"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
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