Talk:Changing of the Guards

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I'm not done with this page; I still have some more research to do, so forgive what it lacks for the moment. Tix 13:13, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Someone should mention the influence of Tarot cards on the song. "The King and Queen of Swords" "The Messenger", etc?

By Andrea Alberini, 24 August 2006.

Regarding the lyrics of "Changing of the guards" I would give notice of some differences between official text (http://bobdylan.com/songs/guards.html) and the one actually sung by Bob Dylan, as it seems to me.

1 - In the second part of the strophe #1 (I consider a strophe the singing between the instrumental choruses) the text should be "I stepped forth from the shadows, ..." but it seems that the word "forth" is not audible.

2 - In the second part of the strophe #4 the text should be "But Eden is burning, either brace yourself for elimination ..." but "brace yourself" seems not recognizable. Maybe "get (ready)"?

3 - In the last strophe the text should be "But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall" but "bring us" seems not recognizable (maybe "leave" or "let"?) and "when" is probably a transcription error for "than".

These differences could be due to the inaccuracy which Dylan is often subject to, even at the recording phase. Anyway I consider the lyrics a great example of poetry coming from the evocatory power of dreamlike images rather than from some direct meaning. Maybe a unique example of “ermetic”, obscure poetry in the folk music. And the dramatic, almost tragic sense of the music agrees perfectly with the words. Everything is too intense to speak of “parody” or some cryptic attempt to do just something new.

I am Italian and I was caught by the song when I was sixteen (yes, right “sixteen years”… in 1980). At my home, together some friends, with an Italian FM local radio station on the background. I did not know Bob Dylan yet, except for his fame, and I could not understand any of the words, but I immediately phoned to the DJ to know who could be … The day after I bought a book of Dylan’s songs. So started my love for Bob Dylan’s songs.

Solemnity, pain, fever, rage, hope and visions: these are the “codes” of the song. Just a verse: “The empty rooms where her memory is protected, where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times.”

Many thanks for your attention

Andrea Alberini, Verona, Italy andrea.alberini@tiscali.it

I agree with you on #2 -- I also hear "get ready" -- and on #3 I hear "offer no reward". But "when" is surely correct; "than" would make no sense there. 91.105.55.226 12:31, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] song rich with meaning

Great song - one of his best! Under-appreciated and not played enough.

parts of it clearly about his career - 16 years - merchants and thieves - I've shined your shoes etc. all directed against the record company bosses.

Images from the tarot as well: the Moon, the Tower, and unmistakably, at the end: the King and Queen of Swords.

The endless road: his music tours.

The measures he now will be taking: Brecht's theatre masterpiece "The Measures Takem", which he would have seen with his girlfriend Suze Rotolo.

Palace of Mirrors and Dog Soldiers: both Robert Stone novels.

Eden is burning : "Gates of Eden"?

"She wakes him up Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks." - evokes nonstop driving trips across the US.

Jupiter and Apollo: you tell me

--miguelj 72.207.64.57 (talk) 07:50, 15 March 2008 (UTC)