Isis (song)
Encyclopedia
"Isis" is the second track on the Bob Dylan
album Desire. It was written by Bob Dylan in collaboration with Jacques Levy
.
This song is in a moderately fast 3/4 time, in the key of B-flat major. The arrangement is based on rhythm chords played on acoustic piano, accompanied by bass, drums, and violin. The harmonic progression
consists of an ostinato using the chords I-VII♭-IV-I (B♭-A♭-E♭-B♭) throughout. The lyrics are all verses; there is no chorus. The melody is in the style of a modal
folk song, emphasizing the tonic and dominant notes in the scale, with leaps of a fifth in between them. The mode is Mixolydian with a major third in the harmony, but Dylan's delivery of the melody uses a flatted third
as in the blues. The lineup: Bob Dylan, voice, piano and harmonica; Scarlet Rivera
, violin; Rob Stoner
, bass; Howie Wyeth, drums.
"Isis" tells a tale of a man who married an enigmatic figure named Isis
. The main part of the story told by her spouse is about his separation from her. The song opens with their wedding "on the fifth day of May," an allusion to Cinco de Mayo
, a patriotic holiday of Mexico, one of several Mexican themes found in Dylan's songs during the 1970s. Still in the first verse, the tale describes the couple's separation and the narrator's travels through an adventure that sounds like the Wild West or Mexico
crossed with Egypt
crossed with allegorical science fiction
. He rides a pony and hitches it up "on the right" in a "high place" symbolically divided by a line through the middle into light and dark. He goes to wash his clothes, as though to wash himself of his past. He falls in with a shady character who promises easy treasure. They ride "to the pyramids all embedded in ice," and dig in freezing conditions until the treasure-hunting companion dies. So the narrator breaks into the empty tomb, finds no treasure, and realizes the adventure had been crazy. He buries the dead man in the tomb within the pyramid, says a quick prayer, and rides back to Isis because he still loves her. He sees her in a meadow where Isis asks him if he is going to stay this time. The narrator replies, "If you want me to, yes!"
The song was written and recorded during a time of separation and reunion in Dylan's own marriage; consequently, for fans and critics the temptation to interpret it as an allegory of Dylan's own marital difficulties is irresistible, especially since the Desire album contains the song "Sara" which is openly about their marriage and separation. Since Dylan was known to include autobiographical hints in his previous songs, this interpretation cannot be considered farfetched. "Isis" draws upon mythological themes of a male hero separating from his wife, going on adventures, and returning to the marriage, going back to the Odyssey
.
Dylan did an up-tempo live version of this song with the Rolling Thunder Revue
, a performance of which was included in the film Renaldo and Clara
. A live Rolling Thunder version of the song was included on the compilation album Biograph
, which Dylan introduces as "a song about marriage". Coupled with the name of the album, this introduction further insinuates that the song documents Dylan's marital tribulations.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
album Desire. It was written by Bob Dylan in collaboration with Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy was an American songwriter, theatre director, and clinical psychologist.Levy was born in New York City in 1935, and attended its City College. He received a doctorate in psychology from Michigan State University. Levy was a trained psychoanalyst, certified by the Menninger Institute...
.
This song is in a moderately fast 3/4 time, in the key of B-flat major. The arrangement is based on rhythm chords played on acoustic piano, accompanied by bass, drums, and violin. The harmonic progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
consists of an ostinato using the chords I-VII♭-IV-I (B♭-A♭-E♭-B♭) throughout. The lyrics are all verses; there is no chorus. The melody is in the style of a modal
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
folk song, emphasizing the tonic and dominant notes in the scale, with leaps of a fifth in between them. The mode is Mixolydian with a major third in the harmony, but Dylan's delivery of the melody uses a flatted third
Blue note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
as in the blues. The lineup: Bob Dylan, voice, piano and harmonica; Scarlet Rivera
Scarlet Rivera
Scarlet Rivera is an American violinist. She is best known for her work with Bob Dylan, in particular on his album Desire and as part of the Rolling Thunder Revue.-Early career:...
, violin; Rob Stoner
Rob Stoner
Robert David Rothstein , better known as Rob Stoner, is an American multi-instrumental musician....
, bass; Howie Wyeth, drums.
"Isis" tells a tale of a man who married an enigmatic figure named Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
. The main part of the story told by her spouse is about his separation from her. The song opens with their wedding "on the fifth day of May," an allusion to Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is a holiday held on May 5. It is celebrated nationwide in the United States and regionally in Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla, where the holiday is called El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla...
, a patriotic holiday of Mexico, one of several Mexican themes found in Dylan's songs during the 1970s. Still in the first verse, the tale describes the couple's separation and the narrator's travels through an adventure that sounds like the Wild West or Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
crossed with Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
crossed with allegorical science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. He rides a pony and hitches it up "on the right" in a "high place" symbolically divided by a line through the middle into light and dark. He goes to wash his clothes, as though to wash himself of his past. He falls in with a shady character who promises easy treasure. They ride "to the pyramids all embedded in ice," and dig in freezing conditions until the treasure-hunting companion dies. So the narrator breaks into the empty tomb, finds no treasure, and realizes the adventure had been crazy. He buries the dead man in the tomb within the pyramid, says a quick prayer, and rides back to Isis because he still loves her. He sees her in a meadow where Isis asks him if he is going to stay this time. The narrator replies, "If you want me to, yes!"
The song was written and recorded during a time of separation and reunion in Dylan's own marriage; consequently, for fans and critics the temptation to interpret it as an allegory of Dylan's own marital difficulties is irresistible, especially since the Desire album contains the song "Sara" which is openly about their marriage and separation. Since Dylan was known to include autobiographical hints in his previous songs, this interpretation cannot be considered farfetched. "Isis" draws upon mythological themes of a male hero separating from his wife, going on adventures, and returning to the marriage, going back to the Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
.
Dylan did an up-tempo live version of this song with the Rolling Thunder Revue
Rolling Thunder Revue
The Rolling Thunder Revue was a famed U.S. concert tour consisting of a traveling caravan of musicians, headed by Bob Dylan, that took place in late 1975 and early 1976; the prevailing theory was that the tour was named after the Native American shaman Rolling Thunder. Others maintained that tour...
, a performance of which was included in the film Renaldo and Clara
Renaldo and Clara
Renaldo and Clara is a surrealist movie, directed by and starring Bob Dylan. Filmed in 1975, during Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, it was released in 1978...
. A live Rolling Thunder version of the song was included on the compilation album Biograph
Biograph (album)
Biograph is a 53-track compilation spanning the career of Bob Dylan, from his 1962 debut album to the 1981 LP Shot of Love. Released in 1985 by Columbia Records, on both a 5-LP and a 3-CD Box set, it was one of the earliest and most successful examples of the CD Box set...
, which Dylan introduces as "a song about marriage". Coupled with the name of the album, this introduction further insinuates that the song documents Dylan's marital tribulations.
External links
- "Isis" lyrics from bobdylan.com, with audio samples. Note: Some of the lines given here are different from the version released on Desire. Alternate lyrics were heard in the live performance.
- [ Review by Thomas Ward at Allmusic]