Cold Irons Bound

I have been reading the book 'Troubadour' by Andrew Muir. It is a fantastic collection of thoughts and essays about Bob Dylan's music. I agreed with about 99% of what he said... and that is saying something because I am rather picky!

The small area where I tend to disagree with Mr. Muir is on the issue of the song 'Cold Irons Bound' from the album Time out of Mind.

The straightforward approach is usually the best and most powerful way to present a Dylan song. The sound throughout 'Time Out of Mind' is soupy and littered with electronic faffing. I can certainly agree that Daniel Lanois' production (as on 'Oh Mercy') is not to everyone's taste - his heavy touch with echo and reverb detract from the simple emotion of Dylan's voice. However, I feel I must stand up and defend the song 'Cold Irons Bound' from any detractors.

The song has been criticized for being disjointed, and I believe that this was a deliberate move by Dylan to fit the themes of the album as a whole as well as the song. There is a repetitive, driving, harsh and fitful drum alongside a monotone tune that rarely varies. This too, I feel, is deliberate and fits well with the feel of the song.

The recurring themes of the album are all here - aging, death, vain love, mental illness and loss.

Loss is perhaps the most important theme. There is loss of self (we hear the protagonist is '...waist deep in the mist / It's almost like I don't exist' and that he is '...out of control / like the universe has swallowed me whole'). There is loss of love, loss of beauty... and a loss of certainty that is so unlike the cocksure young Bob Dylan of 1965 it makes one painfully aware of the life journey he has been through.

The most interesting loss to be considered is the possibility that this song, and the album as a whole, describes a loss of religious faith (or at least a questioning). The title of this specific song is poignant and one wonders where Dylan first heard it. There is a passage in the 'Book of Common Prayer' that describes people awaiting 'salvation' as '...wearied in cold and heavy irons... bound in the shadow of death' .

Potentially, Dylan could be referring to the poem by Rudyard Kipling, also called Cold Iron. The Kipling poem is about a rich Baron who foolishly challenges a king to a battle - the 'king' turning out to be Jesus - and the symbolism if the 'cold iron' shifts from representing cannon-balls and prison shackles to finally forming the iron nails that fastened Jesus to the cross. The 'king' forgives the Baron and the 'cold iron' which is 'master of all' leads to salvation.

Whichever way we consider the song, the repeated chorus shows the the song's protagonist still bound in these constricting irons and is 'twenty miles out of town'. Is he leaving or trying to get there? Trying to get to heaven? Trying to reach the 'highlands'? Are his shackles his own shortcomings? His past? His losses? His conscience? As with the best Dylan songs, we are left with more questions than answers.

In terms of the music production, Dylan's voice is somewhat lost in the melee of sound. I am unsure as to whether this was Lanois' over-exuberance or a deliberate ploy. I am not particularly enamoured of this production style. As always, though, Dylan's vocals are pure perfection!

I prefer the numerous live versions of the song. It creeps up on a person - like aging or confusion might. The disjointed images stay in the mind and haunt the memory. The despair, the romanticism, the attempts at being an upright citizen in the face of all these worldly temptations, and the almost metaphysical interplay between religion and physical lust.

The song is contagious - rough and touching simultaneously.

You can probably tell I really like it! Anyway, I hope this is the closest I ever get to dissecting a Dylan song on my blog. The analysis is usually something I do as a private activity!