THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY
VOLUME ONE
COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE POETRY
OF NOBEL PRIZE WINNER BOB DYLAN, HUMAN OR OTHERWISE
CENTER FOR ADVANCED DYLANOLOGICAL STUDY 318 Third Ave Suite 520 New York, New York 10010
Sunday, February 16, 2020
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A. J. WEBERMAN: DYLANOLOGIST
THE DYLANOLOGICAL METHOD
SHTICK DRECK: THE LOST TWO MONTHS
CRYPTO-RACIST, NEO-CONFEDERATE POETRY
BLOWIN IN THE WIND
HARD RAIN 1962
ONLY A PAWN IN THEIR GAME 1963
LIKE A ROLLING STONE 1965
IF DOGS RUN FREE 1970
SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES 1965***
LOVE MINUS ZERO (NO LIMIT) 1965
CAN YOU PLEASE CRAWL OUT YOUR WINDOW? 1966***
PAY IN BLOOD 2012
SOON AFTER MIDNIGHT 2012
THE EARLY ROMAN KINGS 2012***
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, JOEL GILBERT AND BOB DYLAN
TIN ANGEL 2012
TRANSITION FROM FOLK TO POETRY-ROCK
IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH A TRAIN TO CRY 1965***
IT AIN’T ME BABE 1964
MY BACK PAGES 1964***
ONE OF US MUST KNOW (SOONER OR LATER)***
RESTLESS FAREWELL 1964
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THE WICKED MESSENGER 1968
ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO 1964***
SENIOR 1978***
PATRIOTIC POETIC MASTERPIECES
TOMBSTONE BLUES 1966
GATES OF EDEN 1965***
IT’S ALRIGHT MA I’M ONLY BLEEDING
MAGGIE’S FARM 1965
HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED 1965
SHE BELONGS TO ME 1965***
ANGELINA 1981
IT’S ALL OVER NOW BABY BLUE 1965
VISIONS OF JOHANNA: 1966***
DESOLATION ROW 1965
BALLAD OF A THIN MAN 1965
SAD EYED LADY OF THE LOWLANDS
LES FLURES DE MAL
TINY MONTGOMERY 1967
LO AND BEHOLD! 1967
PLEASE, MISSUS HENRY 1967
QUINN THE ESKIMO (THE MIGHTY QUINN) 1967
LAY, LADY, LAY
LIVING THE BLUES 1969
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BAND OF THE HAND (IT’S HELL TIME MAN!) 1986
HUCK’S TUNE 2007
LINER NOTES ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN
THE WEIGHT
ONE MORE WEEKEND 1969
THE RUMOR 1970
DIRGE 1973
TO RAMONA 1963
SPANISH HARLEM INCIDENT 1964
MR. TAMBOURINE MAN 1964
DOWN ALONG THE COVE 1968
I’LL BE YOUR BABY TONIGHT 1968
CRIPPLE CREEK 1968
WINTERLUDE 1970
I THREW IT ALL AWAY 1969
COUNTRY PIE 1969
TONIGHT I’LL BE STAYING HERE WITH YOU 1969
SEEIN’ THE REAL YOU AT LAST 1985***
ROMANCE IN DURANGO 1975***
JUST LIKE TOM THUMB’S BLUES
LEOPARD SKIN PILL BOX HAT
AUTO-BIOGRAPHICAL
AS I WENT OUT ONE MORNING 1968
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CHANGING OF THE GUARDS 1978***
NO TIME TO THINK 1978
JOKERMAN 1983***
HIGHLANDS 1997***
ROLLING AND TUMBLING 2006***
STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN 1966***
BLACK CROW BLUES 1964
THE BALLAD OF FRANKIE LEE AND JUDAS PRIEST 1968**
SERIES OF DREAMS 1989***
QUEEN JANE APPROXIMATELY 1965***
ARTHUR McBRIDE 1992
CANDADEE-I-O 1992
DELIA 1993***
TWO SOLDIERS 1993***
HIGHLANDS 1997
SUICIDE ATTEMPT
INTRODUCTION TO DYLAN’S SUICIDE ATTEMPT
ONLY A HOBO 1961
MAN IN THE STREET 1962***
OTHER KINDS OF SONGS 1964
FROM A BUICK SIX 1965
DESOLATION ROW 1965
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ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE 1966***
LILLY ROSEMARY AND THE JACK OF HEARTS 1974
???
SARAH 1975
I PITY THE POOR IMMIGRANT 1968
???
JESUS FREAK PERIOD
ONE MORE CUP OF COFFEE FOR THE ROAD 1975
SISTER OH SISTER 1975
IN THE GARDEN 1980
PRECIOUS ANGEL 1979
DEADMAN 1981
WHEN HE RETURNS 1979
SHOT OF LOVE 1981
SAVED 1980
WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU 1980***
SOLID ROCK 1980
PRESSING ON 1980***
SAVING GRACE 1980
EVERY GRAIN OF SAND 1981
MAN OF PEACE 1983
YOU GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY 1997
PROUD JEW PERIOD
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I AND I 1983
NEIGHBORHOOD BULLY 1983
LICENSE TO KILL 1983
TOUGH MAMA 1973
SOMETHING THERE IS ABOUT YOU 1973***
FOREVER YOUNG 1973***
WEDDING SONG 1973
SELF-HATING SICK JEW PERIOD
T.V. TALKIN’ TIME 1990
10,000 MEN 1990
TWEEDLE-DEE DUM AND TWEEDLE-DEE DEE 2001
RING THEM BELLS 1989
NETTIE MOORE 2006
SHAKE MAMA SHAKE 2009
NARROW WAY 2012
MELLENCAMP’S ISRAEL HATING SONG***
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S ANTI-ISRAEL SONG
HICKEY PICKS UP A NAIL
POSITIVELY HIV STREET
I AIN’T NEVER GONNA BE THE SAME AGAIN 1985
UNDER YOUR SPELL 1986
DEATH IS NOT THE END 1988
THE DISEASE OF CONCEIT 1989
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MAN IN THE LONG BLACK COAT 1989
MOST OF THE TIME 1989
WHAT GOOD AM I? 1989
TRYING TO GET TO HEAVEN 1997
NOT DARK YET 1997
I AIN’T NEVER GONNA BE THE SAME AGAIN 1985
UNDER YOUR SPELL 1986
HARD TIMES ARRANGED BY BOB DYLAN IN 1992
THE DISEASE OF CONCEIT 1989
MOST OF THE TIME 1989
WHAT GOOD AM I? 1989
NOT DARK YET 1997
COLD IRONS BOUND 1997***
LOVE SICK 1997
CAN’T WAIT 1997
STILL A MILLION MILES FROM YOU 1997
MISSISSIPPI 2001
AIN’T TALKIN’ 2006
SCARLET TOWN 2012
THE DYLAN WEBERMAN MYTHOLOGY
TELL ME THAT IT ISN’T TRUE 1969
TAKE ME AS I AM 1970
WENT TO SEE THE GYPSY 1970
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SOME OTHER KINDS OF SONGS 1964
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
WHEN I PAINT MY MASTERPIECE 1971
BILLY 1 1972 BILLY 4 1972
IDIOT WIND 1974
YOU’RE GONNA MAKE ME LONESOME WHEN YOU GO 1974
ISIS 1975
WHERE ARE YOU TONIGHT? (JOURNEY THROUGH DARK HEAT) 1978
DURING HIS SPEECH AT THE MUSICARE AWARDS DYLAN MAKES REFERENCE TO THE TIME HE PINNED ME DOWN TO THE GROUND
MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS 1979
WHEN THE NIGHT COMES FALLING FROM THE SKY 1985***
CONGRATULATIONS OCTOBER 1988
TWEETER & THE MONKEY MAN 1988
DIAMOND JOE 1992
STANDING IN THE DOORWAY 1997
HIGHLANDS 1997
SUGAR BABY 2001
NETTIE MOORE 2006
SPIRIT ON THE WATER 2006
SHAKE MAMA SHAKE 2009
IT’S ALL GOOD 2009
I FEEL A CHANGE COMIN’ ON 2009
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IF YOU EVER GO TO HOUSTON 2009
LONG AND WASTED YEARS 2012***
THE TITANIC: A METAPHOR FOR DYLAN’S CAREER
DUQUESNE WHISTLE BLOWIN' 2012
ROLL ON JOHN
SLOW TRAIN 1979
ROCK POETS REACT TO BOB DYLAN
ROCK POETS REACT TO DYLAN IN POETRY
HEY JUDE A MESSAGE TO DYLAN
MAGGIE MAE
OB-LA-DI, OB-LA-DA
ROCKY RACCOON
MEAN MISTER MUSTARD
IMAGINE PEACE 2011
YOKO’S FATHER WAS JAPANESE WAR CRIMINAL
PAUL McCARTNEY
PANCHO AND LEFTY, TOWNES VAN ZANDT, A.J. WEBERMAN AND THE DEVIL***
LOU REED
TAKE IT EASY BY GLENN FREY
MEMO FROM TURNER IS A MESSAGE TO BOB DYLAN
PAINT IT BLACK IS ABOUT DYLAN
LEONARD COHEN
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YOU CAN CALL ME AL 1986***
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A. J. WEBERMAN: DYLANOLOGIST
Alan Jules Weberman, born May 26, 1945 is a Brooklyn native who descends from a long line of Torah Jews. Alan attended P.S. 241 and Lefferts Junior High School in Brooklyn where he first achieved media exposure on local television as the President of the Haystacks Calhoun fan club, a 601 pound professional wrestler from Morgan’s Corner, Arkansas. It was on to Erasmus Hall High School, where he met Neil Hickey, the beatnik nephew of “Crazy Joe” and Larry “Kid Blast” Gallo, the most notorious Mafia gangsters in Brooklyn in the 1950’s. Neil and Alan had an act called The Progressive Bible Readers that entailed loud drumming so they rehearsed at Joey and Larry’s parents’ house because no one would call the cops with a noise complaint. When Alan was fifteen years young Neil turned him on to pot one week after Alan bought his first pack of Marlboros. After smoking a jay he threw away the cigarettes. But he was a sloppy pot head and left roaches under his bed. As a result, his parents shipped him off to Michigan State University in order to get him away from the bad influences in New York. Weberman made many friends in East Lansing, where he turned major marihuana and ibogaine (an addiction interrupter) advocate Dana Beal onto his first joint. During the summer of 1963 Weberman hitchhiked from East Lansing to Progresso in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico where he lived under very primitive conditions. When he was in Mexico City he stayed at the Hotel Commerico, the same cheap hotel near the bus station where Lee Harvey Oswald stayed that same summer. He returned to East Lansing on a route that took him through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Back in East Lansing he started a hippy commune called ‘The Smoke Shop’ and got a job at The Pizza Pit, where he met his first love, Debra Dixon, whose ancestry traced back to the Mason / Dixon line. Weberman made many friends at MSU and became a major bad influence. Two days before he was going to drop Morning Glory seeds with two six-foot tall twins he was arrested for sale of 5 marijuana cigarettes and expelled from college. Weberman was facing twenty years minimum mandatory sentence on the sale and an additional ten years minimum mandatory sentence after the cops vacuumed his pockets and found traces of reefer. He returned to New York City in February 1964 where he got a job as credit manager of the Lawrence Employment Agency and went to a psychiatrist who specialized in drug abuse, Dr. Milton Kurian, who had previously examined Lee Harvey Oswald. After paying off the D.A. and the shrink he copped a plea in Michigan and eventually graduated with honors from the City College of New York. In January 1968 he moved to 6 Bleecker Street on the Bowery and became an underground journalist and rock critic at The East Village Other from 1966 until its demise in 1971. In 1970 Alan began to use the initials A. J. at this time. A. J. stood “A Joint,” slang for marijuana cigarette. A. J. became an underground publisher when he bootlegged the book Tarantula, by Bob Dylan. In the late
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1960’s, A. J. taught a Dylanology class at The Free University, then taught a class at the Alternate University. He lectured at Yale and Harvard and many other colleges on the subject of Dylanology. It was around this time that A. J. became Minister of Defense of the Dylan Liberation Front; a group that was formed to Free Bob Dylan from his addiction to heroin and get him to become active in the anti-Vietnam War Movement. Circa 1970 A. J. began going through Dylan’s garbage. He was the first private citizen and muckraking journalist to use this method of investigation and is cited in a United States Supreme Court ruling regarding its legality. He had a cover story about garbology in Esquire and wrote for numerous publications such as Penthouse and the Village Voice. In 1972 A. J. became a Youth International Party (Yippie!-Zippie!) leader associated with Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and Tom Forcade, the founder of High Times Magazine. In 1971 A. J. (or Al as Dylan called him) harangued Bob at his studio on Houston Street.
Weberman became a friend of John Lennon, and in 1972 Lennon gave him $30,000 to start riots at the Republican Convention in Miami. In November 1973 Weberman made a significant break though in solving the JFK assassination,and along with Michael Canfield became a Congressional researcher for the late Congressman Henry Gonzalez (Dem. TX) and the late Senator Richard Schweiker (Rep. PA). A. J. was co-author of Coup D’état in America—The CIA and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy 1975, 1990 (Canfield was his coauthor). Mike became close friends with Bob Dylan. Bob attended his wedding to a Christian soap opera star. Dylan was a generous guy during his Christian period and set Canfield up in the antique car restoration business, Indigo Motors. A. J. threw a tomato at Nixon on September 13, 1978 and spent two days in The Tombs with a mute cellmate who had allegedly exposed himself in a Men’s Room on Forty Deuce. In 1980 My Life in Garbology was published. Weberman had branched out a collected a wide variety of trash, from Nixon to his VP Spiro Agnew, to liberal Congresswoman Bella Abzug. In 1982 he got rolled over and became Deputy Director of Plans for the Jewish Defense Organization. In 2004 he was a researcher for Peter Lance on Islamist Terrorism and in 2006 the Yippie Museum Press published The Dylan to English Dictionary some of which was based on the false premise that Dylan was at one time a Leftist. That year he was the subject of award-winning documentary film, The Ballad of A. J. Weberman, and he established The Yippie Museum, an educational institution chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In 2008 he became a biographer of Rudy Giuliani with the publication of Homothug. Weberman graduated with honors from the City College of New York (Class of 1970) and is an alumnus of the Graduate School of Survival at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (Class of 2001).
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Yeah, it looks like it’s me and Dylan, together through life. I began attempting to translate Dylan in 1967, after listening to his poetry high on acid. In 1970 I turned to early mainframe computers to help me decode it by having Sandy Gant program a computer to produce a Dylan Word Concordance, a print out of every word in Dylan’s poetry in alphabetical and chronological order along with a line of context. Despite this empirical effort, the problem of imposing my ideas on Dylan’s poetry still remained. Decades later I discovered that Bob and I had a wide divergence of thought. This why I am convinced that I have finally perfected Dylanology as comparing Israel to Nazi Germany (there is no death penalty in Israel) and Holocaust Revisionism are ideas that are repugnant to me.
Just as Dylan has a gift for writing poetry I have an inverse gift. Even in 1962, while a student at Michigan State University, my English professor was amazed at the insights I provided into classical poetry. But people call this gift an obsession. Was Verlaine obsessed with Rambo?
KEY: THE DYLANOLOGICAL METHOD
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Dylan won the Nobel Prize for literature. The judges had no idea why they awarded him the prize, other than his early literal poems impressed them. Little did they know that Bob Dylan embedded racist and neo-confederate thought in his lyrics. This makes sense in light of the fact that in 1961 he sold his ass to gays on Times Square bars - so he’s a male prostitute; then when it looks like his career was failing he becomes suicidal, threatens to jump off Brooklyn Bridge, ends up in Bellevue, so he’s a former mental patient, next, he gets addicted to heroin, so he’s a former junkie. Then he hangs out with me, brutally attacks me on Elizabeth Street, knocking my head against the pavement, which makes him a thug, divorces his wife becomes a sex addict, get’s HIV Positive and this turns into AIDS and he almost dies from histoplasmosis. He’s a racist all along, turns on Israel after the Intifada and even descends into Holocaust denial. It is all here. That is the true story of the sleaziest writer and poet in existence ever to win the Nobel Prize for literature. However, now that he won the Nobel Prize for Literature scholars are going to be pouring over his works trying to figure out what a book like Tarantula is about and lines like “I bought myself a herd of moose which one day she called her own and she came out the very next night to see where they have flown” mean. They might come across The Encyclopedia Dylanologica but they will dismiss it because the translations of the poetry don’t paint Dylan in a good light. Then they will come up with their subjective interpretations rather than admit their liberal icon is an alt right racist conservative, with ties to Roger Stone via his political operative, Joel Gilbert, at least the last time I checked.
One has to have a through knowledge of American literature and history to understand the subcontent. There are also certain a priori assumptions that allow you to gain entrance to the dog whistle meaning of Dylan’s lyrics and written words which have now been recognized as poetry. One of the keys to understanding Dylan is that he is not a liberal Civil Rights guy but just the opposite. He is a racist, neo-Confederate and Holocaust denier. Once you realize this the next steps are simple. Copy the entire lyrics from the official Dylan Webpage to the poem in question to Notebook to remove the formatting then paste it in word in Word. We will use OnThe Road Again:
Well, I woke up in the morning There’s frogs inside my socks Your mama, she’s a-hidin’ Inside the icebox Your daddy walks in wearin’ A Napoleon Bonaparte mask Then you ask why I don’t live here Honey, do you have to ask?
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Well, I go to pet your monkey I get a face full of claws I ask who’s in the fireplace And you tell me Santa Claus The milkman comes in He’s wearing a derby hat Then you ask why I don’t live here Honey, how come you have to ask me that?
Well, I asked for something to eat I’m hungry as a hog So I get brown rice, seaweed And a dirty hot dog I’ve got a hole Where my stomach disappeared Then you ask why I don’t live here Honey, I gotta think you’re really weird
Your grandpa’s cane It turns into a sword Your grandma prays to pictures That are pasted on a board Everything inside my pockets Your uncle steals Then you ask why I don’t live here Honey, I can’t believe that you’re for real
Well, there’s fistfights in the kitchen They’re enough to make me cry The mailman comes in Even he’s gotta take a side Even the butler He’s got something to prove Then you ask why I don’t live here Honey, how come you don’t move?
The next step is to find a recurrent theme in all the verses. You can do this with your own knowledge of use The Free Dictionary online to find lesser used meanings of words, slang, idiomatic expressions etc. Or you can use the Dylan Written Word and Dylan Lyric data base to see how Dylan uses the word in every context it appears. Highlight these words in bold. Once you have recognized a recurrent theme, in this case American History, break the poem down into verses and look for more key words:
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Well, I woke up in the morning There's frogs inside my socks Your mama, she's a-hidin' Inside the icebox Your daddy walks in wearin' A Napoleon Bonaparte mask Then you ask why I don't live here Honey, do you have to ask?
I look back at early America history and the first thing that happens is America goes to war with the French (frogs) in Canada (icebox) while the American Revolution was inspired by the French. Napoleon Bonaparte mask.
The Battle of Quebec (French: Bataille de Québec) was fought on December 31, 1775, between American Continental Army forces and the British defenders of Quebec City early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major defeat of the war for the Americans, and it came with heavy losses. General Richard Montgomery was killed, Benedict Arnold was wounded, and Daniel Morgan and more than 400 men were taken prisoner. The city's garrison, a motley assortment of regular troops and militia led by Quebec's provincial governor, General Guy Carleton, suffered a small number of casualties. Well, I go to pet your monkey I get a face full of claws I ask who's in the fireplace And you tell me Santa Claus The milkman comes in He's wearing a derby hat Then you ask why I don't live here Honey, how come you have to ask me that? “Well, I go to pet” to treat (a person) as a pet; pamper. Monkey To play, fiddle, trifle, or tamper with something: FDR who tampered with the capitalist system. I ask who is giving a fireside chat and you tell me someone who will bring us presents and wealth. “The milkman comes in” Milk: To obtain money or benefits from, in order to achieve personal gain; exploit: "The dictator and his cronies had milked their country of somewhere between $5 billion and $10 billion" and he is Harry Truman, a haberdasher. Well, I asked for something to eat I'm hungry as a hog So I get brown rice, seaweed And a dirty hot dog I've got a hole Where my stomach disappeared
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Then you ask why I don't live here Honey, I gotta think you're really weird Hog One that uses too much of something.I asked for some more land to hog up in the world so I get brown rice and seaweed the dirty Not sportsmanlike: dirty players; a dirty fighter.Vietnamese soldier or Japanese hot dog Kamikaze aviator I have a wound where my stomach was shot out. Your grandpa's cane It turns into a sword Your grandma prays to pictures That are pasted on a board Everything inside my pockets Your uncle steals Then you ask why I don't live here Honey, I can't believe that you're for real Your civilian industrial plants are transformed into war material manufacturing facilities. You grandma makes a devout or earnest request for war movies with big stars whose pictures appear on billboards Everything inside my pockets Your uncle SAM steals you must be part of the unreal Hollywood scene if you can’t believe this. Well, there's fist fights in the kitchen They're enough to make me cry The mailman comes in Even he's gotta take a side Even the butler He's got something to prove
The Civil War in the homeland (the kitchen is in the home) that divided brother from brother was a disgrace. The mailman the soldier mail: Flexible armor composed of small overlapping metal rings, loops of chain, or scales. Even the slaves, the servants, have something to prove to try to show people how good, strong, intelligent etc you are because you think they do not realize it. Then you ask why I don't live here? Honey, how come you don't move? TARANTULA
When Dylan wouldn’t publish his book Tarantula, I bootlegged it and sold it on the street and in New York City bookstores. He told me he finally published it because he didn’t want to see me making money.
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This excerpt from Tarantula provides a good example of the Dylanological method: “& into the march now where tab hunter leads with his thunderbird…”
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In order to translate this line correctly you have to possess the racist dog whistle key and you have to be either a racist yourself or be very familiar with racist thought “& into the march now” the words “march” and “now” as in “Freedom Now” denotes the Civil Rights Movement. In Ballad of a Thin Man 1966 Dylan described a single- minded monstrous minority group as shouting the word [Freedom] Now! “You see this one-eyed midget shouting the word now!”
We are into the Civil Rights Movement “where tab hunter” a famous actor, “leads with his thunderbird” leads the march driving a Thunderbird automobile. So what? Who cares? But if you look at the word “tab” as a bill or check, such as one for a meal in a restaurant or the tab taxpayers have to pay for welfare and “hunter” as “one who searches for or seeks something” and add that to “thunderbird” a brand of cheap wine favored by Blacks, then Tab Hunter leading in his T-bird becomes a lazy freeloading drunken Black is leading the Civil Rights Movement! Dylan is a painter who paints with words. Interestingly enough, I heard Milton Berle do the “tab hunter” bit on Texaco Star Theatre. Note: When someone thinks along these lines they don’t use the word “Black” they use the word “nigger” and his is what is going through Dylan’s head!
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Who is going to believe that this is a translation of Bob Dylan, icon of the Civil Rights Movement? I would have better luck talkin’ integration to a lynch mob. However Dylan told Elliot Landy that he was going to vote for the racist pig George Wallace in the 1968 presidential elections. "He was a jokester," says Landy. "I told that to the guys in the Band, and they said that you never know if Bob is kidding around or not."
So despite how many times the repetitive racist theme reoccurs in Dylan’s subcontent, its validity will be rejected by those who study Dylan’s poetry in the future looking for the reason he won the Nobel Prize.
In retrospect it seems that my having created a Dylan Word Concordance in 1970 was the right thing to do even though it proved to be of little value in translating Dylan. It was too cumbersome because it was in paper form.
***
No matter how you cut it Dylan was right when he said: “Shit man, if I was a kid growing up man, I’d have to look out for you. I would keep my eyes open for you. If I was a kid growing up I’d make sure whatever street I went down I’d have to go on the other side of the street when you came down man.”
THE DYLAN WORD CONCORDANCE
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AL IF YOU GET INTO MY LIFE I MIGHT GAIN A SOUL – Bob Dylan 1970
Dylan is always like threatening to kill me or worse in verse. I am in the best position to detect this. Why in “When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky”*** he predicts that I will end up in prison and that “you’ll know all about it love, it will fit you like a glove.” In other words I’m gonna get a big “nigger” dick up my ass or a cavity search. That’s my boy, Bobby, never lets me down! So another key to Dylan is his hatred for me. Not only that but he repeatedly threatened my ass, culminating in the video Duquesne Whistle, where I get knee capped and portrayed as a stalker not a serious poetic critic.
The Weberman, Dylan relationship made the front page of the New York Times in October 2016. It’s a long strange tale, that makes Verlaine and Rimbaud look like greasy kids stuff but in the end I was able to figure out the subcontent of Dylan’s poetry so I didn’t fail at that as I did in my attempt to get Dylan to lay off the smack, stop doing dugi, stop being a schmecker, a Jewish junkie. So I’m no ordinary Dylan “fan.” In Dear Landlord, an early poem about the Dylan-Weberman whatever you want to call it. “Each of us has his own special gift and you know this was meant to be true.” Dylan is a gifted singer, poet and musician, while my gift is a little more difficult to define because Dylan was my reverse role model which put us in an adversarial position.
Dylan’s latest prediction about my demise is “You might end up in some Honky Tonk or some old age home going through the rubble with a fine tooth comb.”
No college professor could ever come close to understanding Dylan. You have to be part of the folk scene in the early 1960’s as I was thanks to
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two folknick dudes in my dorm at MSU Larry Kopp and Douglas Messenger. You had to be part of the beatnik culture, the hippy culture. English has to be your first language and you have to be familiar with idiomatic expressions and slang. You have to know about junk and junkies; you have to have a part intellectual part street person mentality. You have to have a thorough knowledge of Bob Dylan’s career. Or you have to be another rock poet like Springsteen, Simon, Lennon, McCartney and others. You have to have lived contemporaneously with Dylan. Take this verse from Desolation Row. What college professor would know Lenny was busted for impersonating a priest?
Across the street they’ve nailed the curtains They’re getting ready for the feast The Phantom of the Opera In a perfect image of a priest They’re spoon feeding Casanova To get him to feel more assured Then they’ll kill him with self-confidence After poisoning him with words And the Phantom’s shouting to skinny girls “Get Outa Here If You Don’t Know Casanova is just being punished for going To Desolation Row”
Across the street
In another venue in Greenwich Village
They’ve nailed the curtains
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They have nailed down everything that could possibly be stolen by corrupt cops
They’re getting ready for the feast
They are getting ready for the predatory Irish Catholic cops to feast on Lenny Bruce. To bust his ass.
The Phantom of the Opera
A performer who has everyone scared to death
In a perfect image of a priest
LENNY BRUCE: IMPERSONATING A PRIEST
MIAMI, FL 23-APR-1951
They’re spoon feeding
Casanova
They are selectively feeding information to a puritanical judge
Sarcastic Italian adventurer noted for his Mémoires, a vivid account of his sexual adventures and of contemporary society. Lenny Bruce used four letter words in his act.
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To get him to feel more assured.
To get him to feel more assured that locking up Lenny is the right thing.
Then they’ll kill him with self-confidence.
Informal. To overcome completely or with irresistible effect: That comedian kills me. Of, relating to, or involving a swindle or fraud: a confidence scheme; a confidence trickster.
After poisoning him with words
After reading the judge a list of words Lenny used in his act.
And the Phantom’s shouting to skinny girls
And Lenny is telling reporters: Inside information; the real facts: learned the skinny on their falling-out.
“Get Outa Here
You are putting me on
If You Don’t Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row”
It’s the Judge who is really being punished for being part of America in the early 1960’s.
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How did a creepy looking kid like Bob become a rock and roll superstar? The answer is simple. He is a creep, was a creep and will always be a creep because he is a creep up front.
SHTICK DRECK: THE LOST TWO MONTHS
In 1960 Dylan wrote Talkin’ Folklore Center:
So I got on a subway and took a seat Got out on 42nd Street. I met this fellow named Delores there, He started rubbin' his hands through my hair -- I figured somethin' was wrong, So I ran through ten hot-dog stands, four movie houses, And a couple a dancing studios to get back on the subway train.
In 1962 in I Shall be Free Bob claimed he feared female impersonators:
Well, I took me a woman late last night I's three-fourths drunk she looked all right 'Til she started peelin' off her onion gook She took off her wig, said, "How do I look" ? I's high flyin', bare naked ...Out the window.
So who would have thought Bob was bisexual? It was like in prison: those who told everyone they hated snitches and fags were probably snitches and fags. For his first 2 months in Manhattan Bob was male prostitute working rough trade in Times Square and was almost murdered by one of his Johns. This explains why Bob put a photo of Times Square on the cover of his autobiography rather than the arch in Washington Square Park or a picture of MacDougal Street.
Greenwich Village wasn’t the first place young Bobby Zimmerman crashed when he first came to New York Town. “After a rockin’ reelin’ rollin’ ride I landed up on the downtown side, Green-wich Village.” Talkin’ New York Bob Dylan 1961. Where was he prior to writing that? Sellin’ his ass in sleazy bars around Forty Deuce. He admitted it to Robert Shelton, the critic who gave him his first big break and the same dude he confessed to that he was junkie.
I shucked everybody when I came to New York. I played cute. I did not go down to the Village when I first got to New York. I have a friend [redacted] he’s a junkie now. We came to New York together. He wrote plays. We hung out of on 43rd Street,
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hustled for two months and did everything. I got the ride here in December 1960. I came down to the Village in February. But I was here in New York in December 1960. Hustling with this cat. I not scared of people, you dig? You name it we did it. Sometimes we would make one hundred a night, really, from four in the afternoon until three or four in the morning. We would make one hundred and fifty or two hundred and fifty a night between us and hang around in bars. Cats would pick us up and chicks would pick us up. And we would do anything you wanted, as long as it paid. It was very cut-throat. You gotta shell out a lotta money just to hang around, so we weren’t making anything. We ended up in the village. And I had the guitar. I didn’t have any place to stay but it was easy for me. People took me in. That’s where I almost got killed before I came down to the Village. I didn’t plan to stay in New York. I left anyway in the spring and didn’t plan to come back. I came back because I really missed it. There was no other place that I really could go. The first places I played in were on 44th and 43rd Streets between Broadway and Eighth Avenue in any of those bars. I didn’t come down to the Village until two months later. Nobody knew I had been hustling uptown.
You can say that Dylan made this up as he made up having traveled with carnivals, ridden freights and generally woody-guthried it up. This enhanced his career. Making up a story that he was a slimey Times Square object of chicken hawks did not, unless everyone had the mentality of a pervert and at the time the CPUSA considered homosexuality a product of capitalist decadence. And leftists comprised most of his fan base. Victor Maymudes, one of Dylan’s oldest friends in New York City told Britta Lee Shain that Bob sold his body for $20 a pop when he first came to New York and she revealed it in her book Seein’ The Real You At Last. This explains this excerpt from the liner notes to Another Side of Bob Dylan. Charlie’s either Dylan or his redacted friend he was hookin’ with. michelangelo would've wept if he saw but once where charlie slept (whoa, charlie, i'm afraid you've stepped beyond the borders of being kept) what price what price what price disgrace for sleepin' on a cherub's face?
Even "Michelangelo" who was rumored to be gay "would've wept" felt sorry, remorse "if he saw but once where charlie slept" if he saw where Charlie had sexual relations "(whoa, charlie, i'm afraid you've stepped
28 – V1
beyond the borders of being kept)" you are not just kept by one man or woman but are out there in Forty Deuce hustling your ass "what price" at what moral cost "what price" an amount of money for which a person will forsake principles or obligations "what price" that which must be given, done, or undergone in order to obtain a thing “what price” $20 "disgrace" or loss of dignity to be a male prostitute "for sleepin'" “sleep with” to have sexual relations with "on a cherub's" cherub: a person, especially a child, with an innocent or chubby face "face?" mouth? Dylan and his buddy were sucking cock. Is this the “Charlie” Dylan was referring to in the Liner Notes to Another Side of Bob Dylan?
ALTERNATE
When Bob Dylan came to Greenwich Village in the early 1960’s it was still a sanctuary for gays some of whom cruised the streets of Greenwich Village looking for underage boys to bring back to their village pads and seduce or molest, after offering them a place to crash, booze etc.
Even "Michelangelo" who was rumored to be homosexual "would've wept" ejaculated, emitted drops of liquid "if he saw but once where charlie slept" where Charlie had sexual relations "(whoa, charlie, i'm afraid you've stepped beyond the borders of being kept)" it is not worth engaging in perverted acts in return for some Greenwich Village homosexual allowing you to crash in his pad "what price" the cost at which something is obtained "what price" the cost of bribing someone "what price" a reward offered for the killing of a person "disgrace" to be turned into a shameful person by an older homosexual "for sleepin'" sleep with to have sexual relations with "on a cherub's" cherub: a person, especially a child, with an innocent or chubby face "face?" mouth?
ALTERNATE
Even "Michelangelo" who was rumored to be gay "would've wept" felt sorry, remorse "if he saw but once where charlie slept" if he saw where Charlie (Dylan and/or Dylan’s buddy) had sexual relations "(whoa, charlie, i'm afraid you've stepped beyond the borders of being kept)" you are not just kept by one man or woman but are out there in Forty Deuce hustling you ass "what price" the cost at which something is obtained "what price" an amount of money for which a person will forsake principles or obligations "what price" that which must be given, done, or undergone in order to obtain a thing “what price” $20 "disgrace" to be a male prostitute "for sleepin'" “sleep with” to have sexual relations with "on a cherub's" cherub: a person, especially a child, with an innocent or chubby face "face?" mouth? Dylan was sucking cock.
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This line from Tarantula might refer to that ultra-degenerate episode in Bob Dylan’s so called life “we are all alike & place scorpions neatly in our insides - we take pills thru the ass we praise faggot missionaries & throw homosexuals into phenomenon gutters.” Dylan confessed to having been a male prostitute however Dylan was down on gays in a different fashion in Soon After Midnight:
A DATE WITH THE FAIRY QUEEN: $20
Charlotte's a harlot Dresses in scarlet Mary dresses in green It's soon after midnight And I've got a date with the fairy queen
Charlotte's a harlot the Democrats, who held their 2012 convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, are political whores who will go against conventional morality in order to get votes Dresses in the Democrats have an outer covering or appearance; guise: an ancient ritual in modern dress scarlet being flagrantly immoral or unchaste: scarlet thoughts. Mary a male homosexual who takes the passive, feminine role dresses in green is easily duped or deceived; gullible It's soon after midnight things are at their worst, their darkest And I've got a date and there is a particular point or period of time at which something is expected to happen as in set a date for a wedding with the fairy queen that is a date for a same sex wedding “Fairy” and “Queen” are two derogatory terms for homosexuals.
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Yes siree Bob, subhuman or otherwise, Greenwich Village wasn’t the first place young Bobby Zimmerman frequented when he first came to New York Town.
DYLAN HAS ACTORS REENACT HIS RIDE TO NYC WITH CHARLIE ON THE COVER OF TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE
You can say that Bob made this up as he did having traveled with carnivals, ridden freights and generally Woody-Guthried Jack Elliotited it up. This enhanced his career. Making up a story that he was a sleazy bag Times Square object of chicken hawks with cum dripping from his mouth did not further his career, unless everyone had the mentality of a pervert. Remember at the time the time the CPUSA was in charge of the folk scene and the Reds considered homosexuality a product of capitalist decadence. Leftists comprised most of his fan base.
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In Watch the River Flow Dylan wrote, “
Wish I was back in the city Instead of this old bank of sand With the sun beating down over the chimney tops And the one I love so close at hand If I had wings and I could fly I know where I would go But right now I’ll just sit here so contentedly And watch the river flow
“Wish I was back in the city” sarcastic; wish I was back in Greenwich Village. Dylan told me, “Al you been in the city” Greenwich Village “too long” “Instead of this old bank of sand” sarcastic; instead of being rich and famous “With the sun” with a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events such as Allen Ginsberg “beating down over” presiding over a group of beats “the chimney tops” who were mostly fags “And the one I love so close at hand” sarcastic; and those aggressive homos that I hate within distance of me “If I had wings and I could fly” if I was a fairy “I know where I would go” I would go to hell for my immoral behavior “But right now I’ll just sit here so contentedly” but right now I was wait here so satisfied with things as they are “And watch the river flow.”
“Chimney” is associated with gays. Tarantula, “‘shouldn’t done that’ said a very manly girl who came down the chimney”…”a roaring free for all is witnessed later between as follows: rabbit seller, who, because he lives in a room where the rain continues to fall thru the chimney, always has a chronic cough & is constantly in an al capone type mood - call him White Man/ the
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ex faggot g.i., who now transports dummies from macy's to yankee stadium & whose ears always bleed in heavy weather.”
EXAMPLES OF DYLANOLOGY
STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN 1966***
Oh, the ragman draws circles Up and down the block I’d ask him what the matter was But I know that he don’t talk And the ladies treat me kindly And furnish me with tape But deep inside my heart I know I can’t escape Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again
Oh, the ragman draws circles Up and down the block
The American socialists would come out in the street, stand on a soap on a busy block and preach. This became known as Workman’s Circle
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I’d ask him what the matter was But I know that he don’t talk
Sarcastic: I would ask him what he was protesting against and sarcastic I know that he won’t talk
And the ladies
The record companies Columbia
Treat
To deal with or represent artistically in a specified manner or style
Me kindly
In an accommodating manner
And furnish me with tape
Recording tape
BUT DEEP INSIDE MY HEART
(GOLDWATER MOTTO IN YOUR HEART YOU KNOW HE’S RIGHT)
I know I can’t escape
Dylan is a prisoner of the Left.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile
To be stuck singing scummy folk music 34 – V1
With the Memphis blues again
When I really want to sing rock and roll like Elvis. Graceland is in Memphis.
Well, Shakespeare, he’s in the alley With his pointed shoes and his bells Speaking to some French girl Who says she knows me well And I would send a message To find out if she’s talked But the post office has been stolen And the mailbox is locked Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again
Well, Shakespeare, he’s in the alley
A great poet is slumming it, he is in with the trash
Dylan: “And yer sun - decked desert and evergreen valleys
Turn to broken down slums and trash - can alleys” Poem to Woody.
“Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley” – Hard Rain
With his pointed shoes and his bells
With his pointed lyrics and folk music. Also he is the court jester.
Speaking to some
Formal to give evidence of or comments on (a subject): who will speak to this item?
French girl
Informal Coarse or vulgar language: Pardon my French. Vulgarian
Who says she knows me well
Who says she knows what Dylan is all about
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And I would send a message
And I would write a message song
To find out if she’s talked
To spread rumors; gossip: If you do that, people will talk.
But the post office
A position of employment, especially an appointed public office. The place where messages and letters come from in this case message songs
has been stolen
to appropriate (ideas, credit, words, etc.) without right or acknowledgment. Dylan borrowed a lot of ideas and music during his folk period
And the mailbox
Dylan’s message song LPs
Is locked
To arrange or secure (something) so that it does not change or can't be undone.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again
Mona tried to tell me To stay away from the train line She said that all the railroad men Just drink up your blood like wine An’ I said, “Oh, I didn’t know that But then again, there’s only one I’ve met An’ he just SMOKED my eyelids An’ punched my CIGARETTE” Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again
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Mona, great art tried to tell me stay away from an entourage, a train of people like CPUSA. Line: A Communist Party line.
She said that all the men who would railroad you to obscurity and prison are nothing but blood suckers. Dylan responds sarcastically, “Oh I didn’t know that, but then again there’s only one I met.” Woody Guthrie. He and smoked Woody smoked a lot and was often pictured with a cigarette in his mouth. Dylan “Woody always asked me to bring him cigarettes, Raleigh cigarettes. Usually I'd play him his songs during the afternoon. Sometimes he'd ask for specific ones” Rangers Command," "Do Re Me," "Dust Bowl Blues," "Pretty Boy Floyd," "Tom Joad, "the song he'd written after seeing the movie The Grapes of Wrath. I knew all those songs and many more. Woody was not celebrated at this place, and it was a strange environment to meet anybody, least of all the true voice of the American spirit“ In Desolation Row Dylan wrote this about Woody “He looked so immaculately frightful / As he bummed a cigarette” In other words the only true Communist Dylan met was Woody and he wasn’t as toxic as the others and was insane due to Huntington’s Chorea.
