“…to dance beneath the diamond sky…” This image has suggested the end of “The Seventh Seal” a film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman in 1957, a great allegory of man’s search for meaning. It deals with the journey of a medieval knight across 14th century Sweden and a game of chess he plays with the… Read More Mr Tambourine Man: cultural references (4)
PLATO …it’s just a shadow you’re Seein’ that he’s chasing. Like in Plato’s “The Republic” (Book 7), the tambourine man only sees the shadows Dylan is chasing In the “Allegory of the Cave” a group of people live chained to the wall of a cave, facing a blank wall. They only see the shadows projected… Read More Mr Tambourine Man: cultural references (3)
LE BATEAU IVRE (Rimbaud) Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship, My senses have been stripped, my hands can’t feel to grip, My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels To be wanderin’. This verse recalls the poem “Le Bateau Ivre” (The Drunken Boat) written by… Read More Mr Tambourine Man: cultural references (2)
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN Some critics have said that the “Mr Tambourine Man” is about drugs, but Dylan has always denied that. Other commentators have interpreted it as a prayer to the singer’s muse for inspiration, his search for transcendence, or a reflection of the audience’s demands. “Mr. Tambourine Man” has also been interpreted as… Read More Mr Tambourine Man: cultural references (1)
Mr Tambourine Man The time is early morning after a sleepless night. The narrator calls on Mr Tambourine to play a song and says he will follow him. In the course of the four verses he expounds on this situation often using ambiguous imagery, though the desire to be freed by the tambourine… Read More Mr Tambourine Man: analysis
Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan – 1965) Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me I’m not sleepy and there ain’t no place I’m going to Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come following you Though I know that evenings empire has returned into sand… Read More Mr Tambourine Man
words and music and stories 