Yo ! i am a tad younger, my firs hearing his bobness was Winterlude, but being a scoucer the beatles floated my boat, stay "forever young" bro, cheers !
Of course my reply above is a jest, and I agree with the comments about Syed's welcome Reactor Intelligence! And I also love the value of Ambiguity in Art.
Try starting a YT channel to broaden your knowledge of Rap and Hip Hop! Keep an open mind!? Take suggestions!? And on top of that you have to listen to it!? He could have hated all of it. He had no idea he was going to like Black Sabbath? If people could apply half of Syed's optimism, enthusiasm, and perseverance, the world would be.......no I can't finish that. It sounds nieve in 2023.
There's a story about Hendrix, when he was living in New York and he was very poor, his girlfriend sent him out to buy some food with the $5 they had left, and he came home with a Dylan record in his hand. That's how much he loved his music.
Thank the stars that there is someone doing Dylan reactions and is really digging into the lyrics and music. I was born in 1957 and have been a Dylan fanatic since the early '70s. I sometimes try and imagine being in my 20s and stumbling upon Dylan. What a treasure trove to dive into with fresh, young ears. Keep up the great work Syed!
I think you have already become the Bob Dylan of lyric analysis--the best. Extremely entertaining. With Dylan, you have to remember that you are never going to get every point or every meaning. However, I do think Dylan knows exactly what he is saying; he chooses every word, every phrase, every intonation intentionally. I am mesmerized by his wordsmith and lyrical beauty of his phrases, so I tend to worry less about his meaning. Fortunately, we have you for this job. Keep up the fantastic work.
The difference between Dylan and lesser lyricists IMO, is that Dylan's imagery isn't random and eclectic. It actually is the tip of the iceberg of a coherent poetic universe of symbols that he taps into. Sort of like the Hobbit, a silly book that somehow has more to it, sits on top of Tolkien's elaborate parallel universe. So even though Dylan only lets the listener in on bits and pieces of his underlying symbolic reality, and even though the listener can only make connections here and there before he pulls the rug out, overall his lyrics come across as profound even when not understood. I contrast that with Michael Stipe of REM, who uses lots of random phrases and images to generate certain feeling or tones in his lyrics, but it appears to rest upon no coherent worldview at all. Whereas Dylan seems to pull fragments from ancient mystical tomes of wisdom, Stipe is shuffling through a box of 1950s postcards he picked up at a garage sale.
@@2ramona959 : Very well said. One one video, Syed did say that maybe Dylan didn't know what his lyrics meant (a rare misstep), but I agree with you that the master knows exactly what he means, exactly what he says, and exactly what emphasis do give to each phrase. One author said that Dylan will still be remembered in 200 years as a prophet (he actually said Jesus, but that may be a little much).
@@kensilverstone1656 Could be a prophet, but not a holy man (if you're read any of his biographies; some of his behavior is hard to excuse). What strikes me most about Dylan as an artist is how he fully immerses himself into a new genre, doesn't dabble in it, but becomes it. When he was a folk singer he lived his own created myth of a Woody Guthrie character. Rocker. Country artist. His crazy Christrian/Gospel period he went full in. And then finally endlessly touring song and dance man.
@@2ramona959 Try his book, "Who Is that Man: In Search of the Real Bob Dylan," David Dalton (2012). Gives a logical explanation for Dylan's planned transformations.
Not completely sure I agree , I think Dylan sometimes just paints a picture and creates a mood , the subject is hazy and unfinished and we are drawn in by the mystique and can finish with our own interpretation .
@Cheryl Familant there many different measures of intellect. I've always seen Dylan as a "street-wise" genius, rather than a book-smart genius, and IQ tests don't measure that. He was empathetically intelligent, very switched on to the world around him. I could be wrong, but that's how I've always though of him.
I tĥink Dylan, like Norm Macdonald, are even more intelligent than they let on. Both see that most intellectuals act very haughty and snobbish, which is a big turn-off to your average layman. Plus, it would go against his rambling folksy persona.
How lucky have we been to live in the same time as this amazing soul? The comments below reflect that perfectly. I felt the chill the moment you did, Syed, and I've played the song/album a thousand times. I agree with the view that the joker and the thief were/are two sides of Dylan, but what the hell does it matter? What fascinates me is the explosive burst of creativity in the guts that Dylan must have experienced when the song started to come to him. Imagine that! And, whatever he says to the contrary, it is always, always, for us! Thank you, Bob, and Good bless you.
You can go over Dylan's lyrics a 1000 times and each time you can get something different. Simply magical and brilliant! I have seen many, many interviews with Dylan. More often then not even he could not explain where the lyrics came from. I am so glad I had him throughout my life time.
It is a song about Isaiah 21:5-9 and Revelation 16:15. It's about the consummation of the era of man. The fall of Babylon. I'm sure you will recognize the images. The thief being Jesus and the entertainers being the jokers (including Bob himself). Also the wild cat is a reference to The Lion of Judah which is Jesus Himself Revelation 5:5) Actually a lot of people have no clue who Bob Dylan is. He is an outspoken member of the priesthood. To get a better understanding about what Bob Dylan believes you could listen to his songs Summertime, You gotta serve Somebody or Senor (Senor = YAH = GOD in Spanish). There is a reason that people call him the prophet. He actually is one.
I love the John Wesley Harding album and this is my favourite song on it. Princes is plural in this song. The Watchtower could be a metaphor for where the elite of society live, in a metaphorical fortress but always worried about their security. Outside of that is an uncontrolled area where anything might happen and the two riders might be forces that are about to change everything or are some kind of ambassadors. They are approaching the watchtower not escaping - maybe they become captives. On the other hand, the joker and the thief might be representing the viewpoint of the people (or certain people) who are living in this oppressed society unhappy with the way things are. It's almost an ecological viewpoint, referring to the exploitation of the Earth by those that don't value or care for it.
The thief is the businessman, the joker is the politician. The prince is the monarchy. The wildcat is the rebel who doesn't conform to the first 3 characters. That's my take on it. Especially if you break down the verses in-between.
A great mysterious song. Dylan is so full of hidden meanings because he creates an emotional soundscape, using words, voice and music together. Everything he does is authentic, which is why he touches so many people on so many levels. And why he never sings a song the same way twice, because he sings for the moment. Listen to Murder Most Foul for a journey through the dark heart of America, or to the live video of One More Cup Of Coffee from the Rolling Thunder tour to see him at his greatest. You won't regret it.
One More Cup of Coffee live from Rolling Thunder tour is awesome. Love his look from that period the best. Shelter From the Storm from Fort Collins CO is another fav....better than BOTT album version.
I've been hearing All Along the Watchtower since kindergarten, but the thing about poetry is, if it's good, it lends itself to lots of interpretations but still gives a sense of emotion, which it certainly does to me. I've always seen it as that winds of change are blowing and a revolution of sorts is on its way, and the corrupt politicians and the corporate class and the ruling elite are getting really nervous. This after all is a common theme in his songs of the time.
I've never had any guess of what the lyrics truly meant, but it always gave me chills Just like "Mr. Tambourine man", when I heard it for the first time, I couldn't understand English, but it gave me such a "nostalgia" feeling that I almost cried (The word I intended to use was "Saudade" but I don't think I have a word for it in English, so I will go with "nostalgia" which has a similar meaning)
Well said. I started to put down my "current" interpretation (one of my many over the last 5 decades or so). I decided whatever I wrote would be inadequate to what I was thinking/feeling, since it is on a more subliminal level that doesn't lend itself well to rational explanation. So I went with the more generic great art speaks to us on a deeper level take in my comment, which opens up many possible interpretations as you said. None would necessarily be what Dylan was sensing or thinking when he put the words down. It may have just been his muse speaking through him at the moment. (edit: I originally wrote last 50 decades of listening to it, I'm old, but not that old)
@@LeeKennison yes, but it also could mean you miss something or someone, you're longing for something or you're homesick It's like a mixture of all these feelings It's hard to translate it to English (it's a Portuguese word)
The atmosphere created by Dylan and that interpretation by Hendrix can sit side by side and yet stand alone, each being a favourite , which is in itself is unique . Dylan just has a way with lyrics rhythm and groove, years later he creates the song about the Hurricane , which to me has a similar groove.......love your refreshing channel and the way that its breaks down pre-conceived barriers ...
It's possible the joker and the thief are the two riders approaching the castle, escaping something and riding towards safety while they brave the winds and wild animals. There are so many ways to interpret this song.
