Ok so this is my interpretation of the song, and feel free to correct or comment on it: this isn't one love story, but an assembly of multiple ones with a different character in each stanza. each stanza describes a unique kind of love, but generally outline all the beauty and longing of love, in ALL of its manuerisms, not just a man for a woman. here is the breakdown
1st - pretty obvious that it is a person at the funeral of their partner, most likely the spouse. this is given away by the "I wasn't born to lose you" which is the opposite of the common phrase said between lovers "it was like i was born to be with you". All these instruments that would be seen at the lenghty process of burying someone are telling him to let go, but he cant, as they scorn him and he feels turned against the world because his second half is gone. this is an intense longing that actually depresses the speaker, as most love does. so this is a man losing his wife and becoming a widow
2nd - first two lines signify pretty heavily a soldier that has been sent to a war that has little purpose, or even if it had purpose, is being ran irrationally (a heavy theme of the time), since the politician is drunk (foolish) and is playing w/ the hearts of the soldiers mothers. saviors as in the soldiers (so dylan differentiates between a soldier and the foolish person controlling the soldiers, even if he himself doesn't support soldiers, it is the speaker that does since they long for their sibling/son/any relative) are sleeping, hence dead. the speaker is a relative that is waiting for this soldier to return home, even though he slightly knows this wont happen, and ask him to "open the gate for mom" or something along those lines as she runs to her soldier son. another form of deep longing and love
3rd - cant quite place in context of the song, something to do w/ men not being able to love in the same manner as women, but its nonetheless still love
4th - one of the most classic examples of love, as both friendship and passion. a man returning to his "queen of spades" a figure that is heavily iconic of an arranged and loveless marriage or a hoity toity woman that doesn't deserve the man, but he is stuck, probably due to money (ill get into why this is important). so he returns to his chamber maid, someone who is a dear servant and always "good" to him. he describes her as what one thinks of as true love, "not afraid to look at her" means that he isn't afraid to look past her social labels to see who she REALLY is, even if society doesn't condone it. the social acceptance rings in again because she is obviously poor, and he cannot be with her because he, a noble, couldn't be with her. nonetheless she and him both know where he wants to be (deeply with her and not w/ his socalled queen) but it doesn't matter because he is socially stuck w/ someone else, who is implied to be the anithesis of this chambermaid, but he still cannot stop these feelings. like romeo and juliet if juliet was poor and romeo was married
5th - either aging jealousy or standard jealousy, resulting from an intense longing that like every other instance cannot be satiated. dancing child w/ his chinese suit probably doesnt mean child, but an insult to a woman that is dating someone who is younger and is not of her culture (some can think of this as he therefore is stealing her, but thats not what i get). took his flute > VERY symbolic of how in fables someone will play a flute and it will entrance them, as if he is hypnotizing this woman that he loves. he was mean to him ("not cute") because: he lied to his love, he is taking her on a ride (of emotion, so abuse, and leading her on, his intentions are not founded, and is thus NOT for the true love that he hold) and also once again that time was on his side, he was younger and more active/energetic/spirited etc. (here comes in the jealousy and hate, but it is still founded on good intentions), and once again because he "wants her"
So this is my interpretation, please comment on it. i pretty much think its about wanting someone so bad it hurts and brings negative emotions, but no matter what you do you cannot have them. what do you guys think? (jeez that took forever to write, and longer to think up!)
FAQs
If You See Her Say Hello. This song was one of Dylan's hits from the 1975 album Blood On The Tracks. It's also (arguably) one of his saddest songs to date.
What was Bob Dylan's main message? ›
Bob Dylan's message (what he says, sings, writes) isn't any one particular idea. That is to say: sometimes he's saying man's so sinister that he's even written it into his bible, The Bible; and sometimes Dylan's talking civil rights, or sometimes he's talking about the way some people (like him) are living.