Grandpa died last week And now he’s buried in the rocks But everybody still talks about How badly they were shocked But me, I expected it to happen I knew he’d lost control When he built a fire on Main Street And shot it full of holes Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile / With the Memphis blues again
Grand pa died last week / woody Guthrie faded out recently and now he's buried in the rocks he is buried in Dylan's rock and roll but everybody talks about how badly they were shocked - when Dylan went electric get it electric shock. But me I expected it happen I knew he lost control of his folk fans when he built a fire on main street with BLOWIN IN THE WIND and shot the fact a folk song could never become a pop hit full of holes
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Now the senator came down here Showing ev’ryone his gun Handing out free tickets To the wedding of his son. An’ me, I nearly got busted An’ wouldn’t it be my luck To get caught without a ticket And be discovered beneath a truck. Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again
“Now the senator came down here” Senator Barry Goldwater came down to address some of his supporters “Showing ev’ryone his gun” advocating a war that required me to pick up a gun and shoot commie gooks “Handing out free tickets / To the wedding of his son” his son was getting married in order to obtain a hardship exemption and beat the draft and Barry was handing out wedding invitations “An’ me, I nearly got busted” and me, I had some problems evading the draft, in fact I was almost arrested! “An’ wouldn’t it be my luck?” sarcastic; what happened was lucky “To get caught without a ticket” to get caught without a draft card “And be discovered beneath” and be discovered by the authorities under the force, control, and influence “a truck” of heroin; “truck,” to traffic in illegal substances. And then be determined to be 4-F, unfit for military service due to drug addiction. “Oh, Mama, can this really be the end / To be stuck inside of Mobile / With the Memphis Blues Again.”
Now the teen preacher looked so baffled When I asked him why he dressed With twenty pounds of headlines Stapled to his chest.
The “teen preacher” the young political folk singer singing to his followers “he looked so baffled” he looked as if his force and movement was impeded because he only played to a small audiences. “Baffle” as a partition that prevents interference between sound waves in a loudspeaker “when I asked him why he dressed” when I asked him why he tried to solve the world’s problems, heal the world’s wounds “with twenty pounds of headlines” with newspaper articles “stapled” as a basic and principal element and feature “to his chest” that he used to get something off his chest, to vent, protest.
38 – V1
But he cursed me when I proved it to him Then I whispered, Not even you can hide. You see, you’re just like me I hope you’re satisfied.” Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again.
“But he cursed me when I proved it to him” but the folkies became angry with Dylan after he proved that writing message songs could only get you so far and to reach a wide audience you had to play rock and roll. They also put a curse on Dylan, stigmata. Just Like A Woman 1966, “Your long time curse hurts but what’s worse is this pain” regret “in here / I can’t stay in here / Ain’t it clear / Yes I just don’t fit” “Then I whispered” I told him privately, secretly, in poetry “Not even you can hide” not even someone like yourself who should disguise their feelings can do so “You see you’re just like me” sarcastic, I expressed my feelings in incomprehensible poetry “I hope you’re satisfied” with the primitive state of your art.
Now the rainman gave me two cures Then he said, “Jump right in” The one was Texas medicine The other was just railroad gin An’ like a fool I mixed them An’ it strangled up my mind An’ now people just get uglier An’ I have no sense of time Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again
In I Wanna Be Your Lover:
Well, the rainman comes with his magic wand And the judge says, "Mona can't have no bond." And the walls collide, Mona cries, And the rainman leaves in the wolfman's disguise.
Someone who makes miracles happen gave me to cures to America’s social ills. One was strict law enforcement as in Texas the other was just Civil Rights underground railroad cotton gin. And like a fool of old I mixed them and it strangled To inhibit growth or action of; restrict: this prevented Bob
39 – V1 from expressing himself and as a result he even see Blacks as even uglier than he once did and has lost his sense of history.
Earlier version:
Now the rainman gave me two cures
The Rainmaker, someone who is good at business gave me something that corrects or relieves a harmful or disturbing situation:
Then he said, “Jump right in”
Enter into something enthusiastically; also, act precipitately.
The one was Texas medicine
The hallucinogen mescaline
The other was just railroad gin
The other was heroin that railroads one to addiction
An’ like a fool I mixed them
An’ it strangled up my mind
To inhibit the growth or action of; restrict
An’ now people just get uglier
Morally reprehensible; bad.
An’ I have no sense of time
And it seems like it will never end due to the psychedelic
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again
40 – V1
When Ruthie says come see her In her honky-tonk lagoon Where I can watch her waltz for free ’Neath her Panamanian moon An’ I say, “Aw come on now You must know about my debutante” An’ she says, “Your debutante just knows what you need But I know what you want” Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again
When Ruthie (joanie) says come see her
See her on stage in her honky-tonk lagoon
A honky-tonk (also called a honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment (usually country music) to its patrons. Bars of this kind are common in the Southern and Southwestern United States. Lagoon something cut off.
Where I can watch her waltz for free
Informal something that presents no difficulties and can be accomplished with little effort. Also do some outmoded songs
’Neath her Panamanian moon
Central American – Joan Baez was half Mexican
An’ I say, “Aw come on now You must know about my debutante”
You must know about my lover Sarah Lowndes
An’ she says, “Your debutante just knows what you need
Your material and sexual needs
But I know what you want”
I know your higher aspirations, I can help your career.
41 – V1
Now the bricks lay on Grand Street Where the neon madmen climb They all fall there so perfectly It all seems so well timed An’ here I sit so patiently Waiting to find out what price You have to pay to get out of Going through all these things twice Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again
Now the bricks
Informal: an admirable person.
Lay
To place or dispose in the proper position: to lay a carpet.
On Grand Street
Having a serious moral purpose; noble: an endeavor with a grand mission.
Where the neon
Extremely bright or vivid madmen climb
Professors ascend in social position
They all fall
To fail miserably when attempting to achieve a result. To fall on a specific date there so perfectly to make perfect. He went to France to perfect his French.
It all seems so well timed
Time is broken into semesters.
An’ here I sit
Chiefly British To take an examination, as for a degree. 42 – V1
So patiently
43 – V1
Waiting to find out what price You have to pay to get out of Going through all these things twice
How much tuition you have to pay to get out of having professors tell you want to study rather than working up your own curriculum such as reading newspapers publish during the time of the Civil War like Dylan did.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again
SERIES OF DREAMS 1989***
I was thinking of a series of dreams Where nothing comes up to the top Everything stays down where it's wounded And comes to a permanent stop Wasn't thinking of anything specific Like in a dream, when someone wakes up and screams Nothing too very scientific Just thinking of a series of dreams
Thinking of a series of dreams Where the time and the tempo fly And there's no exit in any direction 'Cept the one that you can't see with your eyes Wasn't making any great connection Wasn't falling for any intricate scheme Nothing that would pass inspection Just thinking of a series of dreams
Dreams where the umbrella is folded Into the path you are hurled And the cards are no good that you're holding Unless they're from another world In one, the surface was frozen In another, I witnessed a crime In one, I was running, and in another All I seemed to be doing was climb Wasn't looking for any special assistance Not going to any great extremes I'd already gone the distance Just thinking of a series of dreams
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Dreams where the umbrella is folded Into the path you are hurled And the cards are no good that you're holding Unless they're from another world I'd already gone the distance Just thinking of a series of dreams
Just thinking of a series of dreams Thinking of a series of dreams Where the time and the tempo fly And there's no exit in any direction 'Cept the one that you can't see with your eyes Wasn't making any great connection Wasn't falling for any intricate scheme Nothing that would pass inspection Just thinking of a series of dreams
I was thinking of a series of dreams (I hear “Just the end of a series of dreams” of course I don’t hear the words right) Just thinking about or just the end of series of poems, message songs Where nothing comes up to the top Where nothing will ever reach the top of the charts because of its leftist content and musical genre Everything stays down where it’s wounded And comes to a permanent stop And is shot down by Columbia Records and comes to a permanent halt - it gets censored like what happened on the Freewheelin’ - Columbia Records censored Talkin’ John Birch and Ramblin Gamblin’ Willie Wasn’t thinking of anything specific Sarcastic, I was writing songs based on actual events like the death of Medgar Evers. Like in a dream, when someone wakes up and screams Sarcastic: Like in a poem where someone comes to a realization and begins to scream about injustices against Blacks Nothing too very scientific Nothing accurate and precise.
Thinking of a series of dreams Where the time and the tempo fly And there's no exit in any direction 'Cept the one that you can't see with your eyes Wasn't making any great connection Wasn't falling for any intricate scheme Nothing that would pass inspection Just thinking of a series of dreams
Where the time and the tempo fly Where the opportunity and the zeitgeist feeling of the time coincide And there’s no exit in any direction And he can’t escape this liberal orientation ’Cept the one that you can’t see with your eyes Except of course for the racist subcontent of songs like Blowin’ in the
45 – V1
Wind. Wasn’t making any great connection Wasn’t making any logical association or development; mental association with integrationist thinking. Wasn’t falling for any intricate scheme Wasn’t falling for the civil rights movement, a plan to steal from the whites and give to blacks by scheming politicians. Nothing that would pass inspection The subcontent of his poetry would not be approved by Martin Luther King for sure as it was pro-KKK, believe it or not!
Dreams where the umbrella is folded Into the path you are hurled And the cards are no good that you're holding Unless they're from another world In one, the surface was frozen In another, I witnessed a crime In one, I was running, and in another All I seemed to be doing was climb Wasn't looking for any special assistance Not going to any great extremes I'd already gone the distance Just thinking of a series of dreams Dreams where the umbrella is folded Into the path you are hurled And the cards are no good that you're holding Unless they're from another world I'd already gone the distance Just thinking of a series of dreams
Dreams where the umbrella is folded Poems where he was unable to reach a large swath of America. Into the path you are hurled – the second time he sings this verse it is into the path where you hurl he took a path in life that made him puke- hurl – advocating communism And the cards are no good that you’re holding Unless they’re from another world The cards as in card carrying Communist, are no good that one is holding in life and are worthless unless they are from the free world instead of the Communist Soviet Union world. CPUSA voted Dylan the comsymp of the year. In one, numbers were burning – also the surface was frozen in one the surface was frozen (North Country Blues) In another, I witnessed a crime in another I witnessed a crime Hattie Carroll kill William Zanzinger In one, I was running, continuing to present or perform: ran the film for a month and in another all I seemed to be doing was climb in another all I did was climb (Blowin in the Wind climbed to the top of the charts). Wasn’t looking for any special assistance Wasn’t looking for help from the Communist Party Not going to any great extremes Sarcastic: not going to the extreme left I’d already gone the distance I’d had already gone the distance for them anyway.
46 – V1
QUEEN JANE APPROXIMATELY 1965***
DYLAN WANTS TO BE IN THE MOVIES
When your mother sends back all your invitations And your father to your sister he explains That you’re tired of yourself and all of your creations Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Now when all of the flower ladies want back what they have lent you And the smell of their roses does not remain And all of your children start to resent you Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Now when all the clowns that you have commissioned Have died in battle or in vain And you’re sick of all this repetition Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
When all of your advisers heave their plastic At your feet to convince you of your pain Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Now when all the bandits that you turned your other cheek to All lay down their bandanas and complain And you want somebody you don’t have to speak to Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
When your mother sends back all your invitations the act of inviting, such as an offer of entertainment
And your father, to your sister a woman or girl numbered in the same kinship group, nationality, race, church membership, society, etc., as another. he explains
47 – V1
That you're tired of yourself and all of your creations
An original product of human invention or artistic imagination: the latest creation in the field of drama.
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Now, when all of the flower ladies My Fair Lady: Prof. Higgins tells Pickering that he could pass off the flower girl as a duchess merely by teaching her to speak proper English. want back what they have lent you
To contribute or impart: Books and a fireplace lent a feeling of warmth to the room.
And the smell of their roses does not remain roses That which is marked by favor, success, or ease of execution: Directing this play has been all roses since the new producer took over.
And all of your children start to resent you
And your fans: children: any person or thing regarded as the product of particular circumstances or influences: children of Elvis.
Now, when all the clowns that you have commissioned
(Theatre) any performer who elicits an amused response
Have died in battle or in vain to struggle in order to achieve something or arrive somewhere: he battled through the crowd.
And you're sick of all this repetition
A recitation or recital, especially of prepared or memorized material.
When all of your advisers heave
To give out or utter with effort or pain: heaved a sigh; heaved a groan.
their plastic
48 – V1
Having the qualities of sculpture; well-formed: "the astonishing plastic beauty of the chorus girls" (Frank Harris).
At your feet
In a position of devotion or worship to one; paying homage or reverential attention to one.
That renowned professor has everyone in the school at his feet—his class for next semester filled up in just a few hours.
to convince you of your pain
Trying to prove that your conclusions
(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) the last main division of a speech, lecture, essay, etc
should be more drastic
extremely severe or extensive: drastic cuts in spending.
Now, when all of the bandits
make out like a bandit Slang
To be highly successful in a given enterprise.
that you turn your other cheek to
turn the other cheek to be submissive and refuse to retaliate even when provoked or treated badly or display some ass to
All lay down their bandannas and complain
When all your costars that you have to take crap from remove their masks and complain
And you want somebody you don't have to speak to
And you want a different co-star
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Ah won't you come see me, Queen Jane
49 – V1
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
DYLAN’S CRYPTO-RACIST POETRY
My thesis is that in the early 1960’s Bob Dylan had the mentality of a White Southern cracker during the time of the Confederacy. But racist thinking would have destroyed any chance he had at making it in the Civil Rights obsessed Greenwich Village of the early 1960’s so Dylan used certain key code words in his songs, while innocuous on their surface, when they appeared in proximity to one another their related lesser used meanings sent virulent racist messages to those who already were aware of the poetry’s overall racist structural framework. I asked Dylan about his early message songs during a tape recorded telephone conversation in 1971, “Remember those?” Dylan responded, “Yeah man I remember them ‘um they were just messages to me though. I told Tony Scaduto that and that flipped him out man, he had no idea about that. That just wiped him out he said he would have to go back and listen to all those songs.” The key to this cryptic statement was found in his autobiography Chronicles 2006, the Rosetta stone I was searching for in his trash back in 1970. This book revealed that although Dylan is regarded as an anti-war and anti-racist Leftist icon, in ‘the messages he sent to himself’ were just the opposite. In Chronicles Dylan stated that he had been a supporter of Senator Barry Goldwater, a Republican from Arizona who wanted to nuke the commies back to the Stone Age. He wrote that he even purchased a Geiger counter in the event the Soviets were able to retaliate. It also made known for the first time that his early ideas on race came from Raymond Gooch, a follower of American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell. Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues 1962, “Now Eisenhower, he’s a Russian spy, Lincoln, Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy / To my knowledge there’s just one man / That’s really a true American: George Lincoln Rockwell…” Although ostensibly said in jest, this was the one of the keys to Dylan’s brain. With that new puzzle piece and with the translation of “face” as “race” I finally realized how twisted this dude really was. But wait; not only did he compose these racist, pro-apartheid songs but he had three chumps from Greenwich Village, Peter, Paul and Mary sing one of them, Blowin’ In The Wind 1962, at the August 1963 Civil Rights Rally in Washington, D.C. Dylan himself sang Only a Pawn in Their Game 1963, which on its surface seemed to bemoan the murder of Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers but in reality celebrated it. Peter, Paul and Mary made unwitting fools out of themselves and a million demonstrators White and Black. Dylan, on the other hand, had the biggest laugh on people he viewed as “African-Americans” since D. W. Griffin produced Birth of a Nation. What follows is the last thing I expected to find.
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BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND 1962***
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BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND FINAL SUB TEXTUAL INTERPOLATION
How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? How many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly? Before they're forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind
How many roads How many jobs “Road” as job. Early Dylan: “I’m walkin’ a road many men have gone down” Dylan commenting on his folk singing career, I am performing a task that many men have performed in the past must a man must a member of any of the living races of Homo sapiens, walk down perform, destroy?
LIGHTNING THE JANITOR OF THE AMOS AND ANDY TV SHOW
Before you call him a man before you realize he can be nothing more than a man servant, a subordinate, a slave. (Man must have two meanings otherwise this line makes no sense) How many seas must a white dove sail How many vast numbers of human beings must a woman of white European descent sail though without incident. Before SHE sleeps in the sand? Before she ends up getting raped by Blacks? Sleep: To have sexual relations with in this case involuntarily after being thrown down in the dirt. Sand: dirt, earth. The key word here is “she” very subtle.
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls How many times must the loose cannons: a person who behaves in a way that you cannot predict,
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Billy Holiday in strange fruit.
Southern trees bear strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root / Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze / Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Get it? Bodies Blowin’ in the Wind after a lynching.
Yes, 'n' how many years can a mountain exist Before it's washed to the sea? Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be free? Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head And pretend that he just doesn't see? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, 'n' how many years can a mountain exist How many years can an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude such as the North, the Yankees the Union continue to exist? Before it's washed to the sea? Before THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN and drown them out of existence? Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist Some people, the people of the South, continue to be; persist: old customs that still exist in Southern areas. Before they're allowed to be free? Not controlled by another country or political power; independent: a free nation. Yes, 'n' how many times can a man Back to the man metaphor, “man” a slave or former slave turn his head Turn: To change or reverse one's way, course, or direction: Head: A person
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who leads, rules, or is in charge; a leader, chief, or politician: How many times can a freed slave vote in an election during reconstruction? How many times can a former slave vote? And pretend that he just doesn't see? And not realize he is being played by white scallywags and carpet baggers who took advantage of Reconstruction to hold public office. The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind The answer is to have the KKK take vigilante action against the opportunists.
Yes, 'n' how many times must a man look up Before he can see the sky? Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry? Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, 'n' how many times must a man look up To search for and find, as in as in the Constitution Before he can see the sky? Before he sees the highest law in the land which deems Blacks 3/5th human Article I, Section. 2 [Slaves count as 3/5 persons] Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons [i.e., slaves]. Also he writes before “he can really see the sky” Yes, 'n' how many ears Sympathetic or favorable attention: "[The president] wavers Between the two positions, depending on who last had his ear" Must ONE MAN have Before he can hear people cry? Must ONE man, the number one man, the president, Abe Lincoln, have before he can hear the cries of the South? (Also sings must one person have.) Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died? 618,222 men died in the Civil War, 360,222 from the North and 258,000 from the South — by far the greatest toll of any war in American history. The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind
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How many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly Before they're forever banned?
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The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head And pretend that he just doesn't see?
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Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died?
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HARD RAIN 1962
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Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son (boy)? Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? (I’ve climbed up six (?) mountains) I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains, I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways, I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests, I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans, I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard, (I been in the mouth of the flood and the fire) And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son? Oh, what did you see, my darling young one? I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’ I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’ I saw a white ladder all covered with water I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son? And what did you hear, my darling young one? I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’ Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’ Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’ Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’ Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
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Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son? Who did you meet, my darling young one? I met a young child beside a dead pony I met a white man who walked a black dog I met a young woman whose body was burning I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow I met one man who was wounded in love I met another man who was wounded with hatred And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son? Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one? I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’ I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest Where the people are many and their hands are all empty Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten Where black is the color, where none is the number And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’ But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’ And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall “Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?” Oh where have you been Bob Dylan? “Oh, where have you been, my darling” one that is greatly liked and preferred in America “young one?”
Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son (boy)? Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? (I’ve climbed up six (?) mountains) I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains, I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways, I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests, I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans, I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard, (I been in the mouth of the flood and the fire) And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
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“I’ve stumbled” To miss one's step in walking or running; trip and almost fall. “on the side of” on the wrong side of “twelve misty mountains” obscure mountains of folk songs (I’ve climbed up six (?) mountains) “I’ve walked” lived, worked “and I’ve crawled” and I’ve advanced slowly, feebly, laboriously, with frequent stops “on six crooked” on half a dozen dishonest, crooked, criminal “highways” public venues such as the Café Wha? “I’ve stepped” I have taken one of a series of actions taken to achieve a goal “in the middle” in the interior portion “of seven sad” of numerous deplorable; sorry “forests” cities A large number of objects bearing a similarity to such a growth, especially a dense collection of tall objects: a forest of skyscrapers. “I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans” I almost killed myself by jumping into an estuary that leads to the Atlantic Ocean “I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard” Mouth: The part of a stream or river that empties into a larger body of water that Dylan was going to jump into during his suicide attempt which we will deal with later on. “And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall. “And it’s a hard” it is a resistant to persuasion and appeal, obdurate “rain gonna fall” death and destruction going to befall me.
EXAMPLES OF DYLAN’S USE OF KEY WORDS IN THIS VERSE
“Crawl” as advance slowly, feebly, laboriously, with frequent stops; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “i could make you crawl / if i was payin’ attention’ / he said munchin’ a sandwich / in between chess moves / ‘what d’ you wanna make me crawl for?’ / ‘i mean i just could’ / ‘could make me crawl’ / “yeah, make you crawl!’ / ‘humm, funny guy you are’ ‘no, i just play t’ win, that’s all.’”
“Highway” as performing in public; Standing on the Highway 1961, “Well, I’m standin’ on the highway” I am enduring this humiliating life in public “Tryin to hold up and be brave / One roads goin’ to the bright lights” one path in life is going to fame and fortune, the bright lights of Broadway full of hope and promise “The others goin’ down to my grave” and if I don’t succeed I will voluntarily go to my grave by committing suicide. Let Me Die In My Footsteps Before I Go Down Under the Ground 1962 “Let me walk down the highway with my brother in peace.”
“Highway” as performing before the American public; Standing on the Highway 1961, “Well, I'm standin' on the highway” I am enduring this humiliating life in public “Tryin to hold up and be brave / One roads goin' to the bright lights” one path in life is going to fame and fortune, the bright lights of Broadway full of hope and promise “The others goin' down to my grave” and if I don’t succeed I will commit suicide and voluntarily go to my
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grave. Let Me Die In My Footsteps Before I Go Down Under the Ground 1962 “Let me walk down the highway with my brother in peace.”
“Bright” as hopeful, ‘Dylan has a bright future’ Death is Not the End 1998 “And the bright light of salvation” Peggy Day 1969, “Peggy night” heroin in the present “makes my future look so bright.”
“Crooked highway” as public venues leading to nowhere; Tomorrow is a Long Time 1962, “If today was not an endless highway” if I didn’t have to perform every day “If tonight was not a crooked trail” and if the performances didn’t have to be at a place run by a part time criminal ‘If tomorrow wasn’t such a long time” if my success was not still such a long ways off “Then lonesome would mean nothing to me at all” then I wouldn’t give a rats ass if my true love was no longer with me. Poem to Woody 1961, “And it ain’t in the fifty—star generals” it is not in Fred Neil, who was in charge of numerous performers at the Café Wha? “and flipped—out phonies” and the crazy people he books “Who’d turn yuh in for a tenth of a penny” who are informants for the cops Chronicles, “I’d heard stuff about Fred Neil, that he was an errant sailor, harbored a skiff in Florida, was an underground cop, had hooker friends and a shadowy past.”
“Forest” as a city; something that resembles a large, dense growth of trees, as in density, quantity and profusion ‘a forest of skyscrapers.’ Tarantula, “the opera singers will sing of YOUR forest & YOUR cities” Tarantula, “I sang in a forest one day & someone said it was three O’clock—that nite when i read the newspaper, i saw that tenement had been set aflame.”
“Ocean” Tarantula, “annette & frankie avalon found in pacific ocean” Tarantula, “spent hours & hours carving his name in the sand. when all of a sudden, a wave’s commotion washed him & his name right into the ocean (ho ho ho).”
“Rain” as destruction; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “it was as though the rains of wartime had left the land” North Hibbing, Minnesota, “bombed-out an’ shattered” and divided from South Hibbing. Tarantula, “you are in the rainstorm now where your cousins seek raw glory.” Desolation Row 1965 “Everybody’s either making love or else expecting rain.” Father of Night 1970, “Father of love and Father of rain / Father of day, Father of night / Father of black, Father of white.”
ALTERNATE
“Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?” Oh where have you been Bob Dylan with the ostensibly anti-slavery thinking? Oh where have you
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been my Aryan-featured son? “Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?” oh, where have you been you who is greatly liked and preferred in America? “I've stumbled” I have fallen into evil ways “on the side of” on the wrong side of “twelve misty mountains” a dozen obscured and blurred, as if by a mist arising from a hidden source like Communism, major problems “I've walked” I’ve lived, worked, taken a path in life “and I've crawled” and I’ve advanced slowly, feebly, laboriously, with frequent stops “on six crooked” on half a dozen dishonest, crooked, criminal “highways” public venues such as those in Greenwich Village run by the Mafia “I've stepped” I have taken one of a series of actions taken to achieve a goal “in the middle” in the interior portion, the inner part “of seven sad” of numerous deplorable; sorry “forests” cities that are being overrun by Blacks “I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans” I have been the opening act for dozens of performers who were not commercially productive; they were idle, dead capital “I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard” I have composed and sung songs without conviction ‘mouthed empty words’ and I have been almost swallowed up by a place where worn-out and obsolete objects are kept; ‘a folk music graveyard.’ Also “mouth” as a natural opening, as the part of a stream or river that empties into a larger body of water or the entrance to a harbor – this, combined with “graveyard” is another reference to Bob’s suicide attempt. “And it's a hard” and it’s a resistant to persuasion and appeal, obdurate “rain gonna fall” hatred gonna fall on these people that I met in my journey.
“Blue” as anti-slavery, the Civil War combatants, the Blues and Grays; Gypsy Davy 1992, Well, she pulled off them long blue gloves All made of the finest leather. Gave to him her lily-white hand And said goodbye forever Bid farewell forever.
“Well, she pulled off them long blue gloves” Dylan rid himself of his militant anti-slavery pro-Civil Rights boxing gloves “All made of the finest leather” whose composition was tantamount to inflicting punishment on himself, “leather” as in Balzac’s Luck and Leather, a book about a man whose luck ultimately brings punishment upon him (Dylan referred to it in Chronicles), “Gave to him her lily-white hand” gave to the cause of the segregationists his racist, lily-White; Lily Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts 1974, “Lily was a princess, she was fair-skinned and precious as a child” “hand” style of writing “And said goodbye forever / Bid farewell forever” and Left the race mixin’ commies far behind forever.
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“Stumble” as fall into evil ways; In She Belongs To Me 1965 Dylan described sarcastically the CPUSA, “She never stumbles” she never falls into evil ways “She's got no place to fall” because she already is evil “She's nobody's child” sarcastic; she isn’t a puppet of the Soviet Union “The Law can't touch her at all” sarcastic; the law can’t come up to her, reach her; in 1950 a Democratic Congress enacted the Internal Security Act that required Communists to register with the attorney general as agents of a foreign power or else they would be sentenced to serve time in a federal prison. Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, to the Left “you speak of rats. / geese. a world of peace / you stumble stammer / pound your fist an' i tell you there are no politics.” Heart of Mine 1981, “Don't let yourself fall” give in to temptation; sin “Don't let yourself stumble.”
“Misty” as hidden, obscured; Chronicles, “Sometimes you just want to do things your way, want to see for yourself what lies behind the misty curtain” sometimes you want to see for yourself what lies are accepted as truth behind the closed society of the Iron Curtain countries.
“Crooked highway” as public venues leading to nowhere; Tomorrow is a Long Time 1962, “If today was not an endless highway” if I didn’t have to perform every day “If tonight was not a crooked trail” and if the performances didn’t have to be at a place run by a part time criminal. Fred Neil was the manager of the Café Wha? Chronicles, “I'd heard stuff about Fred Neil, that he was an errant sailor, harbored a skiff in Florida, was an underground cop, had hooker friends and a shadowy past.” “If tomorrow wasn't such a long time” if my success was still not such a long ways off “Then lonesome would mean nothing to me at all” then I wouldn’t give a rats ass if my true love was no longer with me. Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961, “And it ain't in the fifty-star generals” it is not in Fred Neil, who was in charge of numerous performers at the Café Wha? “and flipped - out phonies” and the crazy people he books “Who'd turn yuh in for a tenth of a penny” who are informants for the cops or as Dylan put it in Chronicles, “underground cops.”
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And what did you see my blue eyed son, And what did you see my darling young one I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it I saw a highway of diamonds (of golden) with nobody on it I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’ I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’ I saw a white ladder all covered with water I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
(I saw a black cat cross)
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
“I saw a newborn baby” I saw a new born White American Protestant child “with wild wolves all around it” surrounded by a wolf pack of vicious African- Americans, predators “I saw a highway of golden” a direct road to a very favorable or advantageous; excellent: a golden opportunity “with nobody on it” which the blacks were unwilling to take because they are naturally lazy and shiftless “I saw a black branch” a Black branch of humanity “with blood that kept drippin’” still taking human life like bloodthirsty savages “Blood” as death; Long Ago Far Away 1962, “The war guns they went off wild” freely “The whole world bled its blood” “I saw a room full of men” I saw a Congress which was composed of almost all White men “with their hammers a- bleedin’” trying to pass bleeding heart Civil Rights legislation “I saw a white ladder all covered with water” I saw the upward ladder of economic mobility for Whites covered in sorrow, in tears “I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken” I saw a bunch of African-Americans who spoke in dialect that sounded like a different language, in broken English “I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children” I saw guns and knives in the hands of these genetically and intellectually inferior people “And it’s a hard” it is a resistant to persuasion and appeal; obdurate “rain gonna fall” hatred gonna fall on the African-Americans.
“Hammer” as legislation; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “where state lines” the borders of the Soviet State “don’t stand” do not endure “an’ knowledge don’t count” and Leftwing propaganda is dismissed “when feelings are hurt” when people are oppressed “an’ I am on the side a them hurt feelings” I am on the side of dissidents living in the Soviet Union “plunged on” cast suddenly, violently, and deeply into a given state or situation “by unsensitive hammers” by insensitive heartless legislation “an’ made t’ bleed by rusty nails” and made to suffer by antiquated, gangrenous laws.
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“Water” as trouble, sorrow; ‘above water’ idiomatic expression for out of trouble. Poem to Woody 1961, “And yer knee-deep in the dark water with yer hands in the air” Precious Angel 1979, “You were drawing water for your husband, you were suffering under the law” Gonna Change My Way of Thinking 1979, “Blood and water flowing through the land” death and sorrow happening in a land that should be flowing with milk and honey.
ALTERNATE
“I saw a newborn baby” I saw a new born White American Protestant child “with wild wolves all around it” surrounded by a wolf pack of vicious Blacks “I saw a highway” I saw an America “of diamonds” that once practiced segregation, Jim Crow, a form of apartheid “with nobody on it” with no one willing to follow in this tradition “I saw a black branch” I saw a Black branch of humanity “with blood that kept drippin'” still taking human life like bloodthirsty savages “Blood” as death; Long Ago Far Away 1962, “The war guns they went off wild” the war guns went off freely “The whole world bled its blood” “I saw a room full of men” I saw a Congress which was composed of almost all White men “with their hammers a-bleedin'” trying to pass bleeding-heart Civil Rights legislation “I saw a white ladder all covered with water” I saw the upward ladder of economic mobility for Whites covered in sorrow, in tears “I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken” I saw a bunch of Blacks who spoke in dialect that sounded like a different language, broken English, Ebonics “I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children” I saw guns and knives in the hands of these genetically and intellectually inferior violence-prone primates “And it's a hard” and it is a resistant to persuasion and appeal; obdurate “rain gonna fall” hatred gonna fall on the Blacks and their supporters.
“Hammer” as legislation; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964,
where state lines don't stand an' knowledge don't count when feelings are hurt an' I am on the side a them hurt feelings plunged on by unsensitive hammers an' made t' bleed by rusty nails
“Where state lines” where the borders of the Soviet State “don't stand” do not endure “an' knowledge don't count” and communist propaganda is dismissed “when feelings are hurt” when people are oppressed “an' I am on the side a them hurt feelings” I am on the side of dissidents living in the Soviet Union “plunged on” cast suddenly, violently, and deeply into a given state or situation “by unsensitive hammers” by insensitive heartless
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legislation “an' made t' bleed by rusty nails” and made to suffer by antiquated, gangrenous laws.
And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son? And what did you hear, my darling young one? I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’ I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’ I heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’ I heard one person starve (*dying), I heard many people laughin’ Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley (*forever was crying *stood backstage crying)
(I heard the sounds of some people who cried they were human)
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
“And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son? / And what did you hear, my darling young one? / I heard the sound of a thunder” a thermonuclear explosion “it roared out a warnin’” it warned me of the danger the Reds posed “I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world” A rising trend that involves large numbers of individuals: a wave communism. “I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’” I heard Hungarians throwing Molotov cocktails at Soviet tanks “I heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’” I heard the Hungarians pleaded for democracy and independence and the Soviets not listening “I heard one person starve” to feel a strong need or desire: a country starving for weapons. Call for American intervention in vain “I heard many people laughin’” America not taking them seriously “Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter” “Heard the sound of a clown” soldier Eisenhower “who cried in the alley” who was more interested in Civil Rights ALSO “stood backstage crying” “And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall” and someone is going to pay for all of this. Manuscript adds line “I heard the sounds of some people who cried they were human.”
“Alley” as slum, ghetto; Poem to Woody 1961, “And yer sun decked desert and evergreen valleys / Turn to broken down slums and trash can alleys” Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “little children / shoot craps / in the alley garbage pot” For Dave Glover 1962, “An the dirt in the alley’s risin’” Tarantula, “praying for her purse to be stolen up gunpowder alley!”
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ALTERNATE
“And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son? / And what did you hear, my darling young one? / I heard the sound of a thunder” And what did you hear my Aryan-thinking son? I heard the sound of the Soviets testing a hydrogen bomb “it roared out a warnin'” the loud hostile sound of the explosion warned me of the danger it posed “I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world” I heard danger coming from a wave of Communism that was sweeping the world and could destroy freedom “I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin'” I heard a small minority trying to drum up support for a revolution by throwing blazing Molotov cocktails at tanks “blaze” as to burn with a bright flame. “I heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin'” I heard numerous Hungarians and Czechs privately, secretly express discontent with the Russian Communist totalitarian regime and America ignoring it “I heard one person starve” I heard one person die in a Siberian Gulag, “starve” archaic: to suffer and die from cold “I heard many people laughin’” I heard many Communists express derision and contempt for dissidence “Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter” in 1952 fifteen Soviet Jews, including five prominent Yiddish poets, were secretly tried and convicted of treason by Stalin’s puppet judiciary; multiple executions soon followed in the basement of Moscow's filthy Lubyanka prison “Heard the sound of a clown” I heard the sound of President Eisenhower, a former General “who cried in the alley” who was more worried about the Blacks in the ghetto than the oppressed in the Soviet Union and its slave states. As a result Ike appointed the race traitor Earl Warren to the United States Supreme Court where he legislated Civil Rights for Blacks “And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall” and someone is going to pay for all of this.
“Clown” as soldier; Queen Jane Approximately 1965, “When all the clowns that you have commissioned / Have died in battle and in vain / And you’re sick of the this repetition” war after war “Won’t you come see me Queen Jane” register and vote Conservative Republican because it is the Democrats that have historically led America into war. Tarantula, “the apprentice clown, Tomboy, at her feet - he's known professionally as Rabbit Rough.” Tarantula, “she peeks from tanks & repeats herself - - she stays away from the merry- go-round & you must love her too / she lives in armor & prejudice ... she is frightened of the clowns” (Queen Jane was probably about Bobby’s desire to be in the movies.)
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Oh, who did you meet my blue-eyed son? Who did you meet, my darling young one? I met a young child beside a dead pony I met a white man who walked a black dog I met a young woman whose body was burning I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow I met one man who was wounded in love I met another man who was wounded with hatred And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
“I met a young child” a native born American “beside a dead pony” whose American dream was dead “I met a white man” I met a true American named Ray Gooch who, in Chronicles, Dylan described a “non-integrationist” “who walked a black dog” who knew that the drunken African-American shiftless bums had to be kept on a short leash “I met a young woman whose body” I met a young woman whose posse “body” a number of persons regarded as a group “was burning” was into burning crosses at meetings or on uppity African-Americans’ lawns. This was Chloe Kiel Ray Gooch’s roommate who had been in the Ku Klux Klan. Dylan implied this in Chronicles, “Chloe, a Southern girl with Northern blood, was skilled in the use of bathroom clotheslines and sometimes I’d find one of my shirts hanging in there”
“I met one man who was wounded in love” I met one man who was diseased, impotent; Chronicles regarding Ray Gooch and Chloe Kiel, “They lived as husband and wife, or brother and sister, or cousins, it was hard to tell, they just lived here, that’s all.” “I met another man who was wounded with hatred” I met another part of that same man that was hurt in life just as a soldier is wounded in battle simply because of his views on Negroes; Chronicles, “Ray had an elite background, even studied at Camden Military Academy in South Carolina, which he had left with ‘sincere and utter hatred.’” “Rainbow” as illusory hope connected with the then popular Joan Baez who was Queen of Folk while Dylan was King; Tarantula, “somewhere over the rainbow & blinding my married lover into the ovation maniacs.” Beyond the Horizon 2006 “Beyond the horizon” beyond the range of one’s knowledge “behind the sun” in a place or time that has been passed or left by the luminaries of medicine “At the end of the rainbow” at the end of the search for an illusory hope, a cure “life has only begun.”
“Wounded” as diseased; Jack-A-Roe 1993, “And sent for her physician to quickly heal his wounds / Oh, to quickly heal his wounds” Tarantula, “Claudette, the sandman’s pupil, wounded in her fifth year in the business & she’s only 15 & go ahead ask her what she thinks of married men & governors & shriner conventions go ahead ask her” Chronicles, “Even the
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horrifying news items of the day, the gunning down of the Kennedys, King, Malcolm X…I didn’t see them as leaders being shot down, but rather as fathers whose families had been left wounded” whose families had been exposed to the disease of the Left.
ALTERNATIVE
“I met a young child” same as “young children” in the previous verse; a person from an immature race “beside a dead” beside a consumed; as in ‘another dead soldier’ “pony” bottle of alcohol, I met a drunken Black “I met a white man” I met a true American named Ray Gooch who Dylan described in Chronicles as a “non-integrationist” “who walked a black dog” who knew that the drunken Black shiftless bums had to be kept on a short leash “I met a young woman whose body” I met a young woman whose posse “body” a number of persons regarded as a group “was burning” was into burning crosses at rural meetings or on uppity Blacks’ lawns. This was Chloe Kiel Ray Gooch’s room-mate who had been in the Ku Klux Klan. Dylan implied this in Chronicles, “Chloe, a Southern girl with Northern blood, was skilled in the use of bathroom clotheslines and sometimes I'd find one of my shirts hanging in there.” “I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow” I met Joan Baez, who was into the Civil Rights Movement and gave Dylan an illusory hope that the Negroes were deserving of equal rights “I met one man who was wounded in love”
I met one man who was diseased, impotent; Chronicles regarding Ray Gooch and Chloe Kiel, “They lived as husband and wife, or brother and sister, or cousins, it was hard to tell, they just lived here, that's all.” Chloe Kiel is possibly Chloe Elizabeth Kiel who died in Orange, California. There is a Chloe Kiel Mercado in Stanford, California who might be her daughter. “I met another man who was wounded with hatred” I met another part of that same man that was hurt in life, just as a soldier is wounded in battle, simply because of his views on Negroes; Chronicles, “Ray had an elite background, even studied at Camden Military Academy in South Carolina, which he had left with ‘sincere and utter hatred.’”
“Rainbow” as illusory hope: Tarantula, “somewhere over the rainbow & blinding my married lover into the ovation maniacs” grasping on to an illusory hope and making difficult to comprehend or see; making the truth I am wedded to illegible in order to please the critics. Beyond the Horizon 2006 “Beyond the horizon” beyond the range of one's knowledge “behind the sun” in a place or time that has been passed or left behind by the luminaries of medicine “At the end of the rainbow” at the end of the search for an illusory hope, a cure for HIV / AIDS “life has only begun” lies the only way to save my life.
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“Wounded” as diseased; Jack-A-Roe 1993, “And sent for her physician to quickly heal his wounds / Oh, to quickly heal his wounds.” Tarantula, Claudette, the sandman's pupil, wounded in her fifth year in the business & she's only 15 & go ahead ask her what she thinks of married men & governors & shriner conventions go ahead ask her
And what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son? And what’ll you do now my darling young one? I’m a-goin’ back out ‘fore the rain starts afallin’ I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest Where the people are a many and their hands are all empty Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten Where black is the color, where none is the number And I’ll tell and think it and speak it and breathe it And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’ But I’ll know my songs well before I start singin’ And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
“And what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son? And what’ll you do now my darling young one? I’m a-goin’ back out ‘fore the rain starts a-fallin’” I am going back out before race riots destroy America “I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest” I will go to the same depths the Germans did in destroying the Jews when it comes to getting rid of the African-Americans. “Black Forest” as in Bavaria, Germany, where Hitler began his rise to power “Where the people are a many” where the Whites outnumber the blacks“and their hands are all empty” and they are poor Whites with future fates that offer no promise, lacks substance, nor can they express this in writing “Where the pellets” the shotgun pellet “of poison” of something that destroys, murders, of illegal weapons “are flooding their waters” are overwhelming the decent White folk with trouble. “Where the home in the valley” where the clean White neighborhoods “meets the damp dirty prison” turns into the ghetto when the African-Americans move in “Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden” where these primitive tribal people break down civilization with a code of silence when someone is murdered, if the murderer is of their race “Where hunger is ugly” where their ‘human’ desires like reproduction turn into animalistic rape “where souls are forgotten” and they act in a psychopathic manner “Where black is the color” where a bunch of “porch monkeys” live “where none is the number” and no Whites want to live because it is a jungle where there is no respect for
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human life “And I’ll tell and think it and speak it and breathe it” and live it “And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it” and reflect on this problem so all souls can realize that it exists “Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’” but I would be sunk as a superstar if I took this sort of stand “But I’ll know my songs well before I start singin’” so I will hide these thoughts in sophisticated poetry before I start singing them “It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall” the African-Americans are gonna get what’s coming to them!