The riders are approaching the wildcat to shut it up. The wildcat is the rebel against the businessman (theif), the politician (joker) and the monarchy (prince).
I’ve been a massive Dylan fan for 20+ years and I stumbled onto your videos. Yours are the best, hands down, reaction videos I’ve seen. Tbh most in this youtube sub-genre are largely cringe. It’s pretty clear from how you speak about the songs that you’re not immersed in the musical culture that Dylan comes from, and many of the multiple references in his work seem to go over your head. Saying that, the thing that stands out in your analysis of the songs is the fact that you absolutely “get” Dylan. Your takes are bright and refreshing and have genuinely given me a reason to look at several of his songs in a new way. Thanks for what you do. Keep up the good work.
John Wesley Harding is a very sparse-sounding album .. full of brilliant tunes and haunting imagery. ps: when Dylan does this song LIVE, he does the Hendrix version :)
Bishop Barron interpreted this song from spiritual point of view that worth watch it. It's on youtube. He says that the third verse refers to the book Isaiah 21, messengers arriving with that message Babylon has fallen.This album is fantastic. When everybody was moving toward to psychodelic, he went back to the roots of country. The song The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest is another great song. The Heavy Metal group was named after this song.
I would check it out but I know who Bishop Barron is and I don't like him...at all. I'd rather hear Bishop Vigano's opinion but I doubt he knows who Dylan is :) Ps: I just recommended the same song... Frankie Lee and Judas Priest... ( they were the best of friends ) lol
Every time I listen to a Dylan album I get a different meaning. I love Bob Dylan's phrasing and delivery and his imagery is so so strong it's like a film coming out of your speakers.
I've always loved this song. I agree, it's eerie. And powerful. It feels as if danger is coming, being in the watchtower, princes, the young men, heirs, worried and watching, having to be responsible for everything and probably not wanting to be. The women and servants don't/can't fight and come and go as usual, do what they usually do. People who feel the undercurrents but have little or no power. The wildcat howls, an unrestrained animal sound that could be fury or a cry of warning or a cry for help but it heralds the 2 riders approaching and the feeling for me is that they are unrestrained. Danger danger danger. I see the joker and thief as outside the system yet playing those in or out of the system, cynical, and at the same time understanding the darkness but not seeing how beyond their small world and their games they can get out of this confused world because they too are trapped in a horrible game that sucks everyone in. No one can get out. It's almost an existential crisis. And wouldn't it be great to know who or what the 2 riders in the distance are? What a song, what a presentation of it. I also like the Jimi Hendrix version in which the sense of confusion is very strong, more so than the Dylan version. When Jimi sings "There must be some way out of here," it is chilling because of where he ended up. Thank you so much Syed for this and for the other songs you've reacted to. You are experimental and open to a variety of individuals and groups of musicians outside your chosen love of hip hop. You're extremely open-minded and I respect your analysis and the desire to find truth in the music.
Note: The Dylan line is "There must be some way out of here". Hendrix changes it to "There must be some kind of way out of here", which is a lot more awkward, doesn't fit the rhythm as well, but it still works. And later Dylan says, "Somewhere in the distance a wildcat did growl", while Hendrix says "Somewhere in the tall distance a wildcat did growl", adding the extra word "tall". I think Dylan's lines are better, they are more economical and to the point...but either version works fine in any case. I interpret this song as dealing with a crisis that is coming to an entire society....the place that exists with all the businessmen, the princes, the powerful people who are in charge at the top....and the women, and the plowmen, and the barefoot servants, who are the underclass, the powerless. The Princes are at the very top, in the watchtower. They are all there, doing the things they usually do, caught up in their ordinary activities and habits, as an apocalyptic storm approaches from the distance. The Joker and the Thief know what's coming. They are like 2 prophets who can see the approaching storm. They'd like to get out of that place of confusion and graft before it all comes crashing down around their ears. The Thief reminds the Joker that they, at least, have seen through the false illusions that this whole city (or society) is built upon, and that they will not suffer the same (spiritual?) fate that awaits those who have not seen through it. "So, let us not talk falsely now...the hour is getting late!" Doom is about to fall upon that place...and the ominous music foreshadows it. One is reminded of the doom that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. This has very much the same feel. As the storm nears, two riders are seen approaching. Are they like two Angelic messengers of destruction? Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Or are they the Joker and the Thief, seen at another point in the story? That question remains unanswered. As the storm descends upon the city/society the eerie howling of the rising wind (heard in the harmonica) announces it...a terrifying scene, as when a hurricane approaches landfall. That's just my interpretation, of course. There could be any number of other interpretations. Most of the songs on this album have a strong spiritual and moral message, delivered in a very dour and concise fashion. It's all about sin, repentance for past misdeeds, deliverance, and redemption. It's an extraordinarily strong album in which I think Dylan is to a great extent writing about (as usual)...........himself....and his own spiritual journey through suffering, trial, and error toward redemption. And he was writing about society in the largest sense as well. It's a very interesting change of direction, musically speaking, from the 3 albums that preceded it, and it surprised people at the time....just when most of the rock groups were turning to ever more complex instrumentation, Dylan was stripping it down to the bare essentials: 1 acoustic guitar, his voice, a harmonica, a drum set, and a bass. He went exactly the opposite way that the other most famous musical acts were going at the time. They went toward excess. He returned to musical simplicity...but with the usual incredible lyrics. In Dylan's case, the music always is there to serve the lyrics, and that's why I like his material the best. Rock bands are usually more about showcasing exciting instrumental riffs.
Originally the last verse of the song was supposed to be the first and Dylan decided to change it. If you notice, most of the other songs on JWH begin with the the song title sung. So if you think of it is verse 1-2-3-4 , originally was verse 4-1-2-3. Singing the original first verse last gives it a much more climactic feeling
I've always found many of Dylan's songs to be very cinematic (nothing tops the use of Knocking on Heaven's Door during Slim Pickens death scene in Billie the Kid). He can paint a picture with a few lines that you can see in your mind. Man in a Long Black Coat, Brownsville Girl, Lily Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, Romance in Durango, Black Diamond Bay, the list just goes on and on. I don't try to analyze Dylan, I just enjoy the ride.
Dylan always said he didn't know where the words to these songs from the mid-60's came from. They just flowed out. He didn't sit and craft these songs much, the words just flowed out and he wrote them down, like automatic writing. Songs like Subterranean Homesick Blues, It's Alright Ma, Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, etc. He didn't think about the words much, he found words to rhyme. A lot of this was going on at this time, as with the disembodied "Seth" spirit speaking to Jane Roberts while she was in a trance state. There were many others at this time in the mid-60's. Dylan said he was just writing this stuff as it came to him. Writing down what sounded good to him in the moment. There isn't much meaning to any of them. Paul Simon was writing in this vein for Graceland, etc., etc. It worked for him because he was at first a poet then put music to his words. He was a consummate musician so it all worked for him so well. "Voice of a generation" etc.
Enjoying your reactions & analysis, Syed! The ambiguities & esoteric references run abyssal in Dylan's lyrics. His songs still work on emotional level even if many allusions blow by you in the wind. And they inevitably will, unless you're also super duper crazy well read. I think it's fairly safe to say this song is rooted deeply in the Hebrew Bible, more specifically, the Book of Isaiah. It features the swinging Aeolian melody you mentioned, like the proverbial pendant steadily lulling you into a hypnotic trance. Without delving too deep into the nuances & risking writing a book, it has an inescapable fatalism about it, a vague unsettling sense of impending threat, what Mr. Dylan might liken to a dangling cloak & dagger. Speaking of which, please consider giving "Love Minus Zero" a whirl, that's my favorite song of his & the most poetic & unique love song I've ever heard. Dylan channels William Blake & Edgar Allen Poe & among other in that one. And the "bankers' nieces" must almost certainly only possibly be a reference to Henry James Novel 'Portrait of a Lady." It's a real trip, man!
Thanks for playing and reacting to this Dylan classic. After listening to this many times, I interpreted this as the Joker being God and the thief being man. But with many Dylan songs, there can be many varied interpretations. Take care. I enjoy your deep listening efforts.
