The Crimson King And The Yellow Jester (Part III)

Previously:

by Larry Fyffe

Jesus, says, in an ironic tone to his accusers, that it’s with the help of Almighty God that the evil influence of demons can be removed from one’s body; not with the aid of the Gnostic Beelzebub, the prince of darkness (Satan, as construed by many Christian authorities), because he does not have the spiritual strength, doesn’t possess the brightness, to do it:

"And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils
By whom do your sons cast them out? ...
He that is not with me is against me
And he that gathereth not with me scattereth"
 (Luke11:19, 23)

The narrator in the song lyrics beneath takes the side of Jesus:

Jesus said, "Be ready
For you know not the hour which I come"
Jesus said, "Be ready
He said, "He who is not for Me is against Me"
Just so you know where He's coming from
 (Bob Dylan: Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking)

Apparently, the problem is that there be those who claim to support Jesus and the Almighty, but behave as though they’re actually on the side of Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies:

You hurt the ones that I love best
And cover up the truth with lies
One day you'll be in the ditch
Flies buzzing around your eyes
Blood on your saddle
(Bob Dylan: Idiot Wind)

Happy little children, Diana and Apollo their names could be, greet King Crimson when he wings off to a Late Baroque/ Rococo light-scattered Fairy Land in the song lyrics below – a place to which Bob Dylan seldom travels:

Sailing on the wind
In a milk white gown
Dropping circle stones on a sun dial
Playing hide and seek
With the ghosts of dawn
Waiting for a smile from a sun child
(King Crimson: Moonchild)

 

The ‘yellow jester”, sometimes imagines himself in a rather Rococoesque fairy place where the reddish-purple Beelzebub of autumn appears to be in control:

The clouds are turning crimson
The leaves fall from the limbs and
The branches cast their shadows over stone
Won't you meet me in the moonlight all alone
(Bob Dylan: Moonlight)

 

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2 Comments

  1. “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking” above …the interesting alternate verion

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