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[email protected] (CHRISTOPHER ROLLASON) writes:
>This association of drumming and war is common in the folk tradition: the folk song 'Nottamun Town', from which Dylan took the tune for 'Masters of War', has the arresting image of a 'stark naked drummer' walking through a deserted, war-devastated town. It is quite possible that those drum references in 'Teardrops' and 'She Belongs to Me' also have connotations of war, or at least violence. In the first, the drums and fifes might symbolize a state of aggression that the two lovers have to pass through together before they reach the space of quiet 'where teardrops fall';Very interesting reading throughout. I believe "Teardrops" may possess an alternate significance, or work on another level. The line, "I've torn my clothes..." suggests the Old Testament tradition of "renting" one's clothes to demonstrate either grief or most often repentance (accompanied by grief.) The place "where teardrops fall" may then be seen as a place of repentant prayer. To my mind this illuminates the lines, "roses are red, violets are blue, time is beginning to crawl, etc..." as an expression of the limits of inspiration experienced where teardrops do *not* fall, wherever that might be. The poet seeks a new place to start, which the faithful find only & ever in prayer & often tearful repentance, joy not excluded. The slow drum & the low fife is one of the most beautiful aspects of the song I feel. -jh
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