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Great "All Along the Watchtower" Analysis

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Written by Kevin Johns

Wednesday, 18 November 2009 13:14

Ever since Bob Dylan finished the encore of his November 7th show in Kitchener with "All Along the Watchtower", I've been thinking about the power of the song and its lyrics.

Some dismiss the lyrics as nonsense, but I can't accept that argument when lines like " Businessmen, they drink my wine/Plowmen dig my earth / None of them along the line / Know what any of it is worth" seem so obviously applicable to Dylan's own thoughts on life during the post-motocycle accident period in which the song was written.

A quick Google search termed up this excellent close reading of the lyrics by Herb Bowie.

As noted in the analysis, "Dylan’s accomplishment here is nothing less than amazing."

Agreed.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 November 2009 03:20

Kevin Johns is a (Cult)ure Magazine contributor since Wednesday, 07 January 2009.

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