zoster and nylentone have it absolutely right. This isn't a timeless song about any good thing. It's about one very specific thing. This song came out in 1991 and reflects the joy and astonishment for those of us who "were alive and waited" for this. On numerous occasions from 1956 to 1988, there were signs of the Eastern Bloc becoming more democratic, and they were always crushed by purges, arrests, and/or tanks.
Then when it finally happened, it happened so fast it was unbelievable. After some gradual signs of change in Poland and Hungary early in 1989, everything accelerated in the final weeks of the year. The Berlin Wall was opened on November 9 and by Christmas the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were virtually wiped off the map without a war. Virtually all of these changes happened in the final few weeks of 1989, hence the line about the decade ending.
Bob Dylan sang about revolution but he didn't (in his heyday) have THIS to sing about. The band can hardly pack enough joy into the lyrics that the world was changed so much and so suddenly for the better and that they (and many of us) got to see it happen. It was like winning a war without the war.
The posted lyrics have some significant glitches.
A woman on the radio talks (not "talked")
Bob Dylan didn't have this to sing about (no "you" at the end)
I saw the decade end (not "in")
zoster and nylentone have it absolutely right. This isn't a timeless song about any good thing. It's about one very specific thing. This song came out in 1991 and reflects the joy and astonishment for those of us who "were alive and waited" for this. On numerous occasions from 1956 to 1988, there were signs of the Eastern Bloc becoming more democratic, and they were always crushed by purges, arrests, and/or tanks.
Then when it finally happened, it happened so fast it was unbelievable. After some gradual signs of change in Poland and Hungary early in 1989, everything accelerated in the final weeks of the year. The Berlin Wall was opened on November 9 and by Christmas the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were virtually wiped off the map without a war. Virtually all of these changes happened in the final few weeks of 1989, hence the line about the decade ending.
Bob Dylan sang about revolution but he didn't (in his heyday) have THIS to sing about. The band can hardly pack enough joy into the lyrics that the world was changed so much and so suddenly for the better and that they (and many of us) got to see it happen. It was like winning a war without the war.
The posted lyrics have some significant glitches. A woman on the radio talks (not "talked") Bob Dylan didn't have this to sing about (no "you" at the end) I saw the decade end (not "in")