Bob Dylan’s “Soon After Midnight” from his ‘Tempest’ album is more than just a catchy tune; it’s a lyrical and musical gem that captivates listeners from the first note. With its infectious 1950s doo-wop swing and Dylan’s surprisingly gentle vocals, the song initially presents itself as a simple love ballad. However, as you delve deeper, layers of meaning unfold, revealing a complexity characteristic of Dylan’s songwriting. In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Dylan mentioned that ‘Tempest’ wasn’t the album he initially intended to create, stating, “I wanted to make something more religious… I just didn’t have enough religious songs. Intentionally, specifically religious songs is what I wanted to do.”
This insight offers a crucial lens through which to examine “Soon After Midnight Song”. If we interpret “more religious” as leaning towards a gospel-infused style, although distinct from his overtly Christian period of 1979-1981, it’s plausible that “Soon After Midnight Song” was conceived as one of these religious pieces. This idea gains traction when considering the song’s opening lines, which resonate like a psalm: “I’m searching for phrases, to sing your praises”. While the song evolves beyond this initial psalm-like quality, Dylan’s creative journey takes us into profound thematic territories, far exceeding the surface level of a typical love song. Beneath the seemingly straightforward lyrics lies a rich tapestry of biblical imagery.
Lyrically, the song begins with optimism and light. Although the two bridge sections introduce darker, almost obsessive undertones, these shadows ultimately fail to eclipse the song’s prevailing joyful and uplifting spirit. This duality begs the question: what is the true subject of this song? It appears to be less about a specific ideal woman and more about the archetype of the ideal woman or bride. This doesn’t negate the possibility of personal, autobiographical elements reflecting Dylan’s lifelong pursuit of this ideal, but it broadens the scope to something more universal. This quest intertwines both physical and spiritual dimensions, ultimately merging into a unified concept. The song portrays a struggle between opposing forces: lust, infidelity, and disloyalty versus chastity, fidelity, and loyalty in the pursuit of the perfect bride.
Dylan’s inspiration likely draws from biblical metaphors where the relationship between God and His people, or Christ and the Church, is depicted through similar imagery. God (or Jesus) is the groom, and His people (or the Church) are the bride. The Bible frequently illustrates the disloyalty of God’s chosen people, likening them to a harlot, particularly in prophetic books like Hosea and Ezekiel. Yet, despite this repeated “adultery,” God’s unwavering love persists in seeking the bride’s heart, ultimately purifying and preparing her for an eternal union, as described in Revelation 19:7-8. Approaching the later stages of his career, “Soon After Midnight Song” emerges as a culmination of Dylan’s enduring quest for this ideal woman or bride.
The album’s opening track, ‘Duquesne Whistle’, alludes to time’s final whistle, a whistle that blows “like my woman’s on board”. This suggests that the poet has finally found his bride, achieved peace with his feminine ideal, and is ready to embrace eternity with this ethereal figure. Beyond biblical sources, other influences may have shaped “Soon After Midnight Song”. Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ seems to echo in the title, particularly in its nocturnal and fantastical connotations. The 16th-century ballad ‘Tam Lin’ might also resonate with themes of transformation and otherworldly encounters. However, Edmund Spenser’s epic poem ‘The Faerie Queene’ stands out as a potentially significant influence, as we will explore further.
Let’s now dissect the lyrics themselves, starting with the opening: “I’m searching for phrases, to sing your praises, I need to tell someone”. This immediately evokes the sentiment found in Dylan’s own ‘Mississippi’: “All my powers of expression and thoughts so sublime, could never do you justice in reason or rhyme”. Who is the subject of these praises? The phrase “to sing your praises” is common in the Book of Psalms, invariably directed towards God, such as Psalm 144:9: “I will sing a new song to you, O God! I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp”. As mentioned earlier, the song’s bridges introduce darker undertones, a characteristic also found within the Psalms, sometimes even within the same psalm. For instance, the praise in Psalm 144:9 is juxtaposed with Psalm 144:11: “Save me! Rescue me from the power of my enemies. Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead”. Similarly, in “Soon After Midnight Song”, “to sing your praises” is contrasted with lines like “*They’re lying and they’re dying in their blood” and “I’ll drag his corpse through the mud”.***
Despite these darker elements, there are compelling reasons to believe that “I’m searching for phrases to sing your praises” is primarily addressed not to God, but to his (ideal) woman, wife, or bride. Such expressions are not uncommon in the Bible, particularly in the Song of Songs, which is replete with praises directed to a woman or bride. Song of Songs 6:9 offers an example: “The young women see her and praise her; even queens and royal concubines sing her praises”. In “Soon After Midnight Song,” Dylan seems to be mirroring the biblical journey towards finding the perfect bride—a long and arduous path marked by encounters with various women, some “as whorish as ever”—until finally, the true bride is discovered, echoing Revelation 19:7: ‘Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself’. Therefore, the opening verse of “Soon After Midnight Song” reveals the culmination of this quest. The poet has reached the end of his search and is almost in disbelief at finally finding her. Her beauty and serenity are overwhelming, making it difficult to articulate his elation. When he sings ‘I need to tell someone’, it’s an expression of wanting to share his immense happiness with the world.
