My Back Pages Lyrics

Performed by The Byrds

Written by Bob Dylan

Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin' high and mighty trapped
countless fire and flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
"Rip down all hate," I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull. I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preached
sisters led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

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The danger of Certainty | Reviewer: Anonymous | 2/14/10

War, slavery, crucifiction, mutiny, environmental degradation, murder. pride... all come from being certain of your superiority and/or righteousness. We need to be younger, more open, less "defensive" because defense often becomes offensive.

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back pages | Reviewer: steve | 10/23/09

agree with tim dylan told a audience recently that by the time he wrote my back pages he had grown up was thinking about the real heros of his generation were his fathers contemporaries that fought and saved the world during WW II

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grown-up | Reviewer: Tim | 8/1/09

You could interpret this in plenty of ways. Roger McGuinn said that Bob Dylan was "protesting about protest songs", mocking his younger self, and asserting that he had grown up since then. I think Dylan had grown tired of being a radical and just wanted to settle down.

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Life | Reviewer: Richard | 6/7/09

This is one of the greatest "protest" songs. Dylan was mature beyond his years,and thats reflected in all of his songs. This songs shows how we are maniuplated by our elders and shows how when we are faced with facts that are different from what we are taught, it causes confusion "munity" and brings in to question all that we think we know. I pray for all of my generation lost in Vietnam.

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Transitions | Reviewer: Anonymous | 10/2/08

This is a lyrically incredible song. It seems that the Byrds best song are the ones written by Dylan (eg. this one and Tambourine Man). I believe this song is about the narrator's transition from the New Left (Civil Rights, Free Speech Movement, etc.) which is political and therefore "older" to the Hippie Counterculture which is "younger"; i.e. more childlike.

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Best Byrds Song? | Reviewer: elvis | 10/10/07

Maybe, certainly a stunning vocal and guitar break but from what I've read, it is unlikely that any of the other instruments were actually played by members of The Byrds. They had notorious tempo problems and their live shows were pretty uneven....

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Remember its Dylan | Reviewer: Frankly | 8/13/07

His songs were always more about the weight and feel of words than the words themselves. It can be pretentious but he always seemed to pull it off. To me he painted abstract pictures of real life. You can recognize it as real life but a lot of the meaning comes from inside the listener. This is a dynamite song and really a masterful performance by the Byrds

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inspired | Reviewer: dano | 6/2/07

this song and the bells of rhymney inspired me to buy the rickenbacker 12-string that i still have today. recorded dec.5th 1966, an absolute triumph for terry melcher at the desk and whoever the tape engineer was on this day. the original byrds are gelling at this point as well as they ever will. clarence white waits in the wings to record the great "the girl with no name" with fellow bluegrasser, and composer, chris hillman. this session turned out some fine work.

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Actually... | Reviewer: Karn | 4/26/07

I think this has a rather abstract view to life about it. I think the narrator, so to speak, of the song goes through hell in his life and THINKS he learns things after each trial, but as he grows older, finds that he actually knew very little.

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RE: I can relate | Reviewer: Steve | 3/24/07

I think the song is about the country as a whole and what was going on at the time. I interpret the lyrics to be a contrast of the WWII generation vs. the Vietnam generation (ie, the voice of the country in the 40s came from the older generations, but in the 60s, the younger generations started speaking up).

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