Music in Islam: Halal or Haram?

I will begin with a disclaimer. I am a student of Islam not an authority on Islam. I do not pretend to speak for all Muslims or even any Muslim other than myself. I fully respect others who disagree with me. My aim is neither to promote nor to deter a certain type of behavior. Rather I intend to present evidence so that readers may make informed decisions.

Listening to music is permissible in Islam, within certain limitations, based on authoritative evidence. Music is not Halal because I say so but because the divinely inspired Sunnah says so.  Only Allah has the power to make something halal (permitted) or haram (prohibited) within Islamic law. If one doubts that Allah alone has this power, one need only look to Surah Tahreem. It says, “O Prophet! Why holdest thou to be forbidden that which Allah has made lawful to thee?” (66:1, Yusuf Ali trans.) Not even Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had the power to dictate the permitted and the prohibited.

Only a narrow domain of actions are prohibited while an expansive galaxy of actions is permitted. In a dispute over the permissibility of an action, the burden of proof lies on the person arguing for prohibition.  It would be impractical for the Quran and Sunnah to list all the things which are permitted. Instead Allah has chosen to inform us of the narrow domain of prohibited actions, with the understanding that actions He has not mentioned are permitted. Also, rather than delineating each possible individual case, like saying murdering parents is prohibited, murdering spouses is prohibited, and so on, actions are grouped into broad categories. Islam says, all murder, defined as the unjustified taking of human life, is prohibited. Since the burden of proof is on the one arguing for prohibition, if both I and my opponent present weak unconvincing evidence, I win because my opponent has not met the burden of proof while I have no burden of proof to meet. Pretty cool, huh? I could still lose, however, if my opponent presents strong evidence of the prohibition of music and I present weak evidence of its permissibility.

On joyous occasions, the Prophet (S) not only allowed, but encouraged the playing of music. One tradition that supports this claim comes from the collection of Ibn Majah who reports that Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

Aishah, a wife of the Prophet,  gave a girl relative of hers in marriage to a man of the Ansar. The Prophet (S) came and asked, ‘Did you send a singer along with her?’  ’No,’ said Aishah. The Messenger of Allah (S) then said, ‘The Ansar are a people who love poetry. You should have sent along someone who would sing, ‘Here we come, to you we come, greet us as we greet you.’ “

What’s interesting about this tradition is that the Prophet (S) is not only saying music is permitted, he is saying that, at a wedding, it is preferable to have music than to go without.  He even suggests a few verses to be sung, lending support to the idea that he himself was one who enjoyed music.

In the authentic collections of Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim, one finds the following:

Aishah narrated that during the days of Mina, on the day of Eid ul-Adha, two girls were with her, singing and playing on a hand drum. The Prophet (S) was present, listening to them with his head under a shawl. Abu Bakr then entered and scolded the girls. The Prophet (S), uncovering his face, told him, ‘Let them be, Abu Bakr. These are the days of Eid.

In his masterwork, Ihya Ulum-al-Deen (Revival of the Religious Sciences), Imam al-Ghazzali, mentions a story of Abyssinians (Ethiopians) dancing with spears in the Prophet’s Masjid. When the Prophet (S) observed this, he said, “Carry on, O Bani Arfidah ( a name applied to the Ethiopians).” In addition, he asked his wife, Aishah, “Would you like to watch?” (WP is acting up and will not allow me to remove this underlining.)

If music were haram, this story would make no sense. Why would the Prophet (S) allow foreigners to come into his own masjid and desecrate it with unlawful entertainment? Why would he invite his wife to partake in something forbidden?

However, the status of music as halal does not mean Muslims can listen to any song, any time, for any purpose. In his book, The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam, Dr. Yusuf al-Qardawi, argues that certain limitations apply to music in Islam. In summary, these are the limitations:

1. If the music has lyrics, the lyrics should not conflict with the teachings of Islam.

2. Singing must not be sexually suggestive or obscene.

3. Muslims should not indulge in music to the point of excess. When a Muslim spends so much time on music that it interferes with his obligations as a Muslim, he is in danger.

4. If one finds that a certain type of music impels one to feel or to behave in a way that draws one away from Allah and away from Islam, one should avoid it.

