The Sam Cooke reference, which I didn't get at first either, actually ties the song together. Sam Cooke wrote and sang "Cupid" ("Cupid, draw back your bow...") Dylan's reversal of this line combined with the rest of the song's lyrics amount to a recoil from, and fear of, falling in love. He is asking the sleepwalker, whoever that is, to protect him from falling in love, or falling in lust, or both.
Sam Cooke was lured into a deadly trap and the bait was a beautiful woman who robbed him in a motel. When she was discovered, she killed him with the help of the manager. But just as Ruby Carter was wronged by the "authorities" and the "justice" system, and later honored by Bob Dylan with the classic "Hurricane", so does his son honoring Sam Cooke, tragically killed with a sexual betrayal.
Sam Cooke was lured into a deadly trap and the bait was a beautiful woman who robbed him in a motel. When she was discovered, she killed him with the help of the manager. But just as Ruby Carter was wronged by the "authorities" and the "justice" system, and later honored by Bob Dylan with the classic "Hurricane", so does his son honoring Sam Cooke, tragically killed with a sexual betrayal.
The Sam Cooke reference, which I didn't get at first either, actually ties the song together. Sam Cooke wrote and sang "Cupid" ("Cupid, draw back your bow...") Dylan's reversal of this line combined with the rest of the song's lyrics amount to a recoil from, and fear of, falling in love. He is asking the sleepwalker, whoever that is, to protect him from falling in love, or falling in lust, or both.
Sam Cooke was lured into a deadly trap and the bait was a beautiful woman who robbed him in a motel. When she was discovered, she killed him with the help of the manager. But just as Ruby Carter was wronged by the "authorities" and the "justice" system, and later honored by Bob Dylan with the classic "Hurricane", so does his son honoring Sam Cooke, tragically killed with a sexual betrayal.
Sam Cooke was lured into a deadly trap and the bait was a beautiful woman who robbed him in a motel. When she was discovered, she killed him with the help of the manager. But just as Ruby Carter was wronged by the "authorities" and the "justice" system, and later honored by Bob Dylan with the classic "Hurricane", so does his son honoring Sam Cooke, tragically killed with a sexual betrayal.