Black Diamond Bay has long been my favorite Bob Dylan song. It is a song of the detachment that mankind feels for his fellow man and a warning for the consequences of that detachment and the consequences of simple sins of ommission and self-indulgence.
The woman in the song represents the individual who will ascend to heaven. Thus she is on the white veranda while everyone else in the song is consumed by the boiler in the basement, i.e hell
The lava from the mountain high above is symbolic of God's hand in the end of the world.
The woman avoids sin both by not going to the gambling room nor accepting the ring as a bribe (for sex). The stranger is I believe an angel or symbolic of God and his love for her who appears as her end, she is humbled and prays.
In the end the person "I" is an attempt to make the listener of the song realize how easy it is to fall into the same traps as the soldier, gambler the Greek - symbolic of a non-believer who by doing so is in essence committing suicide for their will be no hope for non-believers.
The end of the song is extremely interesting when describing the scene. All that will be left in the end is heaven and hell. the Woman will go to heaven as symbolized by her hat and the Greek goes to hell as symbolized by his shoes. Note the Greek had taken his shoes off symbolizing his lack of belief in either heaven or hell but hell it is for him non-the less.
@gkhd11a I don't think the woman is as squeaky clean as you say. A couple of things. She changes her appearance frequently, and when offered a $1,000 ring by the soldier, she says "That aint enough". Not that her love cannot be bought, it just costs more than he's offering.
@gkhd11a I don't think the woman is as squeaky clean as you say. A couple of things. She changes her appearance frequently, and when offered a $1,000 ring by the soldier, she says "That aint enough". Not that her love cannot be bought, it just costs more than he's offering.
@gkhd11a To Amypaul957. The woman is representing the average person who is changing her life, obviously lived a troubled life previously, the turning down of the $1,000 is not a demand for more money, It is a declaration that money does not substitute for love.
@gkhd11a To Amypaul957. The woman is representing the average person who is changing her life, obviously lived a troubled life previously, the turning down of the $1,000 is not a demand for more money, It is a declaration that money does not substitute for love.
Look at it in terms of the gambler who breaks the bank, “you can take your money but I don’t know how you’ll spend it in the tomb” Finally when the stranger comes, a definite symbolism of an angel the french "je vous aime beaucoup” translates to I love you very much.
Black Diamond Bay has long been my favorite Bob Dylan song. It is a song of the detachment that mankind feels for his fellow man and a warning for the consequences of that detachment and the consequences of simple sins of ommission and self-indulgence.
The woman in the song represents the individual who will ascend to heaven. Thus she is on the white veranda while everyone else in the song is consumed by the boiler in the basement, i.e hell
The lava from the mountain high above is symbolic of God's hand in the end of the world.
The woman avoids sin both by not going to the gambling room nor accepting the ring as a bribe (for sex). The stranger is I believe an angel or symbolic of God and his love for her who appears as her end, she is humbled and prays.
In the end the person "I" is an attempt to make the listener of the song realize how easy it is to fall into the same traps as the soldier, gambler the Greek - symbolic of a non-believer who by doing so is in essence committing suicide for their will be no hope for non-believers.
The end of the song is extremely interesting when describing the scene. All that will be left in the end is heaven and hell. the Woman will go to heaven as symbolized by her hat and the Greek goes to hell as symbolized by his shoes. Note the Greek had taken his shoes off symbolizing his lack of belief in either heaven or hell but hell it is for him non-the less.
A truly great Bob Dylan song
@gkhd11a I don't think the woman is as squeaky clean as you say. A couple of things. She changes her appearance frequently, and when offered a $1,000 ring by the soldier, she says "That aint enough". Not that her love cannot be bought, it just costs more than he's offering.
@gkhd11a I don't think the woman is as squeaky clean as you say. A couple of things. She changes her appearance frequently, and when offered a $1,000 ring by the soldier, she says "That aint enough". Not that her love cannot be bought, it just costs more than he's offering.
@gkhd11a To Amypaul957. The woman is representing the average person who is changing her life, obviously lived a troubled life previously, the turning down of the $1,000 is not a demand for more money, It is a declaration that money does not substitute for love.
@gkhd11a To Amypaul957. The woman is representing the average person who is changing her life, obviously lived a troubled life previously, the turning down of the $1,000 is not a demand for more money, It is a declaration that money does not substitute for love.
Look at it in terms of the gambler who breaks the bank, “you can take your money but I don’t know how you’ll spend it in the tomb” Finally when the stranger comes, a definite symbolism of an angel the french "je vous aime beaucoup” translates to I love you very much.