Refer to the lyrics at www.bobdylan.com
catherine yronwode wrote:
I have always interpreted it that way -- Love from which zero has been subtracted is...love. But the full title is Love Minus Zero/No Limits. Since "zero" sets up the idea of emotions being numbered, "no limits" implies an unlimited or an infinite amount of love. So this is a song about complete love from which nothing has been subtracted and with is eternal and all-encompassing.
Peter Guy wrote:
I always thought it was an equation, love minus zero over (divided by) no limits. The latter making more sense if you look at it like a formula in a spreadsheet. And yes I haven't forgotten that none of us knew about spreadsheets when it was released, it was probably just difficult to print as
love minus zero
-----------------------
no limits
Does that make any sense at all?
Peter
R DAY K wrote:
love minus zero / no limit
Usually this song is written just the way it appears above, with a slash mark.
But a friend of mine was looking through a book of Dylan tablature and he
noticed that it was written this way:
LOVE MINUS ZERO
________________
NO LIMIT
Well, the line was a little closer to the words, but I can't underline here.
Friend's theory is that Love Minus Zero/No Limit is actually a fraction, and
the slash means, "divided by" rather than "either/or".
So the fraction would be Love minus 0 divided by no limit, i.e. eternity.
Michael Miller wrote:
I'm not sure about that. Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but Bob's math equation is not equal to infinity. There are two possible cases, love is either finite or infinite. If love is finite, then you are dividing a finite number by infinity, which results in zero. If love is infinite, then dividing infinity by infinity is indeterminate (can't be solved). Of course, maybe that is what Bob is saying, love cannot be figured out. However, it's been a long time since my college math days. If I am in error, please correct me.
Mike
Dr CP Lee wrote:
Bruce Yettra (a RMD reader/contributor) has taken the smack angle in his interpretation of 'ceremonies of the horsemen', etc - But there is another angle on this...
Avant garde film maker Meya Deren (?) released an album of Haitian Voodoo rituals some time in the 1950s. She recorded them in the field in and around 1948. I seem to remember it being on Folkways or a similar label and its title was 'Ceremonies Of The Horsemen'.
Greg Wallace wrote:
Nice citation. I always interpreted horsemen as "the powers that are (be?)" and that fits the Love Minus Zero, in which pawns seem forced to take sides where they've no stake. Horsemen being knights, generals, board members, politicians, the people that make the earth shake for those of us who can't be bothered. This interpretation has the additional advantage of being close to Dylan's heart and consistent with his lifelong point of view. He feels this way during protest, protest against protest, on the desolation row, during the romantic period, during the evangelistic period, more and more every year.
Ronnie wrote:
Could it be that the Pawns in a chess game are getting fed up with the Knights(Horses) who can jump right over them without even saying excuse me. The Horseman are the only piece that can pre-empt the Pawn in their first move.
robertandrews wrote:
[the song is about].. romantic love expressed in an unconventional way. The song primarily conveys a mood; the music is flowing & sweet. Dylan contrasts society's politics (conclusions on the wall), tangible elements of love (roses, gifts, etc.), with his lover's natural state (or the pure way he sees her). It's reminiscent of the Beatles' She's A Woman -- "my love don't give me presents." In this case, romantic love is elevated beyond limit & measure.
My love she speaks like silence.
Yet she's true, like ice, like fire.
She knows too much to argue or to judge.
In the midst of society's babble, his love stands knowingly apart. Her wisdom is beyond politics & games. In her perfection, she represents the simplicity of true love.
Yet the song carries a dark message disguised by the laughter & flowers.
Notice how each verse grows more somber. The second line foreshadows the rest: without ideals or violence. Why violence? Her love is better than the violent world, but she's not immune to its effects. We start with roses (presents), move to books & quotes (politics), and then we encounter the ominous cloak and dagger & ceremonies of the horseman. Violence is brewing. Matchstick statues are crumbling. And then, a final verse prefiguring All Along the Watchtower:
The wind howls like a hammer
The night blows cold and rainy
After this sunny ode to love, we're once again back in rain. There's a crack in Dylan's pure ideal, and his love is wounded:
My love she's like some raven
At my window with a broken wing
It is precisely her vulnerability that leads her to him. If she were perfect, there would be no love. Does he take her in? Leave her outside? What does the image of the raven impart? (she's not a sparrow).
I think the raven shows the depth of romantic love. It shows that we must accept our own vulnerability & suffering if we truly want to love. One could also relate the wise men & their gifts to the Bible, and how it's our decision whether to accept or reject someone who stood apart from society & died for love.
For me, love is love. I think Dylan takes her in.