Life's about the stuff Dylan sang about in his 1979-1981 albums. Folks say he renounced the ideas in those albums. Far from it. In the late 1980's he said those albums "laid down the law" for all of his work to follow (Rolling Stone Issue 394). This song is no acception. It's about a God-fearing man living in a time when "people are crazy and times are strange." He knows that the world's false value system is futile and that one day "the world will explode". But he's not trying to get away from the world as much as he's trying to get far away from himself (i.e. his sinful nature). No matter what he does to amuse himself he knows that it will do little to cast away his fears and struggles. When he was a new Christian, he sought to change people's hearts through overt evangelism. Now, after decades of being ridiculed and lied about, things are different. "I used to care, but things have changed."
Life's about the stuff Dylan sang about in his 1979-1981 albums. Folks say he renounced the ideas in those albums. Far from it. In the late 1980's he said those albums "laid down the law" for all of his work to follow (Rolling Stone Issue 394). This song is no acception. It's about a God-fearing man living in a time when "people are crazy and times are strange." He knows that the world's false value system is futile and that one day "the world will explode". But he's not trying to get away from the world as much as he's trying to get far away from himself (i.e. his sinful nature). No matter what he does to amuse himself he knows that it will do little to cast away his fears and struggles. When he was a new Christian, he sought to change people's hearts through overt evangelism. Now, after decades of being ridiculed and lied about, things are different. "I used to care, but things have changed."
...Anyway, that's my two bits.