Bob Dylan: Mr. Tambourine Man Meaning

Mr. Tambourine Man Lyrics

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 I know that evenin's empire has...

1. Death_by_Ponies

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 24th 2007 !⃝

   alright, what I think our friend bob was trying to get across to his listeners is life is interesting yet very complicated. Mr. Tambourine man symbolises relaxation and geting away from feelings of anxiety or complicated situations. Bob is quite ambiguous
2. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Nov 26th 2006 !⃝

   this song may have a deeper meaning than I get from it, and it may be about drugs, but I think that the song is about the clarity of music, and when you tired of the world and fed up, you just want to hear the man play a song. and in the end, it dosn't matter what bob dylan wrote the song to be about, it's about what the listener gets from it.
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Nov 12th 2006 !⃝

   I'm just saying what I read, bitch.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 28th 2006 !⃝

   The last person obviously has no creative mind...Though he might find inspiration in anything, its the metaphors and ambiguity he brings to it that makes it creative and genius, which he is

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 27th 2006 !⃝

   Believe it or not this song is literally about a man who carried around a tambourine and it's about new orleans. I did research and found this in one of his biographies, so quit listening to the movie "dangerous minds".
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 20th 2006 !⃝

   This song is about loss and dispair and the use of drugs to escape from reality.
   
   Tambourine man is not only an old fashioned term for a drug dealer, but also what they call the man that leads the funeral procession in new orleans.
   
   The references to not being able to sleep suggest the use of crystal meth, the word trip suggesting lsd. The line magic swirling ship is a phrase referring to heroin - whereby users injecting heroin will pull blood back into the seringe to ensure they get all of the substance into their system.
   
   Though you may hear laughing spinning swinging madly across the sun - ( the effects of the drugs )
   
   escaping on the run - but for the sky there are no fences facing - escapism floating feeling gained from drugs. - hallucinations etc
   
   take me dissapearing through the smoke rings of my mind (pot)far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow - again escaping from reality and grief.
   
   There is much much more I could say about this song but that will do for now!
7. amir.berant

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Mar 12th 2006 !⃝

   I think this song is about a drug dealer.
   "sing a song for me" "i'll come following you" etc.
   
   
   The dealler is the "respected" - Mr. Tambourine Man

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
8. mjames

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 11th 2006 !⃝

   I think of "Mr. Tamborine Man" as a creative rewrite of "Mr. Sandman", a #1 hit recording by the Chordettes about 10 years earlier. Could "Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me" = "Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream"? "Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand..."
   
   To me, anyway, this one's all about insomnia and a plea for sleep and happy dreams. Consider these clues:
   
   "In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come following you"
   
   "Left me blindly here to stand, but still not dreaming"
   
   "My weariness amazes me... and the ancient empty streets too dead for dreaming"
   
   "Take me on a trip upon your magic, swirling ship... I'm ready to go anywhere..."
   
   "...there are no fences facing... It's just a shadow..."
   
   The last verse really gives it away:
   
   "Then take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind... Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow... Let me forget about today until tomorrow"
   
   This song makes a wonderful lullaby ideal for mothers to sing young ones to sleep (well, it beats Rock-a-Bye Baby).
9. Duran Fan

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 18th 2005 !⃝

   Some say this is about drugs, "take me for a ride upon you magic swirling ship." It is a very famous song and it's simple harmonies and broken chords give it a very relaxing feel, something important if the song really was meant to be about smoking pot. It could also simply be about the simplicity of musical inspiration.

Latest Articles

• 
  A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)