Bob Dylan – Time Out Of Mind

I could go on and on about this album ... all I'll say is, I've been waiting a long time for a tune like 'Highlands.' Bob has found his vision again, through the simple act of self exploration, questioning himself and the nature of his being. I've been waiting to write about this release until the man had a couple more under his belt. Now that he has, and the two that followed this release are as strong as ever, I'm going to give you the chance to read an overview of the meaning behind the song 'Highland' which I did for my Psych Class. My paper was much more in depth, sighting references which I have omitted here. I'm sure that anyone into Mr. Dylan will be able to pick up on what I'm suggesting.

Well my heart's in the Highlands gentle and fair
Honeysuckle blooming in the windowed air
Bluebelles blazing, where the Aberdeen waters flow
Well my heart's in the Highland,
I'm gonna go there when I feel good enough to go

Windows were shakin' all night in my dreams [‘Windows’ is a common reference by Bob. Widows can be eyes on the world, or a separation from the world ... as in his most famous window line, ‘The windows are all filled with frost.’ From the album John Wesly Harding.]
Everything was exactly the way that it seems [there is nothing to be interrupted from his current vantage point, he sees himself and the world as he and it actually are]
Woke up this morning and I looked at the same old page [a reference to his life, and a line used from ‘My Back Pages]
Same ol' rat race [the fact that the music business and especially his constant touring are not as exciting as he once thought it all was, or as exciting as the audience may think it is]
Life in the same ol' cage. [Bob has made his bed and now he is finally learning to live and sleep in it]

I don't want nothing from anyone, ain't that much to take [All those that he once held as heroes, those who could be looked to for the path aren’t really what they’re cracked up to be, because they’re all just trying to make their own way through life. Another reason for him to tell his audience that his songs are for him, they belong to him, and should not be taken as a path to be followed]
Wouldn't know the difference between a real blonde and a fake [Here he is saying that he has often been fooled, knowing what’s real and what isn’t is not that important, it’s just enjoying what one sees, everything can be fake or real from moment to moment, so don’t go holding truth too tightly, it will fool you.]
Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery
I wish someone would come
And push back the clock for me [As with all people who have gotten older, most wish they could turn back time, but always with the perspective of being young again and knowing what an older, wiser man knows.]

Well my heart's in the Highlands wherever I roam
That's where I'll be when I get called home
The wind, it whispers to the buck eyed trees in rhyme
Well my heart's in the Highland,
I can only get there one step at a time.

I'm listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound [Bob has mentioned in interviews the fact that Neil has some great lyrics, but it’s Neil’s sound that carries him away.]
Someone's always yelling turn it down [A reference to turn down the volume, in other words his concerts have become more rock and roll, and to return to the audience the splendid lyrics Bob was initially know for, but Bob, he’s just gonn’a turn up the sound anyway because this is where he is now.]
Feel like I'm drifting
Drifting from scene the scene
I'm wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean? [Bob has been around for so long, seen so much, and filly shrugging it all off, inferring that he has no idea what all of it ‘life’ actually means or is about.]

Insanity is smashing up against my soul [Bob’s visions vs his heart, or the higher power he feels exists.]
You can say I was on anything but a roll [While Bob was never out of step with his audience, he certainly was out of fashion. In other words, he kept on producing but he wasn’t rolling out the songs or images as before, or perhaps the audience was not adept enough to see his visions.]
If I had a conscience, well I just might blow my top [This is a reference to telling, primarily interviewers, to shut up with their stupid questions, and that if he cared enough he’d just tell them off.]
What would I do with it anyway
Maybe take it to the pawn shop [Here he’s asking what would it matter if he told them all off and spoke the truth, he’s got more to lose and nothing to gain by opening up. The legend, the mystery is worth far more then any revelation of actual truth.]

My heart's in the Highlands at the break of dawn
By the beautiful lake of the Black Swan
Big white clouds, like chariots that swing down low
Well my heart's in the Highlands
Only place left to go [Bob has been everywhere, done everything, experienced truth, lies, fabrications, beauty, success, and sadness, all that’s left is what’s on or not on the other side of life.]

I'm in Boston town, in some restaurant [A reference to his early days in Boston and Cambridge University. The reference to restaurant is a way of looking at life, the comings and goings and the sustenace that feeds us.]
I got no idea what I want [He has no idea what he can gain from looking back, non the less, he’s looking at his early days, trying to figure what he’s trying to figure out.]
Well, maybe I do but I'm just really not sure [Again, he’s saying that in his heart or his soul he may know just what he’s looking for, but he’s not ready to it to himself yet.]
Waitress comes over [The waitress is Bob, the waitress is Bob’s alter ego or subconscious, in other words he is facing himself.]
Nobody in the place but me and her [Just Bob alone with his thoughts.]

It must be a holiday, there's nobody around [Bob taking a break, a time for reflection, a day off from the world around him.]
She studies me closely as I sit down [He looks at himself with consideration.]
She got a pretty face and long white shiny legs [A reference to Bob’s beautiful youth, the fact that he represented both male and female values and virtues.]
She says, "What'll it be?" [Here Bob verbally confronts himself, asking, ‘OK, you’re here, you’ve come this far, what is it you’re here for.]
I say, "I don't know, you got any soft boiled eggs?" [This has a double meaning. First it probably refers to the fact that he wishes he could be tougher, with an outer shell for protection, holding his obviously softer, actual self safe and in tact. Secondly, it may have a reference to the act of throwing eggs at performers who were not sincere of just bad.]