What did Bob Dylan say was the best song ever written? ›
What song did Bob Dylan say was the best ever written? One time, Dylan revealed what he thought was the best song out there. According to American Songwriter, Dylan said “Wichita Lineman” written by Jimmy Webb was “the greatest song ever written.”
What does the phrase "tangled up in blue" mean? ›
However, simply put it means that something good or bad is always happening in everyone's life. The “blue” in the song refers to some sort of sadness that all have experienced in their lives. In "Tangled Up in Blue", what is the meaning of the line "then he started dealing with slaves"?
What song did Bob Dylan regret writing? ›
“Ballad in Plain D”, from Bob Dylan's fourth album, Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964), is the only song he ever publicly admitted he wished he hadn't written. “Oh yeah, that one! I look back and say, 'I must have been a real schmuck to write that,'” he said in 1985.
Who was Bob Dylan's greatest love? ›
Susan Elizabeth Rotolo (November 20, 1943 – February 25, 2011), known as Suze Rotolo (/ˈsuːziː/ SOO-zee), was an American artist, and the girlfriend of Bob Dylan from 1961 to 1964. Dylan later acknowledged her strong influence on his music and art during that period.
What is Bob Dylan's IQ? ›
Supposedly, on an IQ test he took in jr. high or high school, Dylan earned a 106 or a 107.
What song made Bob Dylan famous? ›
Following his self-titled debut album of traditional folk songs in 1962, he made his breakthrough with The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). The album featured "Blowin' in the Wind" and "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", which adapted the tunes and phrasing of older folk songs.
What was Bob Dylan's inspirational quote? ›
In honor of The Bard, we picked out some of of our favorite lyrics and quotes.
- “All I can do is be me, whoever that is.”
- “People seldom do what they believe in. ...
- “There must be some way out of here, said the Joker to the Thief”
- “Take care of all your memories.
In March 1963, Cherokee folk singer Karen Dalton made a collection of home recordings. Following her death in 1993 they were released posthumously by Delmore Recording Society on the 2008 album Green Rocky Road. In his autobiography, Chronicles, Bob Dylan wrote "My favorite singer...was Karen Dalton.
“Rumble” – Link Wray
Everyone from Paul McCartney to Iggy Pop has heralded Link Wray's “Rumble.” Dylan made his love for the song known by co-opting it as the opening number for all five of his 2005 London shows, shortly after the death of Wray.
What is Bob Dylan's number one song? ›
Murder Most Foul (song)
| "Murder Most Foul" |
|---|
| Length | 16:56 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
| Bob Dylan singles chronology |
12 more rowsStill others have taken a much more literal interpretation and they see the song as Dylan working through his pending divorce from his then wife Sarah Dylan. This theory posits that Dylan saw his wife as the shelter whom he took for granted and subsequently lost.
Who did Bob Dylan write "Tangled Up in Blue" about? ›
Dylan said that “Tangled Up In Blue” took ten years to live and two years to write. The song, written in 1974, is a fictional account of the breakdown of his marriage to Sara Lowndes, which ended in divorce in 1977 (they had married in 1965).
Is "Tangled Up in Blue" a love song? ›
Composition and lyrical interpretation
Michael Gray describes the structure of "Tangled Up in Blue's" lyrics as the story of a love affair and career and how the "past upon present, public upon privacy, distance upon friendship, [and] disintegration upon love" transform and are complicated over time.
What was Bob Dylan's most influential song? ›
He moved from folk to rock (folk/rock) infusing his lyrics with poetry and setting the standard for lyric writing. His first major composition “Blowin' in the Wind” (considered by many as the greatest protest song of his era) and “the times they are a changing” became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements.
When did Bob Dylan's voice go bad? ›
His voice got more rumbly in the 1980s and early '90s, although his work with the Traveling Wilburys seemed to loosen him up a little, almost as if he seemed grateful to drop the baggage of being Bob Dylan™ and instead assume the carefree persona of an anonymous half-brother in that fictitious roots-rock band.
