Psalm 61

Big Sarge · 10-01-2013, 10:52 AM

I admit I never heard it before and I'm rather lost as to the meaning

Griff · 10-01-2013, 06:16 PM

According to wiki:

The song has five stanzas. In each stanza, someone describes an unusual problem that is ultimately resolved on Highway 61. In Verse 1, God tells Abraham to "kill me a son". God wants the killing done on Highway 61. This stanza references Genesis 22, in which God commands Abraham to kill one of his two sons, Isaac. Abram, the original name of the biblical Abraham, is the name of Dylan's own father. Verse 2 describes a poor fellow, Georgia Sam, who is beyond the helping of the welfare department. He is told to go down Highway 61. Georgia Sam may be a reference to Piedmont blues musician Blind Willie McTell, who occasionally went by Georgia Sam when recording.

In the third verse, a "Mack the Finger" has this problem of getting rid of particular absurd things: "I got forty red white and blue shoe strings / And a thousand telephones that don't ring". "Louie the King" solves the problem with Highway 61. Verse 4 is about the "fifth daughter" who on the "twelfth night" told the "first father" that her complexion is too pale. Agreeing, the father seeks to tell the "second mother", but she is with the "seventh son", on Highway 61.

The fifth and last verse is the story of a bored gambler, trying "to create the next world war". His promoter tells him to "put some bleachers out in the sun / And have it on Highway 61". There is an evident political undertone in this absurd tale.

There is a pause in each verse while Dylan waits for some event in the story to finish; in the third verse, for example, the pause occurs while Louie the King attempts to resolve the shoestring-and-telephones problem. Between each verse Dylan is heard blowing an imitation police whistle, known as a "Siren Whistle" [1], brought in by Sam Lay who was drummer on the Highway 61 sessions as noted by Tony Glover in the liner notes to Live 1966. Other accounts say that the whistle was brought in by Al Kooper. It is said that he had originally brought in the "siren whistle" to police the sessions. Supposedly, if someone were to begin doing drugs he would go into a corner and blow on the whistle. He later suggested to Dylan that he use the whistle in this song instead of his harmonica.

JBKlyde · 10-02-2013, 09:39 AM

you shouldn't mock the bible like that.. I find it very dis tasteful

Griff · 10-02-2013, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Sarge

I admit I never heard it before and I'm rather lost as to the meaning

The bottom line for me anyway is the idea we have as Americans that we can solve our problems and rebuild our lives by simply picking up, moving, and starting over. I see Highway 61 as a symbol of that spirit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBKlyde

you shouldn't mock the bible like that.. I find it very dis tasteful

I say this as a friend, I am almost always offended by your interpretation of the bible, finding Jesus in your words about a vengeful angry God is next to impossible.

JBKlyde · 10-02-2013, 08:26 PM

the fact that you call me friend is nice, but the fact that you don't pay attention to most of what I say is dis-heartening... if you notice when I speak of God if it is not a direct scripture.. I unusually question my sanity.. ""I have to question the prophetic ties behind these hallucinations is a path to enlightenment really being opened or have I just tapped in to some dark force"" I believe that where there is a will there is a way and the only way to the Father is through the Son so I would even contend with the pope on this subject. He said " you don't have to believe in God to goto heaven.. maybe he's just trying to get the atheist to "zipit" or maybe he's just referring to that scripture that says that for him who hears my words but dose not keep them there is no judge.. however if your just going to make a mockery out of the bible scriptures you are CLEARLY in the wrong and that's what I see is a mockery.. your not trying to shead light your just trying to over ride
my psalm 76 post and that just leads people away from the truth down your dark path of highway 61.. I'm not upset just a little disheartened..

xoxoxoBruce · 10-02-2013, 09:49 PM

Quote:

""I have to question the prophetic ties behind these hallucinations is a path to enlightenment really being opened or have I just tapped in to some dark force""

OK, whatever works for you. But keep in mind this is all going on in your head, just your head, not mine or anybody else. And until you've conquered your demons you've got no business telling anyone else what they should do, say, or think.

JBKlyde · 10-02-2013, 10:17 PM

well realize that with out debate I have no way of seeing my error flaw or as you call demon.. and If you don't at least try to see things my way then I'll never have that "mirror" into my mind that tells me when I make a mistake.. yes I have a therapist but nothing can compete with all the knowledge I find by ""interacting"" with allegedly (wink) sane people..

thank you for understanding...

John Sellers · 10-05-2013, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBKlyde

you shouldn't mock the bible like that.. I find it very dis tasteful

Griff wasn't mocking the bible, Bob Dylan was, and rightly so. I respect your beliefs, but I don't share them. I don't believe in a God that condones murder, which is the God depicted in the bible (see Murder In The Bible).

