Ive only just been getting into this song, but i reckon its one of the best on Blonde on Blonde.
There's a lot of contrasts in it between masculinity and femininity. The girl being "hard" for example, and her "guard" who is presumably Achilles.
But Dylan sees these two as temporary and fake, whilst his love for her and the fact that they should be together as true and permamnent. Like in Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat and Just Like A Woman and a lot of his other songs, like To Ramona, he's criticizing/helping the woman by telling her she should be living her own life, not doing what masculininty (achilles, the guard, + the hardness) is telling her to do.
Ive only just been getting into this song, but i reckon its one of the best on Blonde on Blonde. There's a lot of contrasts in it between masculinity and femininity. The girl being "hard" for example, and her "guard" who is presumably Achilles. But Dylan sees these two as temporary and fake, whilst his love for her and the fact that they should be together as true and permamnent. Like in Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat and Just Like A Woman and a lot of his other songs, like To Ramona, he's criticizing/helping the woman by telling her she should be living her own life, not doing what masculininty (achilles, the guard, + the hardness) is telling her to do.