I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine

A little-heard classic. This song is, unlikely as it sounds, a precursor to Dylan's 'Christian Phase'... he is saying that he is guilty of dismissing the Saint's ideals without giving them a hearing, and therefore culpable of his death. Because of the 'glass' separation of space, time, and language between himself and St. Augustine (& his writings), he cannot become aware of anything beyond this sin of omission. 'Bowed my head and cried' signifies remorse, and there is nothing more he can do.

Joan Baez used to perform Joe Hill and probably played it for Dylan before 65. Undoubtably he heard it and when he writes something so close to another he usually borrows not only melody and structure but meaning as well. Joe Hill was a labor organizer. Augustine of Hippo did the majority of writing on Original Sin. In fact Augustine said that all babies who are not baptized will burn in hell. Augustine appears in glory and luster (coat of solid gold) providing shelter from the proverbial storm (blanket underneath his arm). Augustine's belief in Original Sin explains the utmost misery and why the souls have already been sold. Augustine's only wish is to save those he meets and alert them to the sin they are unaware of. This of course doesn't work out so well. Who's he put out to death then? Jesus or St. Augustine. Either is the answer, since both would be a sin. The fact is that a sin has been commited. Beautifully stated, a sin that he committed in his sleep yet follows him into his waking hours, such as Original Sin which is not committed in life yet in ancestry. He then puts his head against the glass, seeing through to the other side (death) and cries.

elephant range is spot on.

have you ever noticed that there are dylan songs - this included - that are essentially hymns. another example is "i shall be released".

Wow. What a beautiful interpretaton. This one and "Dear Landlord", which I also think has a religious meaning, are my favorites from John Wesley Harding (JWH, as in Jaweh, or Jeowah, the name of God)

i think i read somewhere that dear landlord is about his manager at the time, i'm not sure if those were his words or not, but the god thing works for it too

this song has great imagery. my fav of John Wesley

I have heard this song is an homage to the famous labor organizer and martyr, Joe Hill, who's famous last words were "Don't mourn, organize". Dylan based the song off a poem written in 1930 called "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night"

I just looked up the poems and the lyrics are ridiculously close. It begins and ends with "I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night/Alive as you or me"

It's a fine song, but I wouldn't make too much of Dylan's theological interests and knowledge, which were probably quite superficial (at that time, anyway). When writing the song, he evidently thought that St Augustine had been martyred, which is not correct. He probably did't know anything specific about St Augustine, and just used him as a convenient symbolic figure for a 'prophet of doom'.

actually look at the song and not what you want it to be. just because in the song st. augustine says "there are no martyrs among ye now" does not in any way conclude or even point to dylan believing he was martyred, it simply makes a statement about the message st. augustine declared.

you've absolutely no grounds for anything in your comment except your own love of dylan's music coupled with unwillingness to reconcile with his apparent guilt towards God.

this song speaks loudly for itself and evidently you're among those who aren't listening.