5. Music must never accompany prohibited activities like drinking alcohol or gambling.

One final point remains. Those who say Islam prohibits music point to a specific Quranic verse that states,

And among the people is the one who buys idle talk (at the expense of his soul) in order to lead (people) astray from the path of Allah without knowledge, holdng it in mockery; for such there will be a humiliating punishment. (31:6, English trans. from Qardawi)

A refutation of this point comes from none less than the Andalusian Islamic philosopher, Ibn Hazm, a man so oft quoted that the phrase, “Ibn Hazm said . . .” became a proverb in his time. Ibn Hazm said:

This verse condemns a particular behavior, that of doing something to mock the path of Allah . . . It is this type of behavior which is condemned by Allah and not the idle talk in which one may indulge for mere relaxation, without intending to lead people astray from the path of Allah.

Therefore, the Quran does not prohibit music. I welcome comments from people on both sides of this issue, but please, no spam.

The Rules of Taylor Swift Songs

The Rules of Taylor Swift Songs

1. You can’t necessarily tell if someone is a boy or a girl from his/her first name.

Examples – Drew, Cory, Taylor

1. Lovers are always at each other’s windows.

Examples – Video for “You Belong With Me,” 

Lyrics of “Our Song,” - Our song is the slamming screen door/
Sneaking out late, tapping on your window 

Lyrics of “Love Story” - That you were Romeo/
You were throwing pebbles/
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet/
And I was crying on the staircase

1. Don’t stay inside when it’s raining.

Examples – “Fearless,”  “And I don’t know why but with you I’d dance /
In a storm in my best dress”

“Hey Stephen”
Can’t help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain. . .

4.      Girls wear white dresses
Examples – Video for “You Belong With Me,” Lyrics of “Love Story” – “I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress” 

5.      Boys look like angels
“White Horse”
Say you’re sorry, that face of an angel/
Comes out just when you need it to 

“Hey Stephen”
Cause I can’t help it if you look like an angel

1. You mess with Taylor, you gotta deal with her dad.

“Love Story”

The Whole Song

 
“The Best Day”
I have an excellent father
His strength is making me stronger

“Picture to Burn”

And if you come around/
Saying sorry to me/
My daddy’s gonna show you how sorry you'll be

Song Analysis – We Weren’t Born To Follow – Bon Jovi

[Who is it that wasn’t born to follow? We can look at it narrowly and interpret the words to mean that the band, Bon Jovi, wasn’t born to follow. But I think the song has a broader scope. It could easily apply to the United States. Americans do not see themselves as followers, but as leaders. It could have an even broader application and refer to all people. Maybe no man or woman was born to follow. Humans are endowed with significant brain power and formidable strength. Most of us are born with the potential to lead. Notice that Bon Jovi isn’t talking about whether or not people follow in reality. Instead he’s talking about destiny. The “we” he’s talking about, weren’t destined to be followers.]

This one goes out to the man who mines for miracles
This one goes out to the ones in need
This one goes out to the sinner and the cynical
This ain’t about no apology
This road was paved by the hopeless and the hungry
This road was paved by the winds of change
Walking beside the guilty and the innocent
How will you raise your hand when they call your name?
Yeah, yeah, yeah

[The song begins with a look at a man who “mines for miracles.” Most of us don’t realize what a difficult thing it is to be a miner. Miners toil miles underground in a cramped space of almost total darkness. Mining for miracles suggests searching long and hard for something precious. It’s interesting how the speaker pairs “the sinner and the cynical.” These are two distinct types of people although not mutually exclusive ones. The sinner is one who has made mistakes before God. The cynical person refuses to believe. A sinner may still have faith and a cynical person may eschew sin.

When he says the song isn’t about an apology, he’s setting a bold, courageous tone. I like the line, “This road was paved by the hopeless and the hungry.” In a literal sense, our roads are built by people in the lower strata of society. When we are driving or riding in cars, how often do we stop to think about the work it took to construct the roads right beneath our feet? We don’t pay these people a lot or sow our gratitude to them, but without their work, our quality of life would be much less. In a figurative sense, “paving the way” means making a journey easier for the one who will follow you. I feel like this line is speaking about my parents, who came to the U.S. in the 1970’s, who struggled against racism and hard economic realities in order to make life easier for my generation.