All Along The Watchtower is a classic song about impending revolution, to my mind. The Joker and Thief, marginal figures, are revolutionaries who have seen it all before, and are now ready to take action, riding towards the watchtower to overthrow the princes keeping watch, to liberate the servants within. They are fed up with being exploited by the businessmen and ploughmen, people who serve the princes and who don't know the real value of human life. The howling wind and nature's beasts are on their side as they approach the centre of power, ready to take on the people exploiting the barefoot servants.The song suggests the threat of revolution. What a song, a masterpiece.
The best art speaks to us on a subliminal level. It means different thing to different people. It also means different things to the same person at different times. It is often on a much deeper subliminal level that is difficult to explain with the rational mind. I think this is part of why Dylan would get frustrated with those (particularly the press) that were always trying to get him to explain what his songs meant. They didn't get it. Thankfully, you get it. I read his autobiography several years ago, and he said something to the effect that he was a professional liar, and you shouldn't believe anything he says. Which is an interesting way to open your autobiography, in other words, don't believe anything I am saying here. But those who get Dylan understand the sentiment. He is a story teller, what you get out of the story is what is important. As to whether the facts are accurate is secondary. This is probably what distinguishes art from history or factual news accounts. Although history does have the word story in it, so it isn't immune to having interpretations applied to it.
Loving this Dylan rabbit hole Syed ! A couple of other story songs I like are from his mid-70’s period : “Lily, Rosemary & The Jack of Hearts” and “Isis”.
Syed has great breakdowns of Dylan songs, eventually breaking down Dylan ''albums'' in relation to the place in time he wrote them can take one to a higher level of wonder . ... watch the ''No Direction Home'' documentary by Martin Scorsese as a excellent starting point...IMHO
Syed, I loved your analysis of Jimi’s cover, including the apprehension of the mysticalness of his performance. When I listen to the story of Dylan’s lyrics, I hear it like this: the joker and the thief are two subterranean characters, lurking about the palaces of power; they are on the fringes of a great but corrupt civilization; trying to find their way farther in. The line about the businessman and ploughman is referring to the common men who use and abuse the life they have been given. Suddenly we see the scene change to the Watchtower, you see the Princes standing in their high status of power, while the women and servants coming and going, attest to their privileged lifestyle. When the wildcat is heard, it is like a premonition to the crumbling of the empire. The two riders approaching are representative of the joker and the thief, the agents of change who will be bringing down this watchtower. All of these characters seem to have both noble and seedy qualities. This is only a partial interpretation, I can’t go any further. This is the world we are living in, no? We can’t let ourselves get caught up in it; just witness it in awe. What amazing artists we have been blessed with to bring us these visions
This came out when I was in college where I heard my favorite explanation. A castle is under threat but not yet under siege. It’s a bad time and even princes and nobles are needed to keep watch at the inner wall. Women and servants are bringing food and weapons. The joker and thief want to escape. They are the two riders approaching the inside of the gate in the outer wall, some distance from the castle. They hope to bluff the guards into letting them out. The windstorm helps them in doing so and will cover them outside. The wildcat in the distance indicates that no one is there or the cat would be quiet. Just one interpretation, of course.
In the mid-60s I was pretty much listening to rock ‘n’ roll but I decided to go back in time and listen to the older tank type of music I bought 70 RPMs and tapes went to the library it’s good to explore all this kind of music go back from your generations time both forward and backwards
I really enjoyed your reaction it's crazy because a good reaction video makes you look crazy because you feel like you're sitting listening to records and hanging out I answered all your questions and had to laugh because I had a great convo with a video 😂
I have always pictured the watchtower as a castle under siege. The prince is keeping watch while the women and servants carry on keeping everyone fed and prepared for the battle they anticipate. Perhaps the joker and the thief are behind the castle walls too, discussing a possible way out. The riders could be scouts for the approaching enemy.
@@jimmyboredom3519 I guess all those things are also symbolic. The castle under siege could be our nation. The women and servants ordinary people carrying on with their lives. The joker and thief politicians and corporations etc.
The version Dylan performed live with The Band on the album Before the Flood much more sounds like Hendrix's staggering, thrilling, electric version. And it's fabulous. It's my favorite version of the song that's not Hendrix's.
To me the meaning of All Along the Watchtower has to be put into the context of Dylan’s career up to that point and in the context of the John Wesley Hardin’ album as a whole. Dylan’s art clearly changed after his motorcycle accident. It allowed him to get away from the hurricane that had become his life. As he often did, he looked back on his earlier phases of his career with disdain. In the song the Joker represents the pre-motorcycle Dylan, cynical, angry, lost. Shooting down everything and everyone around him. The thief is the post accident Dylan, kinder, calmer and more spiritual. John Wesley Hardin is an album of redemption. Every character is a side of Dylan. The Poor Immigrant, The Drifter, Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, The Wicked Messenger, The Lonesome Hobo. In Wicked Messenger the 3rd to last song, the last line says “And he was told with these few words which opened up his heart, If you cannot bring good news than don’t bring any.” And Dylan didn’t for for years to come. The last two songs are flat out country love songs. So was Nashville Skyline and all the others until Blood on The Tracks. We all know the last verse of Watchtower is really the first verse, Dylan has admitted as much. It sets the scene of some kind of castle where princes are protecting the city and watching over the proceedings of women and barefoot servants. Then outside two riders are approaching. They are the joker (Earlier Dylan) and the thief (reborn Dylan) . “The Joker is complaining, he feels trapped, businessmen are stealing from him, the earth is being moved from underneath him. Nobody knows what it’s all worth. The Thief calms him down “no reason to get excited, he kindly says. There are many here among us (Just the joker) who think that life is but, a joke. But, you and I have been through that and this is not our fate. So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” Dylan is moving forward in this song from the version of himself that he created in the preceding years. As he does on almost every song on this album.
I think Dylan drew inspiration from the book of Isaiah Watchtower is mentioned twice in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah Isaiah warns of coming judgement to Israel along with a message of hope of a coming Messiah,who would establish Gods Kingdom on Earth
I love watching you react in the same way I've felt about this song for 30 years. Super cool. I love seeing that Bob's lyrics and music truly transcend generations. There are three verses, the music is cyclical, and so are the verses. Is there a first and last verse? Start with verse 2... there is not beginning or end of the narrative in the "story." You can start with any verse and the narrative is equally mysterious and engaging.
Your analysis of this music poem is quite interesting. I first heard it so many years ago that it took hearing it through your ears to really let me examine the words again. A couple of thoughts: The Joker and the Thief are the ultimate outsiders here. Your image of them encamped by a fire is intriguing. Their conversation seems to me to be about frustration and resentment of the wealthy who they see as oppressors (the people behind the Watchtower). And why is there a watchtower? To keep an eye out for people like them, I suggest. They do seem to make a pact as the guitar solo ensues. Then what happens? Life continues as usual in the watchtower. The women came and went is a TS Eliot reference.."in the rooms the women come and go, speaking of Michelangelo". The barefoot, destitute servants serve their masters. But the growl of a wildcat warns of what's to come, two riders approaching like a wind of change. Those riders are the Joker and the Thief, who may intend to destroy the watchtower. My take, anyway.
Dylan us actually a very consumate all-riund musician. His great sense of Rhythm His arrangements are so clever The guitar & harp are secondary vocals His vocal inflections & intonations are unsurpassed His vocals carry a story like so-called perfect singers can't do. He stands supreme amongst all the Rock n Rollers who've ever lived
Every so often, Dylan wrote … gibberish. Like, I Want You. Like, Jokerman. Lyrics that make no obvious sense, but which spawn a thousand PhD theses. This might be one of those. Sounds so deep… means whatever you want it to mean. Like a Barnett Newman painting, it is technically brilliant and yet utterly devoid of substance. And despite that, I keep going back to look at Voice of Fire, knowing that it means whatever I want it to mean, and that the creator’s intention is irrelevant. Doesn’t matter. It is simply intriguing. Please listen to the opposite end of Dylan, Romance in Durango. A phenomenal story painted with just a few brushstrokes, every one of them a full picture.
Simply put, this song is about the tyranny of wealth. From the perspective of a commoner -- born into a pre-built civilization with an established power structure, the daily ongoings of life are dedicated to preserving that structure-- princes, servants, women only for delivering future successors. But of course there are people on the outside looking in-- and they can have strategies about trying to 'move up' perhaps by taking from others (the Thief). The Joker is the guy who just gripes about the unfairness of it but doesn't have a plan.
Dylan used to live in Grwnich VillageLower Manhatan, in Brooklin just across the East River was the HQ of Jahovor Witnesses whose publication The Watchtower was written across the building in capitals.
