Why Mr. Tambourine Man is A Modern ClassicThe most obvious and popular interpretation of Bob Dylan'sMr. Tambourine Man is that the song is about drugs. This makes sense, as it was against the law to write songs about drugs in the 1960s when 'Mr. Tambourine Man' was composed. The metaphors are simple: 'Mr. Tambourine Man' is the drug-dealer. "Take me on a trip upon your magic swirling ship..." is asking the drug-dealer for the drugs, and then the lyrics go on to describe the physical effects on the body after consuming hallucinogens:"My senses have been strippedMy hands can't feel to gripMy toes too numb to step. . ."Another obvious reference to drug-taking comes from the fourth verse, "T ...view middle of the document...
One clear example of a phrase that expresses a sense of freedom is, "To dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free/ Silhouetted by the sea..."This image strongly evokes the idea of someone living freely, both literally, dancing a beach, and the connotations that the sea and the sky provide here, of openess and liberty.There are several references to 'escaping', for example, "I'm ready to go anywhere...", "...but for the sky there are no fences facing" which means that the sky is the limit, "...just escaping on the run" and again "Let me forget about today until tomorrow." These lines fit with the freedom theme: escaping to achieve freedom. But forgetting about today until tomorrow seems only a temporary escape, bringing the back the idea about drugs.It has also been suggested that Mr. Tambourine Man is a poem about transcendence, or reaching enlightenment. Some people see Bob Dylan himself as Mr. Tambourine Man, and he does "Cast [his] dancing spell" through the magical and fantastic imagery of swirling ships and tr...