Bob Dylan: Senor Meaning

Senor Lyrics

Señor, Señor, can you tell me where we're headin ?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon ?
Seems like I been down this way before
Is there any truth in that, Señor?

Señor, Señor, do you know where she is hidin' ?
How long are we gonna be...

1. anonymous

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   Dec 8th 2012 !⃝

   Another tidbit or nugget to add to the discussion of the interpretation of this song. I was reading up about the plot of the movie, "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid", and discovered that there is a reference to the "Lincoln County Jail" (the jail in which Alias (played by Bob Dylan) had witnessed Billy the Kid escape from.
   
   I wonder if the line about Lincoln County Road (in this song) has anything to do with that. Not that it would make any sense that he would be looking back at that time in his life necessarily (since that would have been about 5 years prior to Street-Legal)...
   
   But who knows, right?
2. anonymous

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   Oct 18th 2012 !⃝

   Mason Kuldinow says: I think the song is a man talking to the man inside (the man in me) who he refers to as Senor. He's fighting addiction. There are famous examples of men taking to the utmost resolve of the man inside--most notably Jesus--overturn these tables, and disconnect these cables.
3. anonymous

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   Sep 7th 2012 !⃝

   I always thought this song was about death. "Senor" being a physical embodiment of death. The singer may have escaped death at another time hence "seems I've been down this way before" but lost his love and is hoping to see her in the afterlife now, If only he is heading to the same place (heaven/hell) as her. hence: "can you tell me where we're headin ?.....Will there be any comfort there Señor?". This is where the humility comes into play (which I believe is what makes this song so powerful, the singers humility and submission)
   
   as the song progresses the singer becomes anxious for answers about his fate, hence: "Can't stand the suspense anymore
   Can you tell me who to contact here, Señor?"
   
   by the second to last verse the singer accepts that he is heading to hell and is ready to be judged, hence: "Well, give me a minute, let me get it together
   I just gotta pick myself up off the floor
   I'm ready when you are, Señor."
   
   and in the last verse the singer grows impatient wondering when he will be dealt his punishment: "This place don’t make sense to me no more
   Can you tell me what we’re waiting for, Señor?" not realizing that THIS is his hell.
   
   Well at least that's how I interpret it and iI am going to stick with my version. Lol
   
   Like many Dylan songs from this era, I believe that the political and geographical content just serves as a backdrop to tell the story, which consists of basic human emotions and situations. Many people mistake Dylan's songs as political when in actuality , time and time again, he is trying to prove that all the political nonsense is meaningless in the shadow of the most important basic human experiences.
4. anonymous

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   Jan 27th 2012 !⃝

   I keep picturing human smuggling into US from Mexico
5. anonymous

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   May 9th 2011 !⃝

   The words become relevant today and the meaning seems clearer. "can you tell me where we're heading?. "...the lies continuously fed to the people by politicians is questioned.
   
   Lincoln County road or Armageddon refers to the potential of freedom politically or the inevitable final hour where the earth is destroyed by human greed ( politicians).
   
   Train load of fools bogged down by magnetic fields refers to a population continuously lured and fooled by the magnetic charms of willy politicians that make promises of the promised land yet deliver nothing but lies and destruction.
6. anonymous

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   Feb 14th 2011 !⃝

   I think the "train load of fools born down in a magnetic field" has some meaning related to atomic bomb development or testing. Armageddon might be another clue to that, and the 'stripped and kneeled' part might have to do with testing part of the bomb-weren't there some live test subjects supposedly in there somewhere?
   
   Just a guess; it is a tough nut to crack.
7. m320753

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   Apr 6th 2009 !⃝

   this song is a tough nut to crack . i find myself just listening to it for pure enjoyment of the phrasing of words . the opening verse blows me away senor ,senor can you tell me where were heading, lincoln county road or armaggedon. i also like the way he makes a word his own. take the way he sings suspence, susssss pence any more. he does that in other songs also which makes him unique (see changing of the guard, ) every time you get a bootleg he sings the same songs differantly from one night to the next. that;s what dylan dylan
8. jiminikrikitz

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   Apr 1st 2009 !⃝

   I don't have a full interpretation of this song, but I do have some ideas about where this song is 'heading' or the picture that it's supposed to be painting.
   
   The song is actually 'Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)'. You sense that the people in the song are on the road during a period of war or unrest.
   
   There are rural elements of the tune, which include wagons, train spike's, etc.
   
   The line that I find most fascinating is the verse...
   
   'Well the last thing I remember before they stripped and kneeled was a train load of fools born down in a magnetic field.'
   
   I believe that when he states 'stripped and kneeled', he is talking about people that were held up at gunpoint, and were forced to strip themselves of their clothes and kneel down before being killed.
   
   While there is no clear meaning of this song, I sense that the singer is in the role of a murderer, perhaps among many, and not the leader of his 'gang of killers.' He is singing to the leader, the senor, who has gone overboard in his violence, and the singer is now wishes to get done with whatever task they have embarked on, desiring to 'turn over these tables, disconnect these cables.' He wishes to complete the dastardly task at hand, the burglary, the cover up, or whatever the plan was from the beginning, which has clearly gone haywire from it's original intention.

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