I'm 72 and I started listening to Dylan in my early twenties when he had been around for many years but was still making new music. His shrill harmonica playing takes some getting used to but his messages are STILL spot-on. Ain't gonna work on Maggie's Farm is one of my faves.
I've always loved JWH with its sparse, almost surreal, sound. 'All Along The Watchtower' seems to be a mind-trick. It has no chorus and its sense of time (as in 'time', not musical time) is running backwards or out of order. Glad you covered it!👍
Once Dylan heard the Jimmy Hendrix version, he never played this version again and he adopted the Hendrix version. I had the pleasure of seeing Bob in concert in Red Bluff, CA and he played this song and it was amazing. As with many Dylan songs, this one probably means whatever you think it means.
I have been down the Dylan rabbit hole since 1965 Sometimes the lyrics are paintings maybe not deep thought. Just pure mental paintings. BTW his paintings sell for a ton of money. Into the tens of thousands
CalicoSilver does a lyrical review well worth watching on TH-cam. Supporting the premise that the Joker and the Thief are two sides of Dylan having an internal conversation. He puts forth his premise and explains it in detail, what more can you ask for ;-) Great reaction Syed, thanks
Dylan doesn't use minor keys very often, but when he does he often creates some truly haunting, spooky sounds - this, Ballad of a Thin Man and Man in the Long Black Coat being great examples. Moonshiner is one of the most moving things he ever did and he didn't even write the words - it's an old folk ballad. The harmonica and vocal delivery are just achingly sad.
I really think it's awesome that Bob Dylan said that he has overwhelmed by jimi hendrix version and that ever since jimi hendrix passing, he has always did more of a mix of his and hendrix version
Dylan had a gift for creating what I feel were mood pictures. Somewhat like an abstract painting which is not immediately recognizable in a real world framework can elicit a strong emotion.
Dylan's lyrical genius is timeless. We will read the likes of Chaucer, Dante, Longfellow, Wordsworth, Blake, Poe, and Dylan in the same literature anthology. Sometimes you cannot think too deeply into the lyrics. Dylan was a storyteller lyricist. Thanks for keeping his music relevant and alive. Plain facts!
Great Job as usual... if you check out the book of Isaiah 21:5-9 its hard to miss where Dylan got at least some of the ideas for this song. It's just a monumental work of art.... Like the Shakespeare "Hamlet" or Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." If you would like to check out another haunting tune...not quite on the level of this (I mean what is really?) But equally haunting harmonica and instrumentals, check out "The Man in the Long Black Coat." It leaves you scratching your head to, but you know you just heard something amazing!!
The princess in the watch tower is taken from old British folk tales (or maybe a true incident) back in Medieval times when England was divided up into smaller kingdoms with castles. One variation (most popular) was the local King was mad at his daughter and confined her up in his tower the prevent her from marrying her boyfriend, a prince from another kingdom. And she kept looking out the tower window, hoping to see her lover ride up to the castle and save her. Thus, Dylan’s “princess kept a view”. And because she was a princess, she naturally kept being taken care of by her barefoot servants. So, the folk tale went the prince rode up with his sword and freed her from the tower. Here’s a spoof by Monty Python. But instead of a woman, they switched out to a man prince in prisoned in the tower. th-cam.com/video/g3YiPC91QUk/w-d-xo.html
Syed, I believe that Watchtower has a companion piece, "Changing of the Guard" from the 1978 album Street Legal. BUT, like Watchtower, there is a version which surpasses the original. Find Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang, "Changing of the Guards{sic}". It is AMAZING, and somehow my mind interperets the two pieces as part of the same tale. Peace!
John Wesley Harding is an underrated gem. Sparse like that top commenter said is the right word to describe it, it's outstanding, strange, and fun/mysterious. There are some very dark and sinister aspects of it too. I love Frankie Lee and Judas Priest. Wicked Messenger is great (and Dylan played a rollicking version of it live during the early 2000's). The sound of the song works so well for the lyrics. I love the Hendrix version, but this version is special too.
1967 movie The Jokers - references two thieves who plot to steal the crown jewels with the aim get famous. Elements of the story, that align with the lyrics. A double cross (joker vs theif), the set off an explosion on that lion enclosure at the london zoo (wild cat), The jewels were buried at stone henge (Dylan would see that as a watch tower), They plot their escape from the tower of london in the closing scene (there must be some way out of here). Obscure but possible: They faked a 💣💣threat and then tagged along with the 💣squad to get access to the jewels. "All along the watchtower, princes kept the view, While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too." Eventually they leave the jewels in the scales of justice outside the court house. This would have tickled Dylan's fancy.
Hi Syed, I’ve always envisioned this song to be a conversation between two soldiers in vietnam who stood watch but don’t really want to be there (the joker and the thief). I feel it’s about the cynism/nihilism of war and selfpreservation, they don’t feel like dying is their fate, and only want to return home alive, about power dynamics (princes who lead from a safe distance) and duty (they stand guard against wild cats and two riders are approaching. So in the end it doesn’t matter how they individually feel about it, as they have their role to play and face the danger. Curious what you think. Nice reaction video!. Personally I like Dylan’s Trying to get to heaven very much lyrically, might want to consider that one for a reaction video as well! Take care, Nick
I appreciate your takes on Dylan I have seen him twice in concert, and neither were good, but I love him. I grew up with his music, but only because it was my dad's music. And I adopted it. I am 50 now, but I can probably quote more Dylan than most. From Hattie to Percy, to Spanish Boots, to Nashville.
Supposedly, not sure if true, Dylan was touring in Europe when Jimmy covered his song. When Dylan came back and heard it, he "supposedly said," I wish I had done it like that.
The last stanza makes me think of a people who should of kept vigilant during their duty of watchmen but due to their complacency they grew idle and couldn't see the riders approaching, the proverbial calm before the storm
Based on your reactions, I feel like you absolutely have to react to Ain’t Talkin’. It’s just as allegorical but way longer and absolutely unnerving. It may be in its own way, the scariest song of all time.
The harmonica sounds like the wind blowing across an empty and eerie landscape. Such an ominous and unsettling sound
That squeaky harmonica sounds like an old wagon wheel turning in the breeze.
I'm 76 years old and have been a Dylan fan since the 60's. I'm so happy you have discovered him. May his music live on!
Yo ! i am a tad younger, my firs hearing his bobness was Winterlude, but being a scoucer the beatles floated my boat, stay "forever young" bro, cheers !
What i love about Syed is that if he doesn't understand the lyrics he doesn't get turned off, he gets more interested!
Syed is able to think consciously with the awareness required to apply cognition to environment.
Exactly, his mind is open to explore and probe multiple possible meanings which is how one should approach not just these reactions but life as well.
@Absolute Degenerate All three of these replies above were ghostwritten by SyedRewinds...
Of course my reply above is a jest, and I agree with the comments about Syed's welcome Reactor Intelligence! And I also love the value of Ambiguity in Art.
Try starting a YT channel to broaden your knowledge of Rap and Hip Hop! Keep an open mind!? Take suggestions!? And on top of that you have to listen to it!? He could have hated all of it. He had no idea he was going to like Black Sabbath?
If people could apply half of Syed's optimism, enthusiasm, and perseverance, the world would be.......no I can't finish that. It sounds nieve in 2023.
There's a story about Hendrix, when he was living in New York and he was very poor, his girlfriend sent him out to buy some food with the $5 they had left, and he came home with a Dylan record in his hand. That's how much he loved his music.
Highway 61 revisited
You are the BEST!!! Most people have no clue yet you are brilliant on Bob Dylan!!! 78 years old and I watch you always. Love Dylan.
This channel needs more views. A reactor actually listening to the music is a great thing
Thank the stars that there is someone doing Dylan reactions and is really digging into the lyrics and music. I was born in 1957 and have been a Dylan fanatic since the early '70s. I sometimes try and imagine being in my 20s and stumbling upon Dylan. What a treasure trove to dive into with fresh, young ears. Keep up the great work Syed!
57 years later, that song can still make me shiver.
I think you have already become the Bob Dylan of lyric analysis--the best. Extremely entertaining. With Dylan, you have to remember that you are never going to get every point or every meaning. However, I do think Dylan knows exactly what he is saying; he chooses every word, every phrase, every intonation intentionally. I am mesmerized by his wordsmith and lyrical beauty of his phrases, so I tend to worry less about his meaning. Fortunately, we have you for this job. Keep up the fantastic work.