“And what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son? And what'll you do now my darling young one? I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin'” I am going back out before race riots destroy America “I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest” I will go to the inner city. Also I will go to the same moral depths the Germans descended to in destroying the Jews when it comes to getting rid of the Blacks in America “Black Forest” as in Bavaria, Germany, where Hitler began his rise to power “Where the people are a many” where the mud people outnumber the White people “and their hands are all empty” and no one wants to work – idle hands are the Devil’s workshop “Where the pellets” where a bullet or piece of small shot - a shotgun pellet “of poison” of something that destroys, murders - illegal weapons “are flooding their waters” are overwhelming the decent White folk and destroying their level of excellence. “Where the home in the valley” where the clean White neighborhoods “meets the damp dirty prison” turns into the ghetto when the African-Americans move in “Where the executioner's face is always well hidden” where these primitive tribal people break down civilization with a code of silence when someone is murdered, as long as the murderer is of their own race “Where hunger is ugly” where their ‘human’ desires like reproduction turn into animalistic rape “where souls are forgotten” and they act in an inhuman psychopathic manner to others “Where black is the color” where a bunch of jet black jungle bunnies live “where none is the number” and where no Whites want to live because it is a jungle where there is no respect for human life “And I'll tell and think it and speak it and breathe it” I will spread the word and live it “And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it” and reflect on this problem so all souls can realize that it exists “Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'” but then I would be sunk as a superstar if I took this sort of stand “But I'll know my songs well before I start singin'” so I’ll hide these thoughts in sophisticated poetry and dog whistle politics before I start singing them “It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall” the Blacks are gonna get what’s coming to them!
“Poison” is something murderous, something fatal.
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Dylan and Hitler: In Chronicles, Dylan put Hitler on the same level with Churchill and FDR, “Hitler, Churchill, Mussolini, Stalin, Roosevelt—towering figures that the world would never see the likes of again, men who relied on their own resolve, for better or worse, every one of them prepared to act alone, indifferent to approval-indifferent to wealth or love, all presiding over the destiny of mankind and reducing the world to rubble.” Tarantula, “down with you sam. down with your answers too. Hitler did not change history. Hitler WAS history” Tarantula, “we must be willing to die for freedom (end of fact) now what I wanna know about the fact is this: could Hitler have said it?” Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “I talked with one of the sons of Germany” I spoke with a Nazi “while walkin’ once on foreign ground” while visiting East Germany “an’ I learned that he regards Adolf Hitler as we here in the states regard Robert E. Lee.” Never a bad word about Nazis from Bob Dylan!
“Face” as race; in regard to James Meredith enrollment at the University of Mississippi; Oxford Town 1963, “Guns and clubs followed him down / All because his face was brown.” When The Ship Comes In 1963, “the sun” a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events “will respect” avoid violation of, and interference with, “every face on the deck” every racial group that exists “the hour that the ship comes in” after the revolution. “Deck of cards” as a racial group; Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power) 1978; “There’s a wicked” evil by nature and in practice “wind still blowing” destructive force spreading “on that upper deck” on the superior White racial group “There’s an iron cross still hanging down from around her neck” and so Dylan continues to embrace Nazi thought. Tight Connection To My Heart 1985, “Never could learn to drink that blood and call it wine” I never could accept, drink in, the patently false myths of Christianity, I never could even get them straight “Never could learn to look at your face and call it mine” I never could learn to look at your race and call it mine as I always regarded myself as Jewish. Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “man in borrowed stomach” a man pretending he can stomach Blacks “slams wife in the face” reproves his wife about inter-racial relationships “an’ rushes off t’ civil rights meeting.” Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “orchard street through all those people on orchard street “pants” embarrassing “legs” one of the branches of a forked object such as a family tree “in my face” in my race “‘comere! comere!’ ‘comere! comere!’ i don’t need no clothes” I don’t need no Hassidic dress such as a yarmulke “an’ cross the street” and leave that section of Manhattan, none-the-less “skull caps climb by themselves out of manholes” my Jewish heritage is revealed by the media as if it were sewage.
“Pants” as embarrassment; Tarantula, “we wear choking” suppressed “pants” embarrassment “& are slaves to appetite” because we are hungry for
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success. Off the Top of My Head 1965, “But then his pants fall down” Tarantula “compared to the big day when you discover lord byron shooting craps in the morgue with his pants off.” Lenny Bruce 1981, “They stamped him and they labeled him like they do with pants” as they do with something that is embarrassing “and shirts” and popular at the same time “Shirts” as popular Tarantula, “Flower Lady lost her shirt & went to the bushes” the bush leagues. Tarantula “unbuttons his shirt & shows her his name signed on his stomach.” Dylan sang the next song at the March on Washington with a straight face!
ONLY A PAWN IN THEIR GAME 1963
A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers’ blood. A finger fired the trigger to his name. A handle hid out in the dark A hand set the spark Two eyes took the aim Behind a man’s brain But he can’t be blamed He’s only a pawn in their game.
“A bullet” an almost magical cure to the disease of one uppity African- American “from the back of a bush” emerged from deep inside a remote area, bush country, the Deep South; Jim Jones 1992 “And it’s by and by I’ll slip my chains” and soon I will slip out of the restrictions the Left imposed on me “Well, into the bush I’ll go” and into the thinking of the Deep South I will go “took Medgar Evers’ blood” killed the Civil Rights African-American agitator Medgar Evers
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“A finger” to designate as a victim, as of murder or other crime. Tarantula, “these sadistic nurses—they speak to me as if i was a finger i lay in this bed unprotected” “fired the trigger” got the African-American Evers all fired up about Civil Rights “to his name” and caused him to earn his reputation as a bad-assed Negro “A handle” a way of keeping the African-Americans in their place like a Lester Maddox pickax handle. Lester Maddox was a segregationist and restaurant owner who gave out pickax handles to his good ole boy customers and encouraged them to use the weapon to keep the African-Americans in line “hid out in the dark” concealed itself and was out to get a darkie “A hand” one who specializes in a particular activity or pursuit; ‘An old hand at keeping the African-Americans in their place,’ the Klan “set the spark” provided vital, animating, and activating factor but “Two eyes took the aim / Behind a man’s brain” two divergent schools of thought influenced Ever’s assassin, that of the outside Communist agitators who got the African-American riled up and that of the Invisible Empire of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan who put an end to him “But he can’t be blamed” but the White assassin can’t be blamed, “He’s only a pawn in their game” if the Communists wouldn’t have gotten the African-Americans so goddamned worked up there would have been no need to kill Evers.
“Bullet” as something regarded as a magical solution or cure; Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 Liner Notes 1962; “When I saw she was set t’ sing a fence a deafness with a bullet’s speed” with the speed of a magical solution “Sprang up like a protectin’ glass” She’s Your Lover Now 1965, “She” a civil rights advocate “had bullets in her eyes” had magical solutions in her thoughts “and they fire” and they got the African-Americans all fired up. Tarantula, “there are green bullets in my throat” there are naïve songs that contained the promise of a magical solution in my repertoire “Throat” as repertoire; Tarantula, “some plaintive woos in the twilight & throats ripping” “rip” informal; to produce, display, or utter suddenly. Tarantula, “hand him a peacock feather” put a feather in his cap, have him on television as in the NBC Peacock “& then they slit his throat” then cut his repertoire as Ed Sullivan did when Dylan appeared on this television show. Tarantula, “manuscript nitemare of cut throat” Tarantula “cook’s helper appeared & cleared his throat” approved my repertoire. Made his songs free from guilt; untroubled: a clear conscience. Liner Notes to John Wesley Harding in relation to the early Dylan “The first king cleared his throat.”
“Trigger” as African-American; Tarantula, “controlling at once the present tense of the problem” one way to control the current racial unrest “more or less like a roy rogers & trigger relationship” is to revert back to a master / African-American-slave relationship “of which under present western standards is an impossibility” which is impossible as slavery in universally condemned in the Western World.
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“Name” as reputation; Only A Hobo 1962, “To wait for your future like a horse” candidate, as in ‘dark horse’ that’s gone lame” become a lame duck. Tarantula, “The Horse Race ‘always trying, always gaining’—Lyndon Johnson” “To lie in the gutter and die with no name?” Tarantula, “but i can take no martyr’s name nor sleep myself in any gust of dungeon.”
“To wait for your future like a horse” to wait for recognition like a candidate, as in ‘dark horse’ candidate “that's gone lame” that has become a lame duck, considered to be lame in the opinion of other folkies. (Tarantula, “The Horse Race ‘always trying, always gaining’ - Lyndon Johnson”) “To lie in the gutter” to be relegated to a place befitting the lowest class of human life; vulgar, sordid and unprincipled: gutter language “and die with no name?” and never be recognized as a genius. Tarantula, “but i can take no martyr's name nor sleep myself in any gust of dungeon.”
A South politician preaches to the poor white man, “You got more than the blacks, don’t complain. You’re better than them, you been born with white skin,” they explain. And the Negro’s name Is used it is plain For the politician’s gain As he rises to fame And the poor white remains On the caboose of the train But it ain’t him to blame He’s only a pawn in their game.
“A South politician preaches to the poor white man” not all, but some of the Establishment politicians with constituencies in the South give moral instruction in a condescending fashion to the poor Whites telling them that, “You got more than the blacks, don’t complain” you are better off than the coloreds, be happy with the status quo don’t join the Klan, the White Citizens Councils “You’re better than them, you been born with white skin, they explain” you are genetically superior to the African-American so don’t worry about it “And the Negro’s name” and the Negro’s well-earned reputation as a savage
“Is used it is plain” is used to elevate the Whites to a higher plane by comparing them to the Blacks who are on a very low plain of existence “For the politician’s gain” so he can get votes “As he rises to fame” as he rises to national office “And the poor white remains / On the caboose of the train” and the status quo is maintained and the poor White remains at the end of a sequence of events leaving him impoverished, the end of the gravy train “But it ain’t him to blame” but it is not the fault of the poor White that he is exploited by Establishment “He’s only a pawn in their game.”
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“Is used it is plain” has an obvious to the mind; evident ulterior motive “For the politician's gain” so the politician can get votes and money “As he rises to fame” as he rises to national office “And the poor white remains / On the caboose of the train” and the poor Whites get the short end of any Civil Rights legislation “But it ain't him to blame” but it is not the fault of the poor White that the establishment exploits him “He's only a pawn in their game.”
“Preach” as address a constituency; Long Ago Far Away 1962, “To preach of peace and brotherhood, / Oh, what might be the cost! / A man he did it long ago / And they hung him on a cross.” Iron Train A-Travelin’ 1962, “Do you ever get tired of the preachin’ sounds of fear / When they’re hammered at your head and pounded in your ear?” and drilled into your sympathies.
“Train” as Civil Rights Movement, Freedom Train; If Dogs Run Free, 1970,
If dogs run free, then why not we Across the swooping plain? My ears hear a symphony Of two mules, trains and rain The best is always yet to come That’s what they explain to me Just do your thing, you’ll be king If dogs run free
“If dogs run free, then why not we?” if Lincoln freed the slaves why not free White people? “Across the swooping plain?” across America, the fruited plain the swiftly descending country “My ears hear a symphony” sarcastic; I hear a harmonious combination of elements “Of two mules” 40 acres and a mule refers to the short-lived policy, during the last stages of the American Civil War in 1865, of providing arable land to black former slaves who had become free as a result of the advance of the Union armies into the territory previously controlled by the Confederacy “trains” the Civil Rights Movement “and rain” and destruction. “The best is always yet to come” the Blacks are going to get their act together “That’s what they explain to me” that how the liberals rationalized Black crime “Just do your thing” just do what you are best at “you’ll be king” and you will achieve the stature of Martin Luther King “If dogs run free” if the slaves run free. Only A Pawn In Their Game continues:
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The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid, And the marshals and cops get the same, But the poor white man’s used in the hands of them all like a tool. He’s taught in his school From the start by the rule That the laws are with him To protect his white skin To keep up his hate So he never thinks straight ‘Bout the shape that he’s in But it ain’t him to blame He’s only a pawn in their game.
“The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid” the deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, and the governors will bear a cost and a penalty for what they have done “And the marshals and cops get the same” and those other faggots are also going to get what is coming to them “But the poor white man’s used in the hands of them all like a tool” but even if revenge is exacted these Whites are still being used to carry out the designs of another rather than acting in their own self interest “He’s taught” he learns by example and experience “in his school” when he first attends a desegregated public school “From the start by the rule” from the biblical teaching that one should behave toward others as one would have others behave toward oneself “That the laws are with him” and that there are laws on the books against violence “To protect his white skin” to protect him from a racially motivated violent attack from a pack of boogies “To keep up his hate” so that his hatred for Blacks will continue at the same level and pace and not increase as it should “So he never thinks straight” so he fails to realize “‘Bout the shape that he’s in” about the physical danger he is in “shape” the figure or outline of the body of a person “But it ain’t him to blame” but it’s not the White student who suddenly finds himself in a classroom full of illiterates who hate Whites who deserves the blame “He’s only a pawn in their game.”
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From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks, And the hoof beats pound in his brain. And he’s taught how to walk in a pack Shoot in the back With his fist in a clinch To hang and to lynch To hide ‘neath the hood To kill with no pain Like a dog on a chain He ain’t got no name But it ain’t him to blame He’s only a pawn in their game.
“From the poverty shacks” from shanty African-American towns that aside from television antennae resemble an African tribal village more than the United States “he looks from the cracks” he has the appearance of “cracks” people with mental impairments; genetic defects. Also vulgar slang: vaginas, ho’s, chicken-heads; Some Other Kinds of Songs, “baby black…robs, pawns lives by trade” “to the tracks” to shooting dope which leave tracks on his arm “And the hoof beats pound in his brain” and the horse, heroin has a heavy impact on his brain “And he’s taught how to walk in a pack” his “culture” teaches him how to form a wolf pack and go out and hunt Whites “Shoot in the back” fight like a cowardly rapist of White women “With his fist” with his abnormally large penis; Lenny Bruce “colored men are built abnormally large. Their wangs look like a baby’s arm with an apple in its fist” “in a clinch” slang: when embracing amorously, when he is raping a White woman “To hang” vulgar slang having large male genitals “and to lynch” and to punish people such as the female victims of these animals “To hide ‘neath the hood” to commit armed robbery, cover with a hood; ‘The bandits were hooded’ Ballad of Donald White, “And I’m also glad I’ve had no friends / To see me in disgrace / For they’ll never see that hangman’s hood wrap” clasp, fold, or coil “around my face” and disgrace my White race. “To kill with no pain” to murder with no guilt like a bunch of psychopaths “Like a dog on a chain” like a slave in his master’s control “He ain’t got no name” who must be given a name by his owner “But it ain’t him to blame / He’s only a pawn in their game.”
“From the poverty shacks” from shanty Black towns that aside from television antennae resemble an African tribal village more than dwellings in the United States “he looks from the cracks” he looks from his whores: vulgar slang: vaginas, ho’s, chicken-heads; Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “baby black…robs, pawns lives by trade” “to the tracks” to shooting dope which leave tracks on his arm “And the hoof beats pound in his brain” and the horse, heroin has a heavy impact on his ape-like brain “And he's
80 – V1 taught how to walk in a pack” his “culture” teaches him how to form a wolf pack and go out and hunt White women to gang rape “Shoot in the back” shoot sperm up their ass “With his fist” with his abnormally large penis; Lenny Bruce “colored men are built abnormally large. Their wangs look like a baby's arm with an apple in its fist” “in a clinch” in a “clinch” slang: when embracing amorously, when he is raping a White woman “To hang” vulgar slang having large male genitals “and to lynch” and to punish the female victims of these animals “To hide 'neath the hood” to be hidden by other blacks in the hood “To kill with no pain” to rape then murder their victims with no guilt, with no pity, like a bunch of psychopaths “Like a dog on a chain” like a vicious half-ape half-human creature that should be tethered “He ain't got no name” who has no reputation but a bad one “But it ain't him to blame / He's only a pawn in their game.” sarcastic: he is to blame.
“Shack” as dwelling associated with Blacks; Some Other Kinds of Songs, “baby black’s been had” White people have had it with the Blacks “ain’t bad” and there is nothing wrong with this, there are reasons for it “smokestacked” the Blacks were brought from the South to an industrialized area like Detroit “chicken shacked” and lived like animals there in slums. To Dave Glover 1962, “The white line on the highway’s reflectin” there are many White people who are publically reflecting on the Negro question “Behind the ditch broken down empty shack’re still standin’” and they are thinking about the primitive civilization generated by African culture.
“Pain” as remorse; After his woman left him in If Tomorrow Wasn’t Such A Long Time 1962, “I can’t speak the sounds that show no pain” Just Like a Women 1966, “Nobody feels any pain” I feel no regrets “Tonight as I stand inside the rain” as I currently endure the hatred of the folk community. I Believe In You 1979, “Don’t let me change my heart” don’t let me return to Judaism “Keep me set apart / From all the plans they do pursue” let me be set apart from the money hungry, overly influential Hebs “And I, I don’t mind the pain” I can live with any regrets that I might harbor “Don’t mind the driving rain” I don’t mind the intense hatred I have elicited in so many due to my conversion to Christianity “I know I will sustain” I will remain a Christian cat “‘Cause I believe in you” because I believe Jesus was divine.
“Dog” as slave; Tarantula, “bounty hunter” slave catcher “now reincarnated into a fire hydrant, he sleeps on your dog” Obviously Five Believers 1966, to the Whites, “I got my black dog barkin’” I got my Negro slave barking up the wrong tree “Yes, it is now / Outside my yard” outside of the prison yard where he belongs “Yes, I could tell you what he means” I could tell you all what the Blackman’s existence means in relation to your own “If I just didn’t have to try so hard” but I have to couch it in poetry. Tarantula, “freedom! she’s the yardbird, the constant & the old lady is made of marias & dogs
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yelping.” Tarantula, “he wrote one on famous dogs of the civil war” poem title If Dogs Run Free 1970. Tell Me 1983, “What means more to you, a lap dog or a dead lion?”
“Dog” as slave; Tarantula, “bounty hunter” slave catcher “now reincarnated into a fire hydrant, he sleeps on your dog.” Obviously Five Believers 1966, to the Whites,
“Dog” as slave: Tarantula, “freedom! she's the yardbird, the constant & the old lady is made of marias & dogs yelping.” Tarantula, “he wrote one on famous dogs of the civil war.” Poem title If Dogs Run Free 1970. Tell Me 1983 in regard to the relationship between Israel and the United States, “Do you long to ride on that old ship of Zion? What means more to you, a lap dog or a dead lion?” “lap dog” Informal one eager to do another's bidding, especially in order to maintain a position of privilege or favor
I got my black dog barkin’ Black dog barkin’ Yes it is now Yes it is now Outside my yard Yes, I could tell you what he means If I just didn’t have to try so hard
This was addressed to Dylan’s former folk fans “I got my black dog” I got my black people who are of inferior or low quality and are in a sense working for me “barkin'” “barking” advertising a show by loudly addressing passers-bys: the Blacks are praising Bob Dylan but they are barking up the wrong tree “Yes, it is now” and the dog is not a he or she but an “it” “Outside my yard” but not inside my yard - in one's (own) backyard Figurative: very close to one, where one lives, or where one is. “Yes, I could tell you what he means” yes I could tell you all what the Blackman’s existence signifies in relation to violent crime, welfare etc “mean” to have as a consequence; bring about “If I just didn't have to try so hard” but you have a diametrically opposite point of view. Also “barking dogs” “yard” as in prison yard and “hard” as in hard time.
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Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught. They lowered him down as a King. But when the shadowy sun sets on the one That fired the gun He’ll see by his grave On the stone that remains Carved next to his name His epitaph plain Only a pawn in their game.
“Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught” the bullet reached, caught, the African-American just in time “They lowered him down as a King” they buried him as a person considered as the most important of his kind however the implication here is that Martin Luther King, would be next “But when the shadowy sun sets on the one / That fired the gun” but when the criminal whose actions strongly influence the course of events, when an FBI Special Agent catches the assassin that killed Evers; Chronicles, “he had hooker friends and a shadowy past.” “He’ll see by his grave” he, the FBI Agent who arrested this hero of the Old South “On the stone that remains” on this Feds eternal punishment; “stone” Rainy Day Women 1966, “They’ll stone you when you’re playing your guitar” “Carved next to his name” his reputation as a race traitor carved in history for eternity “His epitaph” a brief literary piece composed by me as in Eleven Outlined Epitaphs “plain” right there, plain as day, in plain English “Only a pawn in their game” only a pawn in the game of those who would destroy his White racial heritage.
“Shadow” as government agent; What Was It You Wanted 1989, to the Communists, “Was there somebody looking / When you give me that kiss” when you gave me that kiss of death, your approval, “Someone there in the shadows” someone shadowing me “Someone that I might have missed” like an undercover FBI agent. Chronicles, “Our tall Texan vice president, Lyndon Johnson, was quite a character, too. He’d flipped out and got angry at the U.S. Secret Service, told them to stop fencing him in, stop shadowing him, following him around.”
“Sun” as an influential person; Oxford Town 1963, Oxford Mississippi where James Meredith enrolled at the University of Mississippi with the help of U.S. Marshalls, “Oxford Town / Ev’rybody’s got their heads bowed down” every self respecting White is ashamed of themselves for having surrendered to the Federal Government and let this African-American into a college where he will get the chance to meet White women “The sun” a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events “don’t shine above the ground” doesn’t make himself eminent any longer unless you look
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for the heroes of the Old South who are in their graves “Never goin’ down to Oxford Town.” “Bow down” as surrender, They Killed Him 1986, “There was a man named Mahatma Gandhi / He would not bow down he would not fight.”
ALTERNATE
“Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught” today Medgar Evers was buried with the bullet that reached, caught, the Black just in time “They lowered him down as a King” they buried him as a person considered as the most important of his kind, however the implication here is that Martin Luther King, would be next to die “But when the shadowy sun sets on the one / That fired the gun” but when the real criminal whose actions strongly influenced the course of events, when an FBI Special Agent shadows, then catches the assassin that killed Evers; Chronicles, “he had hooker friends and a shadowy past.” “He'll see by his grave” he, the FBI Agent who arrested this hero of the Old South will see on his own grave “On the stone that remains” on this Feds eternal punishment; “stone” Rainy Day Women 1966, “They’ll stone you when you’re playing your guitar.” “Carved next to his name” his reputation as a race traitor carved indelibly in history “His epitaph plain” a final judgment on a person or thing as in the liner notes to The Times They Are A-Changin’ entitled Eleven Outlined Epitaphs right there, plain as day, in plain English “Only a pawn in their game” only a pawn in the game of those who would destroy the White race.
LIKE A ROLLING STONE 1965
Like A Rolling Stone was the most noteworthy of several 45 RPM singles that Dylan released including Subterranean Homesick Blues, Please Crawl Out Your Window during the 1965 to 1966 vintage Dylan period. These poems all had the same theme – a plea to Whites to wake up to the danger posed by integration and race mixing. Ironically enough Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone Magazine, a liberal, named this next poem the greatest rock and roll song ever written.
Once upon a time you dressed so fine You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you? People’d call, say, “Beware doll, you’re bound to fall” You thought they were all kiddin’ you
“Once upon a time” when you were in fantasy land, in a story-book like land “you dressed so fine” you applied medication to a social wound and it was satisfactory; it worked just fine “You threw the bums a dime” you casually gave colored folk welfare, such as Aid To Dependent Children (ADC) wherein
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mothers were paid by the child thus increasing the Black birthrate “in your prime didn’t you?” on a federal level as in U.S. Government Grade A Prime or as in ‘The prime rate’ “People’d call” demand a meeting of; convene a legislative session “say Beware doll” and say beware you doll, you who acts so kindheartedly “you’re bound to fall” you are destined to decline in political influence and in ratio to the non-White population “You thought they were all kiddin’ you” and you thought they were joking; putting you on and America could never be overrun by non-Whites.
You used to laugh about Everybody that was hangin’ out Now you don’t talk so loud Now you don’t seem so proud About having to be scrounging for your next meal
“You used to laugh about / Everybody that was hangin’ out” you used to laugh off, not take seriously, all the pregnant Black welfare mothers on ADC. Dylan almost goes with ‘Everybody that was down and out’, before scratching it out and writing (and underlining) ‘hanging out’. More proof this verse is about African-Americans. Dylan toys with rhyming ‘talk so loud’ with ‘head in the cloud’, but goes with ‘seem so proud’ instead…
“Now you don’t talk so loud” now you are not so insistent, no more loud denials, Mr. White American? Now you don’t have your head in a cloud but you have to face reality. “Now you don’t seem so proud?” now you no longer show racial pride, do you White man? “About having to be scrounging” about having to be foraging in an effort to acquire something at no cost, asking for charity “for your next meal” so that you can feed your own White American family while your tax dollars goes to feed countless illegitimate Black babies.
How does it feel? To be on your own With no direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone?
“How does it feel” sarcastic: it doesn’t feel so good does it? “To be on your own” to have lost your birthright as a White American “With no direction” with no authoritative indication, order and command “home” to get you to your goal of preserving your race “Like a complete unknown” like a member of the silent majority, like a person whose action and effect is unknown and unpredictable “Like a rolling stone?” like a Rightwing political force that is gathering momentum.
“Stone” as reactionary, Rightwing; to the Left in It Ain’t Me Babe 1964 “Go melt back into the night / Everything inside is made of stone” The Times
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They Are a-Changin’ 1964, “And accept it that soon / You’ll be drenched to the bone” to the core; Property of Jesus 1981 “He’s the property of Jesus / Resent him to the bone” “If your time” life “to you is worth savin’ / Then you better start swimmin’” you better get into the swim of things “Or you’ll sink like a stone / For the times they are a-changin’.”
“And accept it that soon / You'll be drenched to the bone” reconcile yourself to the fact you will be destroyed, murdered, rained on to the core, to the extreme; Property of Jesus 1981 “He's the property of Jesus / Resent him to the bone.” “If your time to you is worth savin' “ if you want to stay alive reactionary, capitalist pig “Then you better start swimmin'” then you better get into the swim of things “Or you'll sink like a stone” or you’ll be lined up against the wall at shot as a counter-revolutionary “For the times they are a- changin'” for scummy commies (led by Bob Dylan) are taking over America. Like A Rolling Stone continues:
You’ve gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely But you know you only used to get juiced in it And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street And now you find out you’re gonna have to get used to it
“You’ve gone to the finest school all right,” at one time you attended safe, highly rated public schools when the Rightists controlled America “Miss Lonely” where the children there were all White and well behaved, one lone race “But you know you only used to get juiced in it” but you lost political power over your school district and now a bunch of African-Americans are being bused in. “Juice” slang, political power and influence; clout “And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street” and you were brought up in a civilized fashion with a mother and father not by a single mother in the slums so you don’t know how to survive in a jungle, the ghetto “streets” the streets of a city viewed as the scene of crime, poverty, and dereliction “And now you find out you’re gonna have to get used to it” and now thanks to these race mixing politicians whose children attend private schools the thing you love best in the world, your children, are being mixed in with a bunch of savages.
“Juice” as influence; What Was It You Wanted 1989, to the Communists, “What was it you wanted? Can I be of any use? Can I do something for you? Do I have enough juice? Wherever you’re off to, one thing you should know. You still got seven hundred miles yet still to go.”
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You said you’d never compromise With the mystery tramp, but know you realize He’s not selling any alibis As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes And say do you want to make a deal?
“You said you’d never compromise” you said you would never make a concession to something detrimental and pejorative; compromise your morality when it came to dealing with certain people such as “With the mystery” with a person that arouses curiosity and suspense because of an unknown, obscure, and enigmatic quality; a racist leader “tramp” who will tread down; trample upon these Negros until they are driven back into the ghetto or shipped off to Africa “but now you realize” but after having your kids thrown in with a bunch of baboons it has suddenly dawned on you “He’s not selling any alibis” racists are not making any excuses for these jigaboos “As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes” as you look with wonderment into his thoughts wherein he proposes to vacuum, make clean by removing dirt, filth, or unwanted people like African-Americans “And say do you want to make a deal?” now you have come to your senses and are willing to compromise and you say how about formulating programs and policies to promote economic recovery and social reform that would benefit Whites like a racist variation of the New Deal?
Manuscript variation: “You never listened to the man who could jump jive and wail / Never believed him when he told you he had love for sale ... now he looks into your eyes and says, do you want to make a deal?”
You never listened to the man who could get an initial competitive advantage; a head start: get the jump on the blacks jive-assed bullshit and wail on them – beat them back to the jungle.
“Mystery” as “Nazi.” In Foot of Pride 1983, written after Dylan became disillusioned with Christianity he supplied his audience with the Least Ambiguous Context for the word “mystery” when he described Christians as Nazis:
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They got some beautiful people out there, man They can be a terror to your mind and show you how to hold your tongue They got mystery written all over their forehead They kill babies in the crib and say only the good die young They don't believe in mercy Judgment on them is something that you'll never see They can exalt you up or bring you down main route Turn you into anything that they want you to be
“They got some beautiful people out there, man” the Fundamentalist Christians got some real duzzies out there man “They can be a terror to your mind” they can be a cause of anxiety “and show you how to hold your tongue” and determine your words for you “They got mystery written all over their forehead” they have Nazism written on their foreheads, just as Charles Manson has a swastika tattooed to his forehead “They kill babies in the crib and say only the good die young” they kill children just like the Nazis did then rationalize it “They don't believe in mercy” they are vengeful “Judgment on them is something that you'll never see” and they are hypocrites “They can exalt you up” the can elevate you by praise “or bring you down main route / Turn you into anything that they want you to be.” Like A Rolling Stone continues:
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You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns When they all come down and did tricks for you You never understood that it ain’t no good You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you
“You never turned around” you never changed direction and moved to the Right “to see the frowns” so that you could observe the displeasure of “the jugglers” the police “and the clowns” and the soldiers, the National Guard “When they all come down” when they came down to the ghetto, the inner
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city, when they came down on the African-Americans case “and did tricks for you” and performed a convention or specialized skill peculiar to a particular field of activity ‘learned the tricks of riot suppression’ and quelled the racial disturbances there for you “You never understood that it ain’t no good / You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you” you should have formed a vigilante group and did the job yourself with much more brutality, mutilate a couple of African-Americans, like what was done to Emmet Till, that will put the fear of God in them!
“Jugglers” as police; Tarantula, “lenny” Lenny Bruce who was busted by the fuzz on numerous occasions “laughing in a fake sombrero & the jugglers trying to smother the queers” Obviously Five Believers 1966, “Fifteen jugglers / Five believers” true believers “All dressed like men / Tell yo’ mama not to worry because / They’re just my friends.”
“Jugglers” as police; Tarantula, “lenny” Lenny Bruce who was busted by the fuzz on numerous occasions “laughing in a fake som and brero & the jugglers trying to smother the queers” the cops busting fag joints in Greenwich Village. Tarantula, “the jugglers who call you by the wrong name & title you wounded kitten.” Tarantula, “there are shadows of jugglers on the wall” to shadow is to follow someone surreptiously.
“Tricks” knack, specialized skill; Tarantula, to the folk community “yowee i’m here because i’m starving” desperate “& swallowing” believing and accepting without questioning or challenge “your tricks” your conventions or specialized skills peculiar to a particular field of activity, getting the knack of playing folk music “into my stomach” even though a lot of it is difficult to stomach, bear, tolerate Chronicles, “On weekends, if you played all the joints from dusk ‘til dawn, you could make maybe twenty dollars. Weeknights it was hard to tell. Sometimes not much because it was so competitive. You had to know a trick or two to survive.”
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You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat Ain’t it hard when you discovered that He really wasn’t where it’s at After he took from you everything he could steal
“You used to ride” you used to allow to continue without interference, you used to support “on the chrome horse” candidates who supported regimes that practiced apartheid (South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of chrome) “with your diplomat” and your government had diplomatic relations with them while the South Africans “carried on his shoulder” shouldered a burden, the White Man’s Burden of having to uplift inferior races and cultures such as “a Siamese” a closely connected or very similar; twin “cat” slang for a Black man, the South Africans also have to deal with the burden of living with African-Americans “Ain’t it hard when you discovered that” ain’t it hard for Whites to really believe “He really wasn’t where it’s at” that apartheid was an evil system and was worthy of economic and political sanctions “After he took from you everything he could steal” after you learned that apartheid was “stolen” from Jim Crow a practice that originated with Whites in America. “Steal” to use, appropriate, or preempt the use of another’s idea. In other words, apartheid is as American as apple pie.
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Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people They’re drinkin’, thinkin’ that they got it made Exchanging all precious gifts But you’d better take your diamond ring, you’d better pawn it babe
“Princesses” the outstanding men in a particular group or class “on the steeple” of the Protestant clergy “and all the pretty people” and all the ostensibly and superficially attractive but lacking in substance and conviction people, the liberals “They’re drinkin’” taking it in eagerly through the senses and intellect “thinkin’ that they got it made” thinking they were responsible for the Civil Rights Movement “Exchanging all precious gifts” desegregating
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the schools, sending children, God’s most precious gifts, to Black schools and having Black students attend White schools “But you’d better take your diamond ring” but it is your children, the product of your wedding vows, your most precious possession, who must be thrown in with a bunch of African-Americans “you’d better pawn it babe” and are put at risk for their lives “pawn” risk, hazard; ‘pawn one’s life.’
“Steeple” as church; I Shall Be Free 1962, “Now, the man on the stand he wants my vote / He’s a-runnin’ for office on the ballot note / He’s out there preachin’ in front of the steeple / telling me he loves all kinds of people” Tarantula, “Matty Groves, who secretly at midnight tries to chop down the church steeple.”
“Princesses” the outstanding men in a particular group or class “on the steeple” of the Protestant clergy “and all the pretty people” and all the ostensibly and superficially attractive but lacking in substance and conviction people, the liberals “They're drinkin'” they are taking it in eagerly through the senses and intellect “thinkin' that they got it made” thinking they were responsible for the Civil Rights Movement “Exchanging all precious gifts” desegregating the schools, sending children, God’s most precious gifts, to Black schools and having Black students attend White schools “But you'd better take your diamond ring” but you better take your segregated schools which have the ring, as in a suggestion of a particular quality, of apartheid “you'd better pawn it babe” you’d better dispose or get rid of the schools as in pawn off and exchange them for de-segregated schools!
You used to be so amused At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used Go to him now, he calls you, you can’t refuse When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose You’re invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.
“You used to be so amused” at one time you didn’t take this seriously and you laughed at, ridiculed “Napoleon” a person who you initially believed was crazy “in rags” and whose ancestors were Jews in the garment industry; Senator Barry Goldwater “and the language that he used” and the tough language that he used when it came to integration and forced busing “Go to him now, he calls you, you can’t refuse” vote for him now, it is in your self interest, it is an urgent matter that you do so “When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose” when the government has taken away your right to protect your loved ones from harm what more can you lose? “You’re invisible now” sarcastic; you can’t be discriminated against now because you are White since your skin color is not visible “you got no secrets to conceal” so you no longer have to be ashamed of being a member of the White Race as
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IF DOGS RUN FREE 1970
If dogs run free, then why not we Across the swooping plain? My ears hear a symphony Of two mules, trains and rain The best is always yet to come That’s what they explain to me Just do your thing, you’ll be king / If dogs run free
TWO MULES (A MULE AND FORTY ACRES)
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TRAINS (A GROUP OF PEOPLE – CARPET BAGGERS) RAIN (DESTRUCTION as in HARD RAIN)
Chronicles revealed that the young Bob Dylan spent many an afternoon at the New York Public library reading newspapers published during and after the Civil War. Smart. This was a better way of gaining a true understanding of what transpired than through the lens of a book. Unfortunately, Dylan got it ass backwards and became a neo-confederate. That is why Chronicles contained praise of the Nazi David Duke and revealed for the first time Dylan’s relationship with the neo-Confederate Ray Gooch. Dylan’s neo- Confederate thinking is ultimately self defeating. It fails to take into consideration that, like it or not, Dylan is not White but is part of the Jewish race. Had the South won the Civil War a deal would have been made with Hitler to deport American Jews and there would have been no Bob Dylan. But there was a time when Dylan was thinking straight and I was not. When I supported the Palestinians and Dylan supported the JDL. The fact that he has Robert Davi in new video The Night We Called it a Day, about Dylan parting with the Left, was encouraging. Davi doesn’t buy the liberal bullshit but thinks for himself. But nothing ever came of it. Click here for appropriate music to IF DOGS RUN FREE, Dixieland.
“If dogs” Dog: a slave or a boy regarded as unpleasant, contemptible, wretched “run free, then why not we?” If Blacks have been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation why have not Whites been freed? “Across the swooping plain” Freed from the Black criminals across the gang ridden, plain: ordinary, simple, lacking distinction ugly ghetto neighborhoods filled with those who would swoop down and mug you or worse? “My ears hear a
95 – V1 symphony / Of two mules” I hear a harmony of colored people calling for reparations for slavery: Forty acres and a mule refers to a concept in the United States for agrarian reform for former enslaved African American farmers, following disruptions to the institution of slavery provoked by the American Civil War “train” the carpet baggers and scallywags who exploited the chaos caused by the Civil War: the “train” a staff of people following in attendance; “Rain” destruction (“the rains of wartime” Liner Notes to Times Changin’ also Hard Rain) this is the reconstruction period. “The best is always yet to come / That’s what they explain to me” The best relations between Whites and Blacks is yet to come that is how they justify the violent behavior of Blacks. Explain: To offer reasons for or a cause of; justify: explain an error. “Just do your thing” Just commit more crimes “and you’ll be King” and you’ll be like Martin Luther King (sarcastic) if slaves are allowed to be free.
If dogs run free, why not me Across the swamp of time? My mind weaves a symphony And tapestry of rhyme Oh, winds which rush my tale to thee So it may flow and be To each his own, it’s all unknown If dogs run free
“If dogs run free, why not me” if blacks are allowed to roam free why not me? Why can’t I be free of the threat of crime? “Across the swamp” across a situation or place fraught with difficulties and imponderables like a prison “of time” time – informal: a prison sentence. “My mind” Upper Southern US To have in mind as a goal or purpose; intend “I have a mind to swallow you up” “weaves a symphony” interweaves or combines (elements) into a complex whole: wove the states into the Confederacy. “Symphony” harmony, especially of color “and tapestry” a colorful and complicated situation: the rich tapestry of Southern American life “of rhyme” rhyme or reason sense, logic, or meaning “Oh, winds” destructive forces of the Union “which rush my tale” which make me present my case to God “to thee” an old word for you used only when addressing one person, especially God. “So it may flow ” so the south might rise again “and be” and exist “To each his own, it’s all unknown” state rights is a better form of government because you don’t know what you are dealing with when you deal with “if dogs run free” freed slaves.
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TRUE LOVE CAN MAKE A BLADE OF GRASS STAND UP STRAIGHT AND TALL
If dogs run free, then what must be Must be, and that is all True love can make a blade of grass Stand up straight and tall In harmony with the cosmic sea True love needs no company It can cure the soul, it can make it whole If dogs run free
“If dogs run free, then what must be must be, and that is all”
If Blacks are allowed their freedom there will always be crime and that is that. It is evolutionary. Sarcastic: “True love can make a blade of grass Stand up straight and tall” loving Blacks can make something very primitive evolve into a human-being. Also sarcastic: loving Blacks will make them evolve faster. “In harmony” in a relationship in which various components exist together without destroying one another such as Whites and Blacks “with the cosmic sea” were the natural order of things rules Cosmic: So pervasive and all-inclusive as to exist in or affect the whole world “true love” loving the Blacks or N-word loving “needs no company” does need a subdivision of a military regiment like the National Guard to keep them in line. Sarcastic: “It can cure the soul” it can correct a harmful situation that Blacks have created Soul: of or relating to Black Americans and their culture: soul brother; soul food. “It can make it whole” can replace the part that is missing in Blacks, the gene “If dogs run free.”
SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES 1965***
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Johnny’s in the basement Mixing up the medicine I’m on the pavement Thinking about the government The man in the trench coat Badge out, laid off Says he’s got a bad cough Wants to get it paid off
“Johnny’s in the basement” Lyndon Johnson is dealing with people who Dylan considers low on the bell curve of IQ, namely the African-Americans “basement” slang; the last place and lowest level, as in competitive standings “Mixing up the medicine” confusing what has to be done to remedy the racial situation “I’m on the pavement” I’m in a public area, I am part of the general public “Thinking about the government” thinking what fools are running the United States Government
“The man” slang for police, FBI etc “in the trench coat” in a belted raincoat similar in style to a military officer’s uniform. “Badge out” wearing a badge of the Federal Government. In Gates of Eden Dylan called them “silver studded phantoms” “laid off” not on his normal job, in the federalized
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National Guard “Says he’s got a bad cough” says he owes something morally for a past injustice “Wants to get it paid off” and he wants to make amends for it by accompanying Negros into previously segregated schools.
