A good poet only tips his hand once or twice a work. Dylan's face card is the fact that this is a male train. Having worked for BNSF railroad, I remember only two passengers on a mail train, the engineer and the caboose-man. You can guess which one Dylan is. Can't you see him leaning on the window sill like engineers do? If you are going to bother to essay a poem, your explanation better ring true in every single word of the work, anything less is an insult to the effort the poet made. No poet will essay a work because tombs are interesting but living things are fascinating. However, if your interpretation even pushes at the thoroughness of the poets effort, I think even a poet like Dylan, a mind who was very hard for anybody to pin down, enjoys the effort. Afterall, it is just one mans thoughts and the poem still walks. What do mail trains deliver? Mail--messages, and Dylan's overwhelming message was revolution. The winter is coming. The second face card here is the greatest line of the poem--"I want to be you lover baby, i don't want to be your boss. This is a love poem from a revolutionary, the engineer on a train of messages. Dylan doesn't want or need a follower, you may look good "running after me" but that won't last for long. So, what does one need to be to hold onto Dylan. He tells us, a break man, a double E, the sun, the sea. That is, a participant, not a follower. This particular follower runs after the engineer pretty hard, so much so that the engineer is convinced that even if the train can't make to the top of a hill, the girl will catch the train there. That must be a pretty heavy anchor for a revolutionary. I begin to imagine how lonely Dylan might have been, finding a break man or the sun or the sea would be darned near impossible. In Dylan's words, "Can't buy a thrill." So, he has been up all night, knowing that this girl he loves chases hard, but that is not enough. Eventually the revolutionay will grow tired of a follower. After all, he has warned her that the train will eventually get lost.
@icecreaman or maybe one would submit that your typo was a mere Freudian slip and really Dylan was delivering a giant gay message !! Talk about a revolution, haha sorry couldn’t resist. However, absolutely loved your thoughts on this absolute gem of a song. We need Dylan more then we need a revolution, and we need to chase him in our own independent lane far away but connected and cemented with love.
@icecreaman or maybe one would submit that your typo was a mere Freudian slip and really Dylan was delivering a giant gay message !! Talk about a revolution, haha sorry couldn’t resist. However, absolutely loved your thoughts on this absolute gem of a song. We need Dylan more then we need a revolution, and we need to chase him in our own independent lane far away but connected and cemented with love.
A good poet only tips his hand once or twice a work. Dylan's face card is the fact that this is a male train. Having worked for BNSF railroad, I remember only two passengers on a mail train, the engineer and the caboose-man. You can guess which one Dylan is. Can't you see him leaning on the window sill like engineers do? If you are going to bother to essay a poem, your explanation better ring true in every single word of the work, anything less is an insult to the effort the poet made. No poet will essay a work because tombs are interesting but living things are fascinating. However, if your interpretation even pushes at the thoroughness of the poets effort, I think even a poet like Dylan, a mind who was very hard for anybody to pin down, enjoys the effort. Afterall, it is just one mans thoughts and the poem still walks. What do mail trains deliver? Mail--messages, and Dylan's overwhelming message was revolution. The winter is coming. The second face card here is the greatest line of the poem--"I want to be you lover baby, i don't want to be your boss. This is a love poem from a revolutionary, the engineer on a train of messages. Dylan doesn't want or need a follower, you may look good "running after me" but that won't last for long. So, what does one need to be to hold onto Dylan. He tells us, a break man, a double E, the sun, the sea. That is, a participant, not a follower. This particular follower runs after the engineer pretty hard, so much so that the engineer is convinced that even if the train can't make to the top of a hill, the girl will catch the train there. That must be a pretty heavy anchor for a revolutionary. I begin to imagine how lonely Dylan might have been, finding a break man or the sun or the sea would be darned near impossible. In Dylan's words, "Can't buy a thrill." So, he has been up all night, knowing that this girl he loves chases hard, but that is not enough. Eventually the revolutionay will grow tired of a follower. After all, he has warned her that the train will eventually get lost.
Sorry, no chance to edit--it is a "mail" train.
Sorry, no chance to edit--it is a "mail" train.
@icecreaman or maybe one would submit that your typo was a mere Freudian slip and really Dylan was delivering a giant gay message !! Talk about a revolution, haha sorry couldn’t resist. However, absolutely loved your thoughts on this absolute gem of a song. We need Dylan more then we need a revolution, and we need to chase him in our own independent lane far away but connected and cemented with love.
@icecreaman or maybe one would submit that your typo was a mere Freudian slip and really Dylan was delivering a giant gay message !! Talk about a revolution, haha sorry couldn’t resist. However, absolutely loved your thoughts on this absolute gem of a song. We need Dylan more then we need a revolution, and we need to chase him in our own independent lane far away but connected and cemented with love.