The difference between Dylan and lesser lyricists IMO, is that Dylan's imagery isn't random and eclectic. It actually is the tip of the iceberg of a coherent poetic universe of symbols that he taps into. Sort of like the Hobbit, a silly book that somehow has more to it, sits on top of Tolkien's elaborate parallel universe.
So even though Dylan only lets the listener in on bits and pieces of his underlying symbolic reality, and even though the listener can only make connections here and there before he pulls the rug out, overall his lyrics come across as profound even when not understood.
I contrast that with Michael Stipe of REM, who uses lots of random phrases and images to generate certain feeling or tones in his lyrics, but it appears to rest upon no coherent worldview at all. Whereas Dylan seems to pull fragments from ancient mystical tomes of wisdom, Stipe is shuffling through a box of 1950s postcards he picked up at a garage sale.
@@2ramona959 : Very well said. One one video, Syed did say that maybe Dylan didn't know what his lyrics meant (a rare misstep), but I agree with you that the master knows exactly what he means, exactly what he says, and exactly what emphasis do give to each phrase. One author said that Dylan will still be remembered in 200 years as a prophet (he actually said Jesus, but that may be a little much).
@@kensilverstone1656 Could be a prophet, but not a holy man (if you're read any of his biographies; some of his behavior is hard to excuse). What strikes me most about Dylan as an artist is how he fully immerses himself into a new genre, doesn't dabble in it, but becomes it. When he was a folk singer he lived his own created myth of a Woody Guthrie character. Rocker. Country artist. His crazy Christrian/Gospel period he went full in. And then finally endlessly touring song and dance man.
@@2ramona959 Try his book, "Who Is that Man: In Search of the Real Bob Dylan," David Dalton (2012). Gives a logical explanation for Dylan's planned transformations.
Not completely sure I agree , I think Dylan sometimes just paints a picture and creates a mood , the subject is hazy and unfinished and we are drawn in by the mystique and can finish with our own interpretation .
Musically, this is THREE chords, running down and back up, over, and over,and over, for the entire song. Just brilliant.
“I pity the poor immigrant who hates his life, and likewise fears his death” This line from this album has stuck with me for 30 years
So insightful!!!
Dylan is a genius! I don’t understand how he only scored 106 on an IQ test. I think it would be between 140 and 160!
@Cheryl Familant there many different measures of intellect. I've always seen Dylan as a "street-wise" genius, rather than a book-smart genius, and IQ tests don't measure that. He was empathetically intelligent, very switched on to the world around him.
I could be wrong, but that's how I've always though of him.
I tĥink Dylan, like Norm Macdonald, are even more intelligent than they let on. Both see that most intellectuals act very haughty and snobbish, which is a big turn-off to your average layman. Plus, it would go against his rambling folksy persona.
"who wishes he would have stayed home"
How lucky have we been to live in the same time as this amazing soul? The comments below reflect that perfectly. I felt the chill the moment you did, Syed, and I've played the song/album a thousand times. I agree with the view that the joker and the thief were/are two sides of Dylan, but what the hell does it matter? What fascinates me is the explosive burst of creativity in the guts that Dylan must have experienced when the song started to come to him. Imagine that! And, whatever he says to the contrary, it is always, always, for us! Thank you, Bob, and Good bless you.
You can go over Dylan's lyrics a 1000 times and each time you can get something different. Simply magical and brilliant! I have seen many, many interviews with Dylan. More often then not even he could not explain where the lyrics came from. I am so glad I had him throughout my life time.
It is a song about Isaiah 21:5-9 and Revelation 16:15. It's about the consummation of the era of man. The fall of Babylon. I'm sure you will recognize the images. The thief being Jesus and the entertainers being the jokers (including Bob himself). Also the wild cat is a reference to The Lion of Judah which is Jesus Himself Revelation 5:5) Actually a lot of people have no clue who Bob Dylan is. He is an outspoken member of the priesthood. To get a better understanding about what Bob Dylan believes you could listen to his songs Summertime, You gotta serve Somebody or Senor (Senor = YAH = GOD in Spanish). There is a reason that people call him the prophet. He actually is one.
I love the John Wesley Harding album and this is my favourite song on it. Princes is plural in this song. The Watchtower could be a metaphor for where the elite of society live, in a metaphorical fortress but always worried about their security. Outside of that is an uncontrolled area where anything might happen and the two riders might be forces that are about to change everything or are some kind of ambassadors. They are approaching the watchtower not escaping - maybe they become captives. On the other hand, the joker and the thief might be representing the viewpoint of the people (or certain people) who are living in this oppressed society unhappy with the way things are. It's almost an ecological viewpoint, referring to the exploitation of the Earth by those that don't value or care for it.
Written by a genius and transformed by a genius
The thief is the businessman, the joker is the politician. The prince is the monarchy. The wildcat is the rebel who doesn't conform to the first 3 characters. That's my take on it. Especially if you break down the verses in-between.
A great mysterious song. Dylan is so full of hidden meanings because he creates an emotional soundscape, using words, voice and music together. Everything he does is authentic, which is why he touches so many people on so many levels. And why he never sings a song the same way twice, because he sings for the moment.
Listen to Murder Most Foul for a journey through the dark heart of America, or to the live video of One More Cup Of Coffee from the Rolling Thunder tour to see him at his greatest. You won't regret it.
One More Cup of Coffee live from Rolling Thunder tour is awesome.
Love his look from that period the best.
Shelter From the Storm from Fort Collins CO is another fav....better than BOTT album version.
I've been hearing All Along the Watchtower since kindergarten, but the thing about poetry is, if it's good, it lends itself to lots of interpretations but still gives a sense of emotion, which it certainly does to me. I've always seen it as that winds of change are blowing and a revolution of sorts is on its way, and the corrupt politicians and the corporate class and the ruling elite are getting really nervous. This after all is a common theme in his songs of the time.
I've never had any guess of what the lyrics truly meant, but it always gave me chills
Just like "Mr. Tambourine man", when I heard it for the first time, I couldn't understand English, but it gave me such a "nostalgia" feeling that I almost cried
(The word I intended to use was "Saudade" but I don't think I have a word for it in English, so I will go with "nostalgia" which has a similar meaning)
@@dosSantos_G_ I've heard that word before in fact I think I even know how to pronounce it, but I can't remember what it means.
Well said. I started to put down my "current" interpretation (one of my many over the last 5 decades or so). I decided whatever I wrote would be inadequate to what I was thinking/feeling, since it is on a more subliminal level that doesn't lend itself well to rational explanation. So I went with the more generic great art speaks to us on a deeper level take in my comment, which opens up many possible interpretations as you said. None would necessarily be what Dylan was sensing or thinking when he put the words down. It may have just been his muse speaking through him at the moment. (edit: I originally wrote last 50 decades of listening to it, I'm old, but not that old)
@@dosSantos_G_ Would the phrase "wistful nostalgic sentiment" capture the essence of the word?
@@LeeKennison yes, but it also could mean you miss something or someone, you're longing for something or you're homesick
It's like a mixture of all these feelings
It's hard to translate it to English (it's a Portuguese word)
The atmosphere created by Dylan and that interpretation by Hendrix can sit side by side and yet stand alone, each being a favourite , which is in itself is unique . Dylan just has a way with lyrics rhythm and groove, years later he creates the song about the Hurricane , which to me has a similar groove.......love your refreshing channel and the way that its breaks down pre-conceived barriers ...
It's possible the joker and the thief are the two riders approaching the castle, escaping something and riding towards safety while they brave the winds and wild animals. There are so many ways to interpret this song.
The riders are approaching the wildcat to shut it up. The wildcat is the rebel against the businessman (theif), the politician (joker) and the monarchy (prince).
The song was written so each verse could be the first verse or the last verse.
I’ve been a massive Dylan fan for 20+ years and I stumbled onto your videos. Yours are the best, hands down, reaction videos I’ve seen. Tbh most in this youtube sub-genre are largely cringe.
It’s pretty clear from how you speak about the songs that you’re not immersed in the musical culture that Dylan comes from, and many of the multiple references in his work seem to go over your head. Saying that, the thing that stands out in your analysis of the songs is the fact that you absolutely “get” Dylan. Your takes are bright and refreshing and have genuinely given me a reason to look at several of his songs in a new way.