Near the end of this stanza, Bon Jovi asks, “How will you raise your hand when they call your name?” This follows a line about guilt and innocence. I think what Bon Jovi is hinting at is that we will all face judgment. Judgment comes in many forms – from the way neighbors judge a new arrival to a suburb, to the way courts judge plaintiffs and defendants, to the Day of Judgment when all of humanity will testify before Allah. He is saying that in the mere act of raising one’s hand, one may reveal one’s guilt or innocence. ]
We weren’t born to follow
Come on and get up off your knees
When life is a bitter pill to swallow
You gotta hold on to what you believe
Believe that the sun will shine tomorrow
And that your saints and sinners bleed
We weren’t born to follow
You gotta stand up for what you believe
Let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah

[Here is where the title of the song first appears. Being on one’s knees suggests servitude or even begging. It represents an extreme form of following. It’s possible that there is a hidden political statement here. Many Americans are concerned about the extent to which Middle Eastern oil barons and Chinese industrialists control our republic. Maybe Bon Jovi is telling Congressmen to stop kowtowing to foreign interests. He stresses the importance of staying true to one believes. He’s talking about living by principles rather than being a shill to the dollar. He connects living by principles to optimism – the belief that “the sun will shine tomorrow.” I think one can argue that pessimists can be true to their principles too, but extreme pessimism and depression lead people into desperation. When people are desperate, they often compromise or even abandon their principles just to survive.

But Bon Jovi tempers this optimism with a dose of reality, saying “And [believe] that your saints and sinners bleed.” Regardless of one’s level of morality, one will suffer in life because that is the nature of existence. No true prophet would ever promise his followers freedom from suffering in this life. It may seem just that sinners suffer, but why do saints suffer? If people are following the path of God, why should they suffer? This is how God tests faith and makes it stronger. If saints lived happy, easy lives, then faith would be a simple act. People would believe in God and automatically their problems would disappear. How would anyone know if people believed in God for His own sake or just because it made their lives easy?  God wants to test if people truly believe in Him. When someone can lose their loved ones, their home, their job, their health or any of the blessings in his or her life, yet remain devoted to God, he or she shows a tremendous level of faith. When we experience hardship in life, but refuse to leave our principles, we fulfill our destinies that predict our future as strong, independent, thinking leaders.]

This one’s about anyone who does it differently
This one’s about the one who cusses and spits
This ain’t about our livin’ in a fantasy
This ain’t about givin’ up or givin’ in
Yeah, yeah, yeah

We weren’t born to follow
Come on and get up off your knees
When life is a bitter pill to swallow
You gotta hold on to what you believe
Believe that the sun will shine tomorrow
And that your saints and sinners bleed
We weren’t born to follow
You gotta stand up for what you believe
Let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah x2

[guitar solo]

We weren’t born to follow
Come on and get up off your knees
When life is a bitter pill to swallow
You gotta hold on to what you believe
Believe that the sun will shine tomorrow
And that your saints and sinners bleed
We weren’t born to follow
You gotta stand up for what you believe
Let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah x2

We weren’t born to follow – oh yeah x2

Song Analysis – “Everybody” – Ingrid Michaelson

We have fallen down again tonight,

In this world it’s hard to get it right.

Trying to make your heart fit like a glove,

What you need is love, love, love

[We all have times in our lives when we fall. It might be a bad grade, a disappointing evaluation at work, or a conflict in a relationship. In our sadness, we try to bring happiness back into our hearts. These are times when we depend most on the people we love.]

Chorus (x2):

Everybody, everybody wants to love,

Everybody, everybody wants to be loved.

Oh oh oh, oh oh oh

[This is so simple and so true. Everybody wants to love and everybody wants to be loved. We spend so much time fixating on the things that make us different – factors like race, nationality, religion, language, and culture. While these things all have a value and a place, we should not let them lead us to forget that all of humanity is one family. We realize in our nuclear families that everybody needs love, but the same is true of the Adamic or human family. Next time you are in a group of people, stop and remind yourself that everyone around you wants love.]

Happy is the heart that still feels pain,

Darkness drains and light will come again.

Swing open up your chest and let it in,

Just let the love, love, love begin.

