THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN

THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN Thunder on the mountain, and there's fires on the moon A ruckus in the alley and the sun will be here soon Today's the day, gonna grab my trombone and blow Well, there's hot stuff here and it's everywhere I go THUNDER (to utter violent denunciation. In It’s Hard Rain A-Gonna Fall Dylan "heard [learned by common report, such as the news media] / the sound [as in "sound the alarm"] / of a THUNDER [violent denunciation. In the historical context of 1962 when this poem was composed; threats of nuclear war being exchanged by the Soviet Union and the United States over the issue of Russian missiles in Cuba] / it ROARED [syn. for THUNDER] out a warning."

ON THE MOUNTAIN (D to E: MOUNTAIN - bully pulpit, especially in Israel: In Hard Rain Dylan wrote, "And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it / And reflect it from the MOUNTAIN so all souls can see it" just as Jesus did when he gave the Sermon on the Mount outside Jerusalem. THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN becomes roughly, "A violent denuncation of the State of Israel!"

AND THERE'S FIRES (D to E: FIRE - passions as in "Dylan is getting all fired-up") ON THE MOON (about a problem that is unlikely to be solved "Reach for the moon" means you are trying to achieve something that is very difficult. In Chronicles Dylan writes "There was no way I could make its purpose mine, but it was great meeting him, a man who had reached the MOON when most of us scarcely make it off the ground") A RUCKUS IN THE ALLEY (and there is a disturbance; a commotion and conflagration in Israel. The alley as Israel metaphor first appeared in Dylan's CD UNDER THE RED SKY which was poetic allegory about Israel and the Intifada. In It’s Unbelievable on UNDER THE RED SKY Robert Allen Dylan wrote, “they said it was the land of milk and honey [“So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey --”Exodus 3:17)] now they say it’s the land of money / How could you ever make that STICK? [How could Israel, a Jewish state, fabricate weapons and become a world class arms merchant?] / Its unbelievable you could get rich that quick [sarcastic, it is understandable judging from the desire of dictatorships to obtain armaments such as the Uzi submachine gun and Israel's desire for money]” On UNDER THE RED SKY ALLEY appears in The Cat’s In The Well: “The cat’s in the well [the Jews are in the Middle East poisoning the well this time metaphorically: In medieval times we were accused of literally poisoning wells] / and grief is showing its face [and as a result there is misery for the Palestinians] / The world’s being slaughtered and it’s such a bloody disgrace [the first intifada had already broken out when Dylan wrote this in the early 1990’s. Dylan and others such as Woody Allen were ashamed of Israeli soldiers for shooting rubber bullets and live ammunition at Palestinian children who were armed only with rocks] / The cat’s in the well, and the horse [a horse of a different color a person of a different kind - the Israelis are more often than not Europeans rather than Middle-Eastern looking. Also horse as cavalry, army] / is going bumpety bump [is removing or forcing the Palestinians from a position or dwelling previously occupied; "The Jews bumped the Palestinians by demolishing the homes of suspected intifada and terrorist leaders." Also bumping off, assassinating, PLO leaders] / Back ALLEY [sneaky Israel, a country that is subject to back channel, back alley, diplomacy] / Sally [Sarah - the Matriarch of Judaism] / is doing the American JUMP [is eagerly going along with American foreign policy, having mimicked what America did to the Native Americans by