Look out kid It’s somethin’ you did God knows when But you’re doin’ it again You better duck down the alley way Lookin’ for a new friend The man in the coon-skin cap In the pig pen Wants eleven dollar bills You only got ten.
“Look out kid” look out naïve White boy “It’s somethin’ you did” sarcastic; slavery is your fault and now you must pay honky “God knows when” it might have been two hundred years ago “But you’re doin’ it again” but you are supposedly still oppressing Negros “You better duck down” move swiftly, especially so as to escape being seen “the alley way” when you walk through the ghetto “Lookin’ for a new friend” then find someone sympathetic to your plight “The man in the coon-skin cap” the African-American leader, Martin Luther King, who was awarded a special cap as a sign of rank and achievement and is a “coon” “in the pig pen” from the slums “Wants eleven dollar bills” want you to allow him to freeload on your tax money “You only got ten” and will never be satisfied.
Maggie comes fleet foot Face full of black soot Talkin’ that the heat put Plants in the bed but The phone’s tapped anyway Maggie says that many say They must bust in early May Orders from the DA
“Maggie” Communism from Maggie’s Farm (Animal Farm) comes “comes fleet foot” comes from the Negros who excel at sports such as track, comes rapidly from the Civil Rights Movement “Face full” a race filled “with black soot” with African-Americans who are really whites in blackface, makeup for a comic satire of Black people, especially in a minstrel show. “Talkin’” claiming, protesting “that the heat” that the FBI illegally “put plants” secreted listening devices “in the bed” in a place for lovemaking and found that the Reverend King was having sexual intercourse with White women
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“but the phone’s tapped anyway” but the Feds have a legal phone tap “Maggie” the Communists “says that many say” believe that with the information of Communist infiltration the FBI gathered through the phone tap “They must bust in early May” they are going to be locked up on May Day a commie holiday “Orders from the DA” on the orders of United States Attorney General Robert Kennedy who ordered the wiretaps in the first place and once worked as an Assistant Counsel to Joe McCarthy.
“Maggie” as Communism; Tarantula, “maggie pushing you into hot rod driver’s eyes” Communism forcing you into the thoughts of those who employ torture as a means of interrogation, those who shove, or drive, a hot rod up their suspects’ rectum. Lenny Bruce said this about betraying one’s country under torture, “If you can take the hot lead enema, then you can cast the first stone.”
Look out kid Don’t matter what you did Walk on your tip toes Don’t try, No Doz Better stay away from those That carry around a fire hose Keep a clean nose Watch the plain clothes You don’t need a weather man To know which way the wind blows.
“Look out kid” watch out White boy “Don’t matter what you did” even if you didn’t do anything. “Walk on your tip toes” tiptoe around (someone or something) To avoid confronting or engaging with a troublesome or
100 – V1 undesirable person, problem, situation, issue, etc. “Don’t try, No Doz” don’t mess with drugs favored by Blacks like cocaine “No Doz” is a caffeine pill used to stay awake – it’s a stimulant “Better stay away from those / That carry around a fire hose” stay away from areas where there are riots “Keep a clean nose” don’t end up getting busted “Watch the plainclothes” by undercover cops “You don’t need a weather man” you don’t need someone who can predict a prevailing trend: the current racial climate “To know which way the wind blows” to know the winds of destruction are spreading to the White race.
“Weatherman” as a prevailing trend: the current political or racial climate Tarantula, “bazookas” a strong arm man, as in ‘Ya big bazooka’ “in the nest” invading people’s homes “& weapons of ice” weapons of death “& of weatherproof flinch” proof of the flinching, suddenly painful political and racial climate “& they twitter” machine gun people down “make scars” put people in concentration camps and tattoo a number on their arm and leave lingering damage if they survive “& kill babies” commit genocide. Tarantula, “may these teachers of the shade” race mixers “be rot” decay morally; become degenerate “for committing the problems of past & future & omitting the weather” the current political climate “the drunken eagle” the federal government drunk with power “& the holy present…” and that the status quo must be maintained. Tarantula, “the dada weatherman” the seemingly absurd forecaster of a prevailing trend “comes out of the library” gets out of college “after being beaten up by a bunch of hoods inside” after being brainwashed by a bunch of commie professors, Robin Hoods, who steal from the rich and give to the poor. “Hood” as Communist; Tarantula, “sure, you took a big” exercising considerable authority, control, and influence “stand on juvenile delinquency—you said to run all the hoods out of town—oh you’re so brave—sure, you say you’re patriotic.”
101 – V1
Get sick, get well Hang around a ink well Ring bell, hard to tell If anything is goin’ to sell Try hard, get barred Get back, write braille Get jailed, jump bail Join the army, if you fail Look out kid You’re gonna get hit But users, cheaters Six-time losers Hang around the theaters Girl by the whirlpool Lookin’ for a new fool Don’t follow leaders Watch the parkin’ meters
“Get sick get well” get through childhood diseases, recover “Hang around” wait or spend time somewhere, usually for no particular reason at school. Also “ink” a Black dark brown fluid. An integrated school? “Ring bell” get a job selling merchandise door to door “hard to tell / If anything is goin’ to sell” hard to determine if any of the skills you have acquired in the newly integrated school will have any value on the job market “Try hard, get barred” try to find a job but get discriminated against because you are White “Get back” get back to work “write Braille” write some bad checks “Get nailed” get arrested “jump bail” don’t show up for court “Join the army, if you fail” join the armed forces if you are caught and the judge agrees. This was common in the 1950’s.
“Ink” as integrated school; Off The Top of My Head 1965, “Miss Flunk take a bottle of ink and starts to polish her muscles.” Tarantula, “who can tell me the name of the third president of the united states?” a girl with her back full of ink raises her hand & says ‘ernest tubb’” Tarantula, “reach out, Queenie, reach out—feel for equal saggy skin & believe this dark playboy licking ink from your notebook”
“Look out kid” look out White boy “You’re gonna get hit” you are going to get killed or wounded “But users” African-American dopers “cheaters” draft dodgers “cheat” to elude, escape; ‘cheat death’ “Six-time losers” convicted felons, sixth generation welfare families “Hang around the theaters” loiter around the movie houses rather than theatres of war “Girl by the whirlpool” voter who is getting sucked into insanity “Lookin’ for a new fool” looking for a new political leader. Slow Train, “In the home of the brave, Jefferson
102 – V1 turning over in his grave / Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan” “Don’t follow” don’t keep oneself informed of the course, progress, and fortunes of “leaders” leading politicians “watch the parking meters” keep an eye on the professional prostitutes that your politicians have turned themselves into.
“Parking meter” as prostitute politician, Tarantula, “the mailman starts talking to a parking meter & fox eyes, he say ‘it sure wasn’t like this in abilene’ & it’s a hurricane & a bus reading baltimore leaves them in a total mess—she falls on her knees & she say ‘i’m filthy’” Tarantula, “just a broken jawed parking meter” a lying, jabbering political whore Tarantula, “from entire Mexico & gay innocence once comes Satan of Autumn—from the gentleness & barbarian bebop & lonesome rooms where you must put a nickel in the parking meter into the arms of notorious daughters.”
Ah get born, keep warm Short pants, romance, learn to dance Get dressed, get blessed Try to be a success Please her, please him, buy gifts Don’t steal, don’t lift Twenty years of schoolin’ And they put you on the day shift
“Ah get born” be native to a particular country, region, or place, be American-born “keep warm” in Hibbing Minnesota, where the temperatures are often sub-zero “Short pants” easily sexually excited pants to breathe with noisy deep gasps, as when out of breath from exertion or excitement “romance learn to dance” have sexual relations “Get dressed” in a tuxedo “get blessed” get married “Try to be a success” “Please her, please him, buy gifts” live a materialistic lifestyle “Don’t steal don’t lift” Don’t cheat on your wife “lift” a raised, high, or erect position, as of a part of the body / “Twenty years of schoolin’ And they put you on the day shift” and you end up working the day shift in a factory.
103 – V1
Look out kid They keep it all hid Better jump down a manhole Light yourself a candle Don’t wear sandals Try to avoid the scandals Don’t wanna be a bum You better chew gum The pump don’t work ‘Cause the vandals took the handles.
“Look out kid / They keep it all hid” hey naive White boy, hey son, be on your guard against the liberal Democratic government because they have a hidden agenda “Better jump down a manhole” you all better gain access to an underground structure like the Klan or the White Citizens Council “Light yourself a candle” get yourself some hope! Poem to Woody 1961, “Where do you look for this candle that’s glowin’ / where do you look for this hope that you know is there.” “Don’t wear sandals” don’t listen to Liberal or Leftwing intellectuals “Try to avoid the scandals” don’t marry a colored and do damage to your reputation and character by public disclosure of immoral and grossly improper behavior! “Don’t wanna be a bum” don’t wanna be a lazy and shiftless person, especially one who seeks to live solely by the support of others like a welfare African-American “You better chew” you better meditate on, ponder; ‘chew a problem over’ “gum” sticking together with other Whites like gum, like glue “The pump don’t work” pumping welfare money into the black community doesn’t work “Cause the vandals” because the liberals who purposely and pointlessly damage and destroy public institutions such Congress, the Supreme Court “took the handles” have taken the ax handles away from the Southern racists, like restaurant owner Lester Maddox, who used ax handles to keep the African-Americans in their place. Only A Pawn In Their Game 1964, “a handle hid out in the dark.”
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“Vandal” as liberal; Alternatives to College 1965, “the vandal” the destroyer of Western civilization, the Liberals “from his gamut” from his complete range and extent of governance “& baby cupid” and the infantile version of love “the roustabout” unskilled Negros “forcing you” forcing White women “to store away” to gestate “velvet” gentle “bonnet” mulatto baby, bonnet, children’s clothes “of barbarian” of primitive jungle civilization.
“Sandals” as intellectual, a shoe invented by the Greeks who first gave birth to Western intellectual thought. Also Tarantula, “interrogating unknown failures of peacetime” questioning Communist Party members “as holy & silver” as revered as articulate, eloquent and persuasive. Also as sacred to America as the silver screen “& blessed with the texture” blessed with the distinctive identifying quality and character “of kaleidoscope” to document any complicated and rapidly changing set of circumstances “& the sandal girl” and blessed with the intelligence to be termed an intellectual.
LOVE MINUS ZERO (NO LIMIT) 1965***
105 – V1
My love she speaks like silence Without ideals or violence She doesn't have to say she's faithful Yet she's true, like ice, like fire People carry roses And make promises by the hours My love she laughs like the flowers Valentines can't buy her
In the dime stores and bus stations People talk of situations Read books, repeat quotations Draw conclusions on the wall Some speak of the future My love she speaks softly She knows there's no success like failure And that failure's no success at all
The cloak and dagger dangles Madams light the candles In ceremonies of the horsemen Even the pawn must hold a grudge Statues made of matchsticks Crumble into one another My love winks, she does not bother She knows too much to argue or to judge
The bridge at midnight trembles The country doctor rambles Bankers' nieces seek perfection Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring The wind howls like a hammer The night blows rainy My love she's like some raven At my window with a broken wing
For years I thought there was some kind of high falutin’ message embedded in this poem and look what it turned out to be. Dylan fell under the influence of a Nazi named Ray Gooch who he writes about in Chronicles for the first time. The title can be roughly translated into “The Unvarnished Truth.”
106 – V1
My love she speaks like silence Without ideals or violence She doesn't have to say she's faithful Yet she's true, like ice, like fire People carry roses And make promises by the hours My love she laughs like the flowers Valentines can't buy her
My love (my truth) she speaks like silence (fails to convey its message) Without (unless it has) ideals (existing as an archetype or pattern, especially as a Platonic idea or perception: the ideal race) or violence (shootings, lynching, arson against African-Americans) She doesn’t have to say she’s faithful (Consistent with truth or actuality) Yet she’s true, (Conforming to the characteristics or criteria of a group or type; typical: a true southerner) like ice, (Slang To kill; murder) like fire (The discharge of firearms: heard the fire of a gun. People (politicians) carry (communicate; pass on) roses (a rosy outlook on things) Make promises by the hours (make a long speeches saying that the Blacks have promise) My love she laughs (my truth feels or expresses derision or contempt) like the flowers (like the best representations of humanity have in the past) Valentines can’t buy her (Communists, Reds can’t buy, accept my way of thinking.)
In the dime stores and bus stations People talk of situations Read books, repeat quotations Draw conclusions on the wall Some speak of the future My love she speaks softly She knows there's no success like failure And that failure's no success at all
In the dime stores and bus stations (Woolworth’s where lunch counters were segregated and on buses where Blacks had to sit in the back) People talk of situations (whites discuss the racial unrest in America) Read books, repeat quotations (the civil rights types read books like Another Country by James Baldwin and repeat quotations (from Martin Luther King’s speeches) Draw conclusions on the wall (and tell everyone what to think about the evil Jim Crow – the wall between Blacks and Whites) Some speak of the future (the condition of blacks at a later date) My love she speaks softly (my truth, my beliefs have to be concealed) She knows there’s no success like failure (he hopes this desegregationist sentiment disappears) And that failure’s no success at all (because it should not have been there in the first place).
107 – V1
The cloak and dagger dangles Madams light the candles. In ceremonies of the horsemen Even the pawn must hold a grudge. Statues made of match sticks Crumble into one another My love winks, she does not bother She knows too much to argue or to judge.
The cloak and dagger dangles (the white sheets and hoods and violence of the Klan offer me an inducement or an enticement) Madams light the candles (respectable white women, light in skin color make it worth the effort involved worth the candle, worth the effort involved) In ceremonies of the horsemen (in cross burning by the night riding KKK) Even the pawn must hold a grudge (even the average white man as in the Dylan song Only a Pawn in Their Game has an interest in keeping the blacks away from his women) Statues made of matchsticks (human beings of all races in a form where you can’t tell one from another or genes) Crumble into one another (begin to intermarry and one race begins to break down) My love winks (my truth is readily apparent), she does not bother (it doesn’t bewilder him) She knows too much to argue (to put forth reasons for or against something: argued for integration) or to judge sarcastic (if she knows too much she is inclined to make judgments, especially moral or personal ones)
The bridge at midnight trembles The country doctor rambles Bankers' nieces seek perfection Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring The wind howls like a hammer The night blows rainy My love she's like some raven At my window with a broken wing
The bridge (building bridges to promote reconciliation or cooperation between hostile groups or people) at midnight trembles (causes a white and a black to have sex and vibrate) The country doctor rambles (and the white woman becomes pregnant) Bankers’ nieces seek perfection (white women think they are doing the politically correct thing) Expecting all the gifts (A talent, endowment, aptitude, or inclination) that wise men bring (sarcastic that dumb blacks bring) The wind Something that disrupts or destroys: the winds of war) howls (a loud derisive call) like a hammer (over and over again or the judicial system, the Warren Court) The night blows cold and rainy (things look ominous) My love she’s like some raven (Black and shiny: raven tresses. My truth is like some black man) At my window (in my
108 – V1
thoughts) with a broken (imperfect or incomplete; fragmentary) wing (a group affiliated with or subordinate to an older or larger group, a more primitive human being).
CAN YOU PLEASE CRAWL OUT YOUR WINDOW? 1966***
He sits in your room, his tomb, with a fist full of tacks Preoccupied with his vengeance Cursing the dead that can’t answer him back I’m sure that he has no intentions Of looking your way, unless it’s to say That he needs you to test his inventions.
“He sits” the Democratic Party occupies a seat as a member of a body of officials; “sits” in the Senate or the House “in your room” in your area, your Congressional or Senatorial District; a space that may or may not be occupied; Hard Rain 1962, “a room full of men with their hammers a- bleedin’” “his tomb” the prison he has constructed for White people “with a fist full of tacks” sustained by a fist full of tax dollars A Fistful of Dollars was a spaghetti western that was popular at the time this poem was composed. “Preoccupied with his vengeance” focusing his attention on war; World War II and the Korean War were initiated by Democratic Administrations “Cursing the dead that can’t answer him back” damning those who died in previous wars by his current actions “I’m sure that he has no intentions” I am convinced that the Democrats have no honorable purpose “Of looking your way” of doing something on your behalf “unless it’s to say / That he needs you to test his inventions” unless it’s to say that he needs you to test his new military hardware, such as nuclear weapons, invented during Democratic Administrations, on the battlefield.
“Tomb” as prison, a place of confinement; Tarantula, “accept this tomb, this want of Recollection & reward” Day of the Locusts 1970, “Oh, the benches” the place where the players on a team sit when they are not participating in a game “were stained” disgraced “with tears and perspiration” by my emotion and fear, sweat What You Gonna Do On That Dreadful Day 1962, “You’re gonna start to sweat / And you ain’t gonna stop / You’re gonna have a nightmare / And never wake up” “The birdies were flying from tree to tree” I was hurrying between venues where the audience was intent on punishing me “Tree” as punishment; Ballad of Donald White 1962, “I guess you’ll feel much better when I’m on that hanging tree.” Unbelievable 1990 “That don’t come back with stories untold are hanging on a tree.” “There was little to say, there was no conversation” sarcastic: I had no political commentary, there were no message songs, no conversational prose “As I stepped to the stage to pick up my degree” as I attempted to gain recognition on stage as a
109 – V1 performer “I glanced into the chamber” I took a furtive look into the politically charged area “where the judges were talking” where those who determine the winner of a contest were debating my fate “Darkness was everywhere” darkies were everywhere in their minds “it smelled like a tomb” it had the aura of a jail where the majority of prisoners are Black “I was ready to leave, I was already walkin’” I was ready to leave this life, I was taking the first steps “But the next time I looked there was light in the room” but the next thing I knew there was hope in my life. Black Diamond Bay 1975, “You can take your money, but I don’t know how / You’ll spend it in the tomb.” Chronicles, “When he said to the crowd that I preferred isolation from the world, it was like he told them that I preferred being in an iron tomb with my food shoved in on a tray.” Chronicles, “ghosts of women and men who have sinned and who’ve died and are now living in tombs.” The Tombs is a jail in Manhattan.
ALTERNATE
“He sits” the Democratic Party occupies a seat as a member of a body of officials; “sits” in the Senate or the House “in your room” in your area, your Congressional or Senatorial District; a space that may or may not be occupied; Hard Rain 1962, “a room full of men with their hammers a- bleedin.’” “his tomb” the prison he has constructed for White people “with a fist full of tacks” sustained by a fist full of tax dollars. A Fistful of Dollars was a spaghetti western that was popular at the time this poem was composed.
“Preoccupied with his vengeance” focusing his attention on war; World War II and the Korean War were initiated by Democratic Administrations “Cursing the dead that can't answer him back” damning those who died in previous wars by his current actions “I'm sure that he has no intentions” I am convinced that the Democrats have no honorable purpose “Of looking your way” of doing something on your behalf “unless it's to say / That he needs you to test his inventions” unless it’s to say that he needs you to test his new military hardware, such as nuclear weapons, invented during Democratic Administrations, on the battlefield.
“Tomb” as prison, a place of confinement; Tarantula, “accept this tomb, this want of Recollection & reward” Day of the Locusts 1970,
Oh, the benches were stained with tears and perspiration The birdies were flying from tree to tree There was little to say, there was no conversation As I stepped to the stage to pick up my degree
110 – V1
“Oh, the benches” oh the place where the players on a team sit when they are not participating in a game “were stained” were disgraced “with tears and perspiration” by my emotion and fear, sweat. What You Gonna Do On That Dreadful Day 1962, “You're gonna start to sweat / And you ain't gonna stop / You're gonna have a nightmare / And never wake up.” “The birdies were flying from tree to tree” I was hurrying between venues where the audience was intent on punishing me “Tree” as punishment; Ballad of Donald White 1962, “I guess you'll feel much better when I'm on that hanging tree.” Unbelievable 1990 “That don't come back with stories untold are hanging on a tree.” “There was little to say, there was no conversation” sarcastic: I told them off during my sets “As I stepped to the stage to pick up my degree” as I went on stage to increase my relative social rank, dignity and position.
I glanced into the chamber where the judges were talking Darkness was everywhere, it smelled like a tomb I was ready to leave, I was already walkin’ But the next time I looked there was light in the room
“I glanced into the chamber” I took a furtive look into the politically charged area “where the judges were talking” where those who determine the winner of a contest were debating my fate “Darkness was everywhere” darkies were everywhere in their minds “it smelled like a tomb” it had the aura my career becoming extinct “I was ready to leave” I was leaving the folk scene “I was already walkin'” I was getting a walk from the judges, they were getting rid of me entirely “But the next time I looked there was light in the room” but the next thing I knew there was hope in my life.
“Tomb” as extinction, Black Diamond Bay 1975, “You can take your money [talent], but I don't know how / You'll spend it in the tomb.” Chronicles, “When he said to the crowd that I preferred isolation from the world, it was like he told them that I preferred being in an iron tomb with my food shoved in on a tray.” Chronicles, “ghosts of women and men who have sinned and who've died and are now living in tombs.”
111 – V1
Can you please crawl out your window? Use your arms and legs it won’t ruin you How can you say he will haunt you? You can go back to him any time you want to.
“Can you please crawl” can you please crawl” advance slowly, feebly, laboriously “out your window?” and get out of your political party? “Use your arms” use your power, White Power, also use an administrative or functional branch, as of an organization, like the local Republican Club, which is an arm of the Republican Party “and legs” and become active also vote in one of several contests that must be successfully completed in order to determine the winner of a competition, vote in a political primary “it won’t ruin you” it will not reduce you to poverty or bankruptcy as the Democrats claim “How can you say he will haunt you” how can you say the Democrats will continually pervade the American political scene because of their actions during World War II and the Great Depression “You can go back to him any time you want to” sarcastic; you can go back to the Depression Era Democrats anytime you want to as they have not changed since the 1930’s!
“Window” as political party; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “Jim, Jim where is our party?…what is it that’s exactly wrong? who t’ picket? who t’ fight? behind what windows will I at least hear someone from the supper table get up t’ ask ‘did I hear someone outside just now?’”
He looks so truthful, is this how he feels Trying to peel the moon and expose it With his businesslike anger and his bloodhounds that kneel If he needs a third eye he just grows it He just needs you to talk or to hand him his chalk Or pick it up after he throws it.
“He looks so truthful” the Democrats seem as if they are going to advance science “is this how he feels?” is that their real motivation? “Trying to peel the moon” trying to pull off, effectuate a moon shot “and expose it” photograph a man on the moon; “expose” subject a photographic film to the action of light “With his businesslike anger” with his friends in organized crime, Murder Incorporated, “and his bloodhounds” cops, detectives “that kneel” that are subservient and do his bidding because they are corrupt “If he needs a third eye” if he needs an additional vote ‘the ayes have it’ “he just grows it” he commits election fraud “He just needs you to talk” he just need you to spread rumors; gossip about conservative Republicans “or to hand him his chalk” or to get him elected, vote totals written in chalk “Or
112 – V1
pick it up” vote for his opponent “after he throws it” after he purposely loses a fixed primary or election.
“Kneel” as in submit; George Jackson, “He wouldn’t take shit from no one / He wouldn’t bow down or kneel.” “Knees” as subservient; Shot of Love 1981 “Don’t need a shot of turpentine, only bring me to my knees” don’t need a shot of alcohol it will only make me subservient to it.
Why does he look so righteous while your face is so changed Are you frightened of the box you keep him in While his genocide fools and his friends rearrange Their religion of the little ten women That backs up their views but your face is so bruised Come on out the dark is just beginning.
“Why does he look so righteous” why does he think what he is doing to White people is morally justifiable “while your face” while your race “is so changed” is being changed and polluted by the Civil Rights Movement “Are you frightened of the box you keep him in” are you afraid of the ballot box, are you afraid to vote for Republicans who don’t believe in integration? “While his genocide fools” while the Democratic Party’s race mixing, mix master politicians who plan to dilute, then virtually exterminate, the White race through miscegenation “and his friends” and their friends; the Earl Warren Supreme Court “rearrange” put into a new social order and arrangement “Their religion of the” “religion” a cause pursued with zeal; such as that of an activist jurist “little ten women” of the Supreme Court of the United States with less (little) than ten justices “That backs up their views” that supports the Democrats push for Civil Rights and integration with their legal decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education “but your face is so bruised” but it is your race that is being blackened, discolored, African- Americanized, by being forced to associate with a bunch of porch monkeys “Come on out” sarcastic; Come on, be part of it “the dark” the race mixing with the darkies “is beginning” has just taking its first steps to fruition.
DIGNITY
The first step in decoding Dylan requires a foreknowledge that Dylan is not what you think he is but exactly the opposite. He is a neo-Confederate not a liberal. In Dear Landlord Dylan writes “When that steamboat whistle blows I’ll give you all I got to give” when you realize I am a neo-Confederate you will finally understand my poetry. The second step is finding words that would express neo-Confederate or downright racist thoughts.
113 – V1
Fat man lookin' in a blade of steel Thin man lookin' at his last meal Hollow man lookin' in a COTTONFIELD For dignity
Wise man lookin' in a blade of grass Young man lookin' in the SHADOWS THAT PASS Poor man lookin' through painted glass For dignity
Somebody got murdered on New Year's Eve Somebody said dignity was the first to leave I went into the city, went into the town Went into the LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN
Searchin' high, searchin' low Searchin' everywhere I know ASKIN' THE COPS WHEREVER I GO Have you seen dignity
Blind man BREAKIN' OUT of a trance Puts both his hands in the pockets of chance
114 – V1
Hopin' to find one circumstance Of dignity
I went to the wedding of Mary-Lou She said I DON'T WANT NOBODY SEE ME TALKIN' TO YOU Said she could get killed if she told me what she knew About dignity
I went down where the vultures feed I would've got deeper, but there wasn't any need Heard the tongues of angels and the tongues of men Wasn't any difference to me
Chilly wind sharp as a RAZOR BLADE House on fire, debts unpaid Gonna stand at the window, gonna ask THE MAID Have you seen dignity
Drinkin' man listens to the voice he hears In a crowded room full of covered up mirrors Lookin' into the lost forgotten years For dignity
Met Prince Phillip at the home of THE BLUES Said he'd give me information if his name wasn't used He wanted money up front, said he was abused By dignity
Footprints runnin' cross the silver sand Steps goin' down into tattoo land I met the SONS OF DARKNESS and the sons of light In the border-towns of despair
Got no place to FADE, got no coat I'M ON THE ROLLIN' RIVER IN A JERKIN' BOAT Tryin' to read a note somebody wrote About dignity
Sick man lookin' for the doctor's cure Lookin' at his hands for the lines that were And into every masterpiece of literature For dignity
Englishman stranded in the black-heart wind
115 – V1
Combin' his hair back, his future looks thin Bites the bullet and he looks within For dignity
Someone showed me a picture and I just laughed Dignity never been photographed I went into the red, went into the black Into the valley of dry bone dreams
So many roads, so much at stake Too many dead ends, I'm at the edge of the lake Sometimes I wonder what it's gonna take To find dignity
************************************************************* *****
Fat man lookin’ in a blade of steel
Thin man lookin’ at his last meal
Hollow man lookin’ in a cotton field
For dignity
“Fat man” a man abounding in desirable elements: “blade” - a swordsman steel. Something, such as a sword, that is made of steel. The Empire builders used advanced weapons. “Thin man lookin’ at his last meal” “Thin” Sparsely supplied or provided; scanty: A native African looking at being executed. A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be.
“Hollow man” A man without substance or character
“lookin’ in a cotton field” is imported to the New World to pick cotton
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Wise man lookin’ in a blade of grass
Young man lookin’ in the shadows that pass
Poor man lookin’ through painted glass
For dignity
Wise man Exhibiting common sense; prudent: a wise decision. Blade of Grass is evolution. Blade of grass first appeared in If Dogs Run Free that concerned the freeing of slaves. It means a more primitive being.
If dogs run free, then what must be
Must be, and that is all
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall
In harmony with the cosmic sea
True love needs no company
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole
If dogs run free
TRUE LOVE CAN MAKE A BLADE OF GRASS
STAND UP STRAIGHT AND TALL
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“If dogs run free, then what must be must be, and that is all” If Blacks are allowed their freedom there will always be crime and that is that. It is evolutionary. Sarcastic: “True love can make a blade of grass Stand up straight and tall” loving Blacks can make something very primitive evolve into a human-being. Also sarcastic: loving Blacks will make them evolve faster. “In harmony” in a relationship in which various components exist together without destroying one another such as Whites and Blacks “with the cosmic sea” were the natural order of things rules Cosmic: So pervasive and all-inclusive as to exist in or affect the whole world “true love” loving the Blacks or N-word loving “needs no company” sarcastic: does not need a subdivision of a military regiment like the National Guard to keep them in line.
Sarcastic: “It can cure the soul” it can correct a harmful situation that Blacks have created Soul: of or relating to Black Americans and their culture: soul brother; soul food. “It can make it whole” can replace the part that is missing in Blacks, the gene “If dogs run free.”
“Young man lookin’ in the shadows that pass” Young man, foolish men looking at the darkies, shadows. An incipient growth of beard that makes the skin look darker. “That pass” – pass: be accepted as a member of a group by denying one's own ancestry or background. “Poor man” Not adequate in quality or quantity; inferior: looking for religion to civilize them– “painted glass” stain glass window of a church for Dignity
Somebody got murdered on New Year's Eve Somebody said dignity was the first to leave I went into the city, went into the town Went into the LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN
“Somebody got murdered on New Year's Eve on New Year’s Eve” when someone was drunk “Somebody said dignity was the first to leave” Somebody said a Black did it “I went into the city, went into the town” This is common in the ghetto
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Went into the land of the midnight sun “Midnight” A period of darkness and gloom. son
Searchin’ high, searchin’ low
Searchin’ everywhere I know
Askin’ the cops wherever I go
Have you seen dignity?
Searchin’ Law To examine (a person or property) for the purpose of discovering evidence of a crime. High Slang Intoxicated by alcohol or a drug, such as cocaine or marijuana. “low” depressed or dejected
Blind man breakin’ out of a trance
Puts both his hands in the pockets of chance
Hopin’ to find one circumstance
Of dignity
Prisoner on parole: Blind: Closed at one end: a blind socket; a blind passage. Having no opening: a blind wall. Break to force one's way out of; escape from: break jail. Trance: any mental state in which a person is unaware or apparently unaware of the environment, characterized by loss of voluntary movement, rigidity, and lack of sensitivity to external stimuli.
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Puts his both hands in the pockets of chance
Pocket: To take possession of for oneself, especially dishonestly: pocketed the receipts from the charity dance. And take a risk or hazard; a gamble trying to get some money “circumstances” Financial status or means.
Soul of a nation is under the knife
Death is standing in the doorway of life
In the next room a man is fighting with his wife
Over dignity
The Civil War where more Americans died than in any of configuration because it was brother against brother all over a bunch of worthless Blacks. (Actually it was Confed v. Federalist.
I went to the wedding of Mary Lou
She said, “I don’t want nobody see me talkin’ to you”
Said she could get killed if she told me what she knew
About dignity
Mary Lou is Black judging from her speech. Black gang warfare.
I went down where the vultures feed
I would’ve gone deeper, but there wasn’t any need
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Heard the tongues of angels and the tongues of men
Wasn’t any difference to me
I went to buy dope where a person or thing that preys greedily and ruthlessly on others, esp the helpless I could have gone to someone even worse but there wasn’t no need as I was supplied with drugs. Heard the dialects of the rich and that of their dealers but it was all the same to me?
Chilly wind sharp as a razor blade
House on fire, debts unpaid
Gonna stand at the window, gonna ask the maid
Have you seen dignity?
“Chilly” A sudden numbing fear or dread. “sharp” fierce or impetuous; violent: a sharp temper; a sharp assault with a “razor blade” “House on fire, debts unpaid” life in a desperate state This gave me an opportunity to see or understand something usually unseen (window) and ask the maid, the virgin, sarcastic, have you seen your baby daddy?
Drinkin’ man listens to the voice he hears
In a crowded room full of covered-up mirrors
Lookin’ into the lost forgotten years
For dignity
Jewish man: “Drink” - To take in eagerly through the senses or intellect “Voice” – information from the liberal media in an
121 – V1 overfilled or compacted or concentrated; "a crowded room full of covered-up mirrors" Where Jews morn for Jews killed by Blacks (Jews cover up their mirrors when they morn ) and look back to the Civil Rights Movement to explain the actions of Blacks.
Met Prince Phillip at the home of the blues
Said he’d give me information if his name wasn’t used
He wanted money up front, said he was abused
By dignity
Met the old British in the home of the blues, America with blacks. “Said he’d give me information if his name wasn’t used” Said he would tell me how the British dealt with slavery but one had to be discreat about it “He wanted money up front” He suggested to buy their freedom like the British did rather than fight the Civil War “said he was abused” he suffered abuse: Insulting or hurtful language, especially when used to threaten or demoralize: subjected her subordinates to verbal abuse from the Blacks.
Footprints runnin’ ’cross the silver sand
Steps goin’ down into tattoo land
I met the sons of darkness and the sons of light
In the border towns of despair
The impact that a particular activity, person, or group has on the silver sands, history. In this case Blacks. Gradually descending into the same level as Africa. I met the authors of ignorance and the authors of truth
. the border between the U.S. and Mexico, esp. along the Rio Grande..
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Got no place to fade, got no coat
I'm on the rollin' river in a jerkin' boat
Tryin' to read a note somebody wrote
About dignity
. (intr) to lose freshness, vigour, or youth; wither, coat of paint
One of the most prominent scenes in the book was the “fence scene”, where Tom Sawyer was tasked by his Aunt Polly to whitewash their fence as a punishment for a prior mischief
Tom Sawyer Samuel Clemmins
Sick man lookin' for the doctor's cure
Lookin' at his hands for the lines that were
And into every masterpiece of literature
For dignity
c. Nauseated. To falsify or change in such a way as to make favorable to oneself: doctored the evidence.
. A style or individual sample of writing.
Englishman stranded in the BLACK-HEART wind
Combin' his hair back, his future looks thin
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Bites the bullet and he looks within
For dignity
Englishman stranded One of the elements woven together to make an intricate whole, such as the plot of a novel.
in the BLACK-HEART wind
A black heart describes someone or something seen as innately evil or fundamentally corrupt.
Combin' To eliminate with or as with a comb: his hair back, A minute distance or narrow margin: won by a hair.
his future looks thin to become reduced or diminished
Bites the bullet
Usually, the unpleasant or uncomfortable action is something that the person has been putting off or resisting before he inevitably bites the bullet and does what he know he must do. and he looks within in or into the interior of or the parts or space enclosed by: within city walls.
For dignity
Someone showed me a picture To describe vividly in words; make a verbal picture of: pictured their heroism in glowing language. and I just laughed
Dignity never been photographed
I went into the red, went into the BLACK
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Into the valley of dry bone
Ezekiel connected dem dry bones, Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones, Now hear the word of the Lord.
Dreams
So many roads, so much at stake Too many dead ends, I'm at the edge of the lake Sometimes I wonder what it's gonna take To find dignity
So many roads, so much at stake
Too many dead ends, I'm at the edge of the lake
Sometimes I wonder what it's gonna take
To find dignity
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An incipient growth of beard that makes the skin look darker.
o be accepted as a member of a group by denying one's own ancestry or background.
Not adequate in quality or quantity; inferior:
Somebody got murdered
on New Year’s Eve when someone was drunk
Somebody said dignity was the first to leave
I went into the city, went into the town
Went into the land of the midnight sun
the ghetto
Dylan commented on Dignity in Chronicles:
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Some people seem to fade away but then when they are truly gone, it's like they didn't fade away at all. I started and completed the song "Dignity" the same day I'd heard the sad news about Pistol Pete. I started writing it in the early afternoon, about the time the morning news began to wear away and it took me the rest of the day and into the night to finish it.
“It's like I saw the song up in front of me and overtook it, like I saw all the characters in this song and elected to cast my fortunes with them. I have a problem sometimes remembering someone's real name, so I give them another one, something that more accurately describes them, and I had a tendency to do that throughout this song. There were more verses with other individuals in different interplays. The Green Beret, The Sorceress, Virgin Mary, The Wrong Man, Big Ben, and The Cripple and The HONKEY. The list could be endless. All kinds of identifiable characters that found their way into the song but somehow didn't survive. I heard the whole piece in my head rhythm, tempo, melody line, the whole bit. I'd always be able to remember this song. The wind could never blow it out of my head. This song was a good thing to have. On a song like this, there's no end to things. You hold an electric torch up to someone's face and see what's there. Yet to me, it's amazingly simple, no complications, everything pans out. As long as the things you see don't go by in a blur of light and SHADE, you're okay. Love, fear, hate, happiness all in unmistakable terms, a thousand and one subtle ramifications. This song is like that. One line brings up another, like when your left foot steps forward and your right drags up to it. If I'd have written this ten years earlier, I'd have gone immediately to the recording studio. But a lot had changed and I had no anxiety about that stuff anymore, didn't feel the urge and necessity of it. I didn't feel like recording anyway. It was tedious and I didn't like the current sounds-mine or anybody else's. I didn't know why an old Alan Lomax field recording sounded better to me, but it did. I didn't think I could make a good record if I tried for a hundred years.”
IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH A TRAIN TO CRY 1965***
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Well, I ride on a mailtrain, baby Can’t buy a thrill Well, I’ve been up all night, baby Leanin’ on the windowsill Well, if I die On top of the hill And if I don’t make it You know my baby will
Well, I ride on a mail train, baby
I write message songs that resemble prose letters
Can’t buy a thrill
Can’t really attract a large audience since not many people are thrilled with folk music
Well, I’ve been up
All night, baby
I been unable to sleep
Leanin’ on the windowsill
Thinking about committing suicide
Well, if I die
On top of the hill
Informal beyond one's prime
And if I don’t make it if I don’t make it big
You know my baby will
I will be discovered posthumously
Don’t the moon look good, mama
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Shinin’ through the trees? Don’t the brakeman look good, mama Flagging down the “Double E?” Don’t the sun look good Goin’ down over the sea? Don’t my gal look fine When she’s comin’ after me?
Don’t the moon look good, mama shinin’
To distinguish oneself in an activity or a field; excel.
Through the trees?
Don’t the brake
An often sudden piece of luck, especially good luck: finally got the big break in life. man look good, mama
Flagging down the “Double E?”
Flag: Music A cross stroke that halves the value of a note to which it is added.
Don’t the sun something likened to the sun in brightness, splendor, etc. look good
Goin’ down over the sea?
Don’t my gal look fine
When she’s comin’ after me?
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Now the wintertime is coming The windows are filled with frost I went to tell everybody But I could not get across Well, I wanna be your lover, baby I don’t wanna be your boss Don’t say I never warned you When your train gets lost
Now the wintertime is coming
Death is coming
The windows are filled with frost
A means of access or observation: St. Petersburg was Peter the Great's window onto the Baltic. Robert Frost
I went to tell everybody
But I could not get across
I couldn’t be Jesus, I could get my message across because it was in poetry
Well, I wanna be your lover,
baby your truth
I don’t wanna be your boss
A professional politician who controls a party or a political machine.
Don’t say I never warned you When your train gets lost
When your train of thought gets lost.
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IT AIN’T ME BABE 1964
Go ‘way from my window Leave at your own chosen speed. I’m not the one you want, babe I’m not the one you need.
“Go ‘way from my window” Communists, Trotskyites and assorted Socialists, go away from my politics, my political party affiliation “Leave at your own chosen speed” and do it pronto, just as you want to see things accomplished in America “I’m not the one you want, babe” I am not the representative and role model folk singer you will be satisfied with “I’m not the one you need” I am not the one you lack, I am not one who believe in the Marxist slogan ‘to each according to his needs.’
You say you’re lookin’ for someone Never weak but always strong, To protect you an’ defend you Whether you are right or wrong, Someone to open each and every door, It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe.
“You say you’re lookin’ for someone / Never weak but always strong” you say you want to recruit someone who is militant, dogmatic, willing to follow the party line “To protect you” shield you from danger “an’ defend you” and write songs defending your activities if they result in arrests “Whether you are right” Rightwing and correct “or wrong” or Leftwing and incorrect “Someone to open each and every door” someone to give you a foot in the door, an opportunity, to reach certain audiences / but it ain’t Bob Dylan, / No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe,/ It ain’t Bob Dylan you’re lookin’ for, schmuck.
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one who will die for you an’ more
Someone who will die for and also kill
But it ain’t me, babe
No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe
It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe
Go melt back into the night, babe
Everything inside is made of stone
There’s nothing in here moving
An’ anyway I’m not alone
You say you’re lookin' for someone
Who’ll pick you up each time you fall
To gather flowers constantly
An’ to come each time you call
A lover for your life an’ nothing more
But it ain’t me, babe
No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe
It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe
Go melt back into the night, babe
Go integrate with the Blacks since you fit right in
Everything inside is made of stone
Dylan has hardened his heart
There’s nothing in here moving
Nothing that sways him emotionally
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An’ anyway I’m not alone
Just like most Americans
You say you’re lookin' for someone
Who’ll pick you up each time you fall
You fall from grace of the public
To gather flowers constantly
To get other artists to do concerts for your causes
An’ to come each time you call
And cum in my pants each time you call
A lover for your life an’ nothing more
A whore for your life and nothing more
But it ain’t me, babe
No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe
It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe
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MY BACK PAGES 1964***
Crimson flames tied through my ears Rollin’ high and mighty traps Pounced with fire on 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.
“Crimson flames” a passion for Communism, for the Reds, also “flames” as in the Communist slogan ‘fan the flames of discontent’ “tied” linked to me “through my ears” because I lent a sympathetic ear to Communism as evidenced by my songs and affiliations “Rollin’ high and mighty traps” causing others to get sucked into this apparently noble way of thinking, causing me to appear to march to the sound of a different drummer “roll” to beat a drum in a continuous series of short blows “traps” drums to become trapped loose freedom. “Pounced” my songs were sprinkled “with fire” with anger “on flaming” and were about obvious violent and intense “roads” ways and courses such as revolution “Using ideas as my maps” using ideology to plan and delineate, especially in detail; map out a future society “We’ll meet on edges” we will battle in the area away from the middle; an extremity. We will fight those on the far Right “soon, said I / Proud ‘neath heated brow” just like any hothead, demagogue would say “Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now” but this was so much earlier in my career when I had to pander to the Commies, it’s later in my career now.
Half-racked prejudice leaped forth
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"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. rack (one's) brains/brain To try hard to remember or think of something. Half thought out ideas about discrimination surfaced destroy all racism I screamed. Lies that my ideas about Blacks being equal to whites were part of my poems that I dreamed up. Romantic unrealistic facts of militants rooted in Marxism were part of my early act.
Girls' faces formed the forward path From phony jealousy To memorizing politics Of ancient history Flung down by corpse evangelists Unthought of, thought, somehow Ah, but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now.
My girl friend encouraged me to believe that Blacks could marry Whites and there was nothing to get upset about as did Marxism. Far flung ideas of dialectical materialists “corpse evangelists” from got their ideas from Das Kapital.
A self-ordained professor's tongue Too serious to fool Spouted out that liberty Is just equality in school "Equality," I spoke the word As if a wedding vow Ah, but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now.
“A self-ordained professor’s tongue” Dr. of Divinity Martin Luther King’s language, rhetoric, speeches “Too serious” seemingly spoken in earnest “to fool” to be bogus and deceiving “Spouted out” talked in a noisy, excited, and declamatory manner “that liberty” that freedom for Whites “Is just equality in school” is sending their kids to an unsafe, failing school. “Equality” integration “I spoke the word” I advocated as if it was God’s command “As if
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a wedding vow” and as if I was wedded to the idea forever. “Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”
“A self-ordained professor” as Martin Luther King; Tarantula,“hallaluyah & bossman of the hobos cometh” the leader of the freeloading African- Americans cometh, like The Ice Man Cometh, in the Eugene O’Neal play “& ordaining the spiritual gypsy davy camp” and blessing those who have an affinity or long to be Black militants “now being infiltrated by foreign dictator” now being infiltrated by the Communists.
“Gypsy” as an evil Black person; a member of a people with dark skin and hair; Tombstone Blues 1965, “Gypsy Davey” a Black soldier “with a blowtorch he burns out their camps / With his faithful slave Pedro behind him he tramps” with those from South of the borderline delineating North Vietnam from South Vietnam
In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand At the mongrel dogs who teach Fearing not that I'd become my enemy In the instant that I preach My existence led by confusion boats Mutiny from stern to bow Ah, but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now.
Like a militant I wrote my songs about the race mixing advocates of mongelization of the white race in the world of the intelligentsia. Fearing not I would be digging my own racial grave by advocating for the Civil Rights Movement. My existence in the entertainment world was dependent on crazy revolutionary ideas, rebelling against everything that was right. But I have changed!
Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats Too noble to neglect Deceived me into thinking I had something to protect
Sarcastic: I was on guard in a defensive posture when black heroin dealers threatened my life Good and bad, I defined these terms Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
More sarcasm – I wrote off their evil as being from their environment. Ah, but I was so much older then
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I'm younger than that now.
GATES OF EDEN 1965***
Chronicles, “Someone would come along eventually who would have it [Gates of Eden] again someone who could see into things, the truth of things—not metaphorically, either—but really see, like seeing into metal and making it melt” pass and merge imperceptibly into something else “see it for what it was and reveal it for what it was with hard words and vicious insight.”
Of war and peace the truth just twists Its curfew gull just glides Upon four-legged forest clouds The cowboy angel rides
“Of war and peace” in reference to being involved in a thermonuclear exchange with Russia or making peace with Soviet Communism “the truth just twists” To pull, break, or snap by turning: twist off a dead branch.
This refers to a famous attack ad against the election of Barry Goldwater which you can see in its entirety by clicking the photo above. The girl does a countdown by twisting the leafs off this flower that segues into a nuclear explosion. “It’s curfew gull” it’s little girl who has to go sleepy time at specific hour and is naïve, gullible “just glides” (sarcastic) to move quietly or without being noticed. The ad was all over television. Also the petals glide to the ground. “Upon four-legged” upon a bestial, fierce, apocalyptic “forest”
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city-sized “clouds” something that, darkens and fills with gloom such as a mushroom cloud caused by a hydrogen bomb.
Earlier version of Gates of Eden; “Upon the fungus forest cloud” fungi include mushrooms “The cowboy” the heroic “angel” guiding force, Senator Barry Goldwater, who although he was a hero was accused of being reckless (a cowboy) in advocating a first strike against the Soviet Union “rides” thrives.
“Cowboy” as heroic leader; Liner Notes To Desire 1976, “the cowboy saint (Lenny Bruce)” Tarantula, “former lover cowboy hanging upside down & Suzy Q. the angel” Tarantula, “cowboy angel blues.”
With his candle lit into the sun Though its glow is waxed in black All except when ‘neath the trees of Eden
“With his candle” “hold a candle to” informal: to be inferior or contemptible in comparison with: your candidate doesn't hold a candle to mine “lit into the sun” in the sun In the public eye. Also the H-bomb uses fusion like the sun “Though its glow” ‘glow’ as a steady light without flames, it’s persistent radioactivity; some radioactive substances glow in the dark “is waxed” To show a progressively larger illuminated area, “in black” by death on a scale never seen before as the radioactivity would cause after it was carried to the four corners of the earthy by the winds “All except when ‘neath the trees of Eden” all except when beneath the protection of America.
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The lamppost stands with folded arms Its iron claws attached To curbs ‘neath holes where babies wail Though it shadows metal badge
“The lamppost” capital punishment for political crimes, crimes against the State, ‘A counter-revolutionary hanging from every lamppost in Moscow’ “stands” remains intact “with folded arms” with guns whose bolts have brought from an extended to a closed position as a firing squad would do “Its iron claws” it’s inflexible; unyielding ironclad section of a legal document, clause, it’s handcuffs, irons fetters, shackles “attached” seizing persons by legal writ “to curbs” to become people being held back “‘neath holes” in isolated prison cells “where babies wail” where innocent prisoners are tortured “Though it shadows” though the same capital punishment and torture is a constant companion of “metal badge” the Soviet State Police Apparatus.
“Lamppost” as capital punishment; Tarantula, “tie the old Buick into a lamppost” “tie” as in ‘tie a hangman’s knot’ Chronicles, “The heavy chrome bumper” my previous ponderous thoughts on apartheid that could have gotten me bumped from the music scene “from my old battered Buick” and from my old militant career “was shining in the moonlight” was visible only if you knew it was there.
All and all can only fall With a crashing but meaningless blow No sound ever comes from the Gates of Eden
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“All and all” this secret police apparatus and judiciaries of the same type “can only fall” are destined to undergo conquest and capture, especially as the result of an armed attack “With a crashing” crushing or destroying completely, ‘smashed all resistance.’ Chronicles, “There’s a smashing and crashing of furniture and glass.” “but meaningless blow” but meaningless because it is too late for many having been tortured to death, or half to death, or brought before firing squads “No sound” no sound of someone being tortured, no sound of people being executed for political crimes “ever comes from the Gates of Eden” ever emanates from the United States of America, where cruel and unusual punishment is forbidden by the United States Constitution and where the Constitution guarantees political freedom.
The savage soldier sticks his head in sand And then complains Unto the shoeless hunter who’s gone deaf But still remains Upon the beach where hound dogs bay At ships with tattooed sails Heading for the Gates of Eden
“The savage soldier” John Kennedy who wrote about his exploits in the Navy during World War II “sticks his head in sand” (sands of time, history) ignores historical precedents like an ostrich “And then complains” then complains about Soviet expansionism in Cuba? “Unto the shoeless” unto Nikita Khrushchev who took his shoe off and banged it on the Soviet Delegations desk at the United Nations in 1960 “hunter” John Fitzgerald Kennedy: “Khrushchev reminds me of the tiger hunter who has picked a place on the wall to hang the tiger’s skin long before he has caught the tiger. This tiger has other ideas.” “who’s gone deaf” who ignores JFK’s complaints “But
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“Soldier” as President; Tarantula, “he likes his women raw & with syrup” (informal cloying sentimentality) / he has his mind set on becoming a famous soldier” Tarantula, “we couldn’t offend the syrup company because it’s called Granma Washington’s Syrup & people tend to associate it with the constitution” Chimes of Freedom 1964, “Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight” flashing for the pacifists “Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight” flashing for those displaced by Communist aggression forced to take the course in life of a refugee “An’ for each an’ ev’ry underdog” and for those expected to lose a struggle, as in politics “soldier in the night” and for the democratically elected presidents deposed by the Communists “An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing” and we had a sudden perception: a flash of insight and admired the agreement of the American people to the Bill of Rights and liberation from oppression. In regard to the political situation in Central America in The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Alter 1981, “They’re killing nuns and soldiers, there’s fighting on the border.”
“Freedom” as liberation from oppression; Some Other Kinds of Songs, “freedom’s holler you ask of order she’d hock the world for a dollar an’ a quarter” you think the African-Americans want freedom? You should be asking about law and order because all the Blacks want is enough money for a bottle of Colt 45 Malt Liquor and a ‘ho. Tarantula, “got too drunk last nite. musta drunk too much. Woke up this morning with my mind on freedom & my head feeling like the inside of a prune. am planning to lecture today on police brutality.” And They Killed Them 1986 “And made the bells of freedom ring today.”
With a time-rusted compass blade Aladdin and his lamp Sits with Utopian hermit monks Side saddle on the Golden Calf And on their promises of paradise You will not hear a laugh All except inside the Gates of Eden
“With a time-rusted” with an antiquated, fallen into decay “compass” Awareness or understanding of one's purpose or objectives “Aladdin and his lamp” someone who is going to grant your every material wish by rubbing a magic lamp “Sits with” are politically aligned with “Utopian hermit monks”
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those who have ideal but impracticable ideas; a utopian scheme for equalizing wealth - members of labor unions “Side saddle” in a decorous fashion, or like women “on the Golden Calf” on money as an object of worship; mammon. “And on their promises of paradise” and on their promises of a paradise, or a Socialist or Communist Utopia “You will not hear a laugh” will be taken seriously in many countries “All except inside the Gates of Eden” but not in the United States of America.
“Monk” as Union member; Tiny Montgomery 1967, “Join the monks / The C.I.O.” Tarantula, “Monk, typical flunky & writer of eccentric gag lines” lines as in picket lines. A line or procession of people picketing a place of employment or otherwise staging a public protest.
DESOLATION ROW 1965,
Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood With his memories in a trunk Passed this way an hour ago With his friend, a jealous monk He looked so immaculately frightful As he bummed a cigarette Then he went off sniffing drainpipes And reciting the alphabet Now you would not think to look at him But he was famous long ago For playing the electric violin On Desolation Row
Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
A genius disguised as a Communist Woody Guthrie
With his memories in a trunk
Who is retired from folk singing and his remembrances are packed away in trunk: Also “trunk” the main Woody stem of a tree as distinct from its branches and roots.
Passed this way an hour ago
Passed for a genius recently
With his friend, a jealous monk
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With his fan a communist union member “join the monks, the CIA” – Tiny Montgomery
He looked so immaculately frightful
Excessive; extreme: morally pure; free from sin or corruption
He had a degenerative nervous disorder Huntington’s Chorea:
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Huntington’s Chorea drove him nuts and he ended up a state mental hospital.
Now you would not think to look at him
You would think to look at him in the medical state that he was in.
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
For playing folk music
On Desolation Row
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In America
Relationships of ownership They whisper in the wings To those condemned to act accordingly And wait for succeeding kings And try to harmonize with songs The lonesome sparrow sings There are no kings inside the Gates of Eden
“Relationships of ownership” Marxist class doctrine such as class warfare “They whisper in the wings” they secretly determine the position of a group affiliated with or subordinate to an older or larger organization such as the Communist Party. “To those condemned to act accordingly” to those condemned to follow the party line “And wait for succeeding kings” and hope the next Soviet dictator will be less like Stalin. “And try to harmonize with songs” to be harmonious; be in accord; be congruous with poetry; verse. “The lonesome” that speak of the freedom of the solitary individual rather than the freedom of the government or collectivist thinking “sparrow sings” singer sings like Edith Piaf “There are no kings inside the Gates of Eden” there are no dictators inside the borders of the United States of America.
The motorcycle Black Madonna Two-wheeled gypsy queen And her silver-studded phantom cause The gray flannel dwarf to scream As he weeps to wicked birds of prey Who pick up on his bread crumb sins And there are no sins inside the Gates of Eden
“The motorcycle” The religious “black” Deserving of, indicating, or incurring censure or dishonor “Madonna” Marist, Catholic “Two wheeled” Roman as in chariot “gypsy” thief “queen” faggot, celibate “and her silver-studded phantom” Christ depicted as on the cross with nailed in his hands and feet “cause the gray flannel dwarf” the Catholic minority to become afraid. “As he weeps to wicked birds of prey” as he confesses to priests who have taught him to pray “Who pick up on his bread crumb sins” and give him communion with wafers and capitalize on this “And there are no sins inside the Gates of Eden” There no Popes in the United States as it is a Protestant Country.
“Motorcycle” as an religion; Ninety Miles an Hour Down a Dead End Street 1988; “I took you home from a party” I picked up the ideas of the Communist Party “and we kissed in fun” and I pretended I liked you “A few stolen kisses” I composed a few songs on your behalf with a style stolen
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from Woody Guthrie “and no harm was done” and the Communist cause was not really advanced “Instead of stopping when we could we went right on” instead of you just not attending my concerts you continued to do so “Till suddenly we found that the brakes were gone” until it got out of control. “You belong to someone else” you belong to Moscow “and I do too” I belong to the United States “It’s just crazy being here with you” what the hell I am hanging around with bunch of Commies for? “As a bad motorcycle” religion “with the devil” with Satan “in the seat” in the seat of power, in a center of authority “Going ninety miles an hour down a dead end street” going nowhere fast. Tarantula, “you found lenny the dog catcher” Lenny Bruce “killer & motorcycle saint” and anti-Catholic. Madonna as Mary “Tarantula; “in a sunburned land winter sleeps with a snowy head at the west of the bed / Madonna. Mary of the Temple.”
ALTERNATE TRANSLATION
The motorcycle Black Madonna Two-wheeled gypsy queen And her silver-studded phantom cause The gray flannel dwarf to scream As he weeps to wicked birds of prey Who pick up on his bread crumb sins And there are no sins inside the Gates of Eden
THE SILVER STUDDED PHANTOMS
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“The motorcycle” the person who is considered an outlaw in the Old South but gets a police motorcycle escort “black Madonna” a black person who is supposedly innocent and honest but in reality is corrupt “Two-wheeled” allegedly long tortured “wheel” an instrument to which a victim was bound for torture during the Middle Ages “gypsy” previously defined as black, criminal, Black “queen” who predominates, Martin Luther King, “And her silver-studded” and his badge wearing Federal Marshall “phantom” who is dreaded and despised “cause the gray flannel dwarf” cause the “gray” as Confederate or Southern minority “to scream” to protest vehemently, to endure great pain “As he weeps” as the Whites express grief about having to hire Blacks, go to school with them, live next to them “to wicked birds of prey” to a bunch of evil, predatory politicians in the Federal Government, the America Eagle is a bird of prey “Who pick up on” who thrive on, gather votes because of “his bread crumb sins” “sin” the offenses he commits because of his racism linked to poverty “bread crumbs” very tiny pieces of bread, money “And there are no sins inside the Gates of Eden” sarcastic: and there are no errors and injustices against Southerners within the borders of the United States.
“Motorcycle” as an escort; Ninety Miles an Hour Down a
Dead End Street 1988;
I took you home from a party and we kissed in fun A few stolen kisses and no harm was done Instead of stopping when we could we went right on Till suddenly we found that the brakes were gone.
You belong to someone else, and I do too It's just crazy bein' here with you As a bad motorcycle with the devil in the seat Going ninety miles an hour down a dead end street Ninety miles an hour down a dead end street.
“I took you home from a party” I picked up the ideas of the Communist Party “and we kissed in fun” and I pretended I liked you “A few stolen kisses” I composed a few songs on your behalf with a style stolen from Woody Guthrie “and no harm was done” and the Communist cause was not really advanced “Instead of stopping when we could we went right on” instead of you just not attending my concerts you continued to do so “Till suddenly we found that the brakes were gone” until it got out of control. “You belong to someone else” you belong to the Communist Party “and I do too” I belong to the United States “It's just crazy being here with you” what the Hell am I hanging around with bunch of Commies for? “As a bad
148 – V1 motorcycle” as an escort, an entourage filled with, and exhibiting, faults and errors “with the Devil” with Satan, Stalin, Lenin “in the seat” in the seat of power, in a center of authority “Going ninety miles an hour down a dead end street” going nowhere fast. Tarantula, “you found lenny the dog catcher killer” sarcastic: you found Lenny Bruce the cop killer “dog catcher” the municipal employee who keeps the Black former slaves, “dogs” in line “& motorcycle saint” and martyr who is often escorted to jail by the police.
“Madonna” as allegedly innocent; Tarantula, “the lion's den then” into the land of those who want to destroy you “& anchors away” and you depart on the ship of revolution as in When The Ship Comes In “& you remember the table” and you remember the front part of the body of a stringed instrument “the hopped up table” the improved table, electrified table “of worldly wiggies” of guitars “& unpatriotic” leftist communistic songs “& the slut Madonna” alleged purists “with her squatter's” poor people – people with squat or diddley squat “rights” human rights. Also Tarantula; “in a sunburned land winter sleeps with a snowy head at the west of the bed / Madonna. Mary of the Temple. Jane Russell. Angelina the Whore. all these women, their tears” their regrets as in Tears of Rage Tears of Grief 1967, “Tears of rage / tears of grief / Why must I always be the one to be the thief?” “could make oceans.”
“Slut” as communist; Rolling and Tumbling 2006, “I got troubles so hard” I am not making it in New York City as in Hard Times in New York Town 1962 “I can't stand the strain” I can’t endure the strain of the bacteria passing themselves off as human beings that I have encountered. Also strain as a particular virulent variety; a strain of Marxist-Leninism “Some young lazy” someone not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time “slut” the Communists “has charmed” cast or seem to cast a spell on; bewitched “away my brains” “my brain” a nice way of saying “I was brainwashed.’
“Gray Flannel Dwarf” as Southern Conservative White; “Blue” Union and “Gray” Confederate in Peggy Day 1969, “Peggy Day stole my poor heart away” the folk music world copied my topical songs “Turned my skies to blue” made me seem as if I supported the Union “from gray” when in reality I supported the Confederacy.
“Poor” as folksinger; to Dylan’s folk fans who witnessed his concerts being disrupted; Tarantula, “you were also there when they castrated that poor boy in public.” Down The Highway 1961 “So, I'm walkin' down your highway / Just as far my poor eyes can see.” Tonight I Will Be Staying Here With You 1969, “If there's a poor boy on the street” if there is a folksinger in Greenwich Village, street, an area of a city like Wall Street “Then let him have my seat” then let him have my position of prominence “'Cause tonight
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I'll be staying here with you” because presently I intend to devote my time to getting high.
“Sin” as offense or error; When Did You Leave Heaven 1988 to the Left “If I kiss you would it be a sin?” Ballad in Plain D 1964 “Noticing not that I'd already slipped / To the sin of love's false security.” Gates of Eden continues:
The kingdoms of Experience In the precious wind they rot While paupers change possessions Each one wishing for what the other has got And the princess and the prince Discuss what’s real and what is not It doesn’t matter inside the Gates of Eden
“The kingdoms” the realms of sovereignty, the dictatorships, the European Balkanized nations “of experience” that previously experienced numerous wars between one another and also experienced World War I “In the precious” in the costly price of human lives “wind they rot” in the destructive winds of World War II they become damaged, weakened, then useless because of decay “While paupers” while victorious
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world leaders such as Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt “change possessions” exchange territories subject to foreign control at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences “Each one wishing for what the other has got” but none of them will ever be satisfied with the way the spoils of war are divided “And the princess and the prince” and those diplomats involved in Machiavellian diplomacy “Discuss what's real and what is not” determine what the future will hold for Hungry, Poland, Romania etc. “It doesn't matter inside the Gates of Eden” America let Russia enslave the satellite countries.
“Paupers” as world leaders; Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, high treachery sails unveils its last wedding song bang sing the bells the low pauper's prayer rice rags in blossom
SOME OTHER KINDS OF SONGS 1964 high treachery sails unveils its last wedding song bang sing the bells the low pauper's prayer rice rags in blossom
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“ high treachery” willful betrayal of fidelity, confidence, and trust; perfidy, treason “sails” moves along smoothly “unveils” makes public a secret “its last wedding song” the secret of fusion, the act of closely joining atoms “bang” bang as in the sound of an explosion “sing the bells” sing the bells that will toll “the low pauper's prayer” the slightest chance or hope of the low, as in having little value or quality, world leader Joe Stalin has been fulfilled by the Rosenberg Communist spy ring “rice” the secret weapon used at Hiroshima, Nagasaki, “rags” in tatters “in blossom” and has come to fruition for the Russians.
Gates of Eden continues:
The foreign sun, it squints upon A bed that is never mine As friends and other strangers From their fates try to resign Leaving men wholly, totally free To do anything they wish to do but die And there are no trials inside the Gates of Eden
“The foreign” the Communist; Tarantula, “wonder who ronald reagan talked to about the foreign situation? think about it kid, but dont ask any foreigners” “sun” a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events “it squints upon” barely illuminates “a bed” a very basis, a foundation “that is never mine” that I can never embrace, reconcile myself to “As friends” as those friendly to the United States “and other strangers” but who are often not treated as such; in 1956 America refused to back the Hungarian Uprising. During the uprising, the Radio Free Europe’s Hungarian- language programs broadcast news of the political and military situation, as well as appealing to Hungarians to fight the Soviet forces, including tactical advice on resistance methods. After the Soviet suppression of the revolution, Radio Free Europe was criticized for having misled the Hungarian people that NATO or United Nations would intervene if the citizens continued to resist
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“From their fates try to resign” try to overthrow their dirty Communist overseers “Leaving men” abandoning the Hungarians and leaving them “wholly, totally free” sarcastic; overstatement not subject to arbitrary interference by a government; ‘a free press’ “To do anything they wish to do but die” to do anything they wished to do except die trying to destroy the Soviet tanks that rolled in “And there are no trials inside the Gates of Eden” and there are no staged Communist show trials in the United States of America! After the failed uprising there were Stalinist show trials, after which thousands of people were hanged and tossed in unmarked graves.
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At dawn my lover comes to me And tells me of her dreams With no attempts to shovel the glimpse Into the ditch of what each one means At times I think there are no words But these to tell what’s true And there are no truths outside the Gates of Eden
“At dawn” at the beginning of the American Republic and the drafting of the Constitution “my lover” the truths that I hold dear “comes to me” forms in my mind “and tells me of her dreams” and tells me of an ideal condition and achievement that is longed for; an aspiration, the American dream of democracy and freedom “With no attempts to” without any deliberate activity that could possibly ever “shovel” transmit a huge amount of information “a glimpse” which would only at best provide the slightest insight, only a glimpse “into the ditch” into the graves of those who have died to preserve these liberties “of what each one means” of what each one of those lives means to preserving our cherished freedom “At times I think there are no words but these to tell what’s true” at times I think there are no words but the Bill of Rights to say what’s true “And there are no truths outside the Gates of Eden” and there is no Bill of Rights outside the borders of the United States of America, where we hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights!
“Ditch” as grave; Some Other Kinds of Songs, “gravestoned ditch dug” The Ballad Of Ira Hayes, “Two inches of water in a lonely ditch was the grave for Ira Hayes”
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EARLIER GATES OF EDEN 1965 TRANSLATION
"The savage soldier" sarcastic: General Dwight Eisenhower who was accused of being too soft on the Soviets by the right "sticks his head in sand" ignores historical precedents "sand" history; Chronicles, "MacLeish wrote deep poems, was the man of godless sand. He could take real people from history, people like Emperor Charles or Montezuma and Cortes the Conquistador, and with the tender touch of a creator, deliver them right to your door." "And then complains" about Soviet expansionism "Unto the shoeless" unto Nikita Khrushchev who took his shoe off and banged it on the Soviet Delegations desk at the United Nations in 1960 "hunter" John Fitzgerald Kennedy: "Khrushchev reminds me of the tiger hunter who has picked a place on the wall to hang the tiger's skin long before he has caught the tiger. This tiger has other ideas." "who's gone deaf" who ignores IKE's complaints; who is wearing earphones that provides him with a translation "But still remains" but nonetheless remains "Upon the beach" in a protected area, the United Nations Tarantula, "i know it very well the beaches are extremely fantastic - i hear the fuzz are down there now tho 'yeah baby the fuzz come in about last Christmas'" Chronicles, "slow speed nosed up on a protective beach at night" "where hound dogs" diplomats "bay" express by barking or howling: a mob baying its approval "At ships" at revolutions as in The Hour That The Ship Comes In "with tattooed" a permanent mark or design such as a RED STAR "Heading for the Gates of Eden" trying to destroy America by penetrating its borders as Communism is 90 miles away from Key West in Cuba. "Hound dogs" as diplomats: Everything is Broken
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Broken hands on broken ploughs, Broken treaties, broken vows, Broken pipes, broken tools, People bending broken rules. Hound dog howling, bull frog croaking, Everything is broken. "Broken hands" broken signatures "on broken ploughs" Isiah 2:4 "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" "Broken treaties" between the Israelis and the Palestinians "broken vows" broken promises of peace "Broken pipes" pipe bombs exploding, fragmenting "broken tools" Palestinians being used as tools, manipulated by others into performing suicidal missions "People bending" Palestinians ignoring or changing rules to suit themselves "broken rules" rules governing human rights that have already been broken by the Israelis "Hound dog" Israeli diplomats "howling" drowning out or silencing peace by loud derisive calls: 'The candidate was howled down at the town meeting'" "bullfrog" soldiers: frog: a military style fastening on a coat consisting of a button and a loop "croaking" dying "Everything is broken." Tarantula, "onward then when Brown Dan, the creep cop - who likes to kill bullfrogs & whose boss keeps saying "he's got a bad knee but you oughta see him run, babe, you oughta see 'm run & chase them little chink lovers when they come down the river."
The foreign sun, it squints upon A bed that is never mine As friends and other strangers From their fates try to resign Leaving men wholly, totally free To do anything they wish to do but die And there are no trials inside the Gates of Eden
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"The foreign" the Communist; Tarantula, "wonder who ronald reagan talked to about the foreign situation? think about it kid, but dont ask any foreigners" "sun" enlightenment "it squints upon" it barely illuminates "a bed" a very basis; a foundation: 'Ownership of land is the bedrock of democracy' "that is never mine" that I can never embrace, reconcile myself to "As friends" as those friendly to the United States "and other strangers" but who are often not treated as such; In 1956 America refused to back the Hungarian Uprising. What was worse was that during the uprising, the Radio Free Europe's Hungarian-language programs broadcast news of the political and military situation, as well as appealing to Hungarians to fight the Soviet forces, including tactical advice on resistance methods. After the Soviet suppression of the revolution, Radio Free Europe was criticized for having misled the Hungarian people that NATO or United Nations would intervene if the citizens continued to resist "From their fates try to resign" try to overthrow their dirty communist overseers "Leaving men" abandoning the Hungarians and leaving them "wholly, totally free" sarcastic, overstatement not subject to arbitrary interference by a government: 'a free press' "To do anything they wish to do but die" to do anything they wished except die trying to destroy the Soviet tanks that rolled in "And there are no trials inside the Gates of Eden" and there are no staged Communist show trials in the United States of America! After the failed uprising there was Stalinist show trials, after which thousands of people were hanged and tossed in unmarked graves.
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IT’S ALRIGHT MA (I’M ONLY BLEEDING) 1965***
Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child’s balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying
Darkness at the break of noon
title of book about communism and Stalinism
Shadows even
was a dominating presence or influence in the Kennedy Administration. A constant companion.
the silver spoon
Kennedy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth even the eloquent President Kennedy
The handmade blade,
the Russian ICBM
The child's balloon
which increased or rose quickly: arms race ballooning out of control.
Eclipses both the sun and moon
blots out - Causes a period of abnormal cold and darkness predicted to follow a nuclear war, caused by a layer of smoke and dust in the atmosphere blocking the sun's rays. Nuclear winter.
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying
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Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn Plays wasted words, proves to warn That he not busy being born is busy dying
Pointed threats,
Missiles similar to handmade blade
they bluff
To engage in a false display of confidence or aggression in order to deceive or intimidate someone:
with scorn
The state of being despised or dishonored: held in scorn by his rivals.
Suicide remarks are torn
The Cuban Missile crisis
From the fool’s
the politican
Girl by the whirlpool Lookin' for a new fool Don't follow leaders Watch the parking meters.
gold mouthpiece
Barry GOLDwater
the hollow horn the mass media
Plays wasted words, proves to warn
159 – V1 plays his speeches that fall on deaf ears such as Barry Goldwater's 1964 speech at the 28th Republican National Convention, accepting the nomination for president.
That he not busy being born is busy dying
That he who is not fully occupied being a Native America born in the USA and defending liberty is digging his own grave.
Barry Goldwater: I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Chronicles, “I had a primitive way of looking at things and I liked country fair politics. My favorite politician was Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who reminded me of Tom Mix, and there wasn’t any way to explain that to anybody. I wasn’t that comfortable with all the psycho polemic babble. It wasn’t my particular feast of food.”
Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “back here, literate old man with rebel flag above / home sweet home sign” Ray Gooch, a neo-Confederate potentially violent racist who opened his home to Dylan “says he won’t vote for goldwater. ‘talks too much. should keep his mouth shut.’” Goldwater should not just mouth empty words, he should do something, wasn’t rightwing enough for Gooch.
Tarantula, “was gonna vote for goldwater cause you know, he was the underdog but then i found out about this Jenkins thing, & i figger it aint much, but it’s the only thing he does have going for him so i’m changing my vote to Johnson” Why change your vote on this basis? Jenkins was a Johnson advisor caught having homosexual relations in a Men’s Room.
Temptation’s page flies out the door You follow, find yourself at war Watch waterfalls of pity roar You feel to moan but unlike before You discover that you’d just be one more Person crying
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Temptation’s
To provoke or to risk provoking: Don't tempt fate. page
A noteworthy or memorable event: a new page in history. flies out the door door as border in Baby Blue "
The vagabond who’s rapping at your door Is standing in the clothes that you once wore. Strike another match, go start anew And it’s all over now, Baby Blue.
“Leave your stepping stones behind” the Soviets will leave their stepping stone for Communism behind them after they return to Russia. Cuba is 90 miles from Key West, Florida and was termed a “stepping stone for Communism” by the mass media “something calls for you” extinction calls for Communism “Forget the dead you’ve left” forget the people in other Soviet satellite countries similar to Cuba “they will not follow you” they will not support Soviet expansionism “The vagabond” the unpredictable Cuban exile, Tarantula, to the pinkos, “entering the pink highway—your black mongrel vagabond, your rat from Delphi—now he shall tattle on your nauseous bra” “who’s rapping at your door” who is penetrating Soviet controlled Cuba’s border to carry out paramilitary operations. Who Killed Davey Moore? “Who came here from Cuba’s door / Where boxing ain’t allowed no more” “Is standing in the clothes that you once wore” is taking a stand against you using the same rhetoric about defeating dictatorships that Castro employed to come to power in Cuba. Also he is wearing military style clothing “Strike another match” find another country that is compatible with Communism, go peddle your totalitarian ideology elsewhere, cause destruction elsewhere “go start anew” sarcastic; go start a new revolution because “it’s all over now, Baby Blue.”
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You follow, find yourself at war
With Russia USSR
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
A matter of regret: It's a pity America didn't launch a first strike.
You feel to moan but unlike before to complain
You discover that you’d just be one more
Person crying
But now it is too late and the Soviets had taken over America
So don’t fear if you hear A foreign sound to your ear It’s alright, Ma, I’m only sighing
So don’t fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
Sarcastic – so don’t fear if you hear a Communistic sound in your ear
It’s alright, Ma, I’m only sighing
Sarcastic – It's alright Ma there is nothing I can do about it.....
As some warn victory, some downfall Private reasons great or small Can be seen in the eyes of those that call To make all that should be killed to crawl While others say don’t hate nothing at all Except hatred
As some warn victory, some downfall
As liberals warn that America would loose in a war with Russia
Private reasons great or small
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Self interest, great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
can be seen in the thoughts of those who would allow the Communist to live
While others say don’t hate nothing at all
Except hatred
While other liberals are in the Civil Rights Movement and are hypocrites telling people to hate hatred
Disillusioned words like bullets bark As human gods aim for their mark Make everything from toy guns that spark To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It’s easy to see without looking too far That not much is really sacred
Disillusioned words like bullets
I have a dream speech someday blah blah blah bark
To work as a barker, as at a carnival.
As human gods aim for their mark
As Martin Luther King aims for the people he is going to con.
Make everything from toy guns phony pacifism that spark
A vital, animating, or activating factor: the spark of revolution.
To flesh-colored Christs that
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To lighter skinned children that
glow in the dark
to experience a feeling of wellbeing or satisfaction: to glow with pride about being dark skinned.
It’s easy to see without looking too far
MLK was in the news a lot
That not much is really sacred
That religion is just race mixing bullshit
While preachers preach of evil fates Teachers teach that knowledge waits Can lead to hundred-dollar plates Goodness hides behind its gates But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have to stand naked An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it
While preachers preach of evil fates
While MLK preaches about the pitiful future of the Negro
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
College professors teach that a degree
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates can lead to wealth and political influence
Goodness hides behind its gates
And that the Blacks will give up their normal behavior of stealing, raping, murdering, dealing drugs etc. once they climb up the ladder, movin' on up
But even the president of the United States
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Sometimes must have to stand naked
But the best protected man in America might be a victim of Black crime
An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged
And though the Civil Rights Bill has been passed
It’s only people’s games
An illegal activity; a racket. Hurricane 1975, “While Arthur Dexter Bradley’s still in the robbery game”
that you got to dodge
And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it
Advertising signs they con You into thinking you’re the one That can do what’s never been done That can win what’s never been won Meantime life outside goes on All around you
Advertising signs they con
Newspapers con you
To inquire or seek in a public notice, as in a newspaper: advertise for an apartment.
You into thinking you’re the one
You are the generation
That can do what’s never been done
That can uplift the Negro
That can win what’s never been won
To achieve or obtain by effort: win concessions in negotiations.
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Meantime life outside goes on
All around you
Meantime crime in the streets goes on all around yo
You lose yourself, you reappear You suddenly find you got nothing to fear Alone you stand with nobody near When a trembling distant voice, unclear Startles your sleeping ears to hear That somebody thinks they really found you
You lose yourself, you reappear
You lose your conservatism and reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
As a liberal New Dealer - nothing to fear but fear itself FDR
Alone you stand with nobody near
You are not towing the Communist Party Line
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
To feel fear or anxiety: I tremble at the very thought of Communism. Distant. Russia USSR voice in a Russian accent
Startles your sleeping ears to hear alarms you about poverty, war,
That somebody thinks they really found you
That the Communist Party has recruited you
A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit To satisfy, insure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not forget That it is not he or she or them or it That you belong to
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Although the masters make the rules For the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to
A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit
To satisfy, insure you not to quit
The invasion of Hungry by the Soviet Union caused a lot of people to leave CPUSA
To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to
That the Communists nor the Communist Party that you are a member of
Although the masters make the rules
Although the communist slave masters like Stalin make the laws
For the wise men and the fools
For those who don't believe in Communism and those who do
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to
I have no Communist principles to live up to
For them that must obey authority That they do not respect in any degree Who despise their jobs, their destinies Speak jealously of them that are free Cultivate their flowers to be Nothing more than something they invest in
For them that must obey authority
An accepted source of expert information or advice: a noted authority on Bob Dylan: a reference book often cited as an authority.
167 – V1
That they do not respect in any degree
An academic title given by a college or university to a student who has completed a course of study: received the Bachelor of Arts degree at commencement.
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Produce a culture In the liner notes to The Times They Are A-Changin Dylan wrote “for my road is blessed with many flowers [the best artists] / an' the sounds of flowers / lost voices [cultural and political expressions] / of the ground’s people [the oppressed masses"])
Nothing more than something they invest in
Of worthless materialism
While some on principles baptized To strict party platform ties Social clubs in drag disguise Outsiders they can freely criticize Tell nothing except who to idolize And then say God bless him
While some on principles baptized
While some college professors are baptized in liberal politics
To strict party platform ties and are Democrats
Social clubs in drag disguise
And part of think tanks
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Pretend to be outsiders and objective in their recommendations
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Tell nothing except who to idolize
Tell you who to vote for
And then say God bless him
And the endorse him
While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society’s pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he’s in
While one who sings with his tongue on fire
While Lenny Bruce
Gargles in the rat race choir
Tries to cleanse the rat race culture of the 1950's and early 1960's
Bent out of shape from society’s pliers
Bent out of shape - high on amphetamines
Cares not to come up any higher
High as a kite on meth etc.
But rather get you down in the hole
But rather tell you what it is like in jail, in the hole, where Lenny ended up for obscenity, drugs
That he’s in
But I mean no harm nor put fault On anyone that lives in a vault But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him
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But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him
But all the academicians can go to hell because they are not living in the real world
Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn’t talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony
Old lady judges watch people in pairs
To join with another in love or mating.
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn’t talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is PHONY
People who are charismatic, wealthy, attractive, friendly to others, or superficial are phonies according to Holden Caufield. The word 'phony' appears in The Catcher in the Rye about 35 times. To Holden, being a phony is about the worst thing people can be and he is surrounded by them! Between 1961 and 1982, The Catcher in the Rye was the most censored book in high schools and libraries in the United States. The book was banned in the Issaquah, Washington high schools in 1978 as being part of an "overall communist plot".
While them that defend what they cannot see With a killer’s pride, security It blows the minds most bitterly For them that think death’s honesty
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Won’t fall upon them naturally Life sometimes must get lonely
While them that defend
To represent (a defendant) in a criminal action involving the death penalty.
what they cannot see
To know through firsthand experience; undergo or experience
With a killer’s pride,
Pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement,
security
Freedom from risk or danger; safety.
It blows their minds most bitterly
For them that think death’s honesty
Won’t fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes must get lonely
If they are victims of a homicide their opinions about the death penalty change radically
My eyes collide head-on with stuffed Graveyards, false gods, I scuff At pettiness which plays so rough Walk upside-down inside handcuffs Kick my legs to crash it off Say okay, I have had enough what else can you show me? And if my thought-dreams could be seen They’d probably put my head in a guillotine But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only
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My eyes collide
To crash into someone or something. There's a major traffic jam because a tractor-trailer collided with a car earlier.
head-on
With the front or head facing forward. It was a head-on collision—that's why my windshield is cracked.
with stuffed Graveyards,
With people who died in DWI
false gods, I scuff
to be marred or scratched by scraping
At pettiness which plays so rough
Showing an excessive concern with unimportant matters or minor details, especially in a narrow-minded way: petty drug busts.
Walk upside-down inside
handcuffs
To restrain or render ineffective.
KICK
kick the habit Slang To free oneself of an addiction, as to narcotics or cigarettes.
my legs to
CRASH it off
Slang To undergo a period of unpleasant feeling or depression as an aftereffect of drug-taking.
Say okay, I have had enough
heroin
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what else can you show me? what other drugs can you show me?
And if my thought-dreams could be seen They’d probably put my head in a guillotine But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only
And if the way I feel when I have a head on smack they would cut it off.
