Lyric Review: Tomorrow Is A Long Time

This week we look at another Bob Dylan song -- one that has been recorded by artists from Elvis Presley to Judy Collins. I've been jamming to Dylan's Greatest Hits 2 lately (the collection that he edited himself -- vastly superior to Greatest Hits 1 and 3). It's chock full of wonderful songs, not the least of which is "Tomorrow Is A Long Time," a gentle, haunting tune with only Dylan's vocals and finger-picked guitar. Notice the fresh way he comes up with a song that says what so many others say, "I feel lonesome because I miss my true love." Here are the lyrics:

If today was not an endless highway,
If tonight was not a crooked trail,
If tomorrow wasn't such a long time,
Then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all.
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin',
And if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin',
Only if she was lyin' by me, Then I'd lie in my bed once again.

I can't see my reflection in the water,
I can't speak the sounds that show no pain,
I can't hear the echo of my footsteps,
Or remember the sound of my own name.
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin'
And if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin',
Only if she was lyin' by me, Then I'd lie in my bed once again.

There's beauty in the silver, singin' river,
There's beauty in the sunrise in the sky,
But none of these and nothing else can touch the beauty
That I remember in my true love's eyes.
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin',
And if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin',
Only if she was lyin' by me,Then I'd lie in my bed once again.

c. Bob Dylan

Dylan is not concerned with end rhymes here -- sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't ... and we hardly notice. This is because the poem (that's what this is -- a poem with music) ripples with internal rhyme, assonance, consonance, alliteration. For instance, look at some of the examples of alliteration (words that begin with the same consonant): "silver singin' river, sunshine in the sky," "see my reflection ... speak the sounds that show ..." "hear her heart," and "none of these and nothing".
Of course, the average listener doesn't say, "Cool -- he's using alliteration." He just knows that the song "sings" for some reason.
While we're on the subject of poetry, it's interesting to note that Dylan likely borrowed from an anonymous 15th century English poem that existed orally, like a folk song, for most of its history, but which was widely anthologized in Dylan's formative years, entitled "Western Wind," or sometimes "The Lover In Winter Plaineth For The Spring." The poem ends:

Christ, if my love were in my arms / And I in my bed again.

while Dylan ends each of his three verses with:

Only if she was lyin' by me, Then I'd lie in my bed once again.

Notice that each verse shades the theme with a slightly different color. A common mistake of amateur songwriters is to have verses that say the same thing, though they use different words. Dylan's overall theme of longing and loss is covered successively with these three colors:

1. I wouldn't feel so lonely if I had hope that this feeling wouldn't burn on and on.
2. I don't know who I am anymore, or how to find myself.
3. My lost love's beauty is unsurpassed.

Three different shades, each dovetailing into his main theme like a seemless tunic. Learn from it, writers. In fact, if you are a creative writer, I would challenge you to use this song as an exercise. Pick a theme. Then think of three subthemes. It doesn't matter if you're writing a song, a poem, or three flash fiction narratives (basically just three paragraphs, to keep it simple).
Let's say you choose to write three paragraphs. State your main theme in one or two sentences of each paragraph. Then devote two or three sentences to a subtheme or a rational for your main theme. Stay focused on your main theme, yet take care not to let each paragraph parrot the others. Have fun with it, but stretch yourself. And who knows -- when you're done, you may have the bare material for a serious literary or musical work.