Terrific song - hope it makes the live show. In terms of Dylan connections:
Mark said he wrote it on the balcony of a hotel room that Dylan had also stayed in, and he "knew" that he and Bob had had a shared experience o nthat balcony, looking over the town etc
The melody is borrowed from a Dylan song - Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
I hear lyrical reference to Dylan songs such as Black Diamond Bay.....Mark sings: "There’s laughter in the darkness, Music floating in across the bay"...Bob sang "As the sun went down and the music did play, On Black Diamond Bay."
Mentions of Dylan titles - such as "senor" - maybe coincidence, may have been deliberate on Mark's part
This verse could be read as being specifically about Bob Dylan:
The crowd calls for the emperor
Raise their hands to hail another king
But he’s been so long a wanderer
Another crowd can never mean a thing
He came, he saw, he conquered
Ten thousand voices roared in the arena
Now he’s sitting out in the night
Looking down upon the lights of Taormina
As could this:
He hears the chimes of history
Myths of gods and men forever ringing
Ancient dreams in all their mystery
Wars for Sicily and Spartan women
In the mists of antiquity
Ships of war set sail from Carthagina
Now he’s sitting out in the night
Looking down upon the lights of Taormina
Sitting out in the night
Looking down upon the lights of Taormina
And there words like "chimes" recall Dylan songs - Chimes of Freedom in that case. I get a sense of many Dylan songs in this - melodically and lyrically (Simple Twist of Fate is another it brings to my mind) and also the lyrics which seem to be specifically about Dylan himself. The "he" being Dylan.
Dylan played there on 28 July 2001, his set list was:
Somebody Touched Me
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Desolation Row
Absolutely Sweet Marie
Simple Twist Of Fate
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
Boots Of Spanish Leather
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Everything Is Broken
Just Like A Woman
Drifter's Escape
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Love Sick
Like A Rolling Stone
One Too Many Mornings
All Along The Watchtower
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Highway 61 Revisited
Blowin' In The Wind