EARLIER ALTERNATE TRANSLATION
Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child’s balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying.
“The darkness” something exhibiting and stemming from evil characteristics or forces, something sinister “at the break” that will weaken and destroy, “break” as in the destruction of spirit and health and overwhelmed with adversity; also force out and release suddenly and violently, ‘break open’ “of noon” at a time to leave or face the consequences; additionally “darkness at the break of noon” as an image of that which occurs during a cataclysmic event such as a nuclear bomb being dropped on a city causing a cloud of radioactive dust to block out the sun “Shadows” causes a shadow government of exiled leaders; a shadow cabinet. Also stalks “even the silver spoon” even the eloquent President John F. Kennedy “The handmade blade” the domestically produced weapon, the Russian ICBM which has the tapered outline of a blade “the child’s balloon” Sputnik, the round Russian primitive satellite “Eclipses both the sun and moon” are in space or in orbit and this is why they block out the sun and moon “To understand you know too soon” and if you understand the imminent danger “There is no sense in trying” sarcastic; it makes no sense in trying to fight Communism.
“Noon” a time to leave of face the consequences, a time of dénouement Tarantula, “Doc’s gonna have to leave by noon” Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You 1969, “would have left this town by noon.” I and I, “Noontime, and I’m still pushing myself along the road” also High Noon a 1950’s western starring Gary Cooper about a deadly confrontation.
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Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fool’s gold mouthpiece The hollow horn plays wasted words Proves to warn That he not busy being born Is busy dying.
“Pointed” directed and aimed; ‘point a weapon’ also again an object having a sharp and tapered end, missiles “threats” of a thermonuclear exchange “they bluff” they pretend to be viable in order to frighten America “with scorn” and reject and refuse with derision America’s ultimatum to remove the Soviet missiles from Cuba “Suicide remarks” comments and observations of mutual suicide, mutual mass destruction “are torn” are disrupted by the pull of contrary forces; ‘torn by conflicting party loyalties’ “From the fool’s gold mouthpiece” from the leaders of the Conservative wing of the Republican Party spokesperson Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona “The hollow” something without any real value or worth “horn” a device for projecting sound waves, as in a loudspeaker; the electronic media “plays” broadcasts “wasted words” unfruitful Goldwater campaign speeches “Proves” that establishes the authenticity of “to warn” an admonition of actual or potential harm, danger, or evil from the Soviets and the logical conclusion that follows is “That he not busy” that he not actively and fully engaged; occupied “being born” “born” being native born to a particular country, region, or place. American-born; a nationalist, a patriot, an extreme anti- Communist “Is busy dying” is in reality committing suicide. Goldwater, “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!”
Temptation’s page flies out the door You follow, find yourself at war Watch waterfalls of pity roar You feel to moan but unlike before You discover That you’d just be One more person crying. So don’t fear if you hear A foreign sound to your ear It’s alright, Ma, I’m only sighing.
“Temptation’s” Communists, those who attempt to get America to do wrong, by a promise of reward “page” Senate errand boy, John Kennedy “flies out the door” quickly leaves the Senate and runs for President after only two four year terms “You follow” you support him, you elect him and you “find yourself at war” find you are still fighting the Communists “Watch waterfalls” watch the rising tide of trouble and “of pity” of Communism “pity” sympathy
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and sorrow aroused by the misfortune and suffering of others “roar” triumph “roar” a loud deep cry, uttered by a person or crowd, in triumph “You feel to moan” you wish to grieve for the death of freedom “but unlike before / You discover / That you’d just be / One more person crying” but unlike other times when the Communists took over foreign countries, this time the Communists have taken over the United States! “So don’t fear if you hear” sarcastic; you better fear it “A foreign” a Communistic “sound” coming “to your ear” playing to your sympathy from United States president John F. Kennedy “It’s alright, Ma, I’m only sighing” sarcastic; my conscience is clear, I am not glad he was assassinated, I am only breathing a sigh of relief.
“Temptation” as Communism; Every Grain of Sand 1981, “I gaze into” fix my attention upon “the doorway” the gateway, the one thing that leads to another, the enticement “of temptation’s angry flame” of Communism; Marxist slogan, ‘Fan the flames of discontent’ “And every time I pass that way” and because I passed myself off that way “I always hear my name” the name Bob Dylan is associated with recruiting for the Left. “Then onward in my journey I come to understand” then later on in life I come to understand “That every hair” that my strength “is numbered” is limited and restricted in number “like every grain of sand” like any other person who has made history. “Doorway” as gateway; The Times They Are A-Changin’ 1964, “Come senators, congressmen / Please heed the call / Don’t stand in the doorway” don’t obstruct a bill that will be a gateway for Blacks “Don’t block up the hall” don’t filibuster.
“Hair” as strength; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “how many hands have t’ be raised / before hair will grow back on the white house head?” Tarantula, “a weak heart thru the braided hair” Love Henry 1993, “She took him” the Left accepted him, conned him “by his long yellow hair” because of his exaggerated journalistically inaccurate strength “And also by his feet” and also because of his ambition to get his foot in the door of show biz “She plunged him” she caused him to become suddenly lower; decrease
175 – V1 dramatically “into well water,” into exploiting sorrow “where it runs both cold” where it has the nature of complete finality, it is deadly with no regard for human life. “Cold” as dead; Saved 1980, “Born already ruined / Stone- cold dead / As I stepped out of the womb” “and deep” and involves a depth of feeling that is unlikely to be altered.
As some warn victory, some downfall Private reasons great or small Can be seen in the eyes of those that call To make all that should be killed to crawl While others say don’t hate nothing at all Except hatred.
“As some warn” as some notify and apprise in advance of “victory” Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev stated ‘we will bury you’ “some downfall” some warn of a sudden loss of rank; ‘A Communist coup in the United States’ “Private” Top Secret not for public knowledge or disclosure “reasons” basis and motives for an action, decision, or conviction “great or small” involving a lot or a little intelligence “Can be seen in the eyes” can be detected in the thoughts “of those that call” of those that demand “To make all that should be killed” to make Communism, which should have been put an end to long ago “to crawl” to advance slowly, feebly, laboriously, and slow down its spread “While others” the liberals “say don’t hate nothing at all” don’t hate the Communists “Except hatred” just hate racism.
Disillusioned words like bullets bark As human gods aim for their mark Made everything from toy guns that spark To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It’s easy to see without looking too far That not much Is really sacred.
“Disillusioned words” words indicate blacks are disillusioned with their status in America “like bullets” like a magic cure “bark” attempt to con Whites, “bark” as in a ‘carnival barker’ “As human gods” as the clergy “aim for their mark” aim for a mark: a person who is the intended victim “Made everything from toy” and are responsible for the creation of diminutive persons, Blacks “guns” who are professional killers, hired guns, gangsters “that spark” that kill Whites, and spark hatred “To flesh colored” to people whose flesh is colored “Christs” Martin Luther Kings’ “that glow in the dark” that stand out among the darkies as a man of God “It’s easy to see without looking too far” too far to the Left, because that is where the clergy is at “That not much is
176 – V1 really sacred” that it has no respect for human life if that life happens not to be Black.
While preachers preach of evil fates Teachers teach that knowledge waits Can lead to hundred-dollar plates Goodness hides behind its gates But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have To stand naked. An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it.
“While preachers preach of evil fates” while domestic Communist clergy like the Reverend Martin Luther King tell their followers that racism is holding them back “Teachers teach” liberal college professors teach “that knowledge waits” that getting weighted down with an education “Can lead to hundred- dollar plates” can lead to political power and Civil Rights legislation “Goodness hides” and that decency merely conceals itself “behind its gates” within the borders of the United States “but even the President of the United States / Sometimes must have / To stand naked” but even the President of the United States sometimes must endure vulnerability to attack like the rest of us “And though the rules of the road” and although a set of customary practices one adheres to “have been lodged” have been attacked in the courts “lodge” to register a charge or complaint before a court; file “It’s only people’s games” it’s only the African-American’s proclivity to violent crime; Hurricane 1975, “While Arthur Dexter Bradley’s still in the robbery game” “that you got to dodge” that one must avoid being hit by, nothing that dangerous “And it’s alright ma, I can make it” I can make it, survive living in a jungle.
Advertising signs that con you Into thinking you’re the one That can do what’s never been done That can win what’s never been won Meantime life outside goes on All around you.
“Advertising signs” Communist propaganda “that con you” dupe you “Into thinking you’re the one / That can do what’s never been done” that you can make a Communist revolution in America “That can win what’s never been won” that you can win a war against an undefeated United States “Meantime
177 – V1 life outside goes on / All around you” during the intervening period Capitalism thrives all around you, however you don’t experience this.
You lose yourself, you reappear You suddenly find you got nothing to fear Alone you stand with nobody near When a trembling distant voice, unclear Startles your sleeping ears to hear That somebody thinks They really found you.
“You lose yourself,” you lose your old personality “you reappear” and you reappear as a Socialist “You suddenly find you got nothing to fear” sarcastic; you want to go back to the Depression Era, FDR, ‘The only thing to fear, is fear itself’ “Alone you stand” you stand alone in your idealistic beliefs “with nobody near” without the aid of the Communist Party “When a trembling” uncertain “distant” far removed and apart in time “voice” the right or opportunity to express a choice or opinion “unclear” confusing and hard to understand “Startles” suddenly awakens “your sleeping ears” your once complacent sympathies “to hear / That somebody thinks / They really found you” that Karl Marx and the Communist Party believe that they have finally found you.
A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy Insure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not fergit That it is not he or she or them or it That you belong to.
“A question in your nerves is lit” you ask yourself do I really want to become a godless atheistic card carrying Communist? “Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy” yet you still know there is no other answer to the mystery of the universe more satisfying than religion “Insure you not to quit” and this will protect you from abandoning your belief in God “To keep it
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in your mind and not fergit” and you should repeat to yourself so you don’t repress it that “it is not he or she or them or it” it is not individual Communists, nor the Communist Party nor Communism “That you belong to” that created you, that your are the subject of, it is God.
Although the masters make the rules For the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.
“Although the masters” although the Communist ideologists like Marx and Lenin, those who reduce others to subjugation; break or tame them; “make the rules” suppress religious freedom “For the wise men” for those who believe in Christianity, Lenny Bruce 1981, “They said that he was sick ‘cause he didn’t play by the rules / He just showed the wise men of his day to be nothing more than fools” “and the fools” and the atheistic Communist dogmatic hard liners “I got nothing, Ma, to live up to” sarcastic, I have the Bible to live up to; live or act in accordance with.
“Masters” as oppressors; Tarantula, “write books about other people’s masters” write books about other people’s oppressors “each one in a mustache” each of them authors drunk, “mustache” residue of a drink sticking conspicuously to the upper lip; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs, “old men clothed in curly mustaches float on the benches” “& wishing he was Frank Buck” and wishing he was a buck African-American.
For them that must obey authority That they do not respect in any degree Who despise their jobs, their destinies Speak jealously of them that are free Cultivate their flowers to be Nothing more than something They invest in.
“For them that must obey authority” for those poor souls trapped behind the authoritarian Iron Curtain in the Soviet satellite countries who must do the Soviet’s bidding “That they do not respect in any degree” who not only despise the Soviets for being Communist, but for being Russian, as they are Hungarian, Czechoslovakian etc “Who despise their jobs” their jobs as police, intelligence agents “their destinies” all of which has been predetermined for them “Speak jealously of them that are free” really want to be part of the Free World “Cultivate” try to develop a report with a person “their flowers” who is their informant. “Flower” a natural development and outgrowth in this case of totalitarianism “to be nothing more than something they invest in”
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not to further Communist ideology but to make money just as the Capitalists do.
While some on principles baptized To strict party platform ties Social clubs in drag disguise Outsiders they can freely criticize Tell nothing except who to idolize And then say God bless him.
“While some” while others “on principles” on truths and propositions so clear that they cannot be proved nor contradicted “baptized” are initiated, born in to a family that has connections “To strict party platform ties” to those who issue a formal declaration of the principles on which a group, such as the Communist party, makes its appeal to the public. Membership in this elite is often through a blood tie or marital ties to the Communist Party hierarchy “Social clubs” capitalist country clubs, “in drag disguise” disguised as opposite of what they really are “Outsiders they can freely criticize” an elite class, they can criticize the activities of the Communist Party rank and file “Tell nothing except who to idolize” and tell these Party members who will run for office “And then say God bless him” and swear them in even before they are elected as they are unopposed. In 1956, Yugoslavian dissident Milovan Dilas was arrested for his writings and for his support of the Hungarian Revolution and sentenced to nine years in prison. In 1957 Dilas published The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System, in which he argued that Communism in Eastern Europe was not egalitarian, and that it was establishing a new class of privileged party bureaucracy who enjoyed material benefits from their positions.
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While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society’s pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he’s in. But I mean no harm nor put fault On anyone that lives in a vault But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him.
“While one who sings with his tongue on fire” while those who speak out against the Soviet regime in no uncertain terms; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “with melodies of Yevtushenko” Yevtushenko, through his poetry, was the first voice to speak out against Stalinism. Yevtushenko became one of the best known poets of the 1950s and 1960s in the Soviet Union. “Gargles in the rat race choir” refuses to be part of the culture of informing on others. Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “you tell me about politics / this that / you speak of rats” “Bent out of shape from society’s pliers” Yevtushenko’s maternal grandfather had been a Red Army officer during the Russian Revolution and the Civil War but both of Yevtushenko’s grandfathers were arrested as ‘enemies of the people’ in 1937 during Stalin’s purges. “Cares not to come up any higher” Yevtushenko was kicked out of the Soviet Literary Institute for individualism “But rather get you down in the hole / That he’s in” but he would rather get you in a deep and isolated place of confinement; a dungeon. Yevtushenko was confined to the Soviet Union “But I mean no harm nor put fault” sarcastic; I would like to kill the Communists who bare the blame for the persecution this poet “On anyone that lives in a vault” on anyone that lives in a country where you have to get an exit visa from the Government to get out of, a vast minimum security prison known as The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. “But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him” but who cares if I can’t fulfill the will and desire of the Communists; ‘May it please the court.’
Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn’t talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony.
“Old lady judges” Communist Party censors “watch” focus their repression on “people in pairs” groups of even the smallest number “Limited” having approached and exceeded certain limits, as of credibility, forbearance, and acceptability “in sex” in institutionalizing dissidents in mental hospitals “They
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dare to push fake morals” they have the audacity to promote a morality dictated by the Communist Party “insult” offend poets those seek freedom of expression by censoring their work and forcing them to resort to the samizdat “and stare” and look down on them with contempt and threats “While money doesn’t talk, it swears” while having an imagination doesn’t mean using words, it means using words that the State finds objectionable “Obscenity” going against Communist morality; Tarantula, “a D.A.R. woman flies off the handle. looks at jack. says ‘in some places, you’d be arrested for obscenity’” “who really cares?” who really cares? The people don’t care but the State does because “Propaganda all is phony” everyone knows their stinking Communist propaganda is nothing but a pack of lies and can be easily refuted. Tarantula, “Flunking the Propaganda Course.”
While them that defend what they cannot see With a killer’s pride, security It blows their minds most bitterly For them that think death’s honesty Won’t fall upon them naturally Life sometimes Must get lonely.
“While them that defend what they cannot see” while those who defend a government without understanding its true character and nature like the Soviet State Security Services; the MVD “With a killer’s pride” with the arrogance of a group of impressive killers “security” and measures adopted by a government to prevent espionage, sabotage, and attack “It blows their minds most bitterly” it is incomprehensible, difficult and distasteful for these security police to accept, admit, and bear “For them that think death’s honesty” for them that think that the moral soundness and appropriateness of death, execution “Won’t fall upon them naturally” will not be the natural end result of the way they have lived their lives “Life sometimes / Must get lonely” understatement, their lives must be very depressing.
My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards False gods, I scuff At pettiness which plays so rough Walk upside-down inside handcuffs Kick my legs to crash it off Say okay, I have had enough What else can you show me?
“My eyes” my thoughts “collide head-on with” are diametrically opposed to “stuffed graveyards” “stuffed” filled to restore the natural form for mounting and display the Kremlin where the bodies of Lenin and Stalin were displayed,
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where obsolete things are kept “False gods, I scuff” I reject these Communist dictators “At pettiness” petty offenses against Stalin “which plays so rough” which were punished by death or imprisonment “Walk upsidedown inside handcuffs” go through life singing songs that are the opposite of what I believe in because I have been rendered ineffective or impotent “Kick my legs to crash it off” use my rational thought to smash it to pieces “Say okay, I have had enough” say okay I had enough of this Communist bullshit “What else can you show me?” what else can you reveal to me about yourself that is worse than Joe Stalin?
And if my thought-dreams could be seen They’d probably put my head in a guillotine But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only.
“And if my thought-dreams could be seen” and if my counter-revolutionary ideals were ever made public “They’d probably put my head in a guillotine” I would be treated in the same fashion as counter-revolutionaries were treated during the French Revolution “But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only” but my conscience doesn’t bother me about what happens to the State Security Services after Communism is overthrown, since it is just a matter of life and death, nothing really consequential.
My biggest error as a Dylanologist was not realizing that contrary to popular belief, Dylan fell off a turnip truck that was passing through Greenwich Village. He had been picked up at the Goldwater's Department Store in Phoenix Arizona. Even when he was looked at as one of America's dirtiest comsymps and "kike Black lovers" he was a rightwing Republican. Now with this last piece of the puzzle, the Goldwasser factor, I have it all right, not just the drug, Israel, AIDS, and autobiographical poems. This time it is not what I think but what Dylan thinks or so I think but I have thunk this way before.
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IT’S ALRIGHT MA (I’M ONLY BLEEDING) 1965
Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child's balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying.
“The darkness at the break of noon” The Darkness at the Break of Noon is an anti-Communist book by Arthur Koestler.
Note how this poem and Gates of Eden both begin with the title of a novel about Russia - additionally “darkness at the break of noon” as an image of that which occurs during a cataclysmic event such as a nuclear bomb being dropped on a city causing a cloud of radioactive dust to block out the sun “shadows” causes a shadow government of exiled leaders to be formed; a shadow cabinet. Also stalks “even the silver spoon” even the Democratic President John F. Kennedy who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth “The handmade blade” the domestically produced weapon, the Russian ICBM which has the tapered outline of a blade “the child's balloon” Sputnik, the round Russian primitive satellite “Eclipses both the sun and moon” are in space or in orbit and this is why they block out the sun and moon “To understand you know too soon” and if you understand the imminent danger “There is no sense in trying” sarcastic; it makes no sense in trying to fight Communism.
“Noon” a time to leave or face the consequences, a time of dénouement. Tarantula, “Doc's gonna have to leave by noon.” Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You 1969, “would have left this town by noon.” I and I, “Noontime, and I'm still pushing myself along the road” also High Noon a 1950’s western about a deadly confrontation starring Gary Cooper.
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fool's gold mouthpiece The hollow horn plays wasted words Proves to warn That he not busy being born Is busy dying.
“Pointed threats” directed and aimed; ‘point a threat at America’ also again an object having a sharp and tapered end, missiles, threats of a thermonuclear exchange “they bluff” they pretend to be viable in order to
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frighten America “with scorn” and reject and refuse with derision America’s ultimatum to remove the Soviet missiles from Cuba “Suicide remarks” comments and observations of mutual suicide, Mutual Assured Destruction “are torn” are disrupted by the pull of contrary forces; ‘torn by conflicting party loyalties’ “From the fool's” from the leaders of the Conservative wing of the Republican Party “fool” as politician: Slow Train, “In the home of the brave, Jefferson turning over in his grave / Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan” “the gold mouthpiece” spokesperson Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona “The hollow” something without any real value or worth “horn” a device for projecting sound waves, as in a loudspeaker; the electronic media “plays” broadcasts “wasted words” unfruitful Goldwater campaign speeches “Proves” that establishes the authenticity of “to warn” an admonition by Senator Barry Goldwater of actual or potential harm, danger, or evil from the Soviets and the logical conclusion that follows is “That he not busy” that he not actively and fully engaged; occupied “being born” “born” as in being native born to a particular country, region, or place. American-born; a nationalist, a patriot, an extreme anti-Communist “Is busy dying” is in reality committing suicide. Goldwater, “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!” Chronicles,
I had a primitive way of looking at things and I liked country fair politics. My favorite politician was Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who reminded me of Tom Mix, and there wasn't any way to explain that to anybody. I wasn't that comfortable with all the psycho polemic babble. It wasn't my particular feast of food.
Dylan’s thoughts on Goldwater were always ambiguous;
ELEVEN OUTLINED EPITAPHS 1964
in east berlin renata tells me that i must wear tie t' get in t' this certain place i wanna go. back here, literate old man with rebel flag above home sweet home sign says he won't vote for goldwater. ‘talks too much. should keep his mouth shut.
“back here” back in New York City “literate old man” Ray Gooch. In Chronicles Dylan made known for the first time that his early ideas on race came from Raymond Gooch, a dope-dealing follower of American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell. Gooch lived in Greenwich Village. In Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues 1962 Dylan wrote, “Now Eisenhower, he's a Russian spy, Lincoln, Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy / To my knowledge there's just one man / That's really a true American: George Lincoln Rockwell…”
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Although ostensibly said in jest, this was, believe it or not, one of the keys to Dylan’s brain. In Chronicles Dylan described Gooch as highly literate and older than himself. “with rebel flag” Gooch was from a slave holding family in Virginia and was a diehard Confederate “above home sweet home sign” who opened his home to Dylan and let Dylan crash there in 1961. Dylan believed Gooch stood on high moral ground “says he won't vote for goldwater. ‘talks too much. should keep his mouth shut.’” Goldwater should not just mouth empty words, he should do something, he should launch a pre-emptive strike against the Soviet Union.
“Sweet” as moral; Liner Notes, World Gone Wrong 1993, “heavy moral vocabulary, sweetness sentiment.” You’re A Big Girl Now 1974, “Our conversation was short” my association with the Left did not last long “and sweet” and was allegedly heavily morality-based “It nearly swept me off-a my feet” and it nearly swept away my career in the pop music scene. Dylan had this to say about Goldwater in Tarantula, was gonna vote for goldwater cause you know, he was the underdog but then i found out about this Jenkins thing, & i figger it ain’t much, but it's the only thing he does have going for him so i'm changing my vote to Johnson.
Why change your vote on this basis? Jenkins was a Johnson advisor caught in a Men’s Room having homosexual relations. It’s Alright Ma continues:
Temptation's page flies out the door You follow, find yourself at war Watch waterfalls of pity roar You feel to moan but unlike before You discover That you'd just be One more person crying. So don't fear if you hear A foreign sound to your ear It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.
“Temptation's” Communists, those who attempt to get America to do wrong, by a promise of reward “page” Senate errand boy, John Kennedy “flies out the door” quickly leaves the Senate and runs for President after only two four year terms “You follow” you support him, you elect him and you “find yourself at war” find you are still fighting the Communists “Watch waterfalls of pity” watch the rising tide of trouble and of Communism (“pity” sympathy and sorrow aroused by the misfortune and suffering of others) “roar” triumph “roar” a loud deep cry, uttered by a person or crowd, in triumph “You feel to moan” you wish to grieve for the death of freedom “but unlike before / You discover / That you'd just be / One more person crying” but
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unlike other times when the Communists took over foreign countries, this time the Communists have taken over the United States! “So don't fear if you hear” sarcastic; you better fear it “A foreign” a Communistic “sound” coming “to your ear” playing to your sympathy from United States president John F. Kennedy “It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing” sarcastic; my conscience is clear, I am not glad he was assassinated, I’m only breathing a sigh of relief.
“Temptation” as Communism; Every Grain of Sand 1981,
I gaze into the doorway of temptation’s angry flame And every time I pass that way I always hear my name Then onward in my journey I come to understand That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand
“I gaze into” I fix my attention upon “the doorway” the gateway, the one thing that leads to another, the enticement “of temptation's angry flame” of Communism; Marxist slogan, ‘Fan the flames of discontent’ “And every time I pass that way” and because I passed myself off that way “I always hear my name” the name Bob Dylan is associated with recruiting for the Left. “Then onward in my journey I come to understand” then later on in life I come to understand “That every hair” that the effect of my leftwing politics “is numbered” is limited and restricted in number “like every grain of sand” like any other person who has made history. “Doorway” as gateway; The Times They Are A-Changin’ 1964, “Come senators, congressmen / Please heed the call / Don't stand in the doorway” don’t obstruct a bill that will be a gateway for Blacks “Don't block up the hall” don’t filibuster.
IT’S ALRIGHT MA continues:
As some warn victory, some downfall Private reasons great or small Can be seen in the eyes of those that call To make all that should be killed to crawl While others say don't hate nothing at all Except hatred.
“As some warn” as some notify and apprise in advance of “victory” of Communism becoming victorious over Capitalism - Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev stated ‘we will bury you’ “some downfall” others warn of a sudden loss of rank; ‘A Communist coup in the United States’ the downfall of the United States Government “Private” Top Secret not for public knowledge or disclosure “reasons” basis and motives for an action, decision, or conviction “great or small” involving a lot or a little intelligence “Can be seen
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in the eyes” can be detected in the thoughts “of those that call” of those that demand “To make all that should be killed” to make Communism, which should have been put an end to long ago “to crawl” to advance slowly, feebly, laboriously, and slow down its spread “While others” the liberals “say don't hate nothing at all” don’t hate the Communists “Except hatred” just hate racism.
Disillusioned words like bullets bark As human gods aim for their mark Made everything from toy guns that spark To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It's easy to see without looking too far That not much Is really sacred.
“Disillusioned words” words from Communists about how they are disillusioned with capitalism “like bullets” like a magic cure, a magic bullet “bark” attempt to con Americans and the rest of the world, “bark” as in a ‘carnival barker’ “As human gods” as godless Communists “aim for their mark” aim for a mark: a person who is the intended victim “Made everything from toy guns that spark” made weapons that are supposed to spark revolutions but don’t function properly “To flesh colored” to people whose flesh is colored “Christs” Martin Luther King’s “that glow in the dark” that stand out among the darkies as a man of God “It's easy to see without looking too far” it is easy to see without looking too far to the Left “That not much is really sacred” that Communism has no respect for true religion and backs those clerics who fit in with its agenda.
While preachers preach of evil fates Teachers teach that knowledge waits Can lead to hundred-dollar plates Goodness hides behind its gates But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have To stand naked. An' though the rules of the road have been lodged It's only people's games that you got to dodge And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.
“While preachers preach of evil fates” while domestic Communists preach about a calamitous or unfavorable outcome or result; the death, destruction, or downfall of America “Teachers” liberal high school and college professors “teach” make known and accepted “that knowledge waits” that there is more to be learned about Communism “Can lead to hundred-dollar plates” and
188 – V1 this can lead to political power “hundred dollar a plate political dinners” “Goodness hides behind its gates” that there is something to the Communist system that is not evil but is concealed behind its borders or prison gates “but even the President of the United States / Sometimes must have / To stand naked” but even the President of the United States sometimes must endure vulnerability to attack like the rest of us, must be killed at the hands of a Communist like Lee Harvey Oswald “And though the rules of the road” and although the customary security measures “have been lodged” have been put in place “It’s only people’s games” it’s only Lee Harvey Oswald’s violence Hurricane 1975, “While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game” “that you got to dodge” that one must avoid being hit by “And it’s alright ma, I can make it” sarcastic: it’s alright ma, I can make laws against it.
Advertising signs that con you Into thinking you're the one That can do what's never been done That can win what's never been won Meantime life outside goes on All around you.
“Advertising signs” Communist propaganda “that con you” that dupe you “Into thinking you're the one / That can do what's never been done” that you can make a Communist revolution in America “That can win what's never been won” that you can win a war against an undefeated United States “Meantime life outside goes on / All around you” during the intervening period Capitalism thrives all around you, however you don’t experience this.
You lose yourself, you reappear You suddenly find you got nothing to fear Alone you stand with nobody near When a trembling distant voice, unclear Startles your sleeping ears to hear That somebody thinks They really found you.
“You lose yourself,” you lose yourself in Marxist study “you reappear” and you reappear as a Socialist “You suddenly find you got nothing to fear” and suddenly you discard your prejudices and hate no one “Alone you stand” you stand alone in your idealistic beliefs “with nobody near” without the aid of the Communist Party “When a trembling” when an uncertain “distant” far removed and apart in time “voice” the right or opportunity to express a choice or opinion “unclear” confusing and hard to understand “Startles”
189 – V1 suddenly awakens “your sleeping ears” your once complacent sympathies “to hear / That somebody thinks / They really found you” that Karl Marx and the Communist Party believe that they have finally found you.
“Fear” as hate. With God On Our Side 1962 “To hate them and fear them.” Let Me Die in My Footsteps 1962 “There’s always been people that have to cause fear / They been talkin’ about war now for many a year.”
A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy Insure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not fergit That it is not he or she or them or it That you belong to.
“A question in your nerves is lit” you ask yourself do I really want to become a godless atheistic card-carrying Communist after the Soviet repression in Czechoslovakia and Poland? Does Communism really have all the answers? “Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy” yet you still don’t believe in God and religion “Insure you not to quit” and this will prevent you from quitting the Party “To keep it in your mind and not fergit” and keep the Communist Party ideology in your mind and make you not forget the truth that “it is not he or she or them or it” that it is not materialism “That you belong to” that created you, that your are the subject of, but it is God.
Although the masters make the rules For the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.
“Although the masters” although the Communist Commissar slave masters of the Kremlin: those who reduce others to subjugation; break or tame them; “make the rules” make the bylaws of the Communist Party USA “For the wise men” for the intellectuals, Lenny Bruce 1981, “They said that he was sick 'cause he didn't play by the rules / He just showed the wise men of his day to be nothing more than fools” “and the fools” and the American Communist Party politicians “I got nothing, Ma, to live up to” sarcastic, I don’t have to live up to the expectations of Moscow.
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For them that must obey authority That they do not respect in any degree Who despise their jobs, their destinies Speak jealously of them that are free Cultivate their flowers to be Nothing more than something They invest in.
“For them that must obey authority” for those university functionaries trapped behind the authoritarian Iron Curtain “That their subordinates do not respect in any degree” have no respect for intellectually, as their superiors hold degrees from bogus Communist universities “Who despise their jobs, their destinies” who hate teaching what they are forced to teach, and hate the predetermined course of events their lives have become thanks to an irresistible power or agency “Speak jealously of them that are free” really want to be part of the Free World “Cultivate” further, encourage as in cultivate the arts “their flowers” the great examples of art and artists, their top students “to be nothing more than something they invest in” to be just another investment for the Soviet State.
While some on principles baptized To strict party platform ties Social clubs in drag disguise Outsiders they can freely criticize Tell nothing except who to idolize And then say God bless him.
“While some” while others “on principles” on truths and propositions so clear that they cannot be proved nor contradicted “baptized” are initiated, born in to a family that has connections “To strict party platform ties” to those who issue a formal declaration of the principles on which a group, such as the Communist party, makes its appeal to the public. Membership in this elite is often through a blood tie or marital ties to the Communist Party hierarchy “Social clubs” capitalist country clubs, “in drag disguise” disguised as opposite of what they really are “Outsiders they can freely criticize” an elite class, they can criticize the activities of the Communist Party rank and file “Tell nothing except who to idolize” and tell these Party members who will run for office “And then say God bless him” and swear them in even before they are elected as they are unopposed. In 1956, Yugoslavian dissident Milovan Dilas was arrested for his writings and for his support of the Hungarian Revolution and sentenced to nine years in prison. In 1957 The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System, in which Dilas argued that Communism in Eastern Europe was not egalitarian, and that it was
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establishing a new class of privileged party bureaucracy who enjoyed material benefits from their positions, was published.
While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society's pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he's in. But I mean no harm nor put fault On anyone that lives in a vault But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.
“While one who sings with his tongue on fire” while those who speak out against the Soviet regime in no uncertain terms; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “melodies of Yevtushenko” Yevtushenko, through his poetry, was the first voice to speak out against Stalinism. Yevtushenko became one of the best known poets of the 1950s and 1960s in the Soviet Union. “Gargles in the rat race choir” and he refuses to be part of the culture of informing on others. Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “you tell me about politics / this that / you speak of rats” “Bent out of shape from society's pliers” Yevtushenko's maternal grandfather had been a Red Army officer during the Russian Revolution and the Civil War but both of Yevtushenko's grandfathers were arrested in 1937 during Stalin's purges as ‘enemies of the people’. “Cares not to come up any higher” Yevtushenko was kicked out of the Soviet Literary Institute for individualism “But rather get you down in the hole / That he's in” but he would rather get you in a deep and isolated place of confinement; a dungeon. Yevtushenko was confined to the Soviet Union “But I mean no harm nor put fault” but even though Yevtushenko was ostensibly a Communist Dylan has no intention of harming him or blaming him “On anyone that lives in a vault” because Yevtushenko lives in a country where you have to get an exit visa from the Government to get out of, a vast high security prison known as The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. “But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him” but who cares if I can’t fulfill the will and desire of the Communists; as in ‘May it please the court.’
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Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn't talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony.
“Old lady judges” Communist Party censors “watch” focus their repression on “people in pairs” groups of even the smallest number “Limited” having approached and exceeded certain limits, as of credibility, forbearance, and acceptability “in sex” in institutionalizing dissidents in mental hospitals “They dare to push fake morals” they have the audacity to promote a morality dictated by the Communist Party “insult” offend poets those seek freedom of expression by censoring their work and forcing them to resort to the samizdat, underground publications “and stare” and look down on them with contempt and threats “While money doesn't talk, it swears” while having talent, having an imagination is only used in anti-western propaganda “Obscenity” going against Communist morality; Tarantula, “a D.A.R. woman flies off the handle. looks at jack. says ‘in some places, you'd be arrested for obscenity’” “who really cares?” who really cares? the people don’t care but the State does “Propaganda all is phony” because everyone knows their stinking Communist propaganda is nothing but a pack of lies and can easily be refuted. Tarantula, “Flunking the Propaganda Course.”
While them that defend what they cannot see With a killer's pride, security It blows their minds most bitterly For them that think death's honesty Won't fall upon them naturally life sometimes must get lonely
“While them that defend what they cannot see” while those who defend a government without understanding its true character and nature like the Soviet State Security Services; the MVD “With a killer's pride” with the arrogance of a group of impressive killers “security” and measures adopted by a government to prevent espionage, sabotage, and attack “It blows their minds most bitterly” it is incomprehensible, difficult and distasteful for these security police to accept, admit, and bear “For them that think death's honesty” for them that think that the moral soundness and appropriateness of death by execution “Won't fall upon them naturally” will not be the natural end result of the way they have lived their lives “Life sometimes / Must get lonely” understatement, their lives must be very depressing.
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My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards False gods, I scuff At pettiness which plays so rough Walk upside-down inside handcuffs Kick my legs to crash it off Say okay, I have had enough What else can you show me?
“My eyes" my thoughts “collide head-on with” are diametrically opposed to “stuffed graveyards” “stuffed” filled to restore the natural form for mounting and display as in the Kremlin where the bodies of Lenin and Stalin are displayed, where obsolete things are kept “False gods, I scuff” I reject these Communist dictators “At pettiness” at petty offenses against Stalin “which plays so rough” which were punished by death or imprisonment “Walk upside-down inside handcuffs” go through life singing songs that are the opposite of what I believe in because I have been rendered ineffective or impotent because of my deal with the Red Devil. “Kick my legs to crash it off” use my rational thought to smash it to pieces “Say okay, I have had enough” say okay I had enough of this Communist bullshit “What else can you show me?” what else can you reveal to me about yourself that is worse than Stalinism?
And if my thought-dreams could be seen They'd probably put my head in a guillotine But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.
“And if my thought-dreams could be seen” and if my counter-revolutionary ideals were ever made public, if the subcontent of my songs could be understood “They'd probably put my head in a guillotine” I would be treated in the same fashion as counter-revolutionaries were treated during the French Revolution “But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only” but my conscience doesn’t bother me about what happens to the State Security Services after Communism is overthrown, since it is just a matter of life and death, nothing really consequential.
“Dream” as song: Tarantula, that nite in a dream i was singing again - i was singing the same song in the same forest & at the same time - in the dream there was also a tenement blazing there was no fog & the dream was clear – it was not worth analyzing as nothing is worth analyzing.
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Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964,
it is not of me t' sit an' ponder wonderin' an' wastin' time thinkin' of thoughts that haven't been thunk thinkin' of dreams that haven't been dreamt an' new ideas that haven't been wrote an' new words t' fit into rhyme
My Back Pages 1964,
Half-racked 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.
“Half-racked” not completely thought out, half-baked, not enough racking of the brain to be truth, “prejudice” ideas about racism “leaped forth” were arrived at as a result of a leap of faith: the act or an instance of believing or trusting in something intangible or incapable of being proved "Rip down all hate, I screamed” freedom now for colored folk I protested “Lies that life is black and white” lies that Blacks are good and crackers are bad “Spoke from my skull, I dreamed” were attributed to me because of my songs “Romantic” imaginative but impractical “facts of musketeers” – beliefs of a soldier armed with a musket – revolutionaries “Foundationed” based on that which a thing stands, is founded, or is supported “deep” difficult to penetrate or understand; recondite: a deep socialist theory “somehow” and beyond Dylan’s understanding but Dylan was so much lamer then, he’s hipper than that now.
Too Much Nothing 1967, “Everybody's doin' somethin' / I heard it in a dream.” The next anti-Communist, pro-American poem was Maggie’s Farm, however the Devil knew Dylan fans would interpret it as a critique of America and as usual he let things slide.
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EARLIER TRANSLATION OF IT'S ALRIGHT MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING) 1965
Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child's balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying. Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fool's gold mouthpiece The hollow horn plays wasted words Proves to warn That he not busy being born Is busy dying.
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fool's gold mouthpiece The hollow horn plays wasted words Proves to warn That he not busy being born Is busy dying.
“Pointed threats" an object having a sharp or tapered end, missiles "they bluff" pretend to be viable in order to influence the Soviets "with scorn" yet America refuses to do something because it is felt to be undesirable or wrong "Suicide remarks" comments and observations of mutual suicide MMD mutual mass destruction "are torn" are disrupted by the pull of contrary forces; "torn by conflicting party loyalties" "From the fool's" from the leaders
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of the Republican Party "gold mouthpiece" Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona the spokesperson through which its views are expressed "The hollow" without any real value or worth "horn" a device for projecting sound waves, as in a loudspeaker: the electronic media "plays" broadcasts "wasted words" unfruitful Goldwater campaign speeches "Proves" that establishes the authenticity of "to warn" an admonition of actual or potential harm, danger, or evil from the Soviets and as a result "That he not busy" actively or fully engaged; occupied "being born" "born" being native born to a particular country, region, or place. American-born; a nationalist, a patriot, an extreme anti-Communist "Is busy dying" is in reality committing suicide. Goldwater, "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!"
Temptation's page flies out the door You follow, find yourself at war Watch waterfalls of pity roar You feel to moan but unlike before You discover That you'd just be One more person crying. So don't fear if you hear A foreign sound to your ear It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.
"Temptation's" someone who is willing to provoke or to risk provoking the Soviets like a "page" like Senator Barry Goldwater 'Senate page' "flies out the door" is dismissed summarily, an opportunity is wasted "You follow, find yourself at war" you go along with this when you vote Democratic and you find you are fighting in Vietnam as a result of weakened anti-Communism "Watch waterfalls" watch the rising tide of sorrow and "of pity" of Communism. "Pity" sympathy and sorrow aroused by the misfortune or suffering of others "roar" triumph "roar" a loud deep cry, uttered by a person or crowd, in triumph "You feel to moan" grieve for the death of liberty "but unlike before / You discover / That you'd just be / One more person crying" but this time the Communists have taken over the United States asshole! "So don't fear if you hear" sarcastic: you better fear it "A foreign" a Communist "sound" transmitted vibrations of any frequency: Radio Moscow "to your ear" playing to your sympathy. "It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing" sarcastic: Oh well, I have resigned myself to a Communist takeover of the United States. What are you gonna do?
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As some warn victory, some downfall Private reasons great or small Can be seen in the eyes of those that call To make all that should be killed to crawl While others say don't hate nothing at all Except hatred.
"As some warn" notify or apprise in advance "victory" Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev stated 'we will bury you' "some downfall" a sudden loss of rank: a Communist coup in the United States "Private" belonging to a particular person or persons, as opposed to the government "reasons" the basis or motives for an action, decision, or conviction "great or small" involving a lot or a little wealth "Can be seen in the eyes" can be detected in the thoughts "of those that call" demand "To make all that should be killed to crawl" to make the rich act in a servile fashion and if not line them up against the wall and shoot them "While others" opposite or contrary; reverse "say don't hate nothing at all" don't hate people because of class differences "Except hatred" but focus on racial hatred. "Eyes" as thoughts: In Gonna Change My Way of Thinking written during Dylan's Christian period he had this to say about Judaism, "You can mislead a man / You can take a hold of his heart with your eyes."
