The Song "Serious of Dreams"

In the song “Serious of Dreams,” Bob Dylan uses the symbols and archetypes of flying and falling to express the theme of humanity’s transformation.  According to Anthony Stevens, “it represents loss of social, spiritual, or moral status” (419). Opposed to the context of falling, the dream also mentioned flying: “Dreams of flying are invariably pleasant, often elating, giving rise to feelings of freedom and self-mastery, a sense of transcending the constraints of mundane reality” (419). In the song, “Serious of Dreams,” he says “wasn’t thinking of anything specific;” however, that was not the case when he says, “in one, I was running, and in another all I seemed to be doing was climb” (Dylan).