Temporary Like Achilles Lyrics
Standing on your window, honey
Yes, I’ve been here before
Feeling so harmless
I’m looking at your second door
How come you don’t send me no regards?
[Refrain]
You know I want your lovin'
Honey, why are you so hard?
[Verse 2]
Kneeling ’neath your ceiling
Yes, I guess I’ll be here for a while
I’m trying to read your poetry, but
I’m helpless, like a rich man’s child
How come you send someone out to have me barred?
[Refrain]
You know I want your lovin’
Honey, why you so hard?
[Bridge]
Like a poor fool in his prime
Yes, I know you can hear me walk
But is your heart made out of stone, or is it lime?
Or is it just solid rock?
Well, I lean into your hallway
Lean against your velvet door
I watch upon your scorpion
Who crawls across your circus floor
Just what do you think you have to guard?
[Refrain]
You know I want your lovin’
Honey, but you’re so hard
[Verse 4]
Achilles is in your alleyway
He don’t want me here, he does brag
He’s pointing to the sky
And he’s hungry, like a man in drag
How come you get someone like him to be your guard?
[Refrain]
You know I want your lovin'
Honey, but you’re so hard
About
“Temporary Like Achilles” is the tenth track on Bob Dylan’s 1966 double album Blonde On Blonde. It was never released as a single, and is not commonly listed as one of the album’s strongest tracks. Nonetheless, the songwriting – as often in Dylan’s body of work – was ambitious from the context of the 1960’s, featuring unconventional imagery and alluding to the Greek hero Achilles.
The song is sung from the perspective of a man who is trying to get the attention of a girl as she (presumably) plays hard-to-get.
The song makes great use of oxymoron, irony and self contradiction even in the title. Achilles is really the least “temporary” a man can be and still be mortal. A “rich man’s child” is not helpless, they were born into wealth and did not even work for it. To Dylan who wrote about social and economic struggle, a rich man’s child may be one of the least helpless possible. The line “Like a poor fool in his prime” in the third verse is another example of oxymoron. In fact, it echoes the final verse, “Achilles is in your alleyway… He’s pointing to the sky.” While Achilles is almost all-powerful, his arrogance allows his only weakness (his ankle) to shine just like a “fool in his prime.”
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
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