Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've been listening quite a bit to the Byrds boxed collection There Is a Season. And I have a question about "My Back Pages."

Here are the verses as I think Roger is singing them:

Crimson flames tied through my years
Rollin' high and mighty traps
Countless fire and flaming roads using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow
Ah but I was so much younger then,
I'm younger than that now.

Half-wracked predjudice leapt forth
"Rip down all hate," I screamed.
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull, I dreamed.
Romantic flanks of musketeers
Foundationed deep somehow
Ah but I was so much younger then,
I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach,
Fearing not I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preach.
Sisters fled by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah but I was so much younger then,
I'm younger than that now.


Here are the verses as I found them on a Bob Dylan website

Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin' high and mighty traps
Countless fire and flaming roads using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow
Ah but I was so much younger then,
I'm younger than that now.

Half-wracked predjudice leapt forth
"Rip down all hate," I screamed.
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull, I dreamed.
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep somehow
Ah but I was so much younger then,
I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach,
Fearing not I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preach.
My pathway led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah but I was so much younger then,
I'm younger than that now.


The last verse agrees in both versions. What's going on here? I'll admit that the first verse is my misunderstanding possibly. Inquiring minds.....

JimK

Actually, Jim, it's neither. I'm not sure where you got the lyrics to Dylan's version from the CD, Another Side of Bob Dylan, but he's singing, "Existence led by...

Roger sings it the same way, but it's just a tad slurred.

I found the lyrics here
and here
as well as here
JimK

P.S. I only found the "my existence...." verse here

All I know is that if you listen to the actual lyrics, sung from Bob's mouth on the CD, you will clearly hear 'existence'. I guess one out of four of the internet sites got it right.

OK, Stan. I'm convinced. Thanks.

JimK

There is one more verse in the Byrds' version that goes something like this (pardon my poor memory - or hearing!):

Our guard stood hard, as abstract drifts
too noble to neglect,
Deceive me into thinking, I have something to protect,
Good and bad, how define these terms,
quite clear, no doubt, somehow,
Ah but I was so much older then,
I 'm younger than that now

Note the antithetical older then/younger now .. IIRC, the lyrics above are not correct with younger then/younger now.

doctorwho wrote:There is one more verse in the Byrds' version that goes something like this (pardon my poor memory - or hearing!):

Our guard stood hard, as abstract drifts
too noble to neglect,
Deceive me into thinking, I have something to protect,
Good and bad, how define these terms,
quite clear, no doubt, somehow,
Ah but I was so much older then,
I 'm younger than that now

Note the antithetical older then/younger now .. IIRC, the lyrics above are not correct with younger then/younger now.

Jim, where do you hear "I was so much younger then..."? Roger sings "I was so much older then" on every version of My Back Pages I've ever heard...

Here's Dylan's My Back Pages http://bobdylan.com/moderntimes/songs/backpages.html.
Note the artistic license Roger takes with some of the lyrics:
"Countless fire" instead of "Pounced with fire"
"Sisters led by confusion boats" instead of "My pathway led by confusion boats"

janglebox wrote: Jim, where do you hear "I was so much younger then..."? Roger sings "I was so much older then" on every version of My Back Pages I've ever heard...

Here's Dylan's My Back Pages http://bobdylan.com/moderntimes/songs/backpages.html.
Note the artistic license Roger takes with some of the lyrics:
"Countless fire" instead of "Pounced with fire"
"Sisters led by confusion boats" instead of "My pathway led by confusion boats"

Sorry Steve, typo. You're right, of course.

JimK

What is this song about?

Keine Ahnung!

I see.
I thought it was about cosmetic surgery (I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now).

I've always thought it was about the fact that as you get older, you get wiser, and are able to sort of "maneuver" life better, and reach to the original fondness of one's childhood better; when grown-ups were 11 feet tall, and anything was possible, unlike when your 19-30, that deal.

"I'm younger than that now"; smarter, wiser, and more "Free" to enjoy life, without "Teenage & young adult hang-ups", etc.

The again, Dylan kind of get's ****** when you analyze his lyrics.

Just a guess.

Christian

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Well, at least no one said it's about 3 minutes 40 seconds.

(rimshot)

shamustwin wrote:What is this song about?

Jerry, I read somewhere that one interpretation of My Back Pages was Dylan firing back his own "protest" at the "protest singers" folk-music-crowd that had become critical of Dylan for moving beyond his original protest songs stage in life. The album was Another Side of Bob Dylan and indeed this album showed Dylan stepping out beyond one-dimensional protest songs about social justice and war and similar folkie themes from his early albums, and showed another side of himself. So Dylan parodied those critics with his own put-down of the protest movment and liberal-educators, etc.

That's one interpretation -- I'm sure there are several others.
Regards - Rich F.