This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
You've got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin'
You've got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that's winnin'
You say I let you down, ya know its not like that
If you're so hurt, why then don't you show it?
You say you've lost your faith, but that's not where its at
You have no faith to lose, and ya know it
I know the reason, that you talked behind my back
I used to be among the crowd you're in with
Do you take me for such a fool, to think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with?
You see me on the street, you always act surprised
You say "how are you?", "good luck", but ya don't mean it
When you know as well as me, you'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just come out once and scream it
No, I do not feel that good when I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief perhaps I'd rob them
And tho I know you're dissatisfied with your position and your place
Don't you understand, its not my problem?
I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is to see you
When I was down you just stood there grinnin'
You've got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that's winnin'
You say I let you down, ya know its not like that
If you're so hurt, why then don't you show it?
You say you've lost your faith, but that's not where its at
You have no faith to lose, and ya know it
I know the reason, that you talked behind my back
I used to be among the crowd you're in with
Do you take me for such a fool, to think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with?
You see me on the street, you always act surprised
You say "how are you?", "good luck", but ya don't mean it
When you know as well as me, you'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just come out once and scream it
No, I do not feel that good when I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief perhaps I'd rob them
And tho I know you're dissatisfied with your position and your place
Don't you understand, its not my problem?
I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is to see you
Lyrics submitted by democracys
Positively 4th Street Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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I think this song is about a passive aggressive, manipulative friend who always knows what to say and goes through all the motions but, in the end, that person is no friend at all. He/she is toxic.
It feels great to recognize people like that and to finally get rid of them from your life!!
It's about how hard it is to take the high road when you have to break up with a friend or group. Clearly Dylan feels this friend is toxic: he thinks the friend has a "lot of nerve" for just standing around when Dylan needed a friend, "talking behind my back", and being jealous ("you know as well as me you'd rather see me paralyzed") and petty ("You just want to be on the side that's winnin'")), etc. But Dylan wants to repair the relationship. But the problem is he knows it won't make a difference. The friend is a total poser and just pretends like everything is ok: "You see me on the street, you always act surprised; Ya say 'how are you'", "good luck", but ya don't mean it." What the friend needs to do is tell Dylan to his face what his grievances are. but the friend "tries to hide what he don't know to begin with", i.e. the grievances. So Dylan knows he'd be a fool to make a contact with this person. Particularly since the person's grievances are unfair and petty. The problems really don't have to do with Dylan but with the friend being "dissatisfied with your position and your place", which really isn't Dylan's "problem". But Dylan is still sympathetic, he does not "feel good when he sees the heartbreaks his friend embraces". He'd even like to fix the problems. But he knows he can't; he'd have to be a master thief to "rob" the friend of his negative thoughts. That's why it's such a "drag" to see this "friend". The friend is just not reasonable. Of course, if you see yourself in this song, then it might feel like a giant middle finger being pointed at you. And that's the genius of the song.
@bananabee you took the words right out of my head.