Disillusioned words like bullets bark As human gods aim for their mark Made everything from toy guns that spark To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It's easy to see without looking too far That not much Is really sacred.
"Disillusioned words" Communist rhetoric designed to disillusion people about capitalism "like bullets" like missiles "bark" like a barker at a carnival "As human" those subject to or indicative of the weaknesses, imperfections, and fragility associated with humans "gods" Communist leaders "aim for their mark" mark: slang a person who is the intended victim of a swindler; a dupe "Made everything from toy guns that spark" from Kalashnikovs, that are a vital, animating, or activating factor igniting the spark of revolution "To flesh colored" human "Christs" martyrs "that glow in the dark" that suffer from radiation poisoning "It's easy to see without looking too far" too far to the Left "That not much Is really sacred" that human life is not regarded as too important to be changed or interfered with.
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While preachers preach of evil fates Teachers teach that knowledge waits Can lead to hundred-dollar plates Goodness hides behind its gates But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have To stand naked. An' though the rules of the road have been lodged It's only people's games that you got to dodge And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.
"While preachers preach of evil fates" while politicians like Barry Goldwater speak in support of the idea that American is headed for Communism and the Soviet Union must be destroyed "Teachers teach" liberal college professors teach "that knowledge waits" that the intellectuals believe that America should wait and not launch a first strike against the Soviets because Communism "Can lead to hundred-dollar plates" can lead to an equal distribution of wealth "plate" a dish passed among the members of a group or congregation for the collection offerings later some of which will be given to the poor.
LODGE
"Goodness hides" and that decency conceals itself "behind its gates" behind the borders of the Soviet Union "but even the President of the United States / Sometimes must have / To stand naked" but even the President of the United States can be assassinated by a communist like Lee Harvey Oswald "And though the rules of the road" a set of customary diplomatic practices
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"have been lodged" have been vested in certain authorities, have been formulated by Americans like Henry Cabot Lodge, an ultra-nationalist conservative Republican advocate of annexation and an aggressive foreign policy. Also Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who was Richard Nixon's running mate in the 1960 presidential election and later served as ambassador to South Vietnam (1963-1967). "It's only people's games" it only the Soviet's agents like Oswald "that you got to dodge" avoid being hit by "And it's alright ma, I can make it" I can understand it.
Advertising signs that con you Into thinking you're the one That can do what's never been done That can win what's never been won Meantime life outside goes on All around you.
"Advertising signs" communist propaganda "that con you" dupe you "Into thinking you're the one / That can do what's never been done" that you can make a communist revolution in America "That can win what's never been won" that you can win a war against an undefeated United States "Meantime life outside goes on / All around you" during the intervening period Capitalism thrives all around you.
You lose yourself, you reappear You suddenly find you got nothing to fear Alone you stand with nobody near When a trembling distant voice, unclear Startles your sleeping ears to hear That somebody thinks They really found you.
"You lose yourself," you lose your old personality "you reappear" and you reappear as a socialist "You suddenly find you got nothing to fear" sarcastic; you have the U.S. Government to fear "Alone you stand" you stand alone in your idealistic beliefs "with nobody near" without the aid of the Communist Party "When a trembling" uncertain "distant" far removed or apart in time "voice" medium or agency of expression "unclear" confusing or hard to understand "Startles" suddenly awakens "your sleeping ears" dormant sympathies "to hear / That somebody thinks / They really found you" that Karl Marx and the Communist Party have found you.
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A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy Insure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not fergit That it is not he or she or them or it That you belong to. Although the masters make the rules For the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to. "A question in your nerves is lit" do you have the courage to become a card carrying Communist? "Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy" yet you know no rationalization will work "Insure you not to quit" make you not take part in this struggle "To keep it in your mind and not fergit" that will make sure you remember "That it is not he or she or them or it" that it is not individual communists, nor the Communist Party nor communism "That you belong to" that you are a member of "Although the masters" one whose teachings or doctrines are accepted by followers such as Karl Marx "make the rules" creates an authoritative, prescribed direction for conduct, especially one of the regulations governing procedure in a legislative body "For the wise men" for those exhibiting common sense; prudence; When The Ship Comes In, "And the ship's wise men / Will remind you once again / That the whole wide world is watchin'" "and the fools" and the armed revolutionaries, Tarantula, "fool! no wonder you want to start a revolution" "I got nothing, Ma, to live up to" my conscience tells me that I have no doctrine to act in accordance with: live up to Communist ideals nor do I need to carry out; fulfill: live up to any sort of bargain I made with the Communist Party USA.
For them that must obey authority That they do not respect in any degree Who despise their jobs, their destinies Speak jealously of them that are free Cultivate their flowers to be Nothing more than something They invest in.
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"For them that must obey authority" for those poor souls trapped behind the authoritarian Iron Curtain in the Soviet satellite countries who must do the Soviet's bidding "That they do not respect in any degree" who not only despise the Soviets for being Communist but for being Russian, as they are Hungarian, Czechoslovakian etc "Who despise their jobs" as police, intelligence agents "their destinies" all of which has been predetermined for them "Speak jealously of them that are free" really want to be part of the Free World "Cultivate" try to develop a friendship with a person "their flowers to be" who is an informant. Sarcastic: the highest example or best representative of a people or class "Nothing more than something they invest in" not to further Communist ideology but to make money just as the Capitalists do.
While some on principles baptized To strict party platform ties Social clubs in drag disguise Outsiders they can freely criticize Tell nothing except who to idolize And then say God bless him.
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"While some" while others "on principles" on truths or propositions so clear that they cannot be proved nor contradicted "baptized" are initiated, born in to a family that has connections "To strict party platform" to those who issue formal declaration of the principles on which a group, such as the Communist party, makes its appeal to the public "ties" this is often through a blood tie or marital ties to the Communist Party elite "Social clubs" capitalist country clubs, "in drag disguise" disguised as opposite of what they really are "Outsiders they can freely criticize" an elite, they can criticize the activities of the Communist Party rank and file "Tell nothing except who to idolize" and tell these Party members who will run for office "And then say God bless him" and swear him in even before he is elected as he is unopposed. In 1956, Yugoslavian dissident Milovan Djilas was arrested for his writings and for his support of the Hungarian Revolution and sentenced to nine years in prison. In 1957 Dilas published The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System, in which he argued that communism in Eastern Europe was not egalitarian, and that it was establishing a new class of privileged party bureaucracy - who enjoyed material benefits from their positions.
While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society's pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he's in. But I mean no harm nor put fault On anyone that lives in a vault But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.
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"While one who sings with his tongue on fire" while those who speak out against the Soviet regime in no uncertain terms; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs, "with melodies of Yevtushenko" Yevtushenko, through his poetry, was the first voice to speak out against Stalinism. Yevtushenko became one of the best known poets of the 1950s and 1960s in the Soviet Union. "Gargles in the rat race choir" refuses to be part of the culture of informing on others. Some Other Kinds of Songs, "you tell me about politics / this that /you speak of rats" "Bent out of shape from society's pliers" Yevtushenko's maternal grandfather had been a Red Army officer during the Russian Revolution and the Civil War but both of Yevtushenko's grandfathers were arrested as "enemies of the people" in 1937 during Stalin's purges. "Cares not to come up any higher" was kicked out of the Soviet Literary Institute for individualism "But rather get you down in the hole / That he's in." rather get you in a deep or isolated place of confinement; a dungeon. Yevtushenko was confined to the Soviet Union "But I mean no harm nor put fault" sarcastic: I would like to kill the Communists who bare the blame for the persecution this poet "On anyone that lives in a vault" on anyone that lives in a country where you have to get an exit visa from the Government to get out of, a vast minimum security prison known as The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. "But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him" so who cares what the Left thinks of me.
Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn't talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony.
"Old lady judges" Soviet journalists. Memphis Blues Again "the ladies treat me kindly and furnish me with tape" recording tape for interviews "watch" keep a watchful eye on; guard, take their cues from "people in pairs" people who are joined, who have similar beliefs that are dependent upon each other, Communists, collectivists "Limited in sex" not having balls "they dare" they only have the courage to "To push fake morals" promote the lesson or principle contained in or taught by an event from a Communist perspective "insult" give offense; offend the Free World "and stare" be imminent or unavoidable like Pravda or Radio Moscow "While money doesn't talk, it swears" while the Soviet media is highly critical of the influence of wealth in America "Obscenity, who really cares" who really cares if someone amasses an amount of money that is objectionable or outrageous, 'obscenely rich.' "Propaganda" the organized promotion of information to damage the cause of a government "all is phony" is prima fascia false.
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While them that defend what they cannot see With a killer's pride, security It blows the minds most bitterly For them that think death's honesty Won't fall upon them naturally Life sometimes Must get lonely.
"While them that defend what they cannot see" while those who defend a government without understanding its true character or nature "With a killer's pride" with an impressive group of killers "security" and measures adopted by a government to prevent espionage, sabotage, or attack such as those implemented by the MVD in Russia "It blows their minds most bitterly" it is incomprehensible, difficult or distasteful for these security police to accept, admit, or bear "For them that think death's honesty" that the moral soundness and appropriateness of death "Won't fall upon them naturally" will be the result of their execution "Life sometimes / Must get lonely" understatement, their lives must be depressing.
My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards False gods, I scuff At pettiness which plays so rough Walk upside-down inside handcuffs Kick my legs to crash it off Say okay, I have had enough What else can you show me?
"My eyes" my thoughts "collide head-on with" are diametrically opposed to "stuffed graveyards" the Kremlin where the bodies of Lenin and Stalin were displayed. "Stuffed" filled to restore the natural form for mounting or display "False gods, I scuff" I reject these communist dictators "At pettiness" petty offenses against Stalin "which plays so rough" which were punished by death
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or imprisonment "Walk upside-down inside handcuffs" go through life singing songs that are the opposite of what I believe in because I have been rendered ineffective or impotent "Kick my legs to crash it off" use my rational thought to smash it to pieces "Say okay, I have had enough" I had enough of this Communist bullshit "What else can you show me?" what else can you reveal to me about yourself that is worse than Joe Stalin? "And if my thought-dreams could be seen" and if my counter-revolutionary beliefs were ever made public "They'd probably put my head in a guillotine" I would be treated in the same fashion as counter-revolutionaries were treated during the French Revolution "But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only" but my conscience does not bother me about what happens to the State Security Services after Communism is overthrown, since it is just a matter of life and death, nothing really consequential.
MAGGIE’S FARM 1965***
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I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more. Well, I wake in the morning Fold my hands and pray for rain. I got a head full of ideas That are drivin’ me insane. It’s a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor.
“I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more” I ain’t gonna be a Depression Era Communist folksinger anymore “Well, I wake up” I am awakened, caused to be made aware of their evil “in the morning” early on in life “Fold my hands” and so I place together and intertwine in my style of writing, two ideas “and pray for rain” and pray that the commies will be subject of intense hatred by America and will be destroyed “I got a head full of ideas” I got a brain filled with ideas about Communism “That are drivin’ me insane” and are making me immoderate and wild in my desire to destroy it “It’s a shame” it’s surely a condition of disgrace, dishonor and ignominy “the way she makes me scrub” the way Communism forces me to “scrub” slang, cancel and abandon; dismiss “the floor” democracy ‘the floor of United States Congress,’ the part of a legislative chamber or meeting hall where members are seated and from which they speak “No, I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s Farm no more.” I am not going to further the work of the totalitarian Communists anymore!
“Farm” as communism as in ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell also dust bowl, Depression; For Dave Glover, “The dirt farm songs—the dust bowl songs / The depression songs / the down and out songs” Catfish, “Used to work on Mr. Finley’s farm / But the old man wouldn’t pay” but there was no money in this outdated Leftist crap any longer “So he packed” had available for action “his glove” his combativeness, aggression “and took his arm” his power “An’ one day he just ran away.” Sooner or Later One of Us Must Know 1966, to his folk fans “And then you told me later as I apologized” then you told me later after I became what in the Left’s point of view was an apologist for America “That you were just kiddin’ me, you weren’t really from the farm” that you were just pretending, you weren’t a retread from the Depression Era Communists. Tarantula, “…disperse into segments” the Communists form factions “& die crazy deaths” that lead to their self-destruction “& bellowing” singing in a loud, powerful voice “farce” an empty show; a mockery “mortal” that which is fatal to their careers “farm” communist “vomit” regurgitated material “& why for Jesus Christ” for the love of God “be Just another meathead?” be just another stupid person “when all the tontos & heyboy lose their legs” when all the Uncle Tom’s, respectable Negros lose their justifiable and logical basis for defense; support “trying to frug” trying to do a dance that involves moving the hips, trying to screw White women “while kemosabe” while the Lone Ranger who can solve the problem; Bob Dylan’s Dream 1963, “Well, the Lone Ranger and Tonto / They
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are ridin’ down the line / Fixin’ ev’rybody’s troubles / Everybody ‘cept mine” “& mr paladin” the gun for hire, the hired killer, mercenary “spend their off hours remaining separate but equal” should be getting together as they are both needed to solve this problem “& anyway why not wait for laughter to straighten the works out meantime” why not wait until the majority of the population ridicules race mixing and integration? “Separate but equal” is a phrase used in the United States to describe systems of segregation giving different “colored only” facilities and services for Blacks, with the declaration that the quality of each group’s public facilities were supposedly to remain equal.
I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s brother no more. Well, he hands you a nickel He hands you a dime He asks you with a grin If you’re havin’ a good time, Then he fines you every time you slam the door.
“I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s brother no more” I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s “brother” a fellow member, as of a trade union “Well, he hands you a nickel, he hands you a dime” he gives you a nickel an hour raise here, a dime an hour raise there, he nickel and dimes you to death “He asks you with a grin” and for his own amusement he asks you “If you’re havin’ a good time” are you having a good time working an assembly line? Working at a job you hate? “Then he fines you” he penalizes you “every time you slam the door” every time you angrily walk out on your job and go out on strike, as he is in league with the bosses.
I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s pa no more. Well, he puts his cigar Out in your face just for kicks. His bedroom window It is made out of bricks. The National Guard stands around his door.
“I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s pa no more” the Soviet Union, the father of Communism, “Well, he puts his cigar” his puts his insubstantial, unreal, propaganda pushing Civil Rights “Out in your face” out in the White race’s midst “just for kicks” just to cause trouble, so he can get his version of kicks “His bedroom window” but his sexual moirés, “bedroom” as sexually suggestive; ‘a bedroom comedy’ as dictated by the Communist Party of the USSR “It is made out of bricks” bars inter-racial marriage as the White Russian race must be preserved, it’s sexual policies are dictated by Party stalwarts, “brick” a reliable person. The Days of ’49 1970 “Whatever the pitch they never would flinch, they never would fret or whine / Like good old
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bricks they stood the kicks in the days of ‘49” “The National Guard stands around his door” and that makes the Communists no different than Southern racists. Alabama Gov. George Wallace stood at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in a symbolic attempt to block two Black students from enrolling at the school. They were escorted inside by members of the federalized National Guard. Dylan expressed dissimilar thoughts about interracial marriage in I Shall Be Free #10 1964, “Now, I’m liberal, but to a degree / I want ev’rybody to be free / But if you think that I’ll let Barry Goldwater / Move in next door and marry my daughter / You must think I’m crazy!” Jokerman 1983, “You’re a man of the mountain” you communists thrive on people’s major problems “you can walk on the clouds” you possess nuclear weapons; Gates of Eden 1965, “Upon four legged forest clouds the cowboy angel rides”
“Manipulator of crowds” agitator within certain groups like unions “you’re a dream twister” where you pervert their decent aspirations, you pervert idealism “You’re going to Sodom and Gomorrah / But what do you care? Ain’t nobody there would want marry your sister” you attack American racism yet you yourself are racist. “Friend to the martyr” a fan of the Bob Dylan who was sacrificing his career; to the Left in I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine 1968 “No martyr is among ye now / Whom you can call your own” “a friend to the woman of shame” a fan of Karl Marx, the harlot, whore etc. “You look into” you investigate “the fiery furnace” those who have betrayed your God as in the tale of the Fiery Furnace in the Book of Daniel “you see the rich man without any name” and all you see is every rich person.
I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s ma no more. Well, she talks to all the servants About man and God and law. Everybody says She’s the brains behind pa. She’s sixty-eight, but she says she’s twenty-four.
“I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s ma no more” I ain’t gonna work for Communism’s conscience, Karl Marx no more; “Well, she talks to all the servants” she lectures all her soldiers “About man” humanism “and God” and how it will replace God “and law” and how this ties into economic laws “Everybody says / She’s the brains behind pa” Everyone agrees Marxism is the ideology of the Soviet Union “She’s sixty-eight, but she says she’s twenty-four” Marxism is antiquated and outdated yet pretends to be contemporary. Marx wrote Das Kapital in 1867 and it is not applicable to modern economics.
“Servants” as soldiers; Cat’s In The Well 1990, “The cat’s in the well and the servant” the Israeli soldier “is at the door” is awaiting opportunity at the
209 – V1 border “The drinks are ready” Israel has been drinking in military knowledge from the United States “and the dogs” the dogs of war, the Israelis, the slaves of the Americans “are going to war” will go to war against other Middle Eastern states.
Well, I try my best To be just like I am But everybody wants you To be just like them. They sing while you slave and I just get bored.
“Well, I try my best to be just like I am” I would like to express my true beliefs “But everybody” but my audience “wants you / To be just like them” wants me to sing Leftist protest songs “They say sing while you slave” they say sing while you are abjectly subservient to the influence of Communism “and I just get bored” Dylan gets bored as in Tarantula, to the Left, “i am so bored with your rules & regulations that i might not even talk to you again— just remember tho, when you evaluate a piece of butter” one of my poems “you are talking about yourself” you are projecting your own Leftwing beliefs on them “so you’d just better sign your name…” so you might as well have written them!
“Slave” as to be slave to the influence of; Tarantula, “gambler’s passion” the desire for wealth Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “how’re the gamblers that wheel an’ deal an’ shuffle ‘em around gonna be got outa the game?” “& his slave, the sparrow” and his puppet Bob Dylan; Gates of Eden “I try to harmonize with songs the lonesome sparrow sings” “& he’s ranting from a box of black platform” and Dylan is ranting from a soap box and endorsing an evil race mixing political platform.
MAGGIE'S FARM ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION 1
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more. Well, I wake in the morning, Fold my hands and pray for rain. I got a head full of ideas That are drivin' me insane. It's a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor.
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"I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more" I ain't gonna work with the Commies on their collective farm, prison farm, gulag, no more, no more "Well, I wake up" I am awakened, caused to be made aware of their evil "in the morning" early on in life "Fold my hands" withdraw my style of writing, lay my cards face down on a table, give up on Communism ever being a viable ideology. In Some Other Kinds of Songs Dylan discusses the British musical invasion, "four queens with pawed out hearts make believe they're still good but i should drop fold" "and pray for rain" and hope that I can write songs that show the full extent of my hatred for Soviet Communism "I got a head" a person who leads, rules, or is in charge; a leader, chief, or director "full of ideas" full of Communist ideology "That are drivin' me insane" forcing me into an irrational act or state, Isis "What drives me to you is what drives
211 – V1 me insane "It's a shame the way she makes me scrub" "scrub" slang, cancel or abandon; drop "the floor" the part of a legislative chamber or meeting hall where members are seated and from which they speak. It's a shame the way Communism abrogates democracy. "No, I ain't gonna work on Maggie's Farm no more." I am not going to further the work of the Communists anymore!
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more. Well, he hands you a nickel, He hands you a dime, He asks you with a grin If you're havin' a good time, Then he fines you every time you slam the door.
"I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more" brother: a fellow member, as of a trade union "Well, he hands you a nickel, He hands you a dime" he gives you a nickel an hour raise here, a dime an hour raise there "He asks you with a grin" he wants you to grin and bear it: informal to suffer hardship without complaint "If you're havin' a good time" sarcastic "Then he fines you" he penalizes the members "every time you slam the door" every time you become angry and strike, as he is in league with the bosses. Tarantula, "mickey mantle hitting a grand slam"
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more. Well, he puts his cigar Out in your face just for kicks. His bedroom window It is made out of bricks. The National Guard stands around his door.
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"I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more" the Soviet Union, the father of Communism, "Well, he puts his cigar" his puts his propaganda, Eleven Outlined Epitaphs, "as I stumble on lost cigars of Berthold Brecht" Brecht was a Communist play write whose works were used as Communist propaganda "Out in your face" out in your outward appearance, your race "just for kicks" for no real purpose, just to demonstrate his power, his kick "His bedroom window" his entre to sexuality, bedroom, sexually suggestive: a bedroom comedy; "It is made out of bricks" it bars inter-racial marriage as the Russian race must be preserved "The National Guard stands around his door" and the Communists are no better than the Southern racists. Alabama Gov. George Wallace stood at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in a symbolic attempt to block two black students from enrolling at the school. They were escorted inside by members of the federalized National Guard.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more. Well, she talks to all the servants About man and God and law. Everybody says She's the brains behind pa. She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
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"I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more" communism's conscience, Karl Marx "Well, she talks to all the servants" the followers of communism. Servant: one who expresses submission, recognizance, or debt to another, in this case Karl Marx "About man" humanism "and God" atheism "and law" economic laws "Everybody says / She's the brains behind pa" Marxism is the ideology of the Soviet Union "She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty- four" Marxism in antiquated and outdated yet pretends to be contemporary. Marx wrote Das Kapital in 1867 and it is not applicable to modern economics.
"mother, ma, mama" as conscience: Tarantula, "if i was you, i'd give in & go chop those trees down for my mother - after all, there's a little mother in all of us" George Washington's conscience bothered him so much he copped to chopping down a cherry tree that was off limits. Tarantula "by the way, you should call your mother 'Stella' just to show her that you mean business" illusion to the film On the Waterfront wherein Stella serves as Marlon Brando's conscience
Well, I try my best To be just like I am, But everybody wants you To be just like them. They sing while you slave and I just get bored.
"Well, I try my best / To be just like I am, / But everybody" the Communists "wants you / To be just like them / They sing while you slave" while you are abjectly subservient to a specified person: Karl Marx "and I just get bored"
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MAGGIE'S FARM ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION 2
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more. Well, I wake in the morning Fold my hands and pray for rain. I got a head full of ideas That are drivin' me insane. It's a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor.
“I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more” I ain’t gonna be a Depression Era Communist folksinger anymore “Well, I wake up” I come to my senses “in the morning” early on in life “Fold my hands” and surrender, give up “and pray for rain” and pray that the commies will be subject of intense hatred by America and will be destroyed “I got a head full of ideas” I got a brain filled with ideas about Communism “That are drivin' me insane” that is making me immoderate and wild in my desire to destroy it “It's a shame” it’s surely a condition of disgrace, dishonor and ignominy “the way she makes me scrub” the way Communism forces me to “scrub” slang, cancel and abandon; dismiss “the floor” democracy ‘the floor of United States Congress,’ the part of a legislative chamber or meeting hall where members are seated and from which they speak “No, I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s Farm no more.” No I ain’t gonna further the work of the totalitarian Communists anymore!
CATFISH
“Farm” as dust bowl, Depression; For Dave Glover, “The dirt farm songs - the dust bowl songs / The depression songs / the down and out songs.” Catfish,
Used to work on Mr. Finley’s farm But the old man wouldn’t pay So he packed his glove and took his arm An’ one day he just ran away
“Used to work on Mr. Finley's farm” used to be a Depression era folk singer “But the old man wouldn't pay” but there was no money in this outdated leftist crap any longer “So he packed” so he impacted his words “his glove” of combativeness, aggression “and took his arm” and took his power “An' one day he just ran away” and left the leftist folk world.
Come up where the Yankees are Dress up in a pinstripe suit
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Smoke a custom-made cigar Wear an alligator boot
“Come up where the Yankees are” come to New York City from the very different Mid-Western small town of Hibbing Minnesota “Dress up in a pinstripe suit” become a virtual prisoner of the Left due to the nature of the urban folk scene “Smoke a custom-made cigar” sing the customary songs praising Communism and attacking racism “Wear an alligator boot” boot up some dope and its “see you later alligator.” Gates of Eden continues,
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more. Well, he hands you a nickel He hands you a dime He asks you with a grin If you're havin' a good time, Then he fines you every time you slam the door.
“I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more” I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s “brother” a fellow member, as of a trade union “Well, he hands you a nickel, he hands you a dime” he gives you a nickel an hour raise here, a dime an hour raise there, he nickel and dimes you to death “He asks you with a grin” and for his own amusement he asks you “If you're havin' a good time” are you having a good time working an assembly line? Working at a job you hate? “Then he fines you” then he penalizes you “every time you slam the door” every time you angrily walk out on your job and go out on strike, as he is in league with the bosses.
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I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more. Well, he puts his cigar Out in your face just for kicks. His bedroom window It is made out of bricks. The National Guard stands around his door.
“I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more” I ain't gonna work for the Soviet Union, the father of Communism no more, “Well, he puts his cigar” well he puts his Communist propaganda pushing Civil Rights “Out in your face” out in the White race’s midst “just for kicks” just to cause trouble, so he can get his version of kicks “His bedroom” but his sexual moirés, “bedroom” as sexually suggestive; ‘a bedroom comedy’ as dictated by the Communist Party of the USSR “window” as an interval of time during which certain conditions or an opportunity exists - a window of sexual vulnerability “It is made out of bricks” bars inter-racial marriage as the White Russian race must be preserved, it’s sexual policies are dictated by Party stalwarts, “brick” a reliable person. Also “brick” as violence. The Russians would tend to get violent about inter-marriage. “The National Guard stands around his door” and that makes the Communists no different than Southern racists. Alabama Governor George Wallace stood at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in a symbolic attempt to block two Black students from enrolling at the school. They were escorted inside by members of the federalized National Guard.“Face” as race; in regard to James Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi; Oxford Town 1963, “Guns and clubs followed him down / All because his face was brown.” When The Ship Comes In 1963, “the sun” a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events “will respect” will avoid violation of, and interference with, “every face on the deck” every racial group that exists “the hour that the ship comes in” after the revolution. “Deck of cards” as a racial group; Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power) 1978; “There's a wicked” there is an evil by nature and in practice “wind still blowing” destructive force spreading “on that upper deck” on the superior White racial group “There's an iron cross still hanging down from around her neck” and so Dylan continues to embrace Nazi thought. Tight Connection To My Heart 1985, “Never could learn to drink that blood and call it wine” I never could accept, drink in, the patently false myths of Christianity, I never could even get them straight “Never could learn to look at your face and call it mine” I never could learn to look at your race and call it mine as I always regarded myself as a member of the Jewish race. Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “man in borrowed stomach” a man pretending he can stomach Blacks “slams wife in the face” reproves his wife about her inter-racial sexual relationships “an' rushes off t' civil rights meeting.” Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “orchard street through all those people on orchard street” through all those
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Jewish people “pants legs” the garment industry “in my face” in my race “‘comere! comere!’ ‘comere! comere!’ i don't need no clothes” I don’t need no Hassidic dress such as a yarmulke, I don’t need any words from you “an' cross the street” and leave that section of Manhattan, none-the-less “skull caps climb by themselves out of manholes” my Jewish heritage is revealed by the media as if it were sewage.
Brick as violence: “Brick by brick” a radical slogan meaning violence ‘We’ll tear the Pentagon down brick by brick.’ Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964. In an imaginary dialogue with a left wing radical Dylan wrote, “you say t' meet bricks with bricks” you say meet violence with violence “i say t' meet bricks with chalk.”
Chronicles, “I crossed over from Hudson to Spring, passed a garbage can loaded with bricks.” A garbage can loaded with violence? Who or what could this be?
“Brick” as party stalwart, The Days of ’49 1970 “Whatever the pitch they never would flinch, they never would fret or whine” sarcastic: whatever pitch Dylan played his music at be it folk or rock and roll they never would be displeased and complain “Like good old bricks they stood the kicks in the days of '49” more sarcasm: like loyal trustworthy fans, like violent out of control people they endured my rock and roll in the days of yore.
Dylan expressed dissimilar thoughts about interracial marriage to those expressed in Maggie’s Farm in I Shall Be Free #10 1964,
Now, I'm liberal, but to a degree I want ev'rybody to be free But if you think that I'll let Barry Goldwater Move in next door and marry my daughter You must think I'm crazy!
He expressed similar thoughts in Jokerman 1983,
You’re a man of the mountains; you can walk on the clouds Manipulator of crowds, you’re a dream twister You’re going to Sodom and Gomorrah But what do you care? Ain’t nobody there would want to marry your sister Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame You look into the fiery furnace; see the rich man without any name
You're a man of the mountain” you communists thrive on people’s major problems “you can walk on the clouds” you possess nuclear weapons; Gates
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of Eden 1965, “Upon four legged forest clouds the cowboy angel rides” “Manipulator of crowds” agitator within certain groups like unions “you're a dream twister” where you pervert their decent aspirations, you pervert idealism “You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah / But what do you care? / Ain't nobody there would want marry your sister” you attack American racism yet you yourself are racist. “Friend to the martyr” a fan of the Bob Dylan who was sacrificing his career; to the Left in I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine 1968 “No martyr is among ye now / Whom you can call your own” “a friend to the woman of shame” a fan of Karl Marx, the harlot, whore etc. “You look into” you investigate “the fiery furnace” those who have betrayed your God as in the tale of the Fiery Furnace in the Book of Daniel “you see the rich man without any name” and all you see is every rich person as being evil and therefore must be destroyed.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more. Well, she talks to all the servants About man and God and law. Everybody says She's the brains behind pa. She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
“I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more” I ain’t gonna work for Communism’s conscience, Karl Marx, the progenitor of Communism, Marxism no more; “Well, she talks to all the servants” he lectures all his followers “About man” about humanism “and God” and how it will replace God “and law” and how this ties into economic laws “Everybody says / She's the brains behind pa” everyone agrees Marxism is the ideology of the Soviet Union “She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four” Marxism is antiquated and outdated yet pretends to be contemporary. Marx wrote Das Kapital in 1867 and it is not applicable to modern economics. “Servants” as soldiers; Cat’s In The Well 1990,
The cat’s in the well and the servant is at the door The drinks are ready and the dogs are going to war
“The cat’s in the well” the Israelis are polluting the Middle East just as they were accused of poisoning wells in the Dark Ages “and the servant” and the Israeli soldier, the followers of Zionism “is at the door” is awaiting opportunity at the border “The drinks are ready” Israel has been drinking in military knowledge from the United States “and the dogs” the dogs of war, the Israelis, the slaves of the Americans “are going to war” will go to war against other Middle Eastern states. Maggie’s Farm continues:
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Well, I try my best To be just like I am But everybody wants you To be just like them. They sing while you slave and I just get bored.
“Well, I try my best to be just like I am” I would like to express my true beliefs “But everybody” but my audience “wants you / To be just like them” wants me to sing leftist protest songs “They say sing while you slave” they say sing while you are abjectly subservient to the influence of Communism “and I just get bored” and Dylan just gets bored as in Tarantula, to the Left, “i am so bored with your rules & regulations that i might not even talk to you again - just remember tho, when you evaluate a piece of butter” when you judge one of my poems “you are talking about yourself” you are projecting your own leftist beliefs on them “so you'd just better sign your name ...” so you might as well have written them!
“Slave” as to be slave to the influence of. Tarantula,
gambler's passion & his slave, the sparrow & he's ranting from a box of black platform & mesmerizing th' ball of daredevils to stay in the morning &
“gambler's passion” the desire for wealth, greed without earning it but stealing it by nationalizing it under a Socialist regime. Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “where is the party for those kind of feelings? how're the gamblers that wheel an' deal an' shuffle 'em around gonna be got outa the game?” “& his slave, the sparrow” and his puppet Bob Dylan; Gates of Eden 1965 “I try to harmonize with songs the lonesome sparrow sings” “& he's ranting from a box of black platform” and Dylan is ranting from a soap box and endorsing an evil race mixing political platform. In Highway 61 Revisited Dylan covertly wrote about Communist infiltration of folk music:
HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED 1965
Well Georgia Sam he had a bloody nose Welfare Department they wouldn’t give him no clothes He asked poor Howard where can I go Howard said there’s only one place I know Sam said tell me quick man I got to run Ol’ Howard just pointed with his gun And said that way down on Highway 61.
“Well Georgia Sam” the Communist Party USA controlled by the Soviet Union “had a bloody nose” idiomatic expression, they were defeated and damaged
220 – V1 but not permanently and seriously by McCarthyism; “Welfare Department” the anticommunist liberals who invented the welfare state “they wouldn’t give him no clothes” they wouldn’t let the Communists express themselves in words that clothed their true Soviet puppet totalitarian agenda “He asked poor Howard” the Communists asked a folksinger, poor Howard “where can I go? / Howard said there’s only one place I know” the folksinger responded that there is only one outlet that entertained Communist thought “Sam said tell me quick man I got to run” tell me quickly as it is urgent I run for office, take over America “Ol’ Howard” just pointed” wrote a song direct and obvious in meaning and reference; often unpleasant; ‘a pointed critique’ ‘a protest song’ “with his gun” accompanied by his acoustic guitar “And said that way down on Highway 61.” Howard said infiltrate the world of folk music and you will receive acceptance in the media.
“Georgia Sam” as the Soviet Union, i.e. the Republic of Georgia then under Soviet rule, Wanted Man 1969; “I might be in Colorado or Georgia by the sea” unlike the Republic of Georgia the American State of Georgia is landlocked “Working for some man who may not know at all who I might be” working for the Communists who think I am one of them “If you ever see me comin’ and if you know who I am / Don’t you breathe it to nobody” don’t blow my cover “‘cause you know I’m on the lam” because I am trying to escape from these Leftwing fans who want to keep me in a folk music prison.
“Clothes” as words; Down the Highway 1962, “I’m walkin’ down your highway” I am performing in public “With my suitcase in my hand” with a collection of words, “clothes” in my hand, my style of writing. Clothes Line Sage 1969, “Then they started to take back their clothes / Hang ‘em on the line.” Tarantula, “lenny” Lenny Bruce, comedian known for his use of dirty words “as the pilgrim angel” an iconoclastic guiding influence who embarked on a quest for something conceived of as sacred by others “the crime but that he reigns” the reason he was arrested and arraigned numerous times is that he has widespread influence “in highway” in public “christ clothes” by using swear words, “boots” at the same time he is booting up, shooting drugs intravenously “& a swagger” and he is arrogant about it.
“Poor” as folksinger and “Georgia” as the Soviet Union, i.e. the Republic of Georgia then under Soviet rule in Po’ Boy 2001, “Time and love” the zeitgeist of the 1960’s and the desires of the music fans “has branded me” has placed me in a distinctive category; a particular kind; ‘a brand of folk music that I do not care for.’ Also given me a mark of disgrace and notoriety; a stigma “with its claws” with its predatory grasp, stipulation that I had to write Leftwing songs “Had to go to Florida dodgin’ them Georgia laws” had to go to conservative politics to get away from that Old Left
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Communism; “Florida” as conservative politics, Tweeter and the Monkey Man 1988, “I guess I’ll go to Florida and get myself some sun” I guess I will adopt conservative politics, become a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events “ain’t no opportunity here” folk music is no longer a place for an opportunist “Everything’s been done” I have milked it dry “Poor boy in the hotel called the Palace of Bloom” L’Hotel De Ville, City Hall, Dylan the folksinger in his political phase when his talent was just starting to bloom “Called down to room service” pledged my life service to Communism “said ‘send up a room’” said supply me with a venue, supply me with a life.
“Gun” as guitar; Take A Message To Mary 1970, “Take a message” a message song “to Mary” to my former fans “But don’t tell her what I’ve done” sarcastic, they all know that I switched to rock and roll “Please, don’t mention the stage coach” the voice lessons “And the shot from a carried gun” and the sound of an electric guitar “Tell her I had to change my tune” tell them I had to switch to rock and roll “and cancel out our wedding day” and that I am no longer wedded to Leftist ideology “but please don’t mention the lonely cell” sarcastic; Communist Party Cell “where I’m gonna pine away” sarcastic; where I am going to languish with desire; to waste away with longing for folk music and Communism “until my dying day” which would have been soon if I would have remained a Commie folk musician. Also You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere 1967, “Buy me some rings and a gun that sings.”
Now the rovin’ gambler he was very bored He was tryin’ to create a next world war He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor He said I never engaged in this kind of thing before But yes I think it can be very easily done We’ll just put some bleachers out in the sun And have it on Highway 61.
“Now the rovin’ gambler” the Capitalist who wandered from a direct course and ventured into newspaper publishing “he was very bored” he was tired of the same old peaceful times “He was tryin’ to create a next world war” he was trying to goad American into the Spanish-American War “He found a promoter” he found someone who advocated war “who nearly fell off the floor” who had the right to address other elected officials from the floor of Congress as he was a member of Congress “He said” the rovin’ gambler said “I never engaged in this kind of thing before / But yes I think it can be very easily done” sarcastic; this is my first venture into war propaganda but I think I can handle it “We’ll just put some bleachers” we will bleach the newspapers so they no longer appear yellow “out in the sun” and strongly
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influence the course of events. Also in the Chicago Sun Times owned by Hearst or the World Telegram and Sun etc “And have it on Highway 61” and let the mass media goad the country into war.
The American yellow journalist press was held partially responsible for the Spanish American war. The media had no doubts about who was responsible for sinking the Maine, the incident that triggered off the war. It was the cowardly Spanish, they cried. William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal even published pictures. They showed how Spanish saboteurs had fastened an underwater mine to the Maine and had detonated it from shore. With God On Our Side, “The Spanish-American War had its day.”
SHE BELONGS TO ME 1965***
She’s got everything she needs She’s an artist, she don’t look back She can take the dark out of nighttime And paint the daytime black.
“She’s got everything she needs” she has all the propaganda apparatus she needs. She has things arranged each according to their needs “She’s an artist” she attracts many artists “she don’t look back” she has no regrets about what happened to artists during the McCarthy era “She can take the dark out of the nighttime” she can take the darkies out of the entertainment business “And paint the daytime black” and get the blacklisted.
Tarantula “dear dropout magazine, gentlemen: i understand that you are currently putting a book together about blacklisted or blackheaded artists or something. if it is the former, then I shall have to recommend that you place Jerry lee lewis first an foremost. if it is the latter, then i shall have to recommend that you contact the american medical society to discover the exact worth of such an undertaking in all respects, i remain a rabble rouser from the mountains Zeke the Cork”
You will start out standing Proud to steal her anything she sees But you will wind up peeking through her keyhole Down upon your knees.
“You will start out standing” you will start your career as an outstanding artist “Proud to steal her anything she sees” proud to transform your art into propaganda “But you will wind up peeking through her keyhole” but you will end up spying for the Soviet Union “Down upon your knees” and become
223 – V1 totally subservient to its wishes. Quit Your Lowdown Ways 1962, “Oh, you can read out your Bible, / You can fall down on your knees, pretty mama, / And pray to the Lord / But it ain’t gonna do no good.”
“Keyhole” as spying, Tarantula to the Communist Party members, “anxious to get together with you. i know you dont wear bow ties anymore but i’m interested in other aspects of your new faith too. by the way, are you still in the keyhole business? cant wait to talk to you bye, your buddy, Testy” Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “bringin’ me my memories of friends an’ sounds an’ colors / that can’t escape / trapped in keyholes.”
She never stumbles, She’s got no place to fall. She’s nobody’s child, The Law can’t touch her at all.
“She never stumbles / She’s got no place to fall” she never falls into sin as Communism is a godless religion “She’s nobody’s child” the communists are not Gods children “The Law can’t touch her at all” religious law can’t touch her at all.
She wears an Egyptian ring That sparkles before she speaks. She’s a hypnotist collector, You are a walking antique.
“She wears an Egyptian ring” the Soviet Union, Communism, has the ring of slavery about it “That sparkles” that produces the occurrence of a small flash or spark “before she speaks” before a gun gives off a sound on firing “She’s a hypnotist collector” she is adept at collecting people in one area and brainwashing them “You are a walking antique” and you are one of her victims.
“Egypt” as slavery; Neighborhood Bully 1983, “Every empire that’s enslaved him is gone / Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon.” Referring to heroin addiction in Tarantula, “you who does not talk any business & supplies my mind with blankness QUIERO TUS OJOS & your laughing & your slavery…there be no drunken risk—i am an intimate Egyptian—say goodbye to the marine.”
“Hypnotism” as brainwashing; No Time To Think 1978, “Socialism, hypnotism” Communist brainwashing “patriotism, materialism” national socialism “Fools” politicians, Soviet apparatchiks “making laws for the breaking” putting an end to, especially by force and strong opposition “of
224 – V1 jaws” free speech, even the most trivial “And the sound of the keys as they clink” making the threat of prison loom over everyone, ‘the clink’ slang for jail “But there’s no time to think” but I should have thought about all of this before hooking up with Communists.
