Bob Dylan - Shelter From The Storm

"Shelter from the Storm" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on September 17, 1974, and released on his 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks, in 1975. It was later anthologized on the compilation album The Essential Boby Dylan in 2000.

The story behind Bob Dylan’s “Shelter from the Storm,” is a perplexing one. The 1975 classic embodies a storyline that fans and critics alike have debated over the years.While “Shelter from the Storm” plays as part confession or lesson learned, it also embodies a spiritual, existential, poetic rumination on love lost. Fittingly, some critics have compared the track’s depiction of love to that of poets W.B. Yeats and Rainer Maria Rilke.

So What Does It All Mean?

“Shelter from the Storm” is a complex song with simple beginnings. It was born from three chords, a clear melody, and a different song entirely. “Shelter from the Storm” started as a tune called "Up To Me". During the recording sessions for his album, Blood on the Tracks, Dylan decided to rewrite the song’s lyrics. He kept the same soul-stirring acoustic melody, but recorded what would become “Shelter from the Storm” in its place.Dylan was reportedly dealing with the separation from his wife and longtime muse, Sara Dylan, as he was writing much of the material for Blood on the Tracks. Many say “Shelter from the Storm” was inspired by their collapsing marriage. Others say dismissing the song – and the album as a whole – as merely autobiographical would do a disservice to the work. 

Acoustic strums softly building from the void, “Shelter from the Storm” begins with a narrator, chronicling his past and what feels like another lifetime. It was a time of struggle until he encountered the elusive she. He sings:

‘Twas in another lifetime one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue, the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness a creature void of form
“Come in,” she said

“I’ll give you shelter from the storm”After every verse, she always offers a safe place to land, a shelter from the storm. He could be burned out from exhaustion buried in the hail / Poisoned in the bushes and blown out on the trail / Hunted like a crocodile ravaged in the corn, and shewould still be there to give refuge. Because of this the narrator promises, I’ll always do my best for her on that I give my word.

To read this song as an autobiography, she could definitely be his wife, a woman he sought comfort in during his struggle through early fame. She became a shelter from the storm of stardom, a place where it’s always safe and warm. But halfway through, the tune begins to take a turn.

Now there’s a wall between us something there’s been lost
I took too much for granted, I got my signals crossed
Just to think that it all began on an uneventful morn
“Come in,” she said
“I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

The narrator took for granted the safety and comfort she provided. With not enough said and too much left unresolved, the narrator now finds there is something between them. Because his shelter is crumbling, he sings nothing really matters much it’s doom alone that counts. He has encountered the old men with broken teeth stranded without love and begs the question, is it hopeless and forlorn? Can a love lost be found again?The song is peppered with religious imagery and subtle biblical references. He has lost everything. Like Jesus being stripped of his clothes and possessions, the narrator sings, In a little hilltop village they gambled for my clothes. The narrator begs for forgiveness and it proves futile. I bargained for salvation and she gave me a lethal dose / I offered up my innocence, I got repaid with scorn.

At the end of “Shelter from the Storm,” the narrator finds himself living in a foreign country, once again navigating uncharted territory alone. If he could only go back, turn back the clock and do things differently, he might still have his shelter from the storm.

Bron: https://americansongwriter.com/behind-bob-dylan-shelter-from-the-storm/

'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes an' blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Now there's a wall between us, somethin' there's been lost
I took too much for granted, I got my signals crossed
Just to think that it all began on an uneventful morn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

I've heard newborn babies wailin' like a mournin' dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation and she gave me a lethal dose
I offered up my innocence I got repaid with scorn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Well, I'm livin' in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor's edge, someday I'll make it mine
If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm