cold irons bound
Stephen Scobie/Maureen Scobie
There has been some discussion in the group recently on whether or not it
is reasonable to read the title "Cold Irons Bound" as a reference to the
Iron Range of Minnesota, the iron-mining country around Hibbing. I think
the reference is quite complex, and involves (at least) two quite
contradictory stages, as follows:
(1) In the text of the song, what Dylan sings is definitely "I'm twenty
miles out of town / In cold irons bound." This usage prohibits any
interpretation of the phrase "cold irons" as a placename. The "in" means
that "bound" has to be interpreted as "confined, imprisoned, tied up."
"bound" in the sense of "headed in the direction of" requires the
proposition "for," not "in." So in the song, the primary sense is that
the singer is confined, chained, probably as a convict on a chain gang.
Since he is "twenty miles out of town," he is deprived of even the minimal
comforts of a cell in a warm jailhouse. Indeed, I am tempted to see it as
an image of lynching: that he has been assailed by a mob, chained, and
left in a ditch where no one will find him, "twenty miles out of town."
After this literal reading, of course, it is possible, even necessary, to
see the image as metaphorical: not that he is literally in this state, but
that he feels as if he was -- lost, abandoned, hopeless, despairing,
doomed.
(2) But, having said all that, the interesting fact is that the title of
the song is not "In Cold Irons Bound," but simply "Cold Irons Bound." And
that, idiomatically, does invite the reading "bound for" (in the direction
of) "Cold Irons" -- esepcially since it echoes exactly the same
construction, a couple of songs earlier, "I'll be Dixie bound." My trusty
Britannica atlas lists no place name under "Cold Iron(s)," so I guess we
are thrown back to the Iron Range (which sure is cold). I would, however,
dispute any suggestion that the song talks about a comfortable or
nostalgic return to childhood. The connotations of "lost, abandoned,
hopeless, despairing, doomed" are in no way cancelled out by the possible
reading of "Cold Irons" as a placename. Like all of "Time Out Of Mind,"
the song offers absolutely no easy answers, no positive or unproblematical
image of salvation. Whatever the equivocation of the phrasing of the
title, the primary image remains a negative one.
Stephen
--
Stephen Scobie Maureen Scobie
Mark Moore
On 8 Oct 1997, Stephen Scobie/Maureen Scobie wrote:
> Like all of "Time Out Of Mind,"
> the song offers absolutely no easy answers, no positive or unproblematical
> image of salvation.
Neither does the Bible. Let me also add that Jesus tended to confound
rather than clarify, to most listeners.
I have always thought that the following lines are very important in
understanding Bob Dylan, as is the entire song:
I can't provide for you no easy answers,
Who are you that I should have to lie?
You'll know all about it, love,
It'll fit you like a glove
When the night comes falling from the sky.
Time Out Of Mind continues in the same vein. The full meaning of the
words ultimately depends on the experience of the listener. The truth is
experiential rather than abstract, which is why communication has its
limits.
Amelia Cruz
It means to me:
I've been divorced from you for twenty years
and I'm still imprisoned by your memory
spjo...@earthlink.net
I think one point in favor of the shackles view is this phrase from "Dirt
Road Blues": "'til the chains have been shattered and I've been freed."
And regarding the preposition question, while I hear "in" cold irons bound,
even without "in" you could still have a person whose way of living is
heading him straight for prison, whether physical or emotional -- "the
walls of pride are high and wide, can't see over to the other side."
Biffyshrew
>"the walls of pride are high and wide, can't see over to the other side."
"Walls"? Okay, Zimmy, which is it: is pride a foot or a wall?
--The Metaphor Police
(I never metaphor I didn't like)