Temporary Like Achilles

The words

A man shut out by the woman he wants complains that she keeps him waiting while another stands guard over her.

The singer stands outside a woman's door, wanting to be let in and growing weary of her coldness. He describes her as hard to reach and protected by a rival who acts as her guard, someone only briefly invincible. The song is a lament with a sly wit, moving at a slow, rolling pace. A barrelhouse piano leads the way, with harmonica answering Dylan's drawled, frustrated vocal.