The notion of interwoven characters who act in ways that we can’t quite understand, as if they are flitting in and out of each other’s lives sometimes touching our lives without our ever quite knowing what they do, why they do it, and who they are, is a theme of Dylan’s.

Every time you try to make it mean something it slips through your hands and means something else.Īnd yet actually it is not that difficult as some of the reviews have suggested. The story almost makes sense but no, it doesn’t. The chords are primarily I, IV, and V, there’s a nice descending bass line at the end, and the bass player is perfection – ok it is not a complex bass line but it requires tenacity and determination to keep going through this length of song, and he delivers.

(Incidentally if you do, do take a look at UK casinos).īut back to the song, certainly Dylan’s voice is absolutely spot on for the song. The song is upbeat, and the organist makes mistakes (playing I-IV at the end of the harmonica solo in the intro before Dylan starts singing instead of holding the tonic, forgetting to play during the “Staring at the butterfly” line)… Yet he has the simplest of parts to play – so why wasn’t it re-recorded or over dubbed? Ah – because Bob doesn’t do that!Īnd thinking of that, and the fact that the song is about gambling, made me think Bob himself likes to gamble with the outcome. Updated with links to other versions of the song – I really hope you try them if you have not heard them before – they offer a completely different set of insights into the song.

Cold heart song meaning