The appropriately somber and surreal conclusion to The Basement Tapes. The shuffling, organ-backed melody is reminiscent of “Ballad of a Thin Man” and carries a similarly critical tone.

The song title references two famous images from the Old Testament: the vision of wheels within wheels seen by the prophet Ezekiel, and the burning bush seen by Moses. Both of these images defy human explanation and experience, and assert God’s complete mastery over the laws of the material world.

In this context, the song could be read as God (the singer) chiding Man for expecting a divine response to earthly concerns (much as in the book of Job.) The singer and the person(s) addressed seem to have had some agreement that the addressee forgot or backed out of.

The apocalyptic image of the chorus suggests man-made (vehicular) destruction, but both the wheel and fire are symbols for the Judeo-Christian God. In the above interpretation, these lines might be saying, “You’ve brought your misery on yourselves by going back on our agreement. I’m as good as dead to you.”