This song is about the difference between imagined love, the singer's ideal, and what he really finds in the world. Of course, it is in the frame work of the romantic ideal - as if God's love came to us that way of necessity.
Stanza 1 - He wants to love and be loved, so he settles for someone he can have, as opposed to what he envisions.
Stanza 2 - There's always hookers and sluts, but he wants someone he "loves", so he'll just have to take Louise. You get the idea he has an actress or TV personality in mind - or maybe the electricity is all in his mind. Anyway, he's clearly lost in his fantasy.
3 - Hey, how can this other guy be her true love, when I am? He can't quite seem to solve the puzzle, although the answer is that this girl isn't really Johanna either.
4- Women have these same issues, and, what's worse, they get fat, grow facial hair and become ugly and one day you're at the Louvre with them and realize your not in love with them after all! What you can imagine is always going to out do what is real. And, you can never have it. Not if you live forever. Instead, living forever in separation from what you desire would probably really suck, since life really just goes down hill.
5- People are all trying to game one another in this thing they call love. They leach off one another for affection, all the while looking for something better, even when they point that out to you. And, in case you haven't noticed, you can look everywhere, Jesus symbols and all, and you ain't gonna find Johanna. However, and here's the hard part to swallow, he claims that belief in Johanna is what is really real, that it represents faith, and it is the only thing that is enduring. Skeleton keys open all the doors, and he's saying that this song has opened the door that shows you that "Beauty is truth and Truth is Beauty".
As a born-again Christian, I disagree that that is all you know on earth, and all you need to know. But I think it's a great and powerful song, nonetheless.
@montresor Wow are you off. Although there are some elements in this you cite, it is WAY beyond the issue of ideal love in romantic form. If you want to believe that a form of "higher love" (or "peace of the soul") is longed for, then I would agree. But you are taking it too literally.
@montresor Wow are you off. Although there are some elements in this you cite, it is WAY beyond the issue of ideal love in romantic form. If you want to believe that a form of "higher love" (or "peace of the soul") is longed for, then I would agree. But you are taking it too literally.
@montresor This is such an old post by I had to reply to it. Your view is really disgusting, especially number 4. True love, especially the vision of Dylan of Joanna, wouldn't be lost with time, with a woman getting "fat" or "ugly" (denoting that love has only to do with appearance). Dylan isn't just writing about appearance of a woman. Sorry.
@montresor This is such an old post by I had to reply to it. Your view is really disgusting, especially number 4. True love, especially the vision of Dylan of Joanna, wouldn't be lost with time, with a woman getting "fat" or "ugly" (denoting that love has only to do with appearance). Dylan isn't just writing about appearance of a woman. Sorry.
This song is about the difference between imagined love, the singer's ideal, and what he really finds in the world. Of course, it is in the frame work of the romantic ideal - as if God's love came to us that way of necessity. Stanza 1 - He wants to love and be loved, so he settles for someone he can have, as opposed to what he envisions. Stanza 2 - There's always hookers and sluts, but he wants someone he "loves", so he'll just have to take Louise. You get the idea he has an actress or TV personality in mind - or maybe the electricity is all in his mind. Anyway, he's clearly lost in his fantasy.
3 - Hey, how can this other guy be her true love, when I am? He can't quite seem to solve the puzzle, although the answer is that this girl isn't really Johanna either.
4- Women have these same issues, and, what's worse, they get fat, grow facial hair and become ugly and one day you're at the Louvre with them and realize your not in love with them after all! What you can imagine is always going to out do what is real. And, you can never have it. Not if you live forever. Instead, living forever in separation from what you desire would probably really suck, since life really just goes down hill.
5- People are all trying to game one another in this thing they call love. They leach off one another for affection, all the while looking for something better, even when they point that out to you. And, in case you haven't noticed, you can look everywhere, Jesus symbols and all, and you ain't gonna find Johanna. However, and here's the hard part to swallow, he claims that belief in Johanna is what is really real, that it represents faith, and it is the only thing that is enduring. Skeleton keys open all the doors, and he's saying that this song has opened the door that shows you that "Beauty is truth and Truth is Beauty". As a born-again Christian, I disagree that that is all you know on earth, and all you need to know. But I think it's a great and powerful song, nonetheless.
@montresor Wow are you off. Although there are some elements in this you cite, it is WAY beyond the issue of ideal love in romantic form. If you want to believe that a form of "higher love" (or "peace of the soul") is longed for, then I would agree. But you are taking it too literally.
@montresor Wow are you off. Although there are some elements in this you cite, it is WAY beyond the issue of ideal love in romantic form. If you want to believe that a form of "higher love" (or "peace of the soul") is longed for, then I would agree. But you are taking it too literally.
@montresor This is such an old post by I had to reply to it. Your view is really disgusting, especially number 4. True love, especially the vision of Dylan of Joanna, wouldn't be lost with time, with a woman getting "fat" or "ugly" (denoting that love has only to do with appearance). Dylan isn't just writing about appearance of a woman. Sorry.
@montresor This is such an old post by I had to reply to it. Your view is really disgusting, especially number 4. True love, especially the vision of Dylan of Joanna, wouldn't be lost with time, with a woman getting "fat" or "ugly" (denoting that love has only to do with appearance). Dylan isn't just writing about appearance of a woman. Sorry.