Further, I no longer believe in organized religion, or the bible. I do believe in God, or rather, my concept of God; and my God doesn't condone cold-blooded murder for no logical reason, nor does He interfere in the affairs of mortals unless He deems it absolutely necessary....He wants us to solve our own problems.

God's greatest gift to all creatures, great and small is Free Will.

JBKlyde · 10-05-2013, 04:05 PM

yes FREE WILL.. the bible nor the ((God of Israel)) the God of the Bible condone's murder.. ten comandmendths and God dose reveal himself through dreams.. he always has always will the shear fact that he's God means that he can do what ever he wants.. haveing faith in this God means we trust he will do us no harm.. yes I have to assume that most of what my dreams are, are part of an illness but only because the doctors got to me before a chaltholic preist did... if I were educated in the knowledge of the spirit and the solid truth behind the bible I would not have to write half the stuff off as skitzofriena I would have a biblical deffenintion for it. And what you are refering to is God teaching cave men to obey.. I HOPE we are past that..

John Sellers · 10-05-2013, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBKlyde

And what you are refering to is God teaching cave men to obey..

I'm refering to nothing! Attempting to put words in my mouth is NOT AN OPTION, you fanatical God-fearing freak! Ya' know, yer really pushing me toward full Agnosticism!

JBKlyde · 10-05-2013, 05:00 PM

your right but I have every right to be one and that dosen't make me psycho just becasue I am.. I am sorry for pushing you to the limits of your "cave man science" hehe but hey you just pushed back and thats a good thing in my book.. seems to me we are maeking progress and atleast I am learning.. think of it this way if we were in a foreign country (other than America) we could be beheaded for what we believe, and that would be a true tradgey...

xoxoxoBruce · 10-05-2013, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Sellers

... and my God doesn't condone cold-blooded murder for no logical reason...

Screw that, my god, and his posse, riding fire breathing horses and carrying diamond swords, will kick your god's wimpy ass.

Seriously though... JB, if you want to be a Christian, the first thing you gotta do in ditch the old testament. It's a collection of Jewish history and folklore that doesn't pertain to Jesus.

Jesus brought a whole new ball game. Ten commandments are out, replaced with, "Love thy neighbor as thyself". That's the whole ball of wax if you want to be a follower of Christ's teachings... at least the teachings that were passed down to us. He might have said eat pizza, we'll never know.

But following that single commandment you can't go wrong. Religion is the relationship between you and your god, nobody else.

You might piss off a whole lot of people who'll call you a heretic, while claiming they're real Christians... but they're full of shit.

JBKlyde · 10-05-2013, 06:27 PM

yes I agree however there are some very wonderful lessons we can learn from the old testiment that realate forward to the new testiment.. such as the predictions of Christ Comming and the Second Comming of Jesus could you imagine a school where history was not taught.. we would have no recallection of things like the civil war and we would never learn those valuable lessons in war tactics... for instance we would never know that linkon wanted us to "preserve the union".

xoxoxoBruce · 10-05-2013, 07:32 PM

OK, there are things to be learned from most any book, especially children's books. But all you have to know is, "Love thy neighbor as thyself", and keep in mind the old testament is a history reference not an instruction manual.

If it were, we'd be Jews and Jesus wouldn't have been necessary.

footfootfoot · 10-07-2013, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

... He might have said eat pizza, we'll never know.

Pretty sure it was FSM who said Eat Pizza. Or Marie Antoinette.

10-01-2013, 10:52 AM	#1
Big Sarge Werepandas - lurking in your shadows Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: In the Deep South Posts: 3,408	I admit I never heard it before and I'm rather lost as to the meaning __________________ Give a man a match, & he'll be warm for 20 seconds. But toss that man a white phosphorus grenade and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

