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“Jokerman” from the 1983 album Infidels is one of Dylan’s most analysed songs. It is perhaps a culmination of all the grand themes Dylan was wrestling with at the time – labelled his post-evangelical period by some commentators. Intentionally or unintentionally, Dylan perpetuated the confusion with the image of the Joker.
The Joker is a special card found in most modern decks of playing cards that has its origins in the court jester of the middle ages and the Fool of the Tarot card deck. The card shares similarities in both appearance and play function to the Fool in Tarot cards. Its use is greatly varied. Many games omit the card from use entirely, but often the Joker is a wild card and thereby allowed to represent other existing cards. The Joker can be extremely beneficial or extremely harmful and brings an unpredictable feature to games. Dylan’s “Jokerman” is thus a deeply ambiguous figure.
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