This Wheel's on Fire Lyrics
We were going to meet again and wait
So I'm going to unpack all my things
And sit before it gets too late.
No man alive would come to you
With another tale to tell
And you know that we shall meet again
If your memory serves you well.
Rolling down the road.
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode.
I was going to confiscate your lace
And wrap it up in a sailor's knot
And hide it in your case.
If I knew for sure that it was yours
But it was oh so hard to tell
And you know that we shall meet again
If your memory serves you well.
It's rolling down the road.
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode.
You'll remember you're the one
That called on me to call on them
To get you your favours done.
And after every plan had failed
And there was nothing more to tell
You knew that we should meet again
If your memory serves you well.
It's rolling down the road.
Best notify my next of kin
That this wheel shall explode.
'0'? No one has commented on this song? Unbelievable.
The wheel is a symbol of eternal life through rebirth, his "wheel" is his soul.
The song is a conversation between the protagonist and God. God promises immortal life through servitude and threatens his ambitions (every plan has failed) by not answering his prayers (called on me ....to get your favors done). This is defiantly rejected by the protagonist who chooses destruction/Apocalypse - a wheel on fire. Notify my next of kin is meant to antagonize, as if to say, tell that to somebody that cares. One of Dylan;s boldest efforts in my view.
Don't remember where I read this but the "wheel on fire" is also a reference to Dylan's 1966 motorcycle accident.
thats what I though of too, but you explained it very well.
I don't think the song has anything to do with God. Look at the second verse:If your memory serves you well I was going to confiscate your lace And wrap it up in a sailor's knot And hide it in your case."
Lace belongs to ladies. It is clear that this is a relationship gone very wrong. There is a lot of anger, with the repetition of "If you memory serves you well". Clearly, she is tellng lies about what went wrong. He is reminding her that she was the one who needed him. Now he "the wheel" ( often used as a term for a person as in a Big Wheel) is getting the hell out of there, because he's going to explode with fury.
My view is this is an allusion to the three fates and the cord/thread of life. Lace is, at bottom, a complicated thread. The case is a casket. The suggestion of a sailor's knot feeds into the sense of control the first voice attempts to exert upon the second.
My view is this is an allusion to the three fates and the cord/thread of life. Lace is, at bottom, a complicated thread. The case is a casket. The suggestion of a sailor's knot feeds into the sense of control the first voice attempts to exert upon the second.
could be about a relationship hone wrong; but
"No man alive would come to you With another tale to tell And you know that we shall meet again If your memory serves you well."
this in the first verse really feels like talking to God. Also "If your memory serves you well I was going to confiscate your lace And wrap it up in a sailor's knot And hide it in your case." in verse 2, kinda has a biblical imagery attached to it. I'm not sure, but it really feels like that.
and after that the below lines, also seems like the feeling of uncertainty about what to make of life's events. "If I knew for sure that it was yours But it was oh so hard to tell"
I could be reading too much into it, though.
The lyrics are quite obtuse in places and the verses don’t seem to gel with the chorus making it a puzzling song. It recently occurred to me that it might be about Joan Baez who as we know was a big influence on Dylan and who he may have been in love with earlier to the time this was written. He may be anticipating a future when they spend some kind of time together again. ‘You’re the one that called on me etc.’ may be a direct reference to Joan using Bob’s popularity to promote the folk movement. The lace references may indicate he may have considered marriage thus curtailing her activities (I’ve read she was a bit promiscuous) but in fact was unsure of her at that time - though he allegedly dumped her in the end. The chorus may be him seeing his most prolific period as being ‘on fire’ and taking its own tumultuous path (until it ends?). Who knows…