[The beginning of this stanza sounds like a contradiction, but it is actually a piece of deep wisdom. What she’s saying is that it is better to have a heart that is sick than to have a heart that is dead. When bad things happen and you just have numbness inside, that is when you should really worry because it might mean that you are dead inside. ]

[Chorus x2]

Everybody knows the love

Everybody holds the love,

Everybody folds for love.

Everybody feels the love,

Everybody steals the love,

Everybody heals with love.

[She’s saying that everyone recognizes love. Everyone receives love. Everyone gives things up for love. Everyone perceives love. Everyone is greedy for love. And everyone is restored by love.]

Oh oh oh

Just let the love, love, love begin

[Chorus]

Just let the love, love, love begin

[Chorus]

[Chorus x4]

Song Analysis – Goodnight, Travel Well – The Killers

Song Analysis – “Goodnight, Travel Well” – The Killers
 
the unknown distance to the great beyond
stares back at my grieving frame
to cast my shadow by the holy sun
my spirit moans with a sacred pain
It's quiet now
the universe is standing still
 
[The speaker has lost someone close to him. I base this on the references to “the great beyond,”
i.e. the world of the Hereafter and “my grieving frame,” i.e. his mournful body. He refers to the “holy sun.” 
This strikes me as a pagan idea, to see the sun as holy. Muslims see the sun as a creation of Allah that demonstrates 
his infinite power, yet they condemn sun worship. Christians also reject the worship of the sun and the sun god Apollo. 
What follows is a beautifully poignant line - “My spirit moans with a sacred pain.” He’s talking about mourning someone’s 
death. In his sadness, he feels as if the whole universe is quiet and still.]
 
there's nothing I can say
there's nothing we can do now
there's nothing I can say
there's nothing we can do now
 
[Death makes people feel so helpless. It’s something that reminds us that Allah is powerful and 
we are weak. Words fail us at funerals. And action is also difficult in the wake of death. He’s saying 
that there’s nothing he can do to bring back the person he lost.]
 
and all that stands between the souls release
this temporary flesh and bone
we know that it's over now
I feel my faded mind begin to roam
 
[Here is the clearest evidence that the song has to do with death. Truly our flesh is temporary. 
The Quran says, “Every soul shall taste death”(Surah Ankabut, The Spider Chapter, 29:57). He 
finds it hard to focus. Often when a person dies, it sends our minds into chaos. Memories of the 
person’s life, guilt about their death, and worry about their salvation disturb the tranquility of our brains.]
 
every time you fall
and every time you try
every foolish dream
and every compromise
every word you spoke
and everything you said
everything you left me, rambles in my head
 
[He’s remembering the departed. He thinks of both the words and the actions. 
It is true that actions speak louder than words. But we must keep in mind that 
our words may be remembered long after we speak them. He mentions the things 
that he or she left too, perhaps items he inherited through a will. Notice though that 
the things he inherited are the last thing he mentions. The first thing he mentions is 
“every time you fall,” referring to the mistakes the person made.]
 
there's nothing I can say
there's nothing I can do now
there's nothing I can say
there's nothing I can do now
 
up above the world so high
 
and everything you loved
and every time you tried
everybody's watching
everybody cries
 
[This seems to reflect a hope that the person is in heaven. He believes the departed is “above the world.” 
He recalls what was important to him or her. He remembers “every time [he/she] tried.” I think he means the 
things that he or she attempted to do but did not successfully complete. The next two lines are like mottoes 
or words to live by. We should be cautious in our actions because “everybody’s watching.” And in our sadness we 
should take comfort in the fact that “everybody cries,” 
meaning that everyone has some sadness in his or her life.]
 
stay, don't leave me
the stars can't wait for your sign
don't signal now
 
[He has difficulty letting go and wishes this person was not dying. When he says, “the stars can’t wait,” he may be using 
the stars as symbols of heaven. He may mean that heaven can’t wait to welcome this soul.]
 
and there's nothing I can say
there's nothing I can do now
there's nothing I can say
there's nothing we can do now
 
goodnight, travel well
goodnight, travel well
 
[Both Islamic and Christian scriptures analogize death to sleep. For instance, "God takes the souls 
(al-anfus) at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep; then He withholds 
those on whom He has passed the decree of death and sends the others back till an appointed term; 
most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect." (Qur'an, Surah Zumar, the Chapter 
of Crowds 39:42)
 
In John 11:11-14 (NIV) Jesus compares death to sleep. "…Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there 
to wake him up.” He says this before resurrecting Lazarus from death.
 
