Hi again everyone! Here’s Part 2 of my take on NASHVILLE SKYLINE (podcast version).
EXTRACT FROM BOB DYLAN: NASHVILLE SKYLINE: ONE HELL OF A POET PART TWO
After the uncertainties displayed in the earlier songs, the final track on the album is a deliberate statement of intent. Whereas in earlier country-flavoured songs like One Too Many Mornings or Mama You Been On My Mind his narrators can be found on the open road, moving on from relationships and accepting their fate, Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You is a definitive assertion of fidelity and (possibly) of commitment. …Throw my ticket out the window!…The narrator begins …Throw my suitcase out there too!… He indulges in a well worn cliché: …Throw my troubles out the door/ I don’t need them any more… He asserts that his plans for moving on have changed, because leaving …was more than I could do…
He now waits for his lover to return, gleefully looking forward to what will presumably be a night of passion. In the bridge section he appears to be giving thanks for his luck at meeting this woman whose ‘love comes on so strong’: …Is it really any wonder… he asks …the love that a stranger might receive… He then indulges in conventional romantic language: …You cast your spell and I went under… could have appeared in any number of sentimental songs. But the triumphant and heavily emphasised …I find it so difficult to leave… is both a confession of love and an admission that, despitebeing attached to the ‘ramblin’ man’ persona so beloved of country and blues singers, he has been ‘bewitched’ by the woman. This is emphasised in the third verse, where he hears the trains moving out but does not board the one he has bought a ticket for. Whether these statements indicate a long term commitment, however, is unclear. The narrator argues that he has been made to stay almost against his will. Maybe that travelin’ urge will reassert itself soon…
LINKS…..
STILL ON THE ROAD – ALL DYLAN’S GIGSWIKIPEDIA
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