having forced the Palestinians from Palestine. Also JUMP as in "claim jumper" - someone who steals someone else's rights to land].” Continuing this recurrent Palestinian-Israeli theme in another poem on UNDER THE RED SKY Dylan wrote, "There was a little boy [the Palestinian Arabs] / and there was a little girl [the Jews] / and they lived in an ALLEY under the red sky [in an atmosphere that is changing for the worse; old adage “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning”] Thunder On The Mountain continues: AND THE SUN WILL BE HERE SOON (D to E: SUN - Knowledge, brilliance, in the public eye; but in this particular context SUN is fusion energy as in Dylan’s Gates of Eden: “Upon four-legged [bestial, fierce] / forest [dense] / clouds [mushroom clouds produced by an atomic explosion. In a first draft of Gates of Eden Robert Allen Dylan wrote, “Upon the fungus forest cloud” - fungus - any of a major group (Fungi) of saprophytic and parasitic spore-producing organisms that include mushrooms] / The cowboy [someone who is reckless or irresponsible] / angel [and is the guiding force of America and its military might] / rides [thrives] / With his candle [enhanced intellectual illumination that no one can hold a candle to, qualify for comparison with] / lit into the SUN [tapping the energy of the sun - energy production in the sun is accomplished by nuclear fusion] / Though its glow [intensity - glow: shine with an intense heat. Additionally there is a common misconception that radioactive substances glow in the dark] / is waxed [increases in its phase or intensity] / in black [hopelessness, will initiate the doom of civilization].” The SUN is fusion energy - an atomic explosion is going to take place in Israel shortly due to the proliferation of nuclear technology) TODAY'S THE DAY (an era of existence) GONNA GRAB (make a grasping or snatching motion with the hand) MY TROMBONE (my weapon. The word TROMBONE appears three times in the body of Dylan’s writing. In Tarantula he wrote, “empty ships on the desert & traffic cops on the Broomstick & weeping & hanging onto a goofy sledgehammer & all the trombones coming apart, the xylophones cracking & flute players losing their intimates...” Examination of these words reveals a common thread in their lesser used meanings - BROOMSTICK has the word BROOM and STICK in it that as you can see by clicking is used consistently as "weapon." The hammer in sledgehammer can mean a part of a gun that detonates a bullet's primer as in the expression, "I dropped a hammer on him." Coming apart can mean disassembled, as in what is done to weapons when they are cleaned. Cracking can mean make a very sharp explosive sound; "His gun cracked." Note: In Chronicles written decades later, it was no coincidence that Dylan again associated trombones with traffic, “He could imitate just about anything-clogged water pipes and toilets flushing, steamships and sawmills, traffic, violins and trombones.” The word trombone derives from the Italian, from tromba trumpet. "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy MOUNTAIN: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for THE DAY OF THE LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand."

Joel 2:1 Thunder On The Mountain continues: AND BLOW (BLOW: land a powerful stroke with a weapon; "The Israelis gave Hamas a blow it will never recover from when they assassinated Sheikh Yassin") WELL, THERE'S HOT STUFF HERE (there's radioactive material such as plutonium and enriched uranium in Israel: HOT STUFF as in Smithsonian Magazine The Hunt For HOT STUFF In The Former Soviet Union. NOTE: HOT STUFF as radioactive material fits ingeniously and complexly with SUN as fusion) AND IT'S EVERYWHERE I GO (and enriched uranium is now in the hands of Pakistan, India, North Korea and soon the Islamic Republic of Iran will be able to produce it).”

I was thinkin' 'bout Alicia Keys, couldn't keep from crying When she was born in Hell's Kitchen,

I was living down the line I'm wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee I WAS THINKIN' 'BOUT ALICIA KEYS (nuclear proliferation brought to mind the State of Israel.

Alicia Keys is an arbitrary metaphor for Israel discernible only through context. Note: The singer and composer Alica Keys was born in Harlem, not in Hell's Kitchen) COULDN'T KEEP (this forced Dylan) FROM CRYING (D to E: CRY - to say something or protest in public) WHEN SHE WAS BORN IN HELL'S KITCHEN (Israel was born after the Nazis cooked up a living hell for the Jews of Europe by putting them in ovens - crematoriums. Also the Middle East was a hostile environment for the establishment of a Jewish State.) I WAS LIVING DOWN THE LINE (Dylan believed in the necessity for its existence and followed the Zionist line. In 1962 Dylan wrote, I’m Walkin’ Down the Line - Dylan is towing the folksinger line, following a moral boundary agreed upon by a group of people. On another level "live down" means live so as to annul some previous behavior; "NEVER AGAIN!" was the slogan of Meir Kahane's Jewish Defense League) I'M WONDERING WHERE IN THE WORLD ALICIA KEYS COULD BE? (so at this point in time Robert Allen Dylan wondering when a Jewish homeland would come into existence?)

