This song has come to be my favorite Dylan song of all time (and I am a huge Dylan fan)... due to the fact that the lyrics have so much personal meaning to me. I was in the middle of a tumult in my life, a "storm," and I met someone, who at the time, "took my crown of thorns." I love the lyric: "Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm." That is what this girl in my life seem to offer. But the refuge turned out to be fleeting and perhaps never genuine to begin with. "In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes, I bargained for salvation and she gave me a lethal dose. I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn." Wow! He articulates the emotional betrayal so well.
Yes, he uses references from the Gospels. Maybe this is pretentious of Dylan, comparing his suffering to Christ's. But we do all suffer and perhaps the message of the New Testament is that though everyone has harsh trials, there is hope. If the Gospels provide a universal metaphor, then I do not think it is wrong to compare one's suffering to Christ's.
In any case, this song and the album (Blood on the Tracks) are awesome. I don't think that any other artist has achieved Dylan's song-writing mastery.
This song has come to be my favorite Dylan song of all time (and I am a huge Dylan fan)... due to the fact that the lyrics have so much personal meaning to me. I was in the middle of a tumult in my life, a "storm," and I met someone, who at the time, "took my crown of thorns." I love the lyric: "Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm." That is what this girl in my life seem to offer. But the refuge turned out to be fleeting and perhaps never genuine to begin with. "In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes, I bargained for salvation and she gave me a lethal dose. I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn." Wow! He articulates the emotional betrayal so well.
Yes, he uses references from the Gospels. Maybe this is pretentious of Dylan, comparing his suffering to Christ's. But we do all suffer and perhaps the message of the New Testament is that though everyone has harsh trials, there is hope. If the Gospels provide a universal metaphor, then I do not think it is wrong to compare one's suffering to Christ's.
In any case, this song and the album (Blood on the Tracks) are awesome. I don't think that any other artist has achieved Dylan's song-writing mastery.