Making the Interpretive Leap, All Along the Watchtower

After shuffling songs a few times, I have landed my final choice.  I will be analyzing the song “All Along the Watchtower”.  Originally preformed by Bob Dylan the song has since been covered by numerous musicians.  One of the most prominent covers being Jimi Hendrix’s version which Bob Dylan is alleged to have preferred over his original version.  

The song is unique in the fact that it very literally tells a story. The story is specific yet vague enough to be interpreted in multiple contexts. "There must be some way out of here" said the joker to the thief, "There's too much confusion", I can't get no relief. Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth. None of them along the line know what any of it is worth. "No reason to get excited", the thief he kindly spoke, "There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke, but you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate. So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late". All along the watchtower, princes kept the view, while all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too. Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl. Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.”  The brief story clearly depicts two characters in a predicament.  The lyrics and characters have been taken into multiple contexts and seen as everything from their literal positions to the roles of biblical characters.

The song was recently used in a movie trailer.  The 2013 movie 2 Guns used the song in its trailer.  The trailer did not use the original Dylan song, nor the famous Hendrix cover.  The trailer uses a recent cover by Ed Sheeran and up-and-coming English rapper Devlin.  The song and movie find similar parallels in the fact that each tells a story of a duo in a tight situation.  I feel the song was a perfect match for the movie in its interesting lyricism.