Mr. Tambourine Man — Bob Dylan Analysis

A song about the lost, confusing whirlwinds of young adulthood.

There are many interpretations of this song. Is he drunk? Is it LSD? Is it the experience of music? Is it Bob’s experience when he reached the peak of his fame? Is the Tambourine Man imaginary? Here is my interpretation for me when I was a 16 year old young adult. For me, it is about a child transitioning into adulthood.

Chorus

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 mornin’ I’ll come followin’ you

For me, Mr. Tambourine Man is a musician who travels around and plays music for locals. It’s a lazy day and there’s nothing much to do. The narrator is a rolling stone. He is filled with a sense of vanity: no ambition and no direction. So he’ll follow the Tambourine Man wherever. Jingle-jangle is gibberish that describes the mechanical clock of nature.

This interpretation is reminiscient of my younger years. For me, Bob Dylan was the Tambourine Man.

Verse 1

Though I know that evenin’s empire has returned into sand
Vanished from my hand
Left me blindly here to stand, but still not sleeping
My weariness amazes me, I’m branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And my ancient empty street’s too dead for dreaming

It has reached dusk. The evening’s empire personifies the glorious day. This glorious day softens into sand, hinting to how unlasting and fragile the day is. Vanished from my hand suggests that his days go by so quickly without taking a hold of the day’s time — almost a wasted day.

He is tired. So tired from walking that his feet feel branded or burned. Tired from walking aimlessly. Tired from sleepnessness. Maybe from worry or vanity. He has no one to meet, which gives a sense of lonliness and aimlessness. He can’t dream or sleep, which is only when you are worry-free. This seems to hint that the narrator is transitioning from innocent youth to a young adult, marked by aimlessness and worry about the future.

Some have speculated the inspiration came from “Byzantium” From Yeats. He has a Arthur Rimbaud “dreamy” influence. Dylan follows a AABCCB rhyming scheme.

Verse 2

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship
My senses have been stripped, my hands can’t feel to grip
My toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin’
I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancin’ spell my way
I promise to go under it

He wants to be carried away on an adventure by the Tambourine Man’s music. The numbness and lack of emotion seems to signify a sense of depersonalization, a sense of alienation from oneself. (Like you are in a video game or just going through the motions.) He is wandering around aimlessly ready to go anywhere to escape. He is ready to be cast under a spell, which is the Tambourine Man’s music.

I believe there are some T.S. Eliot and Rimbaud influences here. His prominent use of internal rhyme and slant rhymes make up Dylan’s earlier style of songwriting.

Verse 3

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’
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

These laughin’ and social gatherings of people are spent frivolously. They are without direction and not particulary aimed at anything. These social gatherings are but a form of escapism, a means to cure boredom. A fenceless sky is one with too much freedom, too much unknown, and too little direction.

Skippin’ reels of rhyme are slick words and popular wisdom or popular sayings. They are conventional wisdom like “follow your passion” that tries dictate what you should do. These are but a ragged clown. Under this interpretation, Dylan thinks we should ignore them because they try to explain an illusion. For example, people can try to indoctrinate you with what the purpose of life is but it inherently has no unanimous answer. To add, popular wisdom tries to tell us how to live, which inherently has no concrete answer. In this sense, these sayings are but chasing a shadow, or a guide on what to do when it just doesn’t exist.

Verse 4

Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow

He continues his desire to escape and get taken on trip away. Taken away from the haunting thoughts of his mind. Into his innocent past, away from the frozen feelings, away from the fear, and away from the sorrow. Memory is driven by subconcious forces beyond our control. Fate is driven by forces of nature beyond our control. With so little free-will, he wants to forget and escape.

The heavy dreamy-like imagery seems to stem from Rimbaud and Eliot.

On a personal note, this song has been one of the most nostalgic songs of my childhood. During those early teen years when contradictions swirled around my mind, this song was a great comfort. I hope you enjoyed this analysis as much as I did.