It’s the 5th day of May, which is coincidentally the day that Bob married Isis. Sadly, it didn’t last and old Bob rode off to a wild unknown country where he could not go wrong.
The wild and impenetrable narrative in this song has been interpreted and re-interpreted a million times. It has been suggested that the lyrics, co-written with songwriter and theatre director Jacques Levy, are about Egyptian deities, Mexico’s Cinco De Mayo festival and, most obviously, Dylan’s imploding marriage with Sara and their subsequent reconciliation/divorce.
Nuptial frustration is clearly the central theme of the song and Dylan used to introduce it as “a song about marriage”. The line “What drives me to you is what drives me insane” tells you all you need to know.
Although his marriage is clearly uppermost in Bob’s mind, my own experience with Dylan leads me to believe that Isis is simultaneously about everything and about nothing in particular. So many of his songs are a smörgåsbord of images, ideas and snatches of reality which combine to create a work that is much greater than the sum of its parts. Clearly the pain in Isis is real and the muse must be Sara, but as Jim Beviglia says, “All the icy adventures, goddess names, and symbolic dates are just ephemera.“
You can read the lyrics for yourself, but IMHO, just like Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands or Mr Tambourine Man, they defy interpretation in any concrete way.
Whatever it’s about, put your headphones on and immerse yourself in one of Dylan’s most intriguing tunes.