Bob Dylan: Mississippi Meaning

Mississippi Lyrics

Every step of the way, we walk the line
Your days are numbered, so are mine
Time is piling up, we struggle and we scrape
We're all boxed in, nowhere to escape

City's just a jungle, more games to play
Trapped in the heart of it, tryin' to get...

1.  

   anonymous

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   Oct 23rd, 2014 10:31pm report

   
   

   Old joke:
   
   "Hey did you hear about Davis? He died last night in Jackson."
   
   "Guess he stayed in Mississippi a day too long."
   
   Song is about death, regrets and coming to terms.

   
   
   
   

2.  

   anonymous

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   Sep 24th, 2012 9:12am report

   
   

   I think its a very general reflection on his past adult life, his feelings towards it and those close to him. I think it encompasses all the interpretations you made to bob [maybe the christ interpretation isnt what it meant to bob]. Its his acceptance of his travelling past that he has accpeted and his only mistakes where getting stuck on some things 'a day too long'.
   It should be interpreted as an accpetance of change and aging along with all the relationships along the way.

   
   
   
   

3.  

   anonymous

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   Dec 4th, 2011 12:02pm report

   
   

   Bob is singing about about his behavior and treatment by fan and critics

   
   
   
   

4.  

   anonymous

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   Jul 13th, 2011 7:08pm report

   
   

   Well the devil's in the alley
   mule is in the stall
   say anything you want to
   I have heard it all
   
   A PERSON SAYING HE'S BEEN CALLED ALL DEROGATORY NAMES
   
   I was thinking about the things Rosie said
   I was dreaming I was sleeping in Rosie's bed
   
   THINKING ABOUT THE THINGS CHRIST SAID
   DREAMING I WAS CHRIST
   
   

   
   
   
   

5.  

   anonymous

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   Jun 29th, 2011 6:49am report

   
   

   It's a song about a relationship. Like in the Johnny Cash song, there are ties that bind (I walk the line), but this also feels like imprisonment, confinement, constraint. The narrator is talking to a partner -- they are both close and distant. Sometimes he knows her, tonight he don't. There are regrets, and they are both sorry. The narrator thinks his ship (of life) is splintered and sinking, but he feels affection for the partner (and others) who have sailed with him. In the final stanza, he contemplates endless emptiness and the cold clay (death), but he knows there's no stepping backwards.
   Why was staying in Mississippi the one thing he done wrong? Because he has always got in trouble when he sets his suitcase down. And he overstayed by a day. It could have been a parole violation. More likely he stayed in Mississippi and met this partner, or met someone else who is replacing them as his partner.