The line, ‘It’s soon after midnight, and my day has just begun’, in this opening verse, suggests the dawn of a new era, perhaps even the end times. Midnight signifies the transition to a new day, and this day is “his” day, an eternal day born from spiritual matrimony. Some interpret the song title ‘It’s soon after midnight’ as a direct nod to Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, where Bottom meets the Fairy Queen after midnight. This connection seems plausible, especially considering the later mention of a date with the fairy queen in the song. While Shakespeare’s play might resonate in the title, the primary meaning in this verse seems to be the arrival of the Latter Day. ‘It’s soon after midnight, and my day has just begun’ can be interpreted as the arrival of the spiritual Latter Day. The concept of Christ returning at midnight as the bridegroom to meet his bride, the Church, is prevalent in Christian tradition, rooted in Matthew 25:6: ‘At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’
However, before this ultimate union, obstacles must be overcome, and various women will attempt to divert him from his path. This theme is also explored in Dylan’s Tell Tale Signs track ‘Marching to the City’: ‘Once I had a pretty girl, she’s done me wrong, now I’m marching to the City and the road ain’t long’. The first woman encountered is ‘A gal named Honey’. According to Urban Dictionary, “Honey” is often a nickname for a beautiful, seemingly perfect girl. Initially deceived by her allure, he soon realizes that this woman is not meant for a lasting, loving relationship but is merely ‘she was passing by’. Her “love” is superficial and self-serving. She represents the type of person who enters your life briefly, takes without giving, and lacks genuine, enduring interest. This is reflected in the line, she ‘took my money’. There might even be a hint of self-critique in the poet’s portrayal, mirroring the selfish male character in Dylan’s cover of The Mississippi Sheiks’ song ‘Blood in my Eyes’ on ‘World Gone Wrong’, where Honey’s male counterpart says: ‘I tell you something, tell you the facts, you don’t want me, give my money back’. In essence, this first woman, Honey, embodies relationships founded on material aspects, lacking a deeper spiritual core. Without a solid foundation, such connections are fleeting, easily dissolving and leaving one feeling robbed and, as Dylan elsewhere wrote, ‘howling at the moon’.
The subsequent line, ‘the moon is in my eye’, brings to mind the song ‘Moon Got In My Eyes’ by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston, popularized by Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. A verse from this song states: ‘You know the saying, ‘All who love are blind’, it seems that ancient adage still applies, I guess, I should have seen right through you, but the moon got in my eyes’. Beauty, it seems, can be deceptive, and romantic feelings, often associated with the moon, can cloud judgment. Similar to Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’, the moon is linked to a midnight realm of dreams and fantasy. However, these romantic illusions often clash with the mundane realities of everyday married life.
The language of the first bridge in “Soon After Midnight Song” echoes the strong and resolute language of Old Testament kings like David and Solomon, particularly found in the Books of Psalms and Songs. ‘My heart is cheerful, it’s never fearful’ exemplifies the determination and courage of these kings. This line expresses confidence and unwavering faith in achieving the ultimate goal: finding the perfect bride. This positive outlook fuels abundant joy. This resolute mindset mirrors the resilience in Dylan’s ‘Mississippi’: ‘My heart is not weary, it is light and it is free’, and resonates with King Solomon’s wisdom in Proverbs 15:13: ‘A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.’ ‘I been down on the killing floors’ reveals the poet, like a valiant warrior, has endured significant hardship and suffering. ‘I been down on the killing floors’ also subtly references Howling Wolf’s blues song ‘Killing Floor’ (1964), which includes the line: ‘I was fooling’ with ya baby, I let ya put me on the killing’ floor”. Herbert Sumlin, Howling Wolf’s guitarist, reportedly described the song’s title as meaning: “Down on the killing floor–that means a woman has you down, she went out of her way to try to kill you. She at the peak of doing it, and you got away now.” However, Dylan likely uses the phrase “Killing Floor” to convey a deeper symbolic meaning. The language evokes a powerful king and warrior. King David, a great warrior involved in numerous battles, could certainly say he had been “down on the killing floors” many times.
But consider David’s greater Son, Jesus Christ, the ultimate warrior. If anyone could literally declare, ‘I been down on the killing floors’, it is Jesus Christ. He was indeed slain on the “killing floor” of the cross, yet He rose from the dead and continued His quest throughout history to find the perfect bride, as Ephesians 5:25-27 states: ”For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her, to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault’.’ ‘I’m in no great hurry’ signifies that the quest for the perfect bride is both lengthy and requires divine timing. The poet is in control of his passions, possessing the patience to wait for the opportune moment. Some have astutely noted parallels between “Soon After Midnight Song” and the menacing, eerie atmosphere of Dylan’s ‘Moonlight’, where he sings: ‘Well, I’m preaching peace and harmony the blessings of tranquility, yet I know when the time is right to strike’. Haste and impatience are associated with lust, while true love is characterized by patience and endurance, as King Solomon advises in Song of Songs 8:4: “Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right’. The poet’s mind is composed and focused. ’A gal named Honey’ is not his ideal, and he is ready to confront her anger and disdain, hence the line: ‘I’m not afraid of your fury’. A famous adage in this context is: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” This saying originates from ‘The Mourning Bride’, a 1697 tragedy by William Congreve: ’Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned’.‘I’ve faced stronger walls than yours’ further amplifies the epic scale of these words, portraying the speaker as a valiant king. King David comes to mind again, who declared in Psalm 18:29 “With my God I can scale any wall”. And beyond King David, we see the ultimate King, Jesus Christ, who, in His pursuit of the perfect bride, has confronted walls far more formidable than the fury and resistance of His intended bride. Death itself was a far greater wall, yet He overcame it, rising from the dead to continue His quest.
In our next and final article, we will delve into the figures of Charlotte, Mary, The Fairy Queen, and Two-Timing Slim, and conclude our analysis of “Soon After Midnight Song.” Stay tuned for Part 2!
