gypsies that were also murdered.<br /> And I can't help but think about war, either, especially in the last verse. <br /> <br /> The machine guns are roaring<br /> The puppets heave rocks<br /> The fiends nail time bombs<br /> To the hands of the clocks<br /> Call me any name you like<br /> I will never deny it<br /> <br /> The beginning of this verse is reminiscent of war, perhaps 'Nam since Dylan wrote this in the 60's. Machine guns is a clear image, and the puppets a great symbol of the common soldier/man being manipulated by the government to do whatever they like with them. A puppet only does what the person controlling it decides. Dylan is telling Angelina that she can blame him all she likes for what happened to them, and for the violence and particular ruthless nature of mankind/society, he will not fight or defend himself is she does. Dylan is trying to find a place where he can escape all of that? <br /> <br /> These are my initial impressions of this song, anyway, I might be all wrong.<br /> <br />
Isn't this something most of us went through? Our childhood was being taken from us. During the transition to adulthood, everything seemed confused with the noise of war and the idiotic behavior in the world you were about to enter. Didn't you ever want a quiet place to try to figure all this out? I did.
These lyrics are pretty off. And they're missing the stanza about the camouflaged parrot who flutters from fear when something he doesn't know about suddenly appears.
"What cannot be imitated perfect must die."
A lot of the other lyrics are wrong too unless I have a different version but I don't think I do.
Forgot to mention how gorgeous is the line "Call me any name you like, I will never deny it" So romantic...
<br /> that is a great line and many is the time I've used it, always acknowledging Dylan.
I think it is clearly an anti-war song, one of the best. I love this song, especially the cover by Joan Baez.
Yes! For example the bells of the crown are being stolen by bandits is the Nazi pilfering of art,especially Jewish. The sky is on fire is the ovens blowing fire and smoke. No need for anger no one to blame. The Jewish acceptance of the events with the same anti Semitic ,everything's still the same. 52 gypsies file past the guards, 52 is a full deck meaning all the Jews will be filing past the guards. The sky is folding the Angels giving up and laying down their hands. King Kong's little elves,obvious reference to SS and Hitler. While the Valentino reference and his ties to Mussolini (who hired 4 fascist blackshirts honor guards to attend his funeral) show the connection to Hitler. Valentino's most famous roles were often portrayals of middle- eastern Shieks Even the last stanza obvious reference to the nazi's and the puppet mentality of those following Hitler. The entire piece is full of references to the holocaust from Mr. Zimmerman. However,when writing songs one comes up with lines that just sound cool and include them in the piece.
Bob apparently wrote this while at Baez\'s place in Carmel in late November 1964. Like with "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" written there a year before, he seems to have nicked a trad melody from her record collection; here "The Wagoner\'s Lad". \n\nHistory-wise, this would have been the week the US announced the escalation of the Vietnam War. \n\nThe holocaust idea is interesting, but seems like Bob more generally kicking at unpleasant parts of human nature: close-mindedness, unnecessary violence (and enjoyment of it), superstition. \n\nA sort of halfway point between his 1964 writing style with imagery of weather (like Mr. Tambourine Man, Chimes of Freedom) grotesque, circus-ish characters (Gates of Eden, MTM again) and playing cards (Jack of Diamonds) and his 1965 style where the characters get more absurd and specific (Rolling Stone, Tombstone Blues, Highway 61, Desolation Row) and the settings more urban. \n\nProbably gave it to Joan because he\'d written It\'s all over now, baby blue by the recording sessions, and it and Love Minus Zero did what he wanted from acoustic tunes better.
Did anyone else get the feeling this could be about the Holocaust? The subject, of course, is Dylanesque, but one he never really explored, so I'm not sure...
@HibbingismyHolyLand <br /> Yes! For example the bells of the crown are being stolen by bandits is the Nazi pilfering of art,especially Jewish. The sky is on fire is the ovens blowing fire and smoke.<br /> No need for anger no one to blame. The Jewish acceptance of the events with the same anti Semitic ,everything's still the same.<br /> 52 gypsies file past the guards, 52 is a full deck meaning all the Jews will be filing past the guards. The sky is folding the Angels giving up and laying down their hands.<br /> King Kong's little elves,obvious reference to SS and Hitler.<br /> While the Valentino reference and his ties to Mussolini (who hired 4 fascist blackshirts honor guards to attend his funeral) show the connection to Hitler. Valentino's most famous roles were often portrayals of middle- eastern Shieks<br /> Even the last stanza obvious reference to the nazi's and the puppet mentality of those following Hitler.<br /> The entire piece is full of references to the holocaust from Mr. Zimmerman.<br /> However,when writing songs one comes up with lines that just sound cool and include them in the piece.