Cold Iron Bounds

~~~Well, I sure don't have this song committed to memory the way I have some of Bob's songs. Once again it seems so personal. Is Bob's life this tragic? But what if it's not. What if it's a character Bob made up. Or a situation he saw someone else going through.Cold iron bounds certainly sounds bleak. Final. The mental chain gang.

Cold Iron Bounds

I'm beginning to hear voices and there's no one around
Well, I'm all used up and the fields have turned brown
I went to church on Sunday and she passed by
My love for her is taking such a long time to die

~~~~Some of Bob's songs talk to the other party, "you got a lot of nerve", "you say you love me", " you say you're lookin' for someone", "you used to laugh about", or " And you're sick of all this repetition". But this one the main point of view is "I". I'm all used up, older, tired of trying, still in love but it's pretty obvious that the love won't be reciprocated.

I'm waist deep, waist deep in the mist
It's almost like, almost like I don't exist
I'm twenty miles out of town, in cold irons bound

~~~saying it twice really seems to show an uncertainty, not wanting to face the truth, reluctance, denial. Lost in the fog of grief. The cold iron bounds of not wanting to give up on have this love.

The walls of pride are high and wide
Can't see over to the other side
It's such a sad thing to see beauty decay
It's sadder still, to feel your heart torn away

~~~pride is the key word in this verse. Will he come out of this with his pride, will he trust himself to love again? He seems to be saying that thought it is hard to see a love falter, it is worst if you can't really understand why it isn't working.

One look at you and I'm out of control
Like the universe has swallowed me whole
I'm twenty miles out of town in Cold irons bound

~~~just seeing this person starts th over the whole pain cycle which once again makes him feel like he's out on a Minnesota chain gang in winter. Let me digress here and say I have always been fond of changing things around in the chorus, in this case only the last lineis the same.No need to waste that space on simple repetition when you have much to say. Unfortunate those for those of us who try to remember all these words when singing them.

There's too many people, too many to recall
thought some of 'm were friends of mine; I was wrong about 'm all
Well, the road is rocky and the hillside's mud
Up over my head nothing but clouds of blood

~~~this is a perplexing verse, I can understand how sometimes people have a different opinion of you after a breakup, being wrong about your "friends"., but the clouds of blood line leaves me wondering just what point he's trying to make here. Clouds of blood is quite dire!

I found my world, found my world in you
But your love just hasn't proved true
I'm twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound
Twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound

~~~this poor soul was thought or could see how everything was just going to be peachy but the love just hasn't proved true. Twenty miles out of town, no direction home.

Oh, the winds in Chicago have torn me to shreds
Reality has always had too many heads
Some things last longer than you think they will
There are some kind of things you can never kill

~~~classic Dylan lines here. We all have our own separate realities. reminds me of huxley's book "the doors of perception" where Huxley assumes that the human brain filters reality in order not to let pass all impressions and images, which would be unbearable to process. And some things just won't go away no matter what.

It's you and you only, I'm been thinking about
But you can't see in and it's hard lookin' out
I'm twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound

~~~there's that hesitation again. He just doesn't want to believe it's over and didn't work.

Well the fats in the fire and the water's in the tank
The whiskey's in the jar and the money's in the bank
I tried to love and protect you because I cared
I'm gonna remember forever the joy that we shared

~~~here in the last verse , he seems to have decided that his life is just going to have to go on, not as much fun as it could have been but he's warm, watered, whiskeyed, wealthy, so to hell with it.He tried to love because he cared, "what is real but compassion"(greg brown) but it wasn't enough in the end

Looking at you and I'm on my bended knee
You have no idea what you do to me
I'm twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound
Twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound

~~~and here is the most pointed line in the song,You have no idea what you do to me. And probably no idea about a lot of other things either.

sorry to be so late in my home work assignments. after practicng for the train hoot final, i had to do laundry and ski and pay bills and ski and work and ski and parent and ski and ski. it is winter ya know! anyway this was no easy assignment and my thought may not make any sense to anyone which is why i try not to go there much and keep these thoughts to myself. the easy part was to chose the next song but now i've lost my turn. but some women around here was going to have to tell me just what thehell ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE is all about .

oh, well, guess i'll never know,
maybe i'm the Persian drunkard.

kiote