“Black Rider” by Bob Dylan
“Black Rider” is yet another song from Bob Dylan’s “Rough and Rowdy Ways” in which the listener is tasked with interpreting who exactly the titular character may be. What we do know, based on the lyrics, is that said figure is ever present in the singer’s life, somewhat of a pest if you will. And interesting to note is that Dylan also mentions a “Black Horse” on the track “My Own Version of You”, in what is apparently a reference to the Bible. But as for the “Black Rider” himself, it is not clear if this is a literal or symbolic individual. Indeed the way the lyrics read, he is most likely both.
Columbia Records released “Black Rider” in June 2020 as part of Bob’s “Rough and Rowdy Ways” project.
The long-tenured Dylan both produced and composed “Black Rider”.
Pretty sure the chords to this are either based on a JS Bach piece or based on the music of JS Bach
Black Rider; Seems too obvious but Death fits as a description when applied to every verse. Even cutting of an arm is a description of a futile attempt to put off the inevitable.
one of the four horseman in revelations in the bible
Sounds like someone with eyes for his wife.
The more I listen to this song, the more it seems that the black rider is perhaps an aspect of Dylan’s past self; a self he would prefer to leave behind, but that still exerts power in his life.
Is there a faint echo of “the motorcycle black madonna, two-wheel gypsy queen, and her silver-studded phantom..”?