Thanks for what you do. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for checking out the original. Some people would say this is his best album. Great reaction
His best album is the one that speaks to you the most at the time you are listening to it. 😉
John Wesley Harding is a very sparse-sounding album .. full of brilliant tunes and haunting imagery.
ps: when Dylan does this song LIVE, he does the Hendrix version :)
Yeah, it's a thrilling album to listen to stories and lyrics. So interesting. Not a rocker, but it's absolutely fantastic.
I think usually as an encore. I been to three concerts where he ended with it.
How can anyone not be in awe of Bob Dylan?
it's kind of like the older, less perfectionist sibling of Blood on the Tracks
Bishop Barron interpreted this song from spiritual point of view that worth watch it. It's on youtube. He says that the third verse refers to the book Isaiah 21, messengers arriving with that message Babylon has fallen.This album is fantastic. When everybody was moving toward to psychodelic, he went back to the roots of country. The song The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest is another great song. The Heavy Metal group was named after this song.
I would check it out but I know who Bishop Barron is and I don't like him...at all.
I'd rather hear Bishop Vigano's opinion but I doubt he knows who Dylan is :)
Ps: I just recommended the same song... Frankie Lee and Judas Priest...
( they were the best of friends ) lol
@@michele-33 how do right-wingers like Dylan? That I don’t understand…
This is why Dylan is a genius. The song opens itself up to various interpretations on various levels yet still remains enigmatic and mysterious.
First time seeing this channel. Big thumbs up for informed and insightful comments.
Every time I listen to a Dylan album I get a different meaning. I love Bob Dylan's phrasing and delivery and his imagery is so so strong it's like a film coming out of your speakers.
I've always loved this song. I agree, it's eerie. And powerful. It feels as if danger is coming, being in the watchtower, princes, the young men, heirs, worried and watching, having to be responsible for everything and probably not wanting to be. The women and servants don't/can't fight and come and go as usual, do what they usually do. People who feel the undercurrents but have little or no power. The wildcat howls, an unrestrained animal sound that could be fury or a cry of warning or a cry for help but it heralds the 2 riders approaching and the feeling for me is that they are unrestrained. Danger danger danger. I see the joker and thief as outside the system yet playing those in or out of the system, cynical, and at the same time understanding the darkness but not seeing how beyond their small world and their games they can get out of this confused world because they too are trapped in a horrible game that sucks everyone in. No one can get out. It's almost an existential crisis. And wouldn't it be great to know who or what the 2 riders in the distance are? What a song, what a presentation of it. I also like the Jimi Hendrix version in which the sense of confusion is very strong, more so than the Dylan version. When Jimi sings "There must be some way out of here," it is chilling because of where he ended up. Thank you so much Syed for this and for the other songs you've reacted to. You are experimental and open to a variety of individuals and groups of musicians outside your chosen love of hip hop. You're extremely open-minded and I respect your analysis and the desire to find truth in the music.
I love how you associated colors like purple with Hendrix and earth tones with Dylan. Amazing way to describe a sound. Love it.
The mood to this is incredible. Agreed with most of what you said about the moods. Fantastic analysis!
Note: The Dylan line is "There must be some way out of here". Hendrix changes it to "There must be some kind of way out of here", which is a lot more awkward, doesn't fit the rhythm as well, but it still works. And later Dylan says, "Somewhere in the distance a wildcat did growl", while Hendrix says "Somewhere in the tall distance a wildcat did growl", adding the extra word "tall". I think Dylan's lines are better, they are more economical and to the point...but either version works fine in any case.
I interpret this song as dealing with a crisis that is coming to an entire society....the place that exists with all the businessmen, the princes, the powerful people who are in charge at the top....and the women, and the plowmen, and the barefoot servants, who are the underclass, the powerless. The Princes are at the very top, in the watchtower. They are all there, doing the things they usually do, caught up in their ordinary activities and habits, as an apocalyptic storm approaches from the distance. The Joker and the Thief know what's coming. They are like 2 prophets who can see the approaching storm. They'd like to get out of that place of confusion and graft before it all comes crashing down around their ears. The Thief reminds the Joker that they, at least, have seen through the false illusions that this whole city (or society) is built upon, and that they will not suffer the same (spiritual?) fate that awaits those who have not seen through it. "So, let us not talk falsely now...the hour is getting late!" Doom is about to fall upon that place...and the ominous music foreshadows it. One is reminded of the doom that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. This has very much the same feel. As the storm nears, two riders are seen approaching. Are they like two Angelic messengers of destruction? Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Or are they the Joker and the Thief, seen at another point in the story? That question remains unanswered. As the storm descends upon the city/society the eerie howling of the rising wind (heard in the harmonica) announces it...a terrifying scene, as when a hurricane approaches landfall.
That's just my interpretation, of course. There could be any number of other interpretations. Most of the songs on this album have a strong spiritual and moral message, delivered in a very dour and concise fashion. It's all about sin, repentance for past misdeeds, deliverance, and redemption. It's an extraordinarily strong album in which I think Dylan is to a great extent writing about (as usual)...........himself....and his own spiritual journey through suffering, trial, and error toward redemption. And he was writing about society in the largest sense as well. It's a very interesting change of direction, musically speaking, from the 3 albums that preceded it, and it surprised people at the time....just when most of the rock groups were turning to ever more complex instrumentation, Dylan was stripping it down to the bare essentials: 1 acoustic guitar, his voice, a harmonica, a drum set, and a bass. He went exactly the opposite way that the other most famous musical acts were going at the time. They went toward excess. He returned to musical simplicity...but with the usual incredible lyrics. In Dylan's case, the music always is there to serve the lyrics, and that's why I like his material the best. Rock bands are usually more about showcasing exciting instrumental riffs.
Great to see you reacting to a tune I have loved for 50 years. From one of my top albums of all time. I do play Hendrix version in my vinyl 45 sets.
Originally the last verse of the song was supposed to be the first and Dylan decided to change it. If you notice, most of the other songs on JWH begin with the the song title sung. So if you think of it is verse 1-2-3-4 , originally was verse 4-1-2-3. Singing the original first verse last gives it a much more climactic feeling
I've always found many of Dylan's songs to be very cinematic (nothing tops the use of Knocking on Heaven's Door during Slim Pickens death scene in Billie the Kid). He can paint a picture with a few lines that you can see in your mind. Man in a Long Black Coat, Brownsville Girl, Lily Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, Romance in Durango, Black Diamond Bay, the list just goes on and on. I don't try to analyze Dylan, I just enjoy the ride.
Dylan always said he didn't know where the words to these songs from the mid-60's came from. They just flowed out. He didn't sit and craft these songs much, the words just flowed out and he wrote them down, like automatic writing. Songs like Subterranean Homesick Blues, It's Alright Ma, Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, etc. He didn't think about the words much, he found words to rhyme. A lot of this was going on at this time, as with the disembodied "Seth" spirit speaking to Jane Roberts while she was in a trance state. There were many others at this time in the mid-60's. Dylan said he was just writing this stuff as it came to him. Writing down what sounded good to him in the moment. There isn't much meaning to any of them. Paul Simon was writing in this vein for Graceland, etc., etc.
It worked for him because he was at first a poet then put music to his words. He was a consummate musician so it all worked for him so well. "Voice of a generation" etc.
Enjoying your reactions & analysis, Syed! The ambiguities & esoteric references run abyssal in Dylan's lyrics. His songs still work on emotional level even if many allusions blow by you in the wind. And they inevitably will, unless you're also super duper crazy well read.
I think it's fairly safe to say this song is rooted deeply in the Hebrew Bible, more specifically, the Book of Isaiah. It features the swinging Aeolian melody you mentioned, like the proverbial pendant steadily lulling you into a hypnotic trance.
Without delving too deep into the nuances & risking writing a book, it has an inescapable fatalism about it, a vague unsettling sense of impending threat, what Mr. Dylan might liken to a dangling cloak & dagger.
Speaking of which, please consider giving "Love Minus Zero" a whirl, that's my favorite song of his & the most poetic & unique love song I've ever heard. Dylan channels William Blake & Edgar Allen Poe & among other in that one. And the "bankers' nieces" must almost certainly only possibly be a reference to Henry James Novel 'Portrait of a Lady." It's a real trip, man!
My no.1 for years now...welcome...enjoy for years to come...keep up your good work and enjoying
My favorite Dylan song...Other than BOOTS OF SPANISH LEATHER which you should absolutely react to!!!
