Bob Dylan - Changing of the Guards - Live 1978

Bob Dylan - Changing of the Guards - Live 1978 02/12/1978 - Nashville - This is not copyrighted NOBEL LITERATURE PRIZE IN LITERATURE POETRY FOR 2016 Sixteen years* Sixteen banners united over the field Where the good shepherd grieves Desperate men, desperate women, are divided Spreading their wings ’neath the falling leaves Fortune calls I stepped forth from the shadows into the marketplace Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down She’s smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born On midsummer’s eve, near the tower The cold-blooded moon The captain waits above the celebration Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid Whose ebony face is beyond communication The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid They shaved her head. She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo A messenger arrived with a black nightingale I saw her on the stairs, and I couldn’t help but follow Follow her down past the fountain, where they lifted her veil I stumbled to my feet. I rode past destruction in the ditches With the stitches still mending ’neath a heart-shaped tattoo Renegade priests and treacherous young witches Were handing out the flowers that I’d given to you The palace of mirrors Where dog soldiers are reflected The endless road and the wailing of chimes The empty rooms where her memory is protected Where the angels’ voices whisper to the souls of previous times She wakes him up Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking Near broken chains, mountain laurel, and rolling rocks She’s begging to know what measures he will now be taking He’s pulling her down, and she’s clutching on to his long golden locks Gentlemen, he said I don’t need your organization, I’ve shined your shoes I’ve moved your mountains and marked your cards But Eden is burning; either brace yourself for elimination Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards Peace will come With tranquillity and splendor on the wheels of fire But it will bring us no reward when her false idols fall And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating Between the King and the Queen of Swords * (“16 years“) in the opening line refers to the sixteen years since he started in the music business, and now he is really done with everyone. “ I don’t need your organization, I’ve shined your shoes,“ and is free while looking into a hopeful future. “Peace will come“. This song really hits home, not only because of its epic story and phenomenal imagery, but also because it reveals a great deal about Bob himself at this point in his life, following the divorce and times of crisis. It’s one of the most underrated Dylan songs from an album that is also underrated. Not many people consider this one of Dylan’s better songs, but for me, it is the third-best from all his recordings. Dylan was at his absolute best, building up to something phenomenal with “Blood on the Tracks“ and “Desire,“ reaching his creative peak immediately after with the songs “Changing of the Guards“ and “Where Are You Tonight“ in 1978. This song combines everything that Dylan has to offer, the lyrical genius he began to embrace again since “Blood on the Tracks,“ along with the creativity and urge to try something new and outstanding, featuring the choir and saxophone. This is the song that really manages to convey the spiritual feeling and deeper meaning Bob tried to communicate with his three gospel albums shortly after. However, with “Changing of the Guards,“ Bob had already achieved something more divine than his later Christian-inspired albums. Just listen to him on this song; he is truly free here and blessed by a new spirit, utterly detached from everything that held him down before.