Deciphering Bob Dylan's "Isis"

"Isis" is probably my all-time favorite song by Bob Dylan (though "Simple Twist of Fate" is in serious competition). I've listened to it hundreds of times. It's a 6+ minute song that has no chorus, just a winding tale of a man's journey and a woman named Isis. I find myself singing along frequently, and only recently have I started to really listen to the lyrics and attempt to decode them. Jen and I listened to it twice in a row last night and wondered about some things and tried to develop a sensical explanation for them all.

I married Isis on the fifth day of May
But I could not hold on to her very long
So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away
For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong.

I came to a high place of darkness and light
The dividing line ran through the center of town
I hitched up my pony to a post on the right
Went in to a laundry to wash my clothes down.

A man in the corner approached me for a match
I knew right away he was not ordinary
He said "Are you looking for something easy to catch ?"
I said "I got no money". He said "That ain't necessary".

We set out that night for the cold in the North
I gave him my blanket he gave me his word
I said "Where are we going ?" He said "We'd be back by the fourth"
I said "That's the best new that I've ever heard".

I was thinking about turquoise I was thinking about gold
I was thinking about diamonds and the world's biggest necklace
As we rode through the canyons through the devilish cold
I was thinking about Isis how she thought I was so reckless.

How she told me that one day we meet up again
And things would be different the next time we wed
If I only could hang on and just be her friend
I still can't remember all the best things she said.

We came to the pyramids all embedded in ice
He said "There's a body I'm trying to find
If I carry it out it'll bring a good prize"
It was then that I knew what he had on his mind.

The wind it was howling and the snow was outrageous
We chopped through the night and we chopped through the dawn
When he died I was hoping that it wasn't contagious
But I made up my mind that I had to go on.
I broke into the tomb but the casket was empty
There was no jewels no nothing I felt I'd been had
When I saw that my partner was just being friendly
When I took up his offer I must-a been mad.

I picked up his body and I dragged him inside
Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover
I said a quick prayer and I felt satisfied
Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her.

She was there in the meadow where the creek used to rise
Blinded by sleep and in need of a bed
I came in from the East with the sun in my eyes
I cursed her one time then I rode on ahead.

She said "Where ya been ?" I said "No place special ?"
She said "You look different" I said "Well I guess"
She said "You been gone" I said "That's only natural"
She said "You gonna stay ?" I said "If you want me to, Yeah."

Isis oh Isis you mystical child
What drives me to you is what drives me insane
I still can remember the way that you smiled
On the fifth day of May in the drizzling rain.

The part that concerns me is that which takes him on a journey with this man he meets. ...So, he's this guy in love but can't be tied down and seeks some sort of adventure. He sets off and ends up in a random town where he meets a guy who tells him about a 'tomb' that is supposedly full of jewels and such and that, if he joins him, they could rob it together and reap the riches from it. So he agrees, and they set off in search of this tomb. Along the way, the weird guy dies. He continues on in search of these supposed jewels and when he finds the tomb, there was nothing inside. He realizes he'd made a big mistake by trusting the man, and then buries him there.

We theorized that this man knew that he was going to die and didn't have a friend to ensure him a proper burial, so he 'preys' upon him (the narrator/'Bob') in a non-threatening way and gets him to agree to coming along on the journey to rob the tomb, which obviously does not exist and is just the place where the man wanted to be buried. He eventually dies during their excursion, and when they get to the supposed tomb and there's nothing there, the realization sets in that this man just wanted to be buried there and he'd scammed 'Bob'. He then realizes what he's left behind and goes back for his lady, Isis. Of course, these are very literal takes on the lyrics..and thinking about the meaning is only part of the enjoyment I get from the song. It's just one of my favorites to listen to over and over.


Anyway, I turned to a lyrical-meaning website and found the following comments that somewhat support my ideology:

The guy is not going to kill Dylan. And Dylan didn't kill him. The guy was sick and had nobody to bury him, so he just wanted Dylan to help him. When Dylan realizes that, how sad loneliness can be, he goes back to his Goddess.

A man wanted to be buried in a tomb, had no one else to do it, so he turned to Bob...
simple.

& some other interesting takes,

In one of his concerts that I have Dylan says it is a song about marriage.

This is another Bob Dylan/Jacques Levy collaboration, as is every song on the album 'Desire'. Levy wrote the lyrics, the song is just a fun flight of fancy, a shot at Bob's desire to write a song with a narrative.

I also like how the grave-robber doesn't really answer Dylan's question. "Where are we going?" "We'll be back by the fourth." And the dialogue at towards the end. He gives some pretty bland answers to what Isis says, in spite of just getting back from this whole crazy adventure.

The song is a simple allegory - love is complicated and the character in the song leaves for a 'wild unknown country' where 'he can not go wrong', where the town is full of 'darkness and light' - simple dividing lines. He goes off on a search for treasure which he dreams of, but when he gets there there's nothing - 'no jewels - no nothing - I felt I'd been had.' He literally buries the guide who led him there adn returns to Isis 'just to tell her I loved her' - the real treasure in the story. Of course in the Egyptian myth, Isis is the one who puts Osiris back together again after he has been chopped into little pieces by Seth. I think the analogy of this 'putting him back together' is blindingly obvious.

I kind of feel like the song is all about the recklessness of youth and how commitment in marriage tends to mature us and make us a different person. "Cut off my hair and rode straight away" is almost cutting his ties to his relationship and responsibilities. He seems to be thinking about all the riches but at the same time about his responsibilities with Isis. The part that throws me off is after "I knew then what he had on his mind". Kind of like a change kindness to this deceit. Me and my Dad originally believed that he was taken off by this grave robber who was trying to cash in on Bob's body or his riches. However, Bob uses some really confusing lines that almost contradict each other. "we chopped through the night" and "when he died I was hoping it wasn't contagious". We don't really know if they were chopping at each other, like a fight, or if the physical labor of chopping into the grave was what caused the other man to die.

This song, I think, is a celebration of some of the great world cultures:

• Egypt: Isis is an Egyptian Goddess
• Mexico: The Fifth Day Of May = Cinco De Mayo.
• Judaism-Jewish Tradition: He cuts his hair in grief. *See the book of Job in the Bible for an example.
• America/The New World: The Wild Unknown Country where I could not go wrong
• Iceland/North Pole/Alaska: A high (north) place of darkness and light... half the year is dark and half the year is light

Also references to directions: East, North, etc. It's like a celebratory adventure across the globe.