"Across the Green Mountain" is another great Dylan song. It was made for the movie Gods and Generals
Thanks for playing and reacting to this Dylan classic. After listening to this many times, I interpreted this as the Joker being God and the thief being man. But with many Dylan songs, there can be many varied interpretations. Take care. I enjoy your deep listening efforts.
All Along The Watchtower is a classic song about impending revolution, to my mind. The Joker and Thief, marginal figures, are revolutionaries who have seen it all before, and are now ready to take action, riding towards the watchtower to overthrow the princes keeping watch, to liberate the servants within. They are fed up with being exploited by the businessmen and ploughmen, people who serve the princes and who don't know the real value of human life. The howling wind and nature's beasts are on their side as they approach the centre of power, ready to take on the people exploiting the barefoot servants.The song suggests the threat of revolution. What a song, a masterpiece.
The best art speaks to us on a subliminal level. It means different thing to different people. It also means different things to the same person at different times. It is often on a much deeper subliminal level that is difficult to explain with the rational mind. I think this is part of why Dylan would get frustrated with those (particularly the press) that were always trying to get him to explain what his songs meant. They didn't get it. Thankfully, you get it.
I read his autobiography several years ago, and he said something to the effect that he was a professional liar, and you shouldn't believe anything he says. Which is an interesting way to open your autobiography, in other words, don't believe anything I am saying here. But those who get Dylan understand the sentiment. He is a story teller, what you get out of the story is what is important. As to whether the facts are accurate is secondary. This is probably what distinguishes art from history or factual news accounts. Although history does have the word story in it, so it isn't immune to having interpretations applied to it.
Dylan has a lot of masterpieces
in my mind, The watchtower overlooks a village...and the prince is looking out over the scene where the women and servants come and go
Loving this Dylan rabbit hole Syed ! A couple of other story songs I like are from his mid-70’s period : “Lily, Rosemary & The Jack of Hearts” and “Isis”.
Love your Pink Floyd t-shirt! I found you watching Pink Floyd. Your reactions were the BEST!
Syed has great breakdowns of Dylan songs, eventually breaking down Dylan ''albums'' in relation to the place in time he wrote them can take one to a higher level of wonder . ... watch the ''No Direction Home'' documentary by Martin Scorsese as a excellent starting point...IMHO
Dylan loved Jimi's and played it that way ever since
Syed, I loved your analysis of Jimi’s cover, including the apprehension of the mysticalness of his performance. When I listen to the story of Dylan’s lyrics, I hear it like this: the joker and the thief are two subterranean characters, lurking about the palaces of power; they are on the fringes of a great but corrupt civilization; trying to find their way farther in. The line about the businessman and ploughman is referring to the common men who use and abuse the life they have been given. Suddenly we see the scene change to the Watchtower, you see the Princes standing in their high status of power, while the women and servants coming and going, attest to their privileged lifestyle.
When the wildcat is heard, it is like a premonition to the crumbling of the empire. The two riders approaching are representative of the joker and the thief, the agents of change who will be bringing down this watchtower.
All of these characters seem to have both noble and seedy qualities.
This is only a partial interpretation, I can’t go any further.
This is the world we are living in, no? We can’t let ourselves get caught up in it; just witness it in awe.
What amazing artists we have been blessed with to bring us these visions
This came out when I was in college where I heard my favorite explanation. A castle is under threat but not yet under siege. It’s a bad time and even princes and nobles are needed to keep watch at the inner wall. Women and servants are bringing food and weapons. The joker and thief want to escape. They are the two riders approaching the inside of the gate in the outer wall, some distance from the castle. They hope to bluff the guards into letting them out. The windstorm helps them in doing so and will cover them outside. The wildcat in the distance indicates that no one is there or the cat would be quiet. Just one interpretation, of course.
In the mid-60s I was pretty much listening to rock ‘n’ roll but I decided to go back in time and listen to the older tank type of music I bought 70 RPMs and tapes went to the library it’s good to explore all this kind of music go back from your generations time both forward and backwards
I really enjoyed your reaction it's crazy because a good reaction video makes you look crazy because you feel like you're sitting listening to records and hanging out I answered all your questions and had to laugh because I had a great convo with a video 😂
I have always pictured the watchtower as a castle under siege. The prince is keeping watch while the women and servants carry on keeping everyone fed and prepared for the battle they anticipate. Perhaps the joker and the thief are behind the castle walls too, discussing a possible way out. The riders could be scouts for the approaching enemy.
Sounds legit
@@jimmyboredom3519 I guess all those things are also symbolic. The castle under siege could be our nation. The women and servants ordinary people carrying on with their lives. The joker and thief politicians and corporations etc.
That harminica is so expressive and intense..never really listened to it like this... thanks
The version Dylan performed live with The Band on the album Before the Flood much more sounds like Hendrix's staggering, thrilling, electric version. And it's fabulous. It's my favorite version of the song that's not Hendrix's.
To me the meaning of All Along the Watchtower has to be put into the context of Dylan’s career up to that point and in the context of the John Wesley Hardin’ album as a whole. Dylan’s art clearly changed after his motorcycle accident. It allowed him to get away from the hurricane that had become his life. As he often did, he looked back on his earlier phases of his career with disdain. In the song the Joker represents the pre-motorcycle Dylan, cynical, angry, lost. Shooting down everything and everyone around him. The thief is the post accident Dylan, kinder, calmer and more spiritual. John Wesley Hardin is an album of redemption. Every character is a side of Dylan. The Poor Immigrant, The Drifter, Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, The Wicked Messenger, The Lonesome Hobo. In Wicked Messenger the 3rd to last song, the last line says “And he was told with these few words which opened up his heart, If you cannot bring good news than don’t bring any.” And Dylan didn’t for for years to come. The last two songs are flat out country love songs. So was Nashville Skyline and all the others until Blood on The Tracks. We all know the last verse of Watchtower is really the first verse, Dylan has admitted as much. It sets the scene of some kind of castle where princes are protecting the city and watching over the proceedings of women and barefoot servants. Then outside two riders are approaching. They are the joker (Earlier Dylan) and the thief (reborn Dylan) . “The Joker is complaining, he feels trapped, businessmen are stealing from him, the earth is being moved from underneath him. Nobody knows what it’s all worth. The Thief calms him down “no reason to get excited, he kindly says. There are many here among us (Just the joker) who think that life is but, a joke. But, you and I have been through that and this is not our fate. So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” Dylan is moving forward in this song from the version of himself that he created in the preceding years. As he does on almost every song on this album.
Taking your meaning that Dylan is the Joker as per the character in 'American Pie' by Don McLean
loving your content, man. "ballad of frankie lee and judas priest" off the same album is one i'd definitely recommend
I think Dylan drew inspiration from the book of Isaiah
Watchtower is mentioned twice in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah
Isaiah warns of coming judgement to Israel along with a message of hope of a coming Messiah,who would establish Gods Kingdom on Earth
Fun Fact: the band Judas Priest took it's name from the John Wesley Harding song *Frankie Lee and Judas Priest*.
A good song for a reaction vid !
One of the two riders
I love watching you react in the same way I've felt about this song for 30 years. Super cool. I love seeing that Bob's lyrics and music truly transcend generations.
There are three verses, the music is cyclical, and so are the verses. Is there a first and last verse? Start with verse 2... there is not beginning or end of the narrative in the "story." You can start with any verse and the narrative is equally mysterious and engaging.
That's it you're going deep into his work, this is what Dylan is about, he gets you thinking, love it
Wow! He totally gets it! The eeriness, that goes from the beginning to the very end, where the last line trails...
Your analysis of this music poem is quite interesting. I first heard it so many years ago that it took hearing it through your ears to really let me examine the words again. A couple of thoughts: The Joker and the Thief are the ultimate outsiders here. Your image of them encamped by a fire is intriguing. Their conversation seems to me to be about frustration and resentment of the wealthy who they see as oppressors (the people behind the Watchtower). And why is there a watchtower? To keep an eye out for people like them, I suggest. They do seem to make a pact as the guitar solo ensues. Then what happens? Life continues as usual in the watchtower. The women came and went is a TS Eliot reference.."in the rooms the women come and go, speaking of Michelangelo". The barefoot, destitute servants serve their masters. But the growl of a wildcat warns of what's to come, two riders approaching like a wind of change. Those riders are the Joker and the Thief, who may intend to destroy the watchtower. My take, anyway.
Dylan us actually a very consumate all-riund musician.