He is wishing his loved one peace in the next stage of his or her existence.]
 
and there's nothing I can say
there's nothing I can do now

If – A Lyric Poem

If I lived on the bottom of the sea,

Would you come find me?

My heart, my heart, my heart

It would never keep us apart.

 

If my touch to you were fire

Would it cure your desire?

My heart, my heart, my heart

It would never keep us apart.

 

If my lips like thorns did sting

Would it change the song you sing

My heart, my heart, my heart

It would never keep us apart.

 

If we had our happy ending

But everyday our love needed mending

My heart, my heart, my heart

It would never keep us apart.

[Special thanks to Luke Murphy and congratulations on a great two sessions.]

Song Analysis – “Please Don’t Leave Me” – P!nk

Song Analysis- P!nk – Please Don’t Leave Me

I don’t know if I can yell any louder
How many times have I kicked you outta here?
Or said something insulting?
[A couple is having a fight. They have an on-again off-again relationship. They break up and make up. She’s trying to recall how many times she’s kicked him to the curb or how many times she’s dissed him.]

I can be so mean when I wanna be
I am capable of really anything
I can cut you into pieces
[She’s on a power trip, realizing that she can hurt her partner so badly so easily.]

When my heart is
Broken

Please don’t leave me
Please don’t leave me
I always say how I don’t need you
But it’s always gonna come right back to this
Please, don’t leave me
[She desperately wants him to stay. I think inside she’s very vulnerable, but she puts on a front of being strong. She realizes that she does need him.]

How did I become so obnoxious?
What is it with you that makes me act like this?
I’ve never been this nasty
[Now she’s blaming him for her behavior. She thinks it must be some flaw in him that brings out the worst in her.]

Can’t you tell that this is all just a contest?
The one that wins will be the one that hits the hardest
But baby I don’t mean it
I mean it, I promise
[The fight is really a battle of wills. She knows that if she’s tough, she can keep control of the relationship. But she doesn’t want to hit him so hard that he wants nothing to do with her.]

Please don’t leave me
Please don’t leave me
I always say how I don’t need you
But it’s always gonna come right back to this
Please, don’t leave me

I forgot to say out loud
How beautiful you really are to me
I can’t be without
You’re my perfect little punching bag
And I need you
I’m sorry
[The line, “You’re my perfect little punching bag,” captures the essence of this song. She constantly puts him down and yells at him, but really she loves him deeply because he fulfills an important role in her life.]

Please, please don’t leave me

Baby, please don’t leave me
No, don’t leave me
Please don’t leave me
I always say how I don’t need you
But it’s always gonna come right back to this
Please, don’t leave me
Please don’t leave me
I always say how I don’t need you
But it’s always gonna come right back to this
Please don’t leave me
Please, please don’t leave me

Song Analysis – “Roadsinger” Yusuf

Roadsinger came to town, long cape and hat,

People stood and stared then closed their doors, as he passed,

He strolled the empty street, kids banged on tin cans,

Then the panting dogs began to bark, as the Roadsinger sang.

[The Roadsinger character is a traveling musician.  He struggles to find an audience as the people he encounters turn away from him.  It seems that only the dogs are willing to listen.]

Where do you go, where do you go,

When hearts are closed,

When a friend becomes a stranger,

Nobody wants to know.

[I wonder if this song is autobiographical. Perhaps Yusuf is recounting his life and musical career. He talks about people closing their hearts and a friend becoming a stranger. Yusuf lost a lot of fans when he went from Cat Stevens to Yusuf Islam. ]

Where do you go, where do you go,

When the world turns dark,

And the light of truth is blown out,

And the roads are blocked.

[He talks about darkness spreading over the world, with the light of truth fading.  There have been many times throughout history when the world has plunged into darkness such as the Fall of the Roman Empire, the end of the reign of the Righteous Caliphs, the Spanish Inquisition, the Cuban Missile Crisis, 9-11, and many others.]

