Shooting Star

Although this song is typically looked at in terms of Dylan looking back at his evangelical period, I think it can also be looked at as a sad song about a failed relationship (like many Dylan songs with the dual man-woman/man-god theme).

I've always seen it as being about an ordinary guy who is with an ambitious woman - perhaps socially ambitious, or in some particular sphere of endeavour - career, art, who knows? ("You were trying to break into another world, a world I never knew?")

Anyway, she leaves him behind, and they go their separate ways with him a little mystified and without a map or compass ("over-step the line that only you could see").

Finally, he has to face the future without her, and perhaps with regret he reflects that maybe the failure was partly his and that he did not try to understand her motivations and support her, leading to the failure of the relationship ("it's too late to say the things to you that you needed to hear me say.")

In this context the "last temptation" bridging section is symbolic of finality, of the end of the relationship and their part in each other's lives.

Anyway, just my take. I love both the 'Unplugged' and 'Oh Mercy' versions of this song. According to Chronicles this was one of two tracks Dylan cranked out at the last minute when recording Oh Mercy - I'm glad he did.

I wouldn't have thought that this was about Bob Dylan. Except maybe for the third paragraph about the sermon on the mount etc. Its more about a changing situation, with one person going into new experiences and a different world and leaving the other one behind.

"I guess it's too late to say the things to you/that you needed to hear me say" Bob Dylan Is Amazingly Passionate His Gremini Star Sign Makes/made him promiscuous But sex and love are different And I should think Any woman Would be lucky to have any guy Who could Write Lines Like that, and so obviously mean them.

Bob wrote that he felt he didn't write this song so much as inherit it. I don't know exactly what he means, but I like to think he's saying that the ideas are universal and timeless. This isn't Bob the storyteller from Tangled up in Blue; Shooting Star expresses with bare-bones eloquence a thread of emotion that runs through every life. Regret, solitude, hindsight, and the inevitable parting of ways that is the human condition. "We both heard voices for a while/Now the rest is history" is an earlier remark on the same sentiment. Catch the MTV Unplugged version on Youtube if you haven't seen it yet.

This seems to be a prayer of a person that was reminded (too late?) of Jesus returning and calling to account.

the message is we have all felt like this at one time or another. Have we all done everything in this life that we could have done. have we lived up to our own expectations and others or have we all suffered from guilt? Yes because its human emotion or what ever you wish to call it. bob puts emotion in his music like all great musicians. they touch on what we all share in humanity. we are all connected but petty differences keep us all divided. will we learn to all live in peace someday? I doubt it,but I can dream cant I? good music makes you happy. great music makes you think.

in my opinion a pretty simple dylan song to interpret, a tad evangelistic like a good few dylan, the star may remind him of someone, but its pretty much about his feelings when he sees a shooting star, often a magical fleeting experience....

in my opinion a pretty simple dylan song to interpret, a tad evangelistic like a good few dylan, the star may remind him of someone, but its pretty much about his feelings when he sees a shooting star, often a magical fleeting experience....

in my opinion a pretty simple dylan song to interpret, a tad evangelistic like a good few dylan, the star may remind him of someone, but its pretty much about his feelings when he sees a shooting star, often a magical fleeting experience....

in my opinion a pretty simple dylan song to interpret, a tad evangelistic like a good few dylan, the star may remind him of someone, but its pretty much about his feelings when he sees a shooting star, often a magical fleeting experience....