His great sense of Rhythm
His arrangements are so clever
The guitar & harp are secondary vocals
His vocal inflections & intonations are unsurpassed
His vocals carry a story like so-called perfect singers can't do.
He stands supreme amongst all the Rock n Rollers who've ever lived
Every so often, Dylan wrote … gibberish. Like, I Want You. Like, Jokerman. Lyrics that make no obvious sense, but which spawn a thousand PhD theses. This might be one of those. Sounds so deep… means whatever you want it to mean. Like a Barnett Newman painting, it is technically brilliant and yet utterly devoid of substance. And despite that, I keep going back to look at Voice of Fire, knowing that it means whatever I want it to mean, and that the creator’s intention is irrelevant. Doesn’t matter. It is simply intriguing.
Please listen to the opposite end of Dylan, Romance in Durango. A phenomenal story painted with just a few brushstrokes, every one of them a full picture.
I love this Dylan song. My favorite Dylan line is from "Positively 4th Street". Youn should give that a listen. Its pretty clear in message.
I suggest Bob Dylan - Things Have Changed
Simply put, this song is about the tyranny of wealth. From the perspective of a commoner -- born into a pre-built civilization with an established power structure, the daily ongoings of life are dedicated to preserving that structure-- princes, servants, women only for delivering future successors. But of course there are people on the outside looking in-- and they can have strategies about trying to 'move up' perhaps by taking from others (the Thief). The Joker is the guy who just gripes about the unfairness of it but doesn't have a plan.
Masterpiece/ watchtower make up your mind 😊
Simon and Garfunkel is definitely a journey worth taking definitely way up there like unbelievable
Dylan used to live in Grwnich VillageLower Manhatan, in Brooklin just across the East River was the HQ of Jahovor Witnesses whose publication The Watchtower was written across the building in capitals.
I love that you describe it visually in terms of colors. You have a songwriter's brain, man.
Two riders were approaching, The next song on the album, Frankle Lee and Judus Priest
I'm 72 and I started listening to Dylan in my early twenties when he had been around for many years but was still making new music. His shrill harmonica playing takes some getting used to but his messages are STILL spot-on. Ain't gonna work on Maggie's Farm is one of my faves.
I've always loved JWH with its sparse, almost surreal, sound. 'All Along The Watchtower' seems to be a mind-trick. It has no chorus and its sense of time (as in 'time', not musical time) is running backwards or out of order. Glad you covered it!👍
Once Dylan heard the Jimmy Hendrix version, he never played this version again and he adopted the Hendrix version. I had the pleasure of seeing Bob in concert in Red Bluff, CA and he played this song and it was amazing. As with many Dylan songs, this one probably means whatever you think it means.
I have been down the Dylan rabbit hole since 1965 Sometimes the lyrics are paintings maybe not deep thought. Just pure mental paintings. BTW his paintings sell for a ton of money. Into the tens of thousands
CalicoSilver does a lyrical review well worth watching on TH-cam. Supporting the premise that the Joker and the Thief are two sides of Dylan having an internal conversation. He puts forth his premise and explains it in detail, what more can you ask for ;-) Great reaction Syed, thanks
It's interesting that critics, more or less, panned this album when it first came but, over the years, saw how great it was.
you are the best thanks!!
Dylan doesn't use minor keys very often, but when he does he often creates some truly haunting, spooky sounds - this, Ballad of a Thin Man and Man in the Long Black Coat being great examples. Moonshiner is one of the most moving things he ever did and he didn't even write the words - it's an old folk ballad. The harmonica and vocal delivery are just achingly sad.
Hi syed your videos are great, really enjoying all Dylan related videos. I would like to hear who you consider to be the best writer/writers in music?
I really think it's awesome that Bob Dylan said that he has overwhelmed by jimi hendrix version and that ever since jimi hendrix passing, he has always did more of a mix of his and hendrix version
Jimi's guitar in his version fills the space that Bob's harmonica provides
Dylan had a gift for creating what I feel were mood pictures. Somewhat like an abstract painting which is not immediately recognizable in a real world framework can elicit a strong emotion.
Dylan's lyrical genius is timeless. We will read the likes of Chaucer, Dante, Longfellow, Wordsworth, Blake, Poe, and Dylan in the same literature anthology. Sometimes you cannot think too deeply into the lyrics. Dylan was a storyteller lyricist. Thanks for keeping his music relevant and alive. Plain facts!
Great Job as usual... if you check out the book of Isaiah 21:5-9 its hard to miss where Dylan got at least some of the ideas for this song. It's just a monumental work of art.... Like the Shakespeare "Hamlet" or Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." If you would like to check out another haunting tune...not quite on the level of this (I mean what is really?) But equally haunting harmonica and instrumentals, check out "The Man in the Long Black Coat." It leaves you scratching your head to, but you know you just heard something amazing!!
dude, love your investment in the song
The princess in the watch tower is taken from old British folk tales (or maybe a true incident) back in Medieval times when England was divided up into smaller kingdoms with castles. One variation (most popular) was the local King was mad at his daughter and confined her up in his tower the prevent her from marrying her boyfriend, a prince from another kingdom.
And she kept looking out the tower window, hoping to see her lover ride up to the castle and save her. Thus, Dylan’s “princess kept a view”. And because she was a princess, she naturally kept being taken care of by her barefoot servants.
So, the folk tale went the prince rode up with his sword and freed her from the tower.
Here’s a spoof by Monty Python. But instead of a woman, they switched out to a man prince in prisoned in the tower.
th-cam.com/video/g3YiPC91QUk/w-d-xo.html
Syed, I believe that Watchtower has a companion piece, "Changing of the Guard" from the 1978 album Street Legal. BUT, like Watchtower, there is a version which surpasses the original. Find Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang, "Changing of the Guards{sic}". It is AMAZING, and somehow my mind interperets the two pieces as part of the same tale. Peace!
John Wesley Harding is an underrated gem. Sparse like that top commenter said is the right word to describe it, it's outstanding, strange, and fun/mysterious. There are some very dark and sinister aspects of it too. I love Frankie Lee and Judas Priest. Wicked Messenger is great (and Dylan played a rollicking version of it live during the early 2000's). The sound of the song works so well for the lyrics. I love the Hendrix version, but this version is special too.
This whole album will give you chills.
1967 movie The Jokers - references two thieves who plot to steal the crown jewels with the aim get famous. Elements of the story, that align with the lyrics. A double cross (joker vs theif), the set off an explosion on that lion enclosure at the london zoo (wild cat), The jewels were buried at stone henge (Dylan would see that as a watch tower), They plot their escape from the tower of london in the closing scene (there must be some way out of here). Obscure but possible: They faked a 💣💣threat and then tagged along with the 💣squad to get access to the jewels. "All along the watchtower, princes kept the view, While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too." Eventually they leave the jewels in the scales of justice outside the court house. This would have tickled Dylan's fancy.
Hi Syed, I’ve always envisioned this song to be a conversation between two soldiers in vietnam who stood watch but don’t really want to be there (the joker and the thief). I feel it’s about the cynism/nihilism of war and selfpreservation, they don’t feel like dying is their fate, and only want to return home alive, about power dynamics (princes who lead from a safe distance) and duty (they stand guard against wild cats and two riders are approaching. So in the end it doesn’t matter how they individually feel about it, as they have their role to play and face the danger. Curious what you think. Nice reaction video!. Personally I like Dylan’s Trying to get to heaven very much lyrically, might want to consider that one for a reaction video as well! Take care, Nick
I appreciate your takes on Dylan I have seen him twice in concert, and neither were good, but I love him. I grew up with his music, but only because it was my dad's music. And I adopted it. I am 50 now, but I can probably quote more Dylan than most. From Hattie to Percy, to Spanish Boots, to Nashville.
Supposedly, not sure if true, Dylan was touring in Europe when Jimmy covered his song. When Dylan came back and heard it, he "supposedly said," I wish I had done it like that.
Goes back to an old song... Midnight Special.
The last stanza makes me think of a people who should of kept vigilant during their duty of watchmen but due to their complacency they grew idle and couldn't see the riders approaching, the proverbial calm before the storm
Based on your reactions, I feel like you absolutely have to react to Ain’t Talkin’. It’s just as allegorical but way longer and absolutely unnerving. It may be in its own way, the scariest song of all time.
First 2 horsemen of the apocalypse were approaching and the wind began to howl. Go backwards from there.
Sometimes, don't try to understand, just enjoy.