Leave a comment on paragraph 8. Leave a comment on paragraph 9. Dylan never lived by conventional morals. He would certainly use themes from the Judeo-Christian tradition, but always interpreted mystically ,just as Joseph Campbell did. To me, Gates of Eden is the state of being for souls who no longer believe or perceive in an artificial separation between humans, nature, and God.
Everything that is outside of the Gates of Eden is for those whose spirituality has not yet developed enough to know that every being, every bit of matter organic and non-organic, the entire universe, altogether collectively is what God is.
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Leave a comment on paragraph Never trust any commentator on Biblical themes who does not know the name of the last book of the Bible. It is Revelation, or the Revelation to St. Mail will not be published. August 10, at 1: August 9, at 1: October 7, at 9: November 18, at 1: October 9, at 2: September 19, at 9: September 19, at 1: August 12, at 7: Instead,he baptised Jesus in the Jordan River and they were both adult men. August 10, at 2: August 10, at Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this blog loading?
They use war to get to Eden. Verse 4- Aladdin, the monk, the Golden calf- all of these things use spiritualism or magic to get to Eden. All believe in promises of Paradise, but inside the fantasy world of Eden laughs are heard. Verse 5- Ownership, conquering, kings and queens think they can get to Eden, but these things dont exist in the fantasy world of Eden.
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After all this mumbo jumbo, I really take this song as saying a simple statement- that there are no truths. There are no real solutions or answers to the problems that exists, because everyone views the world differently through their own eyes, and they have since Eve ate the forbidden fruit in Eden.
I think Dylan was saying on a personal note, that he did not have the answers and was not the savior because there is no such thing as having the answers. There was an error. We all know now that Dylan is incredibly well-read so it would only make sense that he would work from Milton's vision when singing of Eden.
This is the best explanation I've seen yet. Flagged pschellhase on December 28, Thanks a lot for posting it: Flag Connectification on May 19, I really like this analysis.
It talks about a this concert being a critical show because you can see hints of a transition period. Dylan plays many of the folsky political songs that people came to love him for, like 'The times they are-a-changin' but he also ventures into some new material, like this song. The booklet says Dylan would soon begin to really change his style. Hed start playing electric instruments, and more precise songs, with more personal rather than political lyrics, and he lost a lot of fans. People were furious, because they loved the early dylan-- the folsky, political, voice-of-the-generation.
Voice-of-a-generation has a lot of pressure attached to it, and maybe that wasnt a role Dylan wanted to permanently fill. I relate all this to your interpretation, because you're saying the main message hear is 'there are no absolute truths. Flag dudin5 on August 12, Flag maxpierce4 on November 25, The meaning of Dylan's songs have shall I say haunted me most of my adult life and I enjoy his 60's stuff much more now.
Thank you for your interpretation tho. I really think Dylan created a new art form blending music technology electricity and trad folk art poetry and then performing it. General Comment The main point of this song is that Bob seems to be trying to highlight all the differences between what is happening inside the "gates of Eden" and what is occuring in the real world.
So for me the song is saying religious people preach to you of paradise in the afterlife and try to tell you, you should follow their religion because of how great this life will be, whislt at the same time behaving in exactly the opposite way in the real world, as though this promise of paradise is a licence for their hypocrisy and the chance to fool people into believing their pointless lives are worthwile.
Gates of Eden, a song by Bob Dylan on Spotify
No Replies Log in to reply. General Comment Well, I wish I was sure what this song means, I suppose it comes down to what it means to me. I disagree with those who think it means only that religion is bad and secular human endeavors are all that matter. However, they have some points. First, I think there is considerable war imagery and the fact that human conflict causes distortion of the truth and There is also dismay at the fact it threatens human extinction, but seemingly God could care less or doesn't exist with a crushing?
But I suppose that one could see it another way, although these "cowboys" claim to be "angel" there is no evidence presented that God is really behind all these wars To support this latter view, the next verse contains sound, sound that isn't appreciated - probably not even by the dogs, since they are distracted making sounds all their own. Fairly funny imagery, "shoeless" is, of course, an allusion to the saying about a man having no feet the soldier I suppose here. People ignore the truth about war, even the soldiers who are maimed by it the wounded bury their heads in sand, and their compatriots and supporters dogs of war largely ignore their suffering, instead focusing on the enemy, who, just like them are moving toward death and judgement.
- Gates of Eden;
- Live version from the Halloween Show (Philharmonic Hall, Oct 31 1964).
- More by Bob Dylan.
- Water Witch.
- The Selected Works of Andrew Lang?
I love the image of all these phonies that sit "side saddle" on the Golden calf. They can't embrace anything fully - not their false religious claim of salvation nor the material manifestation of it golden calf. What is really amazing is how many people can take them seriously, God, however, is laughing at their absurdity. Human beings are so greedy, but they won't be able to take it with them, now will they? You know what else is weird? Rich and middle-class people with good jobs complain about all the bad things all the "bad" people do while they are busy screwing their secretaries or relieveing little old ladies of the burden of their life savings or all sorts of things that are at least as bad as anything the "bad" people do.
If people lived the way God intended them to, well, things would be a whole lot better.
Others, think they can find the answer to what really matters, but it is all just so much sophistry and solpsism. But "It doesn't matter inside the Gates of Eden" This is the criticism that the irreligious can't take. It is the will of God that matters. They can think they are better than the grubby materialist, but this is simple the same old sin in a different manifestation.
The fundamental sin is narcissism - to believe that our will and desires as individuals are paramount. Retrieved December 27, Keys to the Rain. Retrieved December 28, Retrieved September 12, Discography Awards Bibliography Songs written by Dylan. The Complete Album Collection Vol. The Royal Albert Hall concert Vol. Rare and Unreleased — Vol. Another Self Portrait — Vol. The Basement Tapes Complete Vol.
The Cutting Edge — Vol.
- Invasive Species: What Everyone Needs to Know®.
- Insert/edit link.
- Gates of Eden (song) - Wikipedia;
- The Called Man : Properly Discerning the Call of God on Your Life?
- Live version from 1988, various locations.
Trouble No More — Vol.