He stopped by a stall, between the barrels and sacks,

A child’s face peeped out and gave a smile, and ran back,

Behind a misty glass, on a windowpane,

A little finger drew a perfect heart, and a name.

[Here is a beautiful vignette of a child showing his/her delight in the music. It reminds me of a little experiment I once heard about. A classically-trained, award-winning, professional musician decided to disguise himself as a street musician. He was dressed in rags. He played exactly as he would normally play - the only difference was he was on a street corner rather than in a concert hall. Very few people stopped to listen and even fewer donated any money. The only one who paid him any attention were children, who stopped to hear him, intrigued by what they heard. The act of drawing a heart is a simple yet poignant way of expressing love.]

Where do you go, where do you go.

In a world filled with fright,

Only a song to warm you, through the night

Where do you go, where do you go,

After lies are told,

And the light of truth is blown out,

And the night is cold.

[Fear and lies make this a colder, more depressing world.  Music is a source of warmth, not physical, but emotional and spiritual. I don't think the light of truth is ever truly blown out, but it can flicker and fade.]

Roadsinger rode on, to another land,

Though the people spoke a different tongue, [he did] understand,

They showed him how to share, and took him by the hand,

Showed him the path to Heaven, through the desert sand.

[This stanza is almost certainly about Yusuf's embracing of Islam. Islam teaches people to live simply with less. Although not all Muslims speak Arabic, the classical texts of Islam like the Quran and Hadith were originally in Arabic.  Islam was revealed in what is now Saudi Arabia, a desert land. And Islam is the expression of the most perfect path to Heaven.]

Where do you go, where do you go,

To find happiness,

In a world filled with hatred,

Where do you go, where do you go,

If no one cares,

And everybody’s lost, looking for theirs.

[He talks about a "world filled with hatred."  Unfortunately, we do live in a world filled with hatred. So many people harbor deep prejudices against others. The song ends on a sad note, talking about no one caring and everybody being lost. I wonder if this is really the way Yusuf sees the world or if it is his character speaking here. Personally, I have a more hopeful outlook. Many people are lost and selfish, but there are also people who are rightly guided and generous.]

Song Analysis – “The House Wins” – OK Go

Fingers blistered from the nightly scratching at the window which won’t open far enough to let air in
The house wins
Oh, the house always wins

[The beginning describes a guy struggling to open his window.  The window is a repeated image that appears in this song a few times. He seems to be annoyed and I think there’s a crescendo of rising tension. The saying “the house always wins” comes from gambling in which it means that a casino manipulates the games so that it has an advantage and will ultimately turn a profit.]
Feral cats are screaming at the clouds beneath the window with the cracks so small that nothing gets within
The house wins
Oh, the house always wins

[A feral cat is a cat that is wild or undomesticated. I don’t understand why the cats are screaming at the clouds.]

You don’t have to be alone to be lonely
You might as well give in

[This is a powerfully true statement, that one does not have to be alone to be lonely. One can be alone even when surrounded by others if one does not feel a connection to those people or if one feels like an outsider. Yet I cannot understand how this connects to the earlier stanzas. How are blistered fingers, screaming cats, and loneliness connected?]
Telephones are howling at the cats out in the alley and the window offers nothing in the din
The house wins
Oh, the house always wins
[ How does a telephone howl at a cat? Are these cellular phones or wired phones? The part about the window offering nothing makes sense to me. I think it is saying that the window provides an ineffective barrier to the loud noises outside.]
Clouds uncage the car alarms to chase the cats and telephones
Fingers rake and rasp away there skin
The house wins
Oh, the house always wins
[This is a cool image. I didn’t realize it, but heavy rain can set off car alarms. Then there’s a slightly disturbing image of fingers tearing away skin. It seems when the speaker talks about the house winning, it means that evil wins or perhaps our darker sides win.]
You don’t have to be alone to be lonely
You might as well give in
Yeah you don’t have to be alone to be lonely
You might as well give in

Ice age upon catastrophic ice age of selection and only one result has trickled in
The house wins
Oh, the house always wins

[Ice ages tend to result in species loss and here the house seems to be death. Ice ages play a role in natural selection because they kill off species that do not adapt to the cold.]
If evil were a lesser breed then justice after all these years the righteous would have freed the world of sin
The house wins
Oh, the house always wins