She looks at me, Says "I'd bring you some
but we're out of 'm, you picked the wrong time to come" [Here she/Bob realizes that he’s not going to get any relief or protection today, that he’s opened this door, the door to the restaurant, and needs to see just what’s cooking.]
Then she says, "I know you're an artist, draw a picture of me!"
I say, "I would if I could, but,
I don't do sketches from memory." [Here she/Bob is itting that he’s an artist, that he’s achieving success again, but it’s been so long that he hardly knows how to handle himself, this adulation feels like a memory.]

"Well", she says, "I'm right here in front of you, or haven't you looked?"
I say," all right, I know, but I don't have my drawing book!"
She gives me a napkin, she says, "you can do it on that"
I say, "yes I could but,
I don't know where my pencil is at!" [With these lines she/Bob is trying to convince himself that he has talent and at the same time is making excuses to keep from itting the fact. Perhaps the idea of itting or embracing the fact would mean that he could to be hurt if he opens up and is rejected by his audience which he both embraces and holds at arms length at the same time.]

She pulls one out from behind her ear
She says "all right now, go ahead, draw me, I'm standing right here"
I make a few lines, and I show it for her to see
Well she takes a napkin and throws it back
And says "that don't look a thing like me!"

I said, "Oh, kind miss, it most certainly does"
She says, "you must be jokin.'" I say, "I wish I was!" [Bob finally sees himself, wants to deny it, but in the same breath has to shake his head and it that what he is seeing is the truth and is as real as it’s going to get.]
Then she says, "you don't read women authors, do you?"
Least that's what I think I hear her say,
"Well", I say, "how would you know and what would it matter anyway?"

"Well", she says, "you just don't seem like you do!"
I said, "you're way wrong."
She says, "which ones have you read then?" I say, "I read Erica Jong!" [Bob is being challenged by himself and as he does with interviewers, he steps back into his mode and waves them off with misdirection, and the fact that only he knows what he does or doesn’t do.]
She goes away for a minute and I slide up out of my chair
I step outside back to the busy street, but nobody's going anywhere [It’s as if Bob, standing in front of the mirror, shakes his head or rubs his eyes, to bring himself back to the surface and put all of these thoughts behind him.]

Well my heart's in the Highlands, with the horses and hounds
Way up in the border country, far from the towns
With the twang of the arrow and a snap of the bow
My heart's in the Highlands
Can't see any other way to go

Every day is the same thing out the door [Bob is just going through the motions of life, the motions of being Bob Dylan.]
Feel further away then ever before [He feels further and further away from himself and who he actually is]
Some things in life, it gets too late to learn [itting that the past can’t be changed, and by the time a person gets to the point of realizing this, it’s usually too late ... but he obviously doesn’t feel it’s too late or he wouldn’t have made this album.]
Well, I'm lost somewhere
I must have made a few bad turns [itting that one is lost, or that one has made a few bad turns is to it that one has found their way and has also made some really positive good turns as well.]

I see people in the park forgetting their troubles and woes
They're drinking and dancing, wearing bright colored clothes
All the young men with their young women looking so good
Well, I'd trade places with any of them
In a minute, if I could [Again the dream of being young, seeing how beautiful he and his life were, wishing he could go back in time to his youth, not the present youth in the 21st Century the image would suggest. In other words he doesn’t want to be young today, he wants to be young again in his own time.]

I'm crossing the street to get away from a mangy dog [Bob is the ‘mangy dog’ he is trying to get away from himself.]
Talking to myself in a monologue [This song is his monologue]
I think what I need might be a full length leather coat [Again, the full length leather coat would offer him protection, covered from head to toe.]
Somebody just asked me
If I ed to vote [This may be Bob decision to finally it that he should get involved in politics, do his part with the voice he has, extend his visions beyond himself.]

The sun is beginning to shine on me [The sun represents the success of his new album, his great band and most successful tour.]
But it's not like the sun that used to be [Bob is saying that the success is not like that of his early days, but it’s success non the less, so why not embrace it.]
The party's over, and there's less and less to say [Not an actual party, just his seat at the head of the table as he asks what can he possibly have to say that is of any relevance or that anyone would care to hear.]
I got new eyes
Everything looks far away [Bob is saying that, yes he can see, but all that he held dear, all that he thought had value and meaning looks so distant because all that matters at the end of ones life is the joy of living, just being alive.]

Well, my heart's in the Highlands at the break of day
Over the hills and far away
There's a way to get there, and I'll figure it out somehow
But I'm already there in my mind
And that's good enough for now [Here Bob is saying that ‘I’m fine, right where I am. I can’t change anything, and the look see into my soul has been insightful.]

*** The Fun Facts: As to the historical meaning of the album's title, Time Out of Mind means TIME IMMEMORIAL. Strictly speaking, 'time immemorial' is any time before 1199, this being the date set in 1275 as the time before which no one could , and therefore no legal cases could deal with events before that date. 'Time out of mind,' recorded from the fifteenth century, is just the plain English version of the same thing. Since the eighteenth century at least, 'time immemorial' has been used in much the same way as the 'Mists of time' and both expressions are now often used vaguely to mean little more than 'in the past.'

Review by Jenell Kesler