ANGELINA 1981
Well, it’s always been my nature to take chances My right hand drawing back while my left hand advances Where the current is strong and the monkey dances To the tune of a concertina
“Well, it’s always been my nature to take chances” it has always been fundamental to me to take advantage of a favorable set of circumstances; an opportunity, a chance to become rich and famous “My Right hand” my Rightwing writing “drawing back” retreating, being held back, deliberately suppressed. Also “draw” as to portray in writing or speech; depict with words, ‘draws moving scenes of ghetto life’ “while my Left hand advances” while my phony Leftwing writing brings me advancement “Where the current is strong” where there is a general trend and drift to Leftwing folk music “and the monkey” a person who is duped by the Communists; ‘the Reds sure made a monkey out of Bob Dylan’ “dances” sings. Also Dylan danced around the real issues surrounding Communism and totalitarianism “To the tune of” and was in concord and agreement with, in harmony with “a concertina” the filthy Soviet Communist pigs that have innumerable political prisoners behind spools of barbed concertina wire in Siberian Gulags.
Monkey as dupe: Tarantula “he take her by the lily white cotton-picking hand & she say ‘yeah man i be a yellow monkey oowee!’ she say ‘yeah man i
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be a yellow monkey oowee!’ & he say ‘us you folly me baby snooks! just you folly me & you feel fine!” In Tarantula Dylan wrote about, in the third person, his having been a Woody Guthrie imitator “he don't like people that say he comes from the monkeys but nevertheless he is dull & he is destroyingly boring.” On the Road Again 1965 “Well, I go to pet your monkey” well I imitate and like Woody Guthrie “I get a face full of claws” and I am suddenly hooked up with a clause that stipulates that I most play folk music forever.
Blood dryin’ in my yellow hair as I go from shore to shore I know what it is that has drawn me to your door But whatever it could be, makes you think you’ve seen me before
“Blood dryin’” death is being preserved “in my yellow hair” by the strength of my songs based on newspaper articles that attempted to get people’s attention and influence their opinions by using strong language and false information; yellow journalism “as I go from shore to shore” as I go from the United States to the Soviet Union. “Shore” a country, as in John Brown 1962, “John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore” “I know what it is that has drawn me to your door” I know that it was folk music, a big draw in the early 1960’s, that provided an opportunity for me to succeed “But whatever it could be, makes you think you’ve seen me before?” sarcastic; I deliberately imitated Woody Guthrie to get the attention of the Leftwing folk community.
In the valley of the giants where the stars and stripes explode The peaches they were sweet and the milk and honey flowed I was only following instructions when the judge sent me down the road With your subpoena
“In the valley” in Hollywood valley “of the giants” inhabited by people of exceptional size, ability, and importance “where the stars” movie stars “and stripes” who are of all different political stripes “explode” are shown to be false and unreliable, where the American values embedded in the Red, White And Blue are destroyed “The peaches they were sweet” the Hollywood stars, writers and director who turned informant believed they were on high moral ground; to peach on someone is to inform on someone; turn informer. Also the Communist slogan, ‘After the revolution we will all eat peaches and cream’ “and the milk and honey flowed” and a lot of people whose ancestors could be traced back to the land of milk and honey, Israel, came forth with plenty of information “I was only following instructions” I was only following instructions on how to use something to my own advantage “when the judge” a critic “sent me down the road” propelled me into a new future, put
226 – V1 me on the course of Communist-tainted folk music “With your subpoena” and I compelled you to appear before me at a specified time at my concerts.
When you cease to exist, then who will you blame? I’ve tried my best to love you, but I cannot play this game Your best friend and my worst enemy is one and the same Angelina
“When you cease to exist” when the Communist Party is banned in America “then who will you blame?” will you blame it on your treasonous actions or the repressive actions of the Capitalists? “I’ve tried my best to love you” sarcastic; “but I cannot play this game” but I cannot play any more songs advocating the overthrow of the government “game” an illegal activity; a racket. “Your best friend” the Soviet Union “and my worst enemy is one and the same / Angelina.”
Tarantula, dear dropout magazine, gentlemen: i understand that you are currently putting a book together about blacklisted or blackheaded artists or something. if it is the former, then I shall have to recommend that you place jerry lee lewis first an foremost. if it is the latter, then i shall have to recommend that you contact the american medical society to discover the exact worth of such an undertaking in all respects, i remain a rabble rouser from the mountains Zeke the Cork.
There’s a black Mercedes rollin’ through the combat zone Your servants are half dead; you’re down to the bone Tell me, tall man, where would you like to be overthrown Maybe down in Jerusalem or Argentina?
“There’s a black” attended with disaster; calamitous “Mercedes” German tank “rollin’ through the combat zone” that has invaded Russia “Your servants are half dead” your loyal soldiers have incurred many casualties “you’re down to the bone” only the hard core is left and there are food shortages “Tell me, tall man” impressively difficult strongman, dictator “where would you like to be overthrown / Maybe down in Jerusalem or Argentina?” in areas connected to the Nazis, to Adolf Eichmann? Chronicles, “Adolf Eichmann, the chief Nazi Gestapo organizer who’d managed them, had been put on trial recently in Jerusalem. He’d escaped after the war and was captured by the Israelis at a bus stop in Argentina.”
“Tall” as impressively difficult; ‘a tall order’ Tarantula, “Having a Weird Drink with the Long Tall Stranger.” Restless Farewell 1964, “But the time ain’t tall” but my current work is not impressively difficult “Yet on time you depend”
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yet on LPs like The Times They Are a-Changin’ you depend “and no word” and no promise of loyalty “is possessed” is the exclusive possession “By no special friend” of any one particular group of fans “And though the line is cut” and though the line of folk singers beginning with Woody Guthrie has been severed “It ain’t quite the end / I’ll just bid farewell till we meet again” repetitive theme as in This Wheels on Fire 1967, “You know that we will meet again if your memory serves you well.” It should be noted here that Bob Dylan never had any intention of remaining a folksinger. In the first original Dylan poem on Bob Dylan CL1776 1962 he wrote, “The very last thing that I’d wanna do is to say I been hittin’ some hard travelin’ too.”
IT’S ALL OVER NOW BABY BLUE 1965
You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last. But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast. Yonder stands your orphan with his gun Crying like a fire in the sun. Look out the saints are comin’ through And it’s all over now, Baby Blue.
“You must leave now” Fidel Castro and Soviet Communism must leave Cuba now “take what you need, you think will last” take your Marxist economics and Das Kapital that you believed has lasted through the ages and is still applicable to modern day economies and political systems “But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast” but whatever in Cuba you wish
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obtain or appropriate unscrupulously or forcibly you better nationalize it fast “Yonder stands your orphan with his gun” not far off waits a Cuban exile with a gun supplied to him by the CIA who is taking a stand against Communism “Crying like a fire in the sun” and he is angry beyond comprehension “Look out the saints are comin’ through” judgment day is coming for the Soviets and their bearded Fidelista puppets “And it’s all over now, Baby Blue” and it’s all over now for Communism in Cuba.
“Orphan” as Cuban exile, Tarantula, “the soldier with the long beard” the president with the Harvard Degree, John Kennedy, “says go ask questions my son” says let us have an inquiry into the failure of the Bay of Pigs but “the shaggy” someone marked by a lack of performance “orphan” Cuban exile “says that it’s all a hype” but the Cuban exile believes it is just another whitewash “the bearded soldier says what’s a hype?” the President claims he does not even know what a whitewash is “& the shaggy orphan says what’s a son?” you really have no familial regard for me. “Beard” as professor, university; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs, “Eric, bearded Eric far in Boston” Eric Von Schimdt was a folksinger from Harvard University. Tarantula, “his theories on atomic nipples. his beard” Tarantula, “polishes his noisy beard now” ‘polish the apple’ slang a person who curries favor by gifts, flattery, as a child bringing his teacher an apple.
The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense. Take what you have gathered from coincidence. The empty-handed painter from your streets Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets. This sky, too, is folding under you And it’s all over now, Baby Blue.
“The highway” the public, the general population of Cuba “is for” supports “gamblers” Capitalists, not Communists “better use your sense” better use your common sense, Cubans appreciate the flow American currency into Cuba, and support America “Take what you have gathered from coincidence” be happy with what you have earned from gambling revenues while the casinos were kept open under your rule “The empty handed painter” the newspaper writer, the journalist, whose work lacked purpose and substance; and was essentially meaningless “from your streets” who worked the Communist street, who knows what you are really about “Is drawing” is writing “crazy patterns” a composite of your traits and features characteristic of Castro and the Communists that indicates both are insane “on your sheets” in your newspapers, “sheet” as newspaper, especially a tabloid “The sky too is folding under you” those of the highest level and degree: the professional class are also folding up their businesses and leaving for the
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United States “and it’s all over now Baby Blue” and it’s all over for Castro in Cuba.
“Painter” as prose writer; To Dave Glover 1962, “an road poets an road painters with lonesome thoughts an hungry feelings” Eleven Outlined Epitaphs, “content with all pictures” cinema “posters an’ the like that’re painted for me.” Tarantula, “like how long can someone of your caliber continue to paint pencil sharpeners. All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home. All your reindeer armies, are all going home. The lover who just walked out your door. Has taken all his blankets from the floor. The carpet, too, is moving under you And it’s all over now, Baby Blue.
“All your seasick sailors” all your sailors that you imported from the Soviet Union, a largely landlocked country “they are rowing home” are returning to Russia in defeat “All your reindeer armies” all the Russian armies that are accustomed to a much colder climate “are all going home” are returning to Russia “The lover who just walked out your door” the defector who just took the opportunity to leave Cuba “Has taken all his blankets” has taken with him his ability to cover so as to inhibit, suppress, and extinguish Communism “from the floor” from the floor of your legislature and the last vestiges of democracy have vanished “The carpet” carpet bagger a politician who seeks office in a place where he or she has no connections too, such as the Soviets in Cuba “is moving” is animate, alive, thriving “under you” under Castro’s version of Soviet Communism, “And it’s all over now, Baby Blue.” Tarantula, “wonder who the carpet baggers are? think, but dont ask no carpet” because the carpet has been bagged, gained possession of; captured.
Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you. Forget the dead you’ve left, they will not follow you. The vagabond who’s rapping at your door Is standing in the clothes that you once wore. Strike another match, go start anew And it’s all over now, Baby Blue.
“Leave your stepping stones behind” the Soviets will leave their stepping stone for Communism behind them after they return to Russia. Cuba is 90 miles from Key West, Florida and was termed a “stepping stone for Communism” by the mass media “something calls for you” extinction calls for Communism “Forget the dead you’ve left” forget the people in other Soviet satellite countries similar to Cuba “they will not follow you” they will not support Soviet expansionism “The vagabond” the unpredictable Cuban exile, Tarantula, to the pinkos, “entering the pink highway—your black mongrel vagabond, your rat from Delphi—now he shall tattle on your
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nauseous bra” “who’s rapping at your door” who is penetrating Soviet controlled Cuba’s border to carry out paramilitary operations. Who Killed Davey Moore? “Who came here from Cuba’s door / Where boxing ain’t allowed no more” “Is standing in the clothes that you once wore” is taking a stand against you using the same rhetoric about defeating dictatorships that Castro employed to come to power in Cuba. Also he is wearing military style clothing “Strike another match” find another country that is compatible with Communism, go peddle your totalitarian ideology elsewhere, cause destruction elsewhere “go start anew” sarcastic; go start a new revolution because “it’s all over now, Baby Blue.”
This anti-Castro thinking is in line with Dylan’s thoughts about Castro’s Cuba in Chronicles, “Nearby at the Biltmore, the Cuban Revolutionary Council was meeting. The Cuban government in exile. They had recently given a news conference, said that they needed bazookas and recoilless rifles and demolition experts and that those things cost money. If they could get enough donations, they could take back Cuba, the old Cuba, land of plantations, sugarcane, rice, tobacco patricians. The Roman Republic.”
VISIONS OF JOHANNA: 1966***
GASLIGHT CAFÉ: “IN THIS ROOM THE HEAT PIPES JUST COUGH.”
Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re tryin' to be so quiet? We sit here stranded, though we’re all doin’ our best to deny it And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin’ you to defy it Lights flicker from the opposite loft In this room the heat pipes just cough The country music station plays soft But there’s nothing, really nothing to turn off Just Louise and her lover so entwined And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind
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GERDES FOLK CITY “LIGHTS FLICKER FROM THE OPPOSITE LOFT.”
Ain’t it just like the entertainment business to want “play” folk music “tricks”1 when you want to play loud rock and roll (sarcastic)? We entertain here in the folk music world and will never go any in show business; we are unable to advance, stranded on a desert island called folk music, although all the folknicks are all in denial about it. There is a ray of hope from Gerdes Folk City located on the first floor of a loft building. But in this room, this venue, the Gaslight Café which was located in the basement of an apartment building so all the pipes from the building were there, there is no hope because it is the hootenanny pits of the Village, one step up from the Café Wha? The country music station, Dylan’s “station” in life as a folk music performer requires that he play acoustic, soft, which will turn off a lot of people. “There is nothing really nothing” is overstatement. Just the present and his folk music fans so entwined but these visions of the future, of rock and roll, that conquer my mind.
In the empty lot where the ladies play blind man’s bluff with the key chain And the all-night girls they whisper of escapades out on the “D” train We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight Ask himself if it’s him or them that’s really insane Louise, she’s all right, she’s just near She’s delicate and seems like the mirror But she just makes it all too concise and too clear That Johanna’s not here
1 Tricks as folk music “I come in on a ferris wheel” (I come in as revolutionary) and boys I sure was slick I come in like a ton of bricks (informal a reliable, trustworthy, or helpful person) and laid a few tricks on them. Lo and Behold. 232 – V1
The ghost of ’lectricity howls in the bones of her face Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place
In Washington Square Park where the folknicks play the songs of Blind Lemon this and Blind Boy that with the key they play in key: A tonal system consisting of seven tones in fixed relationship to a tonic, having a characteristic key signature and being the structural foundation of the bulk of Western music; tonality. And the buskers tell of what it was like playing music out on the D-Train subway line. You can hear Dylan click his flashlight and take a poetic picture then ask himself if this whole folk scene is insane or is it he that is insane? Currently I am in a opportunistic relationship with folk music and this seems like a reflection of me, like the mirror, my art, but folk music is too much like prose expressing much in few words; concise implies that unnecessary details or verbiage have been eliminated: a concise summary of a speech. Not poetic enough for a poet to be involved with, so Johanna, the future is not here. The past memory of when Bobby Zimmerman played in a rock and roll band cries out or wails loudly, as in pain, sorrow, or anger in the bones The fundamental plan or design, as of the plot of a book of his dignity. And his vision of being a rock star is all that remains.
Now, little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously He brags of his misery, he likes to live dangerously And when bringing her name up He speaks of a farewell kiss to me He’s sure got a lotta gall to be so useless and all
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Muttering small talk at the wall while I’m in the hall How can I explain? Oh, it’s so hard to get on And these visions of Johanna, they kept me up past the dawn
Now the other folk singers who are losers have a not easily answered or solved problem. They boo Dylan at his concerts and Dylan was to get them back for doing this. And when bringing the name of Louise, the present up, they say goodbye to Dylan for turning electric. The folkies sure has a lot of gall (similar to “You got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend when I was down you just stood there grinning – in +4th St.) to not have an influence on a broad based audience (intr) to grumble or complain light conversation at a barrier like censorship while Dylan is in the concert halls. How can I explain, it’s so hard to get on” sarcastic, he can explain it, it is hard to get on stage and make in New York City but his hope for the future kept his career going past its humble beginnings.
DYLAN AND FRED NEIL AT CAFÉ WHA?
Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues You can tell by the way she smiles See the primitive wallflower freeze
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When the jelly-faced women all sneeze Hear the one with the mustache say, “Jeeze I can’t find my knees” Oh, jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule But these visions of Johanna, they make it all seem so cruel
Inside the folk clubs were old things are preserved, also Hubert Flea Training Flea Circus and museum where Dylan played, infinity, everyone, goes up on stage to be evaluated as it is an open microphone or hootenanny. People they agree that passing the hat around makes you feel like you are in the Salvation Army after a while. But great art started with humble beginnings: Dylan singing songs like the “highway blues” e.g. Standing on the Highway 1961 you can tell by the way she smiles sarcastic the Mona Lisa’s Smile in enigmatic. See the untrained childlike solo acoustic performers informal a person who stays on the fringes of a dance or party on account of lacking a partner or being shy “freeze” become unable to act or speak, as from fear: froze in front of the audience. When the critics with an amorphous look on their faces either approving or disapproving them treat the performers as unimportant: “These deficits are nothing to sneeze at.” Hear the most manly of the lot get down on his knees and beg for recognition. Wealth and playing big concert halls, opera halls, opera glasses are bestowed upon those who stick it out in venues like the Gaslight, the Café Wha?, the Café Bizarre etc. but Dylan’s vision of his future make it seem like he is being put through these changes for naught.
MAFIA SOCIAL CLUB IN THE VILLAGE
The peddler now speaks to the countess who’s pretending to care for him Sayin’, “Name me someone that’s not a parasite and I’ll go out and say a prayer for him”
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But like Louise always says “Ya can’t look at much, can ya man?” As she, herself, prepares for him And Madonna, she still has not showed We see this empty cage now corrode Where her cape of the stage once had flowed The fiddler, he now steps to the road He writes ev’rything’s been returned which was owed On the back of the fish truck that loads While my conscience explodes The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain
The peddler now speaks to his manager, Albert Grossman, who is pretending to care for his music saying name me one promoter who is not a mafia parasite and I will say a prayer for him because he is probably dead. But like the present once said you don’t have much a future without him. And Madonna, and the Catholic Mafia, she still has not showed (win place and slow, gambling) we see this prison cell now fallen into disuse where her influence in show business, the stage, generated a cash flow Dylan now has left the Mafia controlled venues and goes on the road, on tour. He writes he paid off the shylocks loans on the back of the Italians who ran the wholesale fish business on Fulton Street in lower Manhattan and who load their weapons with bullets while Dylan’s conscience explodes rather than a weapon. Explode: To cause to release energy or burst violently and noisily The folk musicians play skeleton keys a scandalous fact or event in the past that is kept secret and that causes destruction where Dylan’s visions of the future are all his connection to all of this that remains.
DESOLATION ROW 1965
AMERICA IN THE EARLY 1960’s or Greenwich Village
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They’re selling postcards of the hanging They’re painting the passports brown The beauty parlor is filled with sailors The circus is in town Here comes the blind commissioner They’ve got him in a trance One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker The other is in his pants And the riot squad they’re restless They need somewhere to go As Lady and I look out tonight From Desolation Row
They’re selling postcards of the hanging
The record companies are selling message songs about the civil rights movement, which of course opposed lynching. Now the Civil Rights Movement approves of it as long as it a White cop.
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They’re painting the passports brown
In order to get anywhere in the music business you have to write about negroes
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
Everything thing is the opposite of the way it should be, everything is perverted or a small lounge or sitting room affording limited privacy, as at an inn or tavern, the cafes of Greenwich Village are filled with militants.
The circus is in town
Circus Informal Something suggestive of a circus, as in frenetic activity or noisy disorder
Here comes the blind commissioner 238 – V1
Sarcastic: Here comes the man who will give you record royalties, commissions, who chooses who performs or records without the benefit of background information that might prejudice the outcome or result. A liberal.
They’ve got him in a trance
The left has got him to believe in the Civil Rights Movement
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
His fate is tied to the racists like the KKK that ties a tight rope around Blacks necks.
The other is in his pants
And this is what he exploits to make his money
And the riot squad they’re restless
“Restless” having or showing a persistent desire for change or action: "A restless feeling of guilt would always be present with him" (James Joyce). Or “the natives are restless.” It probably comes out of the old Tarzan films of the 1930's. It a sort of racist statement where the white men are in Africa - and the natives are more primitive or closer to nature. So the natives are sensing problems which the white guys can't sense - because they're too civilized...And the Negros are rioting thanks to the Civil Right Movement
They need somewhere to go
They can all go to hell as far as Dylan is concerned
As Lady and I look out tonight
As my poetry and I look out for our safety and well being
From Desolation Row
From America
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Cinderella, she seems so easy “It takes one to know one,” she smiles And puts her hands in her back pockets Bette Davis style And in comes Romeo, he’s moaning “You Belong to Me I Believe” And someone says, “You’re in the wrong place my friend You better leave” And the only sound that’s left After the ambulances go Is Cinderella sweeping up On Desolation Row
Cinderella, she seems so easy
The Communist Party that claims it will make you go from rags to riches seems sympathetic to Bob Dylan
“It takes one to know one,” she smiles
It takes a low down communist to know another low down communist and smiles on folk singers like Bob
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And puts her helping hands in her former pockets of voters
And give them the equivalent of an academy award
And in comes Romeo, he’s moaning
“You Belong to Me I Believe”
See She Belongs To Me (he doesn’t belong to it CPUSA)
In comes Dylan he’s complaining I don’t belong to you
And someone says, “You’re in the wrong place my friend
You better leave”
Relative position in a series; standing.
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And the only sound that’s left
After the ambulances go
And the only lyrics that are LEFTIST
After great artists like Hemmingway go
Is the Communist Party in ruins not sweeping elections
On Desolation Row
Now the moon is almost hidden The stars are beginning to hide The fortune-telling lady Has even taken all her things inside All except for Cain and Abel And the hunchback of Notre Dame Everybody is making love Or else expecting rain And the Good Samaritan, he’s dressing He’s getting ready for the show He’s going to the carnival tonight On Desolation Row
Now the moon is almost hidden
Peace is unattainable, reaching for the moon
The stars are beginning to hide
Stars. The Four Star Generals are seeking shelter.
The fortune-telling lady
The military rank and file
Has even taken all her things inside
Has taken shelter along with their arms
All except for Cain and Abel
All except for the criminals
241 – V1
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
And those with physical problems that exempt them from draft
Everybody is making love
Everybody is trying to have kids which also exempts you
Or else expecting rain
Or else expecting rain, war as in Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. Expecting to go to war.
And the Good Samaritan, he’s dressing
The Army medic is getting his dressings ready
He’s getting ready for the show
He’s getting ready for casualties.
He’s going to the carnival tonight
He’s going to the carnival sarcastic: war tonight
On Desolation Row
While he is still in America. The first thing is to find words with similar meanings or connotations . This tells us it is the military: Now Ophelia, she’s ’neath the window For her I feel so afraid On her twenty-second birthday She already is an old maid To her, death is quite romantic She wears an iron vest Her profession’s her religion Her sin is her lifelessness And though her eyes are fixed upon Noah’s great rainbow She spends her time peeking Into Desolation Row
Now Ophelia, she’s ’neath the window
242 – V1
An interval of time during which an activity can or must take place: a window of vulnerability when the air force was subject to attack.
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid
The soldier will never be able to marry because he will be killed at an early age.
To her, death is quite romantic
Killing is imbued with idealism, a desire for adventure, etc.
She wears an iron vest
Body armor vest: Inflexible; unyielding: iron resolve. To place authority in the control of a person or group.
Her profession’s her religion
Something of overwhelming importance to a person
Her sin is her lifelessness
Not inhabited by living beings or capable of sustaining life: a lifeless planet.
And though her eyes are fixed upon
To direct steadily: site to put in position for operation, as artillery.
Noah’s great rainbow
The promise not to destroy every living creature on earth
She spends her time peeking
looking or peering furtively, as from a place of concealment.
Into Desolation Row
Making it a possibility for America.
243 – V1
Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood With his memories in a trunk Passed this way an hour ago With his friend, a jealous monk He looked so immaculately frightful As he bummed a cigarette Then he went off sniffing drainpipes And reciting the alphabet Now you would not think to look at him But he was famous long ago For playing the electric violin On Desolation Row
Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
A genius disguised as a Communist Woody Guthrie
With his memories in a trunk
Who is retired from folk singing and his remembrances are packed away in trunk: Also “trunk” the main Woody stem of a tree as distinct from its branches and roots.
Passed this way an hour ago
Passed for a genius recently
With his friend, a jealous monk
With his fan a communist union member “join the monks, the CIA” – Tiny Montgomery
He looked so immaculately frightful
Excessive; extreme: morally pure; free from sin or corruption
He had a degenerative nervous disorder Huntington’s Chorea:
As he bummed a cigarette
244 – V1
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Huntington’s Chorea drove him nuts and he ended up a state mental hospital.
Now you would not think to look at him
You would think to look at him in the medical state that he was in.
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
For playing folk music
On Desolation Row
In America
Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They’re trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
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She’s in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
“Have Mercy on His Soul”
They all play on pennywhistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row
Dr. Filth, he keeps his world / Inside of a leather cup
Sigmund Freud bases psychoanalysis on sexual perversion: Slang Of or relating to the wearing of leather, or patronized by people who wear leather, especially as a sexual fetish: a leather bar. Cup bra size.
But all his sexless patients
They’re trying to blow it up
But he is wrong because his patients who do not suffer from sexual problems explode his thesis by being violent
Now his nurse, some local loser
Now the psychiatrist, the disciple of Freud
She’s in charge of the cyanide hole
Can send someone to the gas chamber by saying they were sane when they committed their crime
And she also keeps the cards that read
“Have Mercy on His Soul”
Or get them off the hook. I remember reading this in a book by Lenny Bruce.
They all play on pennywhistles
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Penis shaped musical instruments
You can hear them blow
Blow: suck cock
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row
If you threaten to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and end up in Bellevue Psych ward for observation as Dylan did in 1961. Lilly, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts “he done a lot of bad things even once tried suicide” and he write about this in the liner notes to The Times They are A-changing.
Across the street they’ve nailed the curtains
They’re getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera
In a perfect image of a priest
They’re spoon feeding Casanova
To get him to feel more assured
Then they’ll kill him with self-confidence
After poisoning him with words
And the Phantom’s shouting to skinny girls
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“Get Outa Here If You Don’t Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row”
Across the street
In another venue
They’ve nailed the curtains
They have nailed down everything that could possibly be stolen by corrupt cops
They’re getting ready for the feast
They are getting ready for the predatory Irish Catholic cops to feast on Lenny Bruce. To bust his ass.
The Phantom of the Opera
A performer who has everyone scared to death
In a perfect image of a priest
Lenny Bruce: Impersonating a Priest Miami, FL 23-Apr-1951
They’re spoon feeding
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Casanova
They are selectively feeding information to a puritanical judge
Sarcastic Italian adventurer noted for his Mémoires, a vivid account of his sexual adventures and of contemporary society. Lenny Bruce used four letter words in his act.
To get him to feel more assured.
To get him to feel more assured that locking up Lenny is the right thing.
Then they’ll kill him with self-confidence.
Informal. To overcome completely or with irresistible effect: That comedian kills me. Of, relating to, or involving a swindle or fraud: a confidence scheme; a confidence trickster.
After poisoning him with words
After reading the judge a list of words Lenny used in his act.
And the Phantom’s shouting to skinny girls
And Lenny is telling reporters: Inside information; the real facts: learned the skinny on their falling-out.
“Get Outa Here
You are putting me on
If You Don’t Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row”
It’s the Judge who is really being punished for being part of America in the early 1960’s.
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Now at midnight all the agents And the superhuman crew Come out and round up everyone That knows more than they do Then they bring them to the factory Where the heart-attack machine Is strapped across their shoulders And then the kerosene Is brought down from the castles By insurance men who go Check to see that nobody is escaping To Desolation Row
Now at midnight
At the darkest hour
All the agents
A representative or official of a government or administrative department of a government: a Gestapo agent.
And the superhuman crew
And the rest of the Master race
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Arrest all the Jews who are really smarter than these Krauts will ever be.
Then they bring them to the factory
Then the bring them to the factory’s of death
Where the heart-attack machine
Where they are worked to death
Is strapped across their shoulders
Against their will
And then the kerosene 250 – V1
And then their death is sealed, they are to be cremated
Is brought down from the castles
By those in a place of privacy, security, or refuge who disappoint or dispirit: The cancellation of the ballgame brought us down..
By insurance men who go
By American capitalists who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
Breaking loose from confinement; getting free: escaping from death by being given asylum in….
To Desolation Row
The United States.
Praise be to Nero’s Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn And everybody’s shouting “Which Side Are You On?” And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot Fighting in the captain’s tower While calypso singers laugh at them And fishermen hold flowers Between the windows of the sea Where lovely mermaids flow And nobody has to think too much About Desolation Row
Praise be
(Theology) the extolling of a deity or the rendering of homage and gratitude to a deity
to Nero’s Neptune Senator Joseph McCarthy
Emperor of Rome (54-68) whose early reign was dominated by his mother, Agrippina the Younger. He had his mother and wife murdered, and he was
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accused of setting the Great Fire of Rome (64). He committed suicide after being deposed by the Senate.
The Titanic
Something Of enormous scope, power, or influence:
sails to make an attack (on) violently with words
at dawn
To begin to be perceived that Communists had infiltrated the US Government with the intent to overthrow it or spy on it on behalf of the Sovs.
And everybody’s shouting
“Which Side Are You On?”
Are you for America or are you for Russia?
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
And the Senate fascists and Jew haters
Fighting in the captain’s tower
A commissioned rank in the US Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above first lieutenant and below major. Tail-gunner Joe.
While calypso singers laugh at them
Folk singers including Dylan A type of music that originated in the West Indies, notably in Trinidad, and is characterized by improvised lyrics on topical or broadly humorous subjects.
And fishermen hold flowers
Zimmerman holds the best examples of art.
Between the windows of the sea
Between the perceptions of the masses
Where lovely mermaids flow
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Where mindless love songs once flowed
“Mermaid” as Joan Baez; Tarantula “crippled mermaid singing & listen that’s her singing now & she meows too…sweet mermaid she sings of ideals, different formulas & wild cookbooks / dark Scary, the weeper at the drop of anybody’s hat but his, sentimental yes.”
Dylan described Joan Baez as a mermaid in Tarantula, “on sweet mermaid she sings of ideals, different formulas & wild cookbooks / dark Scary…crippled mermaid singing & listen that's her singing now & she meows too.”
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row
Fisherman is Zimmerman.
skull caps climb by themselves out of manholes
Newsweek Magazine exposes me as a Jew. an' shoeboxes ride the cracks of the sidewalk
And my career is dependent of these wisecracks. fishermen - - Zimmerman (Newsweek published his real name) i've suddenly been turned into a fish (a jew) but does anybody wanna be a fisherman (Zimmerman) any more 'n i don't wanna be a fish (Jew)
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In Eleven Outlined Epitaphs commenting about an article in Newsweek Magazine that revealed that Bob Dylan was really a Jew named Robert Allen Zimmerman Dylan wrote that he did want to be known as “Zimmerman” using a similar word “Fisherman” but what was worse was the magazine identifying him as a Jew or a “fish.” fishermen - -
i've suddenly been turned into a fish but does anybody wanna be a fisherman any more 'n i don't wanna be a fish
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Yes, I received your letter yesterday (About the time the doorknob broke) When you asked how I was doing Was that some kind of joke? All these people that you mention Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame I had to rearrange their faces And give them all another name Right now I can’t read too good Don’t send me no more letters, no Not unless you mail them From Desolation Row
“I received” as a critic would receive a literary work “your letter” a message from the Left, for example CPUSA member Irwin Silber’s Open Letter to Bob Dylan castigating him for leaving the Left “yesterday” not long ago; “About the time the door knob broke” about the time in the chronology of our relationship when you could no longer opportunistically exploit me, use me as an open door to the masses of Americans “When you asked me how I was doing was that some kind of joke?” the CPUSA concerned about my well being? You gotta to be kidding. Positively Fourth Street, “You see me on the street you always act surprised / You say how are you good luck but you don’t mean it / When you know as well as me you’d rather see me paralyzed” stuck as a Leftist folksinger “Why don’t you come out once and scream it?” Also “joke” as folksong; Rockin’ Chair 1968, “Wouldn’t it be nice just to see the folks / Listen once again to those stale old jokes.” “All these people that you mention / I know them they’re quite lame” all of these Civil Rights people, folk musicians who support Civil Rights that you mention in the article, I already know they are just a bunch of lame-assed old Left commies “I had to rearrange their faces” I had to put into a different and systematic order all of their races, I had to give them nose jobs “And give them all a different name” and change their names so the public would not know that most of them are Jews “Right now I can’t read too good” sarcastic, right now I don’t read you too good, I’m far away from where you are politically, as I am on the Right “Don’t send me no more letters no” so don’t generate any Communist propaganda denouncing me no “Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row” not unless you share my belief that the world of Greenwich Village folk music is “Desolation Row.”
“Letter” as an article or a message; Open Letter to Bob Dylan; Chronicles, “In a few years’ time [Irwin Silber] would castigate me publicly in his magazine for turning my back on the folk community. It was an angry letter.” To the Left in Tarantula, “this is my last letter—I’ve tried to please you, but i see now that you have too much on your mind— what you need is
255 – V1 someone to flatter you—i would do that, but what would be the worth? after all, i need nothing from you.”
“Mail” as sing message songs; Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again 1966, “Well Shakespeare he’s in the alley” well a great poet is in the underground “With his pointed shoes and his bells” and looks like the court jester, pointed songs and music “Speaking to some French girl” catering to some obscene person, some communist “Who says she knows me well” who claims to understand what I am saying and believes it is a communistic message “And I would send a message” and I would write a message song for these fans “To find out if she’s talked” to discover if she has confessed to being an agent of a foreign power “But the post office has been stolen” but my old message songs used others ideas, and not mine, Tarantula, “Little Stick steals the white elephant” the small time Dylan plagiarizes something no one else wants. “And the mailbox is locked” and this phase has come to an end for good, my jaw is locked.
“French” as something that is obscene or obscene language as in Pardon my French; Tarantula, “citizen kane translated into dirty french.” Goose John Henry, negro medicine man from Denver, who plays folk songs for kicks & speaks french for a living.”
ALTERNATE EARLIER VERSION
“Yes I received” as a critic would receive a literary work “your letter” a message from the Left, for example CPUSA member Irwin Silber’s Open Letter to Bob Dylan castigating him for leaving the Left “yesterday” not long ago; “About the time the door knob broke” about the time in the chronology of our relationship when you could no longer opportunistically exploit me, use me as an open door to the masses of Americans, understand my poetry “When you asked me how I was doing was that some kind of joke?” the CPUSA concerned about my well being? You gotta be kidding? Positively Fourth Street, “You see me on the street you always act surprised / You say how are you good luck but you don’t mean it / When you know as well as me you’d rather see me paralyzed” when you know as well as me you’d rather see me stuck as a leftist folksinger “Why don’t you come out once and scream it?” Also “joke” as folksong; Rockin’ Chair 1968, sarcastic: “Wouldn’t it be nice just to see the folks / Listen once again to those stale old jokes.” “All these people that you mention / I know them they’re quite lame” all of these commies that you mention in the article, I already know they are just a bunch of lames “I had to rearrange their faces” I had to put all of their races into a different and systematic order, I had to rearrange their order of prestige “And give them all a different name” and change their names so the public would not know that most of them are Jews, and pretend they had
256 – V1 good reputations “Right now I can’t read too good” sarcastic, right now I don’t read you too good, I’m far away from where you are politically, as I am on the Right “Don’t send me no more letters no” so don’t generate any Communist propaganda denouncing me no “Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row” not unless you share my belief that the world of Greenwich Village folk music is “Desolation Row.”
“Letter” as an article or a message; Open Letter to Bob Dylan; Chronicles, “In a few years' time [Irwin Silber] would castigate me publicly in his magazine for turning my back on the folk community. It was an angry letter.” To the Left in Tarantula, this is my last letter - I've tried to please you, but i see now that you have too much on your mind - what you need is someone to flatter you - i would do that, but what would be the worth? after all, i need nothing from you.
“Mail” as sing message songs; Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again 1966,
Well, Shakespeare, he’s in the alley With his pointed shoes and his bells Speaking to some French girl Who says she knows me well And I would send a message To find out if she’s talked But the post office has been stolen And the mailbox is locked
“Well Shakespeare he's in the alley” well a great poet is writing about ghetto dwellers “With his pointed shoes” in his role writing songs with direct and obvious meaning that are often unpleasant; ‘a pointed critique’ ‘a protest song’ “and his bells” and his music and his status as a leper in the rest of the world “Speaking to some French girl” singing to some obscene person, some communist “Who says she knows me well” who claims to understand what I am saying and believes that it is a communistic message “And I would send a message” and I would write a message song for these fans “To find out if she's talked” to discover if she has confessed to being an agent of a foreign power “But the post office has been stolen” but my old message songs used others ideas, and not mine, Tarantula, “Little Stick steals the white elephant” the small time Dylan plagiarizes something no one else wants. “And the mailbox is locked” and this phase has come to an end for good, my jaw is locked.
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“French” as something that is obscene, or obscene language, as in Pardon my French; Tarantula, “citizen kane translated into dirty french.” Tarantula, “Goose John Henry, negro medicine man from Denver, who plays folk songs for kicks & speaks french for a living.”
Early in the mornin’ I’m callin’ you to Please come home Yes, I guess I could make it without you If I just didn’t feel so all alone
In the beginning of his career Dylan wanted to play rock and roll. Since this was not an option he made it in the folk music world playing acoustic sole but didn’t dig it.
Don’t let me down
I won’t let you down No I won’t You know I can if you can, honey But, honey, please don’t
I will revive rock and roll and not disappoint you. I can disappoint you by remaining in the folk world just as you can me but it is to neither of our benefits.
I got my black dog barkin’
Black dog barkin’ Yes it is now Yes it is now Outside my yard
I got my former Black slave protesting outside of my own private thoughts. In other words I dislike Negros but hide my dislike in my poetry which makes it seem as if I cotton to darkies.
Yes, I could tell you what he means If I just didn’t have to try so hard
I could tell you where Blacks are really coming from but you would never believe me.
Your mama’s workin’
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Your mama’s moanin’ She’s cryin’ you know She’s tryin’ you know You better go now Well, I’d tell you what she wants But I just don’t know how
Your conscious is working overtime, it bemoaning the state of Blacks in America, it crying out, protesting against racism, it is trying to pass legislation to prevent it. You are one a different side than me and I don’t want to be near you. Well I would tell you that your so-called conscience wants you to self-destruct but I don’t know how. Sarcastic. He just told them.
Fifteen jugglers
Five believers All dressed like men Tell yo’ mama not to worry because They’re just my friends
a person who fraudulently manipulates facts or figures
true believer – a book about political extremism by Eric Hoffer.
All a bunch of sissies
The your conscience not to worry
Because they are my fans. Sarcastic.
STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN 1966 ALTERNATIVE
259 – V1
Now the rainman gave me two cures, Then he said, “Jump right in.” The one was Texas medicine, The other was just railroad gin. An’ like a fool I mixed them An’ it strangled up my mind, An’ now people just get uglier An’ I have no sense of time. Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again.
“Now the rain man” the racist, the man who thrived on hatred “gave me two cures” gave me two cures to the problem of race relations “Then he said, ‘Jump right in’” jump right into the debate, express your point of view as a Rightist “The one was Texas medicine” one was to employ the methods used by Hitler against the Jews in Germany “The other was just railroad” Civil Rights “gin” and the other was Civil Rights legislation that was suited to African-Americans from the South “gin” as in cotton gin “And like a fool I mixed them” and like a politician I confused them and ended up on the side of race mixing and Civil Rights “And it strangled up my mind” and it suppressed, repressed and stifled my real thoughts on the matter “And now, people just get uglier” and as a result the African-Americans have become more uppity “And I have no sense of time” and even though I did this unlike the darkies, I still ain’t got no sense of natural rhythm like they do.
“Texas” as Europe and the Holocaust; Tarantula, “meanwhile back in texas, beautiful texas, Freud” Sigmund Freud was an Austrian “paces back & forth” Tarantula, “texas exploding” Europe at war “& dinner by the sea” while I was growing up in America “ship commanders” commanders of a revolution “with perfect features” with Aryan features.
Blind Willie McTell 1983, “Seen the arrow” a sign shaped like an arrow to show which way to go; in this case the swastika “on the doorpost” on the homes of Jews; also a mezuzah is affixed to the doorpost of Jewish homes to fulfill the Biblical commandment to inscribe the words of the Shema ‘on the doorposts of your house’ “Saying, ‘This land is condemned’” indicating that the Jews will be sent to death camps and their property appropriated for public use “All the way from New Orleans” all the way from Vichy France “To Jerusalem” to Palestine where Eichmann was born “I traveled through East Texas” I went about in the company of a particular group familiar with the Holocaust in Eastern Europe “Where many martyrs fell” where the Jews were murdered “And I know no one can sing the blues” and I know that no race has been more persecuted and has so much longing for those who were
260 – V1 killed by the Nazis “Like Blind Willie McTell” then the Jews. “See them big plantations burning” see Nazi death camp smokestacks in operation “Hear the cracking of the whips” hear people being herded into gas chambers “Smell that sweet magnolia blooming” sense the atmosphere of the Old South “And see the ghosts of slavery ships” and understand that slavery can lead to