[This is the most interesting part of the song to me because it touches on the very important philosophical topic of the problem of evil. He’s arguing that if evil were much weaker than good then good should have defeated evil a long time ago. So he’s saying that either good and evil are equally strong in our universe or that evil is actually stronger than good. My counterargument is that the righteous have not defeated sin because sin and evil are part of God’s plan and He knows that they both have roles to play in our world.]
You don’t have to be alone to be lonely
You might as well give in
You don’t have to be alone to be lonely
You might as well give in
You don’t have to be sick to be dying
You might as well give in
You don’t have to have lost to be lost
Oh, give in
You don’t have to be alone to be lonely
You might as well give in

Song Analysis – “All Along the Watchtower” – Bob Dylan

[Part 3]

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view

While all the women came and went, barefooted servants, too.

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,

Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

[I think this will be the most challenging song analysis I have yet written. Even though this is a short song, its lyrics are mysterious and heavy with meaning. Those of you familiar with the song may have already noticed something odd. The lyrics are out of order here. Or are they? On the website SongMeanings.net, a user named "eyeland" cites an article in Crawdaddy by Paul Williams that compares this song to a Moebius strip. The first part that we hear begins, "There must be some way out of here." However, in terms of the story the song is telling, the beginning is actually the third part, which begins, "All along the watchtower."

Another user on SongMeanings, "belteshazzar" claims convincingly that Dylan was alluding to the Parable of the Tenants, a story found in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 12.

Here is the Parable of the Tenants, copied from the New International Version of the Bible:

¹He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. ²At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

    ⁶"He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

    ⁷"But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' ⁸So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

    ⁹"What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. (Mark 12:1 - 12:9)

The landowner – represents God

The vineyard – symbolizes the Kingdom of God

The tenants – represent Israel’s religious leaders and all who reject Christ

The servants – symbolize God’s prophets and faithful believers

The beloved son – represents Jesus Christ, peace be upon him (Note: I am not in any way supporting the belief that Jesus is the son of God. What I am saying here is that Christians believe he is the son of God.)

The princes that the song refers to could be any people with wealth and/or power. Women and barefoot peasants pass by. Some have argued that this refers to the Vietnam War because many of the Vietcong were poor farmers. Also Americans killed civilians, even women, during the war. However, I think there is no specific detail here that is exclusive to Vietnam and that this could refer to any society with upper and lower classes.

[Part 1]

“There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief,

“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief. Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth, None of them along the line know what any of it is worth.” 

[If one looks back to the Parable of the Tenants, it is the son who comes to the vineyard and sees men taking advantage of the situation. The joker here says "my wine" and "my earth," so he seems to be playing the role of the son. Therefore many critics have concluded that the joker here is Jesus, peace be upon him. The thief could be the criminal who was executed along with Jesus in the Biblical story of the crucifixion.]

[Part 2] “No reason to get excited,” the thief, he kindly spoke,

“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.

But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate,

So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.”

[The thief tries to calm down the joker. He speaks of people who feel life is meaningless. One could call such people existentialists. The thief seems to think that many peopke have an existentialist phase but some mature out of it. He deems himself and the joker to be the kind of person who has grown beyond existentialism. If we are to believe that the joker is Jesus and the thief is a criminal, this exchange is quite unusual. The criminal is actually teaching Jesus a lesson rather than the other way around. He is trying to remind Jesus that even in the face of suffering, life has meaning. It seems odd for a criminal to be saying this to a messenger of God or even the son of God.

The last line here says, "the hour is getting late." It makes more sense to end with this line than to end with the last line that comes in the song about the wind howling. This line makes the most sense if one interprets the joker as being Jesus. Interestingly, the thief says, "Let us not talk falsely now . . ." The obvious implication is that Jesus was lying when he spoke earlier about people stealing from the vineyard. But I don't see a lie in his speech. The missing lie is one of the mysteries of this song. An entirely different theory of the song says the joker is Dylan himself and the thief is Elvis Presley. It is much easier to swallow that Dylan lied as opposed to Jesus lying.

Finally, when the thief says "the hour is getting late," he is saying that the two of them are about to die.]