10-01-2013, 06:16 PM	#2
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	According to wiki: The song has five stanzas. In each stanza, someone describes an unusual problem that is ultimately resolved on Highway 61. In Verse 1, God tells Abraham to "kill me a son". God wants the killing done on Highway 61. This stanza references Genesis 22, in which God commands Abraham to kill one of his two sons, Isaac. Abram, the original name of the biblical Abraham, is the name of Dylan's own father. Verse 2 describes a poor fellow, Georgia Sam, who is beyond the helping of the welfare department. He is told to go down Highway 61. Georgia Sam may be a reference to Piedmont blues musician Blind Willie McTell, who occasionally went by Georgia Sam when recording. In the third verse, a "Mack the Finger" has this problem of getting rid of particular absurd things: "I got forty red white and blue shoe strings / And a thousand telephones that don't ring". "Louie the King" solves the problem with Highway 61. Verse 4 is about the "fifth daughter" who on the "twelfth night" told the "first father" that her complexion is too pale. Agreeing, the father seeks to tell the "second mother", but she is with the "seventh son", on Highway 61. The fifth and last verse is the story of a bored gambler, trying "to create the next world war". His promoter tells him to "put some bleachers out in the sun / And have it on Highway 61". There is an evident political undertone in this absurd tale. There is a pause in each verse while Dylan waits for some event in the story to finish; in the third verse, for example, the pause occurs while Louie the King attempts to resolve the shoestring-and-telephones problem. Between each verse Dylan is heard blowing an imitation police whistle, known as a "Siren Whistle" [1], brought in by Sam Lay who was drummer on the Highway 61 sessions as noted by Tony Glover in the liner notes to Live 1966. Other accounts say that the whistle was brought in by Al Kooper. It is said that he had originally brought in the "siren whistle" to police the sessions. Supposedly, if someone were to begin doing drugs he would go into a corner and blow on the whistle. He later suggested to Dylan that he use the whistle in this song instead of his harmonica. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

10-05-2013, 04:05 PM	#9
JBKlyde Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Encrypted Into an AmpitheaterWall Posts: 1,722	yes FREE WILL.. the bible nor the ((God of Israel)) the God of the Bible condone's murder.. ten comandmendths and God dose reveal himself through dreams.. he always has always will the shear fact that he's God means that he can do what ever he wants.. haveing faith in this God means we trust he will do us no harm.. yes I have to assume that most of what my dreams are, are part of an illness but only because the doctors got to me before a chaltholic preist did... if I were educated in the knowledge of the spirit and the solid truth behind the bible I would not have to write half the stuff off as skitzofriena I would have a biblical deffenintion for it. And what you are refering to is God teaching cave men to obey.. I HOPE we are past that.. Last edited by JBKlyde; 10-05-2013 at 04:36 PM.

10-05-2013, 07:32 PM	#14
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	OK, there are things to be learned from most any book, especially children's books. But all you have to know is, "Love thy neighbor as thyself", and keep in mind the old testament is a history reference not an instruction manual. If it were, we'd be Jews and Jesus wouldn't have been necessary. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

10-02-2013, 09:39 AM	#3
JBKlyde Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Encrypted Into an AmpitheaterWall Posts: 1,722	you shouldn't mock the bible like that.. I find it very dis tasteful

10-02-2013, 08:26 PM	#5
JBKlyde Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Encrypted Into an AmpitheaterWall Posts: 1,722	the fact that you call me friend is nice, but the fact that you don't pay attention to most of what I say is dis-heartening... if you notice when I speak of God if it is not a direct scripture.. I unusually question my sanity.. ""I have to question the prophetic ties behind these hallucinations is a path to enlightenment really being opened or have I just tapped in to some dark force"" I believe that where there is a will there is a way and the only way to the Father is through the Son so I would even contend with the pope on this subject. He said " you don't have to believe in God to goto heaven.. maybe he's just trying to get the atheist to "zipit" or maybe he's just referring to that scripture that says that for him who hears my words but dose not keep them there is no judge.. however if your just going to make a mockery out of the bible scriptures you are CLEARLY in the wrong and that's what I see is a mockery.. your not trying to shead light your just trying to over ride my psalm 76 post and that just leads people away from the truth down your dark path of highway 61.. I'm not upset just a little disheartened..

10-02-2013, 10:17 PM	#7
JBKlyde Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Encrypted Into an AmpitheaterWall Posts: 1,722	well realize that with out debate I have no way of seeing my error flaw or as you call demon.. and If you don't at least try to see things my way then I'll never have that "mirror" into my mind that tells me when I make a mistake.. yes I have a therapist but nothing can compete with all the knowledge I find by ""interacting"" with allegedly (wink) sane people.. thank you for understanding...

10-05-2013, 05:00 PM	#11
JBKlyde Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Encrypted Into an AmpitheaterWall Posts: 1,722	your right but I have every right to be one and that dosen't make me psycho just becasue I am.. I am sorry for pushing you to the limits of your "cave man science" hehe but hey you just pushed back and thats a good thing in my book.. seems to me we are maeking progress and atleast I am learning.. think of it this way if we were in a foreign country (other than America) we could be beheaded for what we believe, and that would be a true tradgey...

10-05-2013, 06:27 PM	#13
JBKlyde Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Encrypted Into an AmpitheaterWall Posts: 1,722	yes I agree however there are some very wonderful lessons we can learn from the old testiment that realate forward to the new testiment.. such as the predictions of Christ Comming and the Second Comming of Jesus could you imagine a school where history was not taught.. we would have no recallection of things like the civil war and we would never learn those valuable lessons in war tactics... for instance we would never know that linkon wanted us to "preserve the union".

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