His old ways or identity structure of moving through the world have long ceased to work for him. His persona and emotional shields, his "badge" is timeworn, archaic and useless.
It is how one would feel after losing everything--the darkening accompanying complete world collapse--everything that once provided meaning, reference points and a will to live. And now "it's too dark to see"--the helplessness and despair is blinding his ability to see or feel hope.
The lyrics are not "I am" but "I feel" I'm knockin on heaven's door. He feels he is dying. The two parallels of the song are on one hand literal, physical death, and on the other hand the psychological death of one's identity. Metaphorically, Heaven is a return to the pre-anxious ego-eden state, expansive, luminous, non-conceptual, peaceful. Mama, put my guns in the ground I can't shoot them anymore. That long black cloud is comin' down I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door.
Guns are symbols of power, and the loss of them, powerlessness. An identity is a structure that is conditioned, relative to time, culture, family, religion, friends and so on.
Threats to identity power include aging, loss, illness etc. Burying one's guns in this sense means the murderous killing of parts of self that are no longer functional. Examples might include beliefs such as "the world is a dangerous place," "everyone is out to get me," or "I suck at everything.
A person is much more than their small ego allows them to believe. The sun is life, black clouds are the absence of life. Here comes "the dark night of the soul" in other words. Mama wipe the blood from my face I'm sick and tired of the war Got a lone black feelin', and it's hard to trace Feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door this stanza included in live versions gives us more clues.
Identity death is a murderous process, involving blood and guts, primal fear and panic. It is the closest one can feel to actual physical death.
The war, the fight, or the will to live is challenged during this time in a person's life. Again, Dylan describes blackness clouds, trains etc as a feeling, this time as an untraceable feeling. It is untraceable because it is a mythological experience that can only be expressed symbolically, in the metaphorical language of dreams, the unconscious and the art form known as song.
Of course, like those two crazy hippies that accosted John Lennon about the deep meaning of his songs, Dylan's reply might be the same: "They're just songs, man! Its not about "dying officer", "anti war", "warfare" or "cover of jerry garcia near death experience" OMG stupid ppl, its about the characters in the movie.
My Interpretation I believe that this song is about a dying and regretting soldier who is in pain. Priya Indian. Neerja Indian. Zira US English. Oliver British. Wendy British. Fred US English. Tessa South African. How to say knocking on heavens door in sign language? Numerology Chaldean Numerology The numerical value of knocking on heavens door in Chaldean Numerology is: 9 Pythagorean Numerology The numerical value of knocking on heavens door in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5.
Select another language:. Please enter your email address: Subscribe. Discuss these knocking on heavens door definitions with the community: 0 Comments. Notify me of new comments via email. Cancel Report. Create a new account. Log In. Randy Crawford. Below is a more upbeat version of the often melancholy song. It is a version beautiful enough to temporarily forget the somber meaning of the lyrics.
And althought it is slightly different from the original version, the lyrics still describes the sentiments of a man who is ready to pass on to the next world. Report this comment. Your email address will not be published.
Credit: Poetical Me.
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