Marc Bolan (T-Rex) Ballrooms of Mars

I received an email to check out the song Ballrooms of Mars by Marc Bolan of T-Rex. The lyrics are quite interesting. How did Bolan know in 1972?

You gonna look fine
Be primed for dancing
You're gonna trip and glide
All on the trembling plane
Your diamond hands
Will be stacked with roses
And wind and cars
And people of the past

I'll call you thing
Just when the moon sings
And place your face in stone
Upon the hill of stars
And gripped in the arms
Of the changeless madman
We'll dance our lives away
In the Ballrooms of Mars

You talk about day
I'm talking 'bout night time
When monsters call out
The names of men
Bob Dylan knows
And I bet Alan Freed did
There are things in night
That are better not to behold

You dance
With your lizard leather boots on
And pull the strings
That change the faces of men
You diamond browed hag
You a gutter-gaunt gangster
John Lennon knows your name
And I've seen his … … rock

Could Bolan be describing those who are ‘Dancing with the Devil’? He wasn’t sure about Alan Freed but confident ‘Bob Dylan knows’ and ‘John Lennon knows your name’. In light of Dylan’s 2004 interview with 60 Minutes and The Lennon Prophecy in 2008 – It appears Bolan, in 1972, knew of an association between Dylan and Lennon with the one who can “pull the strings that change the faces of men.”




Bob Dylan knows

In 2004, Bob Dylan was interviewed by 60 minutes correspondent Ed Bradley, towards the end of the interview this exchange occurred:

Bradley: “Why do you still do it? Why you still out here?”
Dylan: "Well it goes back to that destiny thing. I made a bargain with it, you know, long time ago, and I'm holding up my end.”
Bradley: “What was your bargain?”
Dylan: "To get where, um, I am now.”
Bradley: “Should I ask who you made the bargain with?”
Dylan: “With, you know, with the chief, the chief commander,"
Bradley: “On this earth?”
Dylan: "In this earth and in a world we can't see."

There appears to be and edit in this part of the interview. When Dylan says, “Well it goes back to that destiny thing. I made a bargain with it…,” it sounds like he was going to say, “I made a deal…”, but there is an edit: “I made a de.. (edit) bargain with it long time ago.” I wonder what the original tape shows?

But when asked by Bradley who he made the bargain with Dylan said ‘the chief commander’. His answer seemed bittersweet. Had he been referring to God it would have been easy for him to just say ‘God’, but he didn’t. Dylan had mentioned God earlier in the interview when asked about his relationship with the media, he said, “I realized at the time the press, the media, they’re not the judge - God’s the judge. The only person you have to think about lying twice to is yourself or to God. The press isn’t either of them and I just figured they’re irrelevant.” So his answer to holding up his end of the bargain was not with God but rather ‘the chief commander’.

Some might say his bargain was with God. However, God does not make deals or bargains with individuals but prefers covenants with large entities. Service to God is one-sided. God does not assume any obligation and does not seek anything for himself. He simply requires what is in the best interest of the individual. On the other hand the Devil is happy to deal with the individual and insists on formal and reciprocal contracts with rights and duties meticulously formulated because he wants something for himself, something that is detrimental to humans. The Devil sees only the individual and will make a bargain when it is in his best interest. The idea of entering into a bargain with God (an agreement between parties settling what each shall give and take or perform and receive in a transaction) particularly for material things wealth, fame and legend is false. But when entering into a bargain with the Devil you are on firm ground! It can be said the chief commander or lord on earth is Satan!




Ringo Starr and Marc Bolan - 1972

So how did Bolan know about John Lennon in 1972? This is a video of Ringo Starr and Marc Bolan from 1972. ‘Ballrooms of Mars’ was released on the T-Rex album Slider in 1972. During this time Ringo was spending a lot of time with Bolan, playing music and working together on the movie ‘Born to Boogie’. Maybe Ringo provided Bolan with information about John Lennon and then he used it in the song ‘Ballrooms of Mars’. Who knows what rock stars talk about when the stage lights dim and the music stops.

There is an underlying darkness in the song Ballrooms of Mars. I believe Bolan may be describing those who are ‘Dancing with the Devil’.

The Lennon Prophecy, Marc Bolan, T-Rex, Ballrooms of Mars, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Devil, bargain with the Devil.