Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh
Mama, take this badge off of me
I can't use it anymore
It's gettin' dark, too dark to see
I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is comin' down
I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh
Mama, take this badge off of me
I can't use it anymore
It's gettin' dark, too dark to see
I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is comin' down
I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Ooh, ooh
Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Knockin' On Heaven's Door Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
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Techno Ted
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
geez. no one pays attention to the real history of a song anymore. This movie is NOT an anti-war song, or anything like that. This was a song written FOR A MOVIE, thus, to tie in with the script. In the movie, entitled Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (i thinkthats the right title), the song is about Pat Garrett, and outlaw who is made into a sheriff and ordered to hunt down his old friend billy the kid. "Mama, take this badge off of me, I can't use it anymore." It's the sheriff's badge, he has no desire to be one when it becomes clear that he must help kill the lifestyle he truly loves. Those are the facts, but in a specific sense I take the knockin' on heaven's door to be about how close Garret is to being an outlaw again, his heaven. In the non-movie related sense of the song, I think it's about a man deciding to be killed rather than fight back, and he's going to die, but he thinks his decision puts him at heaven's door.
@dikoduck I think it is even more simple than that. It is literally a lawman who realizes he is risking his life and he can't do it anymore. Hence the reference to black clouds and things getting too dark. If dying and going to heaven was done through a doorway then knocking on that door would be risking your life.
bob dylan is a genius.
^^ he's not sick of life. He's guilty. From the war and all the killing - He's knockin' on heavens door and waiting to be let in.
This song just begs to be taken non-literally, and I have a hard time believing Dylan meant it as anything but. However, he did write it for the movie "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kidd", so maybe, just maybe...nope!.
Dylan was masterful as a lyricist who could parallel basic mythological experiences of being a person (e.g. trapped in a helpless situation, such as an innocent person in prison--see "I Shall be Released.") and enshroud these experiences in a basic literal struggle.
Mama, take this badge off of me I can't use it anymore. It's gettin' dark, too dark for me to see I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door,
(There is nothing more profoundly psychological/physiological than the life bond a mother has for her child and vice-versa. In times of war, it is common to hear men shout out the names of their mothers before they charge into battle, before they die. When things are their worst we tend to want to go back home. For the lawman, things are at their worst. His old ways (or identity structure) of moving through the world have long ceased to work for him. His persona and emotional shields, his "badge" is timeworn, archaic and useless. It is how one would feel after losing everything--the darkening accompanying complete world collapse--everything that once provided meaning, reference points and a will to live. And now "it's too dark to see"--the helplessness and despair is blinding his ability to see or feel hope. The lyrics are not "I am" but "I feel" I'm knockin on heaven's door. He feels he is dying. The two parallels of the song are on one hand literal, physical death, and on the other hand the psychological death of one's identity. Metaphorically, Heaven is a return to the pre-anxious ego-eden state, expansive, luminous, non-conceptual, peaceful).
Mama, put my guns in the ground I can't shoot them anymore. That long black cloud is comin' down I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door.
(Guns are symbols of power, and the loss of them, powerlessness. An identity is a structure that is conditioned, relative to time, culture, family, religion, friends and so on. Threats to identity power include aging, loss, illness etc. Burying one's guns in this sense means the murderous killing of parts of self that are no longer functional. Examples might include beliefs such as "the world is a dangerous place," "everyone is out to get me," or "I suck at everything." And yet, the "I" that speaks to the discarded aspects of self is separate from them, indicating a deeper knowledge, wisdom and peace is at work. A person is much more than their small ego allows them to believe. The sun is life, black clouds are the absence of life. Here comes "the dark night of the soul" in other words).
Mama wipe the blood from my face I'm sick and tired of the war Got a lone black feelin', and it's hard to trace Feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door
(this stanza included in live versions gives us more clues. Identity death is a murderous process, involving blood and guts, primal fear and panic. It is the closest one can feel to actual physical death. The war, the fight, or the will to live is challenged during this time in a person's life. Again, Dylan describes blackness (clouds, trains etc) as a feeling, this time as an untraceable feeling. It is untraceable because it is a mythological experience that can only be expressed symbolically, in the metaphorical language of dreams, the unconscious and the art form known as song. Of course, like those two crazy hippies that accosted John Lennon about the deep meaning of his songs, Dylan's reply might be the same: "They're just songs, man!"
@solaris2013 Excellent analysis!
i love this song, it's really short but it's really good
omg ppl you are so dumb !! this song was written for A MOVIE called Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid !! Its not about "dying officer", "anti war", "warfare" or "cover of jerry garcia near death experience" OMG stupid ppl, its about the characters in the movie. <br /> there was an old sherrif and his wife (he called her "mama"). sherif was a good guy, an outlaw hunting down the bad guy billy the kid and his crew. in the last gunfight with them, billy shooted the sheriff and as he was dying, his "mama" was crying and the song in the background was going "mama take this badge off me.." it was CRAZY SAD moment :_(<br /> btw, dylan made whole soundtrack for that movie and he was even playing a role in it!<br /> this scene you can find on youtube too
a badge is a symbol of authority. authority figures can use power as a weapon just as much as a gun.
I believe that this song is about a dying and regretting soldier who is in pain. He is wearing his army badge that he doesn't need any more ... also all of his guns are useless which he used to rule people .. he is now going to see the heaven where his all powers will be abandoned , only his spent way of life will matter.
I picture an old Sheriff who is dying. He lived through all of the battles of his profession and came out on top. He is old, tired and dying from a natural cause. He is remembering his sins as a lawman - injustice committed in the line of duty, perhaps someone he shot when there was another way. He would have put these things out of his mind while he was working, made excuses to keep on going . Now at the end of his life he remembers these sins, he has regrets. He has no use for violence anymore and is seeking inner peace by putting away his old professional tools. He is seeking justice and forgiveness. "Mama" is a name for his wife.
I agree with dunehermit. The lyric about it getting too dark to see is brilliant, and shows how a badge and a gun can blind a persons morals and sense of right and wrong.
to oaf- this is an original dylan song, not a jerry garcia cover.