"The Song" explained

랴연

Well ... sort of.

http://www.reasontorock.com/tracks/watchtower.html

Watchtower wrote:

“There must be some kind of way out of here,”
Said the joker to the thief.

Extract wrote:

Notice how Dylan starts the song by throwing us into the middle of a conversation, and begins with an urgent statement. We don't know where the “here” is from which the speaker wants to escape, but we know he wants out. The sense of drama is immediate. We find out that the two people speaking are “the joker” and “the thief.” These are archetypal characters that have existed in one form or another for thousands of years. By identifying them in this way, Dylan invokes a sense of timelessness. Because these figures are broad archetypes, there is already a suggestion that this might be a parable of some sort, a story whose essence remains the same over many different times, places and characters. The joker, or jester, can be seen in general to represent the artist: someone whose role is to amuse other members of the established order, but also to provoke them, to suggest alternate ways of looking at reality. And, of course, the joker and the thief are both outsiders of a sort, united in their separation from more ordered segments of society.

I won't post the whole thing but I found it a very interesting read.

To be honest it got me thinking that someone on the BSG writing staff may be a huge Dylan fan.

So does anyone think the lyrics are pointing to answers or am I reaching ?

Slutmonkey57b

Ronald D Moore has stated he's waited for years to build this song into a series he was doing. I think it's safe to say "yes" on both counts.

Niska

Interesting read. Just rereading the "Watchmen" before seeing the movie and Chapter ten ends with a quote from THE SONG:

"Outside in the cold distance,
A wildcat did growl.
Two riders were approaching, and
The wind began to howl."

Chapter Ten is also called "Two riders were approaching" - wouldn't have made the connection without your post.

랴연

Songs with lyrics like this, to me anyways, are a true art form. The equal of music such as Mozart and Beethoven.

A whole world apart from pop/rock etc today which is just good sound with little or no substance.

mewso

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Ronald D Moore has stated he's waited for years to build this song into a series he was doing. I think it's safe to say "yes" on both counts.

Yes but hes also stated that he is just using it for familiarity to the viewer not for any significant reason.

Regardless of the merits of this deep examination of Dylan's lyrics I can't get an image out of my mind of him completely off his trolley on whatver drugs were lying around writing down anything that came into his head.

Richard Dower

I swear,you guys read WAY to much into what is a TELEVISION show, half the time the producers and writers don't have a clue nor are they trying to be mysterious in what they script. It's a song, nothing more...there is no hidden deep meaning in anything related to BSG, it's just the fans that read into things and then the writers/producers pick up on fans silly crap and start spouting rubbish in interviews and start writing stuff to make people THINK there is more going on....seriously, just like Lost, the producers are playing y'all for fools and you all lap it up.

Slutmonkey57b

Nothing like Lost. The makers of Lost admitted they had one series planned and had no idea what would happen next as they assumed it wouldn't last. Likewise, Prison Break was a great first season that got dragged out after it was a success, much to its detriment.

Just because this is a television show, does not at all mean that there is no depth of thought or planning in it.

DirkVoodoo

Chuck heroes in there too slutmonkey.

I'm watching the Wire season 3 (yup, got on the band wagon a few years after everyone else). What a great show and a perfect example on how to incorporate new characters and storylines into new seasons without becoming repetitive/ridiculous.

I don't think people read way too much into stuff, seeing as most of what is said here is coming from the writers and RDM in various interviews and blogs.

Rented Mule

The song is a bit perplexing, but it is also tied to Starbucks character.

Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace.......and as we all know Thrace is the ancient geographical region of southeastern Europe (former Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria).

According to Greek legend, one of the most famous Thracians was Orpheus who visited the underwold and returned, as well as being known as a musician,who played a lyre (which was given to him by Apollo ....his father)

So I am sure that nothing that I have written above is going to make much sense at this particular moment, but it could in the final few episodes.