Bob Dylan: His Life and His Lyrics

Mr. Tambourine Man

Lyric Analysis

Lesson Plan


Developed by: W. Huitt
Last Revised: February 2007
 

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Primary Concept: Adult Activities and Lifestyle

 

Masterwork: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) by Bob Dylan

 

Significant Question: How do experiences in early adulthood impact perceptions, ideas, values, and goals?

 

First Activity:

 

Read about Dylan’s life during 1963 and 1964

Second Activity:

 

Listen to a sample of Dylan singing the song: (sample)

 

Read the song: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bobdylan/mrtambourineman.html

 

Reflect on overall feelings evoked by the song.

 

Third Activity: Interpret/reflect on the song (Actively lead by the instructor)

 

Mr. Tambourine Man

Hey ! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
Mr. Tambourine Man could be interpreted as an entertainer, also could be guide or muse

I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
I’m not sleepy could be interpreted as this event is happening when most others would be sleeping (i.e., night or early morning); there is no place I’m going to would indicate no intention or direction

Hey! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

jingle jangle morning links song to instrument; I’ll come followin’ you implies wants to be led rather than lead


Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand
Evenin’ empire would indicate previous night’s success as an entertainer; returned into sand might indicate an acknowledgement that material success is fleeting;

Vanished from my hand
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping

Vanished from my hand left me blindly here to stand indicates lack of awareness or perception, even though awake


My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet
Weariness amazes me indicates surprise at this event; branded indicates awareness that he has become known and perhaps owned as being a distinct or unique standard; on my feet indicates the idea that he can still move about (i.e., away from the brand);

I have no one to meet
no one to meet again indicates do goals;

And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.
ancient empty street too dead for dreaming indicates lack of activity that would allow him to engage in imagining the future or putting pieces together in new, original, non-conscious ways


Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship

Has been interpreted to mean drug induced experience; could also mean journey on carrier that does not go in a straight line
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip

Indicates mental and emotional experience rather than physical experience
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wanderin'

Again indicates lack of physical awareness; boot heels indicate expectations to turn experience into a physical one
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade

Again indicating lack of goals or direction and willingness to take a background role
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it.

Again indicates willingness to succumb to another’s wishes or direction


Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Though you might hear laughin', spinnin' swingin' madly across the sun
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'

Lots of wild activity that is not intended to anything other trying to quickly escape from the boundaries others have set
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
Seein' that he's chasing.

If others hear these poems/songs played to a rhythm they should not consider these as important, but rather the attempt of a ragged clown to write down what seems to be real although it’s a shadow (perhaps a reference to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave)

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves

Again indicates desire to vanish; smoke rings of my mind might again indicate a drug experience; foggy ruins of time perhaps indicates inability to remember events clearly; frozen leaves perhaps refers to something that is alive although not moving or growing
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow

Desires to go beyond fears and pressures to the unlimited ocean; remove self from grief, unhappiness, and pain
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Be physically active on the clear night although not totally free (only one hand waving)
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves

Wants to put past and future into unconscious
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
Wants to experience the present, not remember it or try to put it into historical perspective


Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

 

Fourth Activity:

 

Interpret the song in terms of Dylan’s life during 1963 and 1964