I BEEN LOOKING FOR HER EVEN CLEAR (Robert Allen Dylan and other Jews were searching for homeland with a mindset characterized by freedom from troubling thoughts; especially e.g. guilt; "a clear conscience") THROUGH TENNESSEE (to the point where they would accept an Israel that had to secure itself by developing nuclear weapons. A secret site was erected at rural Oak Ridge TENNESSEE for the large-scale production and purification of uranium-235).

Feel like my soul is beginning to expand Look into my heart and you will sort of understand You brought me here, now you're trying to run me away The writing on the wall, come read it, come see what it say

FEEL LIKE MY SOUL (D to E: SOUL - the seat of real life or vitality; the source of action; the animating or essential part of the State of Israel) IS BEGINNING TO EXPAND (is beginning to become more and more expansionist annexing large areas of Jordanian, Egyptian and Syrian territory. 15,500 websites contain the words "Israeli expansionism") LOOK INTO MY HEART (D to E: HEART - the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience: "the heart and soul of the Jew"; Judaism mandates certain borders for the State of Israel that include the West Bank of the Jordan River, what the settlers call Judea and Sameria) AND YOU WILL SORT (SORT - items segregated into groups according to a specified criterion) OF UNDERSTAND (and you might get some inkling of Israel’s rationalization for this but unless you are Jewish you will never truly understand) YOU BROUGHT ME HERE (G-d brought the Jewish people to the land of Israel in biblical times and said that Israel should border the Jordan River) NOW YOU'RE TRYING TO RUN ME AWAY (but now G-d is forcing me to cut and run by pressuring me to leave the West Bank. He is also putting WMD's in the hands of my enemies) THE WRITING ON THE WALL (according to biblical mythology, on the night of a royal feast in Babylon writing mysteriously appeared on a wall at which no one stood and shortly thereafter Emperor Belshazzar of Babylonia was killed and the Persians (Iranians) took over the kingdom of Babylonia. Presumably G-d was the author of "the writing on the wall" and it meant that the future looked disasterous) COME READ IT (interpret its significance) COME SEE WHAT IT SAY (SAY communicate or express nonverbally; "What do the problems in the Middle East say about Israeli policies?)"

Thunder on the mountain, rollin' like a drum Gonna sleep over there, that's where the music coming from I don't need any guide, I already know the way Remember this, I'm your servant both night and day THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN (an ominious threat) ROLLIN' (D to E: ROLLING - increasing in intensity) LIKE A DRUM (like a threat that is growing more and more genocidal - when the Soviets excavated the Lublin Death Camp they found furnaces containing human bones and more than five hundred DRUMS of Zyklon B gas) GONNA SLEEP (sarcastic - D to E: SLEEP - be content or complacent) OVER THERE (with the way Israel treats the Palestinians) THAT'S WHERE THE MUSIC COMING FROM (that's where the new concentration camps have been established.

The Nazi concentration camps typically had an orchestra which played classical music as the prisoners marched to work or to the gas chambers) I DON'T NEED ANY GUIDE (a model or standard for making comparisons such as comparing the concentration camps of the Third Reich to the Palestinian refugee camps. Also reference to Robert Allen Dylan's Zionist buddy One-Legged Terry who worked as a tourist guide in Israel) I ALREADY KNOW THE WAY (I already KNOW THE WAY you treat the Palestinian Arabs) REMEMBER THIS, I'M YOUR SERVANT BOTH NIGHT AND DAY (sarcastic: like the Palestinians I am your slave laborer servant - one in a state of constant - NIGHT AND DAY - subjection or bondage. "Thou wast a SERVANT in the land of Egypt" --Deuteronomy v 15.)

The pistols are poppin' and the power is down I'd like to try somethin' but I'm so far from town The sun keeps shinin' and the North Wind keeps picking up speed Gonna forget about myself for a while,

Gonna go out and see what others need THE PISTOLS ARE POPPIN' (the war in Iraq is raging) AND THE POWER IS DOWN (and the power of the United States to influence world events, such as preventing Iran from producing nuclear weapons, has declined sharply) I'D LIKE TO TRY SOMETHIN' BUT I'M SO FAR FROM TOWN (Israel would like to bomb the Iranian centrifuges but they are scattered about in remote areas to the North of Israel) THE SUN KEEPS SHININ' (D to E: SHINE - become eminent, conspicuous - the issue of fusion devices is conspicuously in the public eye) AND THE NORTH WIND KEEPS PICKING UP SPEED (SPEED - rate of motion - and the Iranian centrifuges are spinning faster and faster) GONNA FORGET ABOUT MYSELF FOR A WHILE (going to forget about Israel having nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them) GONNA GO OUT AND SEE WHAT OTHERS NEED (going to worry about Iran and others obtaining the materials they NEED to have a nuclear arsenal - sardonic sounds like a statement of selflessness).

I've been sittin' down studyin' the art of love I think it will fit me like a glove I want some real good woman to do just what I say Everybody got to wonder what's the matter with this cruel world today I'VE BEEN SITTIN' DOWN (sarcastic: I have been passive) STUDYIN' THE ART OF LOVE (the art of war) I THINK IT WILL FIT ME LIKE A GLOVE (more sarcasm: Israel already has a close connection to it, as in hand in glove. Dylan associated violence with gloves in the liner notes to THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN "the gloves of garbage had clobbered the canvas") I WANT SOME REAL (real - not to be taken lightly) GOOD (most suitable or right for a particular purpose) WOMAN TO DO JUST WHAT I SAY (I want soldiers, male and female, who will follow orders to the utmost extent) In Handy Dandy on UNDER THE RED SKY Robert Allen Dylan wrote, “Handy Dandy if every bone [argument, contention] / in his body [in the body of Israeli law and in Torah law] / were a-broken [were violated by Israel’s actions] he would never admit it / He got an all girl [the Israeli army has 50% women in it as they are subect to the draft] / orchestra [a band of people with instruments, in this case instruments of war. Note the continuation of the musical instruments as weapons metaphor as in trombone ] / and when he says strike [make a sudden attack, inflict damage on] / up the band [a group of people with a common interest - a band of armed Palestinians] / they hit it [hit them with gunfire or artillery fire right on the mark] / Handy dandy, he got a STICK [weapon] / in his hand [ability] / and a pocket full of money…”)

Thunder On The Mountain continues: EVERYBODY (the civilian population, women in the IDF) GOT TO WONDER (be amazed at) WHAT'S THE MATTER (some situation or event that is thought about such as) WITH THIS CRUEL WORLD TODAY?” (Palestinian suicide bombers.

CRUEL describes weapons or instruments causing suffering and pain "cruel weapons of war" while CRUEL WORLD is a stereotypical phrase from a suicide note "Goodbye cruel world!")

Thunder on the mountain rolling to the ground Gonna get up in the morning walk the hard road down Some sweet day I'll stand beside my king I wouldn't betray your love or any other thing THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN (an enormous threat) ROLLING (D to E: ROLLING - steadily increasing) TO THE GROUND (and spreading to the masses of Israelis. D to E: GROUND - the masses. In the liner notes to The Times They Are A-Changin Dylan wrote “for my road is blessed with many flowers [the best artists] / an' the sounds of flowers / lost voices [cultural and political expressions] / of the ground’s people [the oppressed masses"]) GONNA GET UP IN THE

MORNING (D to E: WAKE UP IN THE MORNING - come to a realization while Israel was still in the early part of its existence. In Rollin' and Tumblin' Dylan sings "I rolled and I tumbled, I cried the whole night long /Woke up this mornin' I must have bet my money wrong") WALK THE HARD ROAD DOWN (Israel will take a path in economics and politics that causes hardship, pain or sorrow. Example: hard times have come for some Israelis) SOME SWEET (D to E: SWEET - rewarding; "he had a sweet hustle going on") DAY (period of prominence) I'LL STAND BESIDE MY KING (a competitor who holds a preeminent position; a very wealthy or powerful businessman: "an oil baron" - America) I WOULDN'T BETRAY YOUR LOVE (be unfaithful to the fundamental truth of American capitalism. D to E: LOVE - truth. In LOVE MINUS ZERO Dylan wrote, "My love she speaks like silence / without ideals or violence") OR ANY OTHER THING (or, sarcastic, betray you in the sense of "to deliver to an enemy by treachery” like the Jewish spy Jonathan Pollard did when betrayed the United States by spying for Israel).

Gonna raise me an army, some tough sons of bitches I'll recruit my army from the orphanages I been to St. Herman's church, said my religious vows I've sucked the milk out of a thousand cows GONNA RAISE ME AN ARMY / SOME TOUGH SONS OF BITCHES (kibbutzniks - socialist collective farmers - who turned the desert into an oasis through intensive labor. Also Sabras - native born Israelis - named after the pear cactus - TOUGH on the outside, soft in the inside) I'LL RECRUIT MY ARMY FROM THE ORPHANAGES (the Kibbutzniks children were often separated from their parents and raised in another area of the Kibbutz as an experiment in socialism) I BEEN TO ST. HERMAN'S CHURCH (Saint Herman, Russian Saint born in Moscow. The Kibbutz movement is largely leftwing. Also Mount Hermon is located in Israel and is surrounded by kibbutzim) SAID MY RELIGIOUS (paid lip service to socialism. D to E: RELIGION - politics, usually leftwing politics. In Tarantula Dylan wrote this to his former leftwing folk fans, “watcha doing? how's the new religion? feel any different? gave it up myself”) VOWS (a promise of fidelity - In My Back Pages Robert Allen Dylan wrote, “Equality,” [the sameness in state and continued course as Whites] / I spoke the word [preached, wrote it my poetry] / As if a wedding vow [as if I was wedded to this concept]" I'VE SUCKED (I have attracted by using an inexorable force, inducement, etc) THE MILK (the money) OUT OF A THOUSAND COWS (from innumerable cash cows. In other words Israel sucked both conservative and liberal American Jews into contributing money. This is also a continuation of the kibbutz references, as the kibbutizim were initially primarily agricultural. D to E: MILK money. In Ballad of A Thinman Dylan wrote this about the interaction between the media and the Civil Rights Movement, “You see this one-eyed midget [D to E: EYE - mind. A minority group with a single thought, single-minded] / shouting [protesting, chanting] / the word 'Now' [Freedom Now! - the slogan of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s] / You ask for what reason? [the media asks a stupid question] / And he says ‘How?’ [the Blacks are not interested in answering questions, all they want to know is how to achieve their freedom] / And you say ‘What does this mean?’ [and you still don’t understand what the Civil Rights Movement is about] / And he screams back [with all his effort] / ‘You’re a COW [you have material wealth - Golden Calf, cash cow also a you are a sacred cow - a person unreasonably held to be immune to criticism] / give me some MILK [wealth] / or else go home.)”

I got the porkchops, she got the pie She ain't no angel and neither am I Shame on your greed, shame on your wicked schemes

I'll say this, I don't give a damn about your dreams Thunder On The Mountain continues: I GOT THE PORKCHOPS (Israel has the pork - money from pork barrel legislation, special pet projects - Israel is the largest recipient of American foreign aid) SHE GOT THE PIE (D to E: PIE - distribution of wealth as in I finally got a piece of the pie America has the a large proportion of the world’s wealth) SHE AIN'T NO ANGEL (D to E: ANGEL - guiding influence. America is not a guiding moral influence rather America is a “cowboy angel”) AND NEITHER AM I (nor is Israel beyond chicanery) SHAME ON YOUR GREED (shame on Israel for taking this money from the United States in return for carrying out its policies) SHAME ON YOUR WICKED SCHEMES (shame on the Israel Lobby for taking over Congress by making large campaign contributions that are in reality bribes. Shame on men like Jack Abramoff! Psalms 26 “Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are WICKED SCHEMES, whose right hands are full of bribes” WICKED SCHEMES also appear in The Book of Ester and mean genocide, "But when it came to the king's attention, he commanded by letter that his WICKED SCHEME which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows") I'LL SAY THIS (at the risk of hurting my career since the entertainment industry is controlled by Jews) I DON'T GIVE (give - contribute to some cause; "I gave at the office") A DAMN ABOUT YOUR DREAMS (D to E: DREAMS - a visionary scheme; a wild conceit; an idle fancy; in this sense, applied to an imaginary or anticipated state of happiness; as, a dream of bliss; the dream of a Jewish State”) Thunder on the mountain heavy as can be Mean old twister bearing down on me All the ladies in Washington scrambling to get out of town Looks like something bad gonna happen, better roll your airplane down

THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN HEAVY AS CAN BE (D to E: HEAVY - troublesome psychologically or intellectually) MEAN OLD TWISTER (an unforeseen development; "events suddenly took an awkward turn for the Israel lobby") BEARING DOWN ON ME (overthrowing or crushing it by force; as, to bear down an enemy) ALL THE LADIES IN WASHINGTON (D to E: LADIES - oligarchy, someone in charge, in authority, AIPAC, an Israeli special interest group recently implicated in an Israeli-American espionage scandal in Washington, D.C.) SCRAMBLING TO GET OUT OF TOWN (making haste to leave Washington, also making unintelligible by encoding as in "scramble the message" since some are Mossad spies) LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING BAD GONNA HAPPEN (some Israeli spies are going to end up in federal prison) BETTER ROLL YOUR AIRPLANE DOWN (better roll up your spy operation in the United States, better jump on El-Al Airlines and head back to Israel).

Everybody going and I want to go to Don't wanna take a chance with somebody new I did all I could, I did it right there and then I've already confessed - no need to confess again EVERYBODY GOING (going to bomb Iran's nuclear reactors) AND I WANT TO GO TOO (Israel also wants to take part in this mission but cannot, since if it did it would look

as if the strike were on Israel's behalf) / DON'T WANNA TAKE A CHANCE WITH SOMEBODY NEW (Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a relatively obscure figure in Iranian politics until his election in 2005) I DID ALL I COULD, I DID IT RIGHT THERE AND THEN (on June 7, 1981 16 American-made Israeli warplanes bombed and destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear research facility near Baghdad) I'VE ALREADY CONFESSED (admitted to this reprehensible thing. This represents a 360 degree shift in position for Robert Allen Dylan. In Neighborhood Bully Dylan wrote this about Israel, "Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad / The bombs were meant for him / He was supposed to feel bad / He's the neighborhood bully") NO NEED TO CONFESS AGAIN (no need for me to have to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities when Christian America will do it for Israel!)

Gonna make a lot of money, gonna go up north I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf For the love of God, you ought to take pity on yourself GONNA MAKE A LOT OF MONEY (D to E: MONEY - currency, credibility) GONNA GO UP NORTH (engage in a gound war with Iran, same metaphor as "the North Wind is pickin up speed") I'LL PLANT AND I'LL HARVEST (“As ye sew, so shall ye reap”) WHAT THE EARTH (D to E: EARTH - "the ground's people" - humanity) BRINGS FORTH (brings to light, makes manifest. Since the Jews have sewn hatred in humanity because of their devilish oppression of the Palestinians Arabs they will reap millions of deaths when the atomic bombs fall on Tel Aviv, Haifa and other major Israeli cities) THE HAMMER (D to E: HAMMER - justice, a gavel, here justice for the Palestinians) IS ON THE TABLE (is on the negotiating table) THE PITCHFORK'S (the instrument the devil uses to prod people into something, in this case nuclear weapons) ON THE SHELF (D to E: ON THE SHELF - currently in a state of inactivity. In Workingman Blues#2 Dylan wrote, "My cruel weapons have been put ON THE SHELF") FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU OUGHT TO TAKE PITY (have the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and do something about it) ON YOURSELF (on not only the Palestinians but on yourself as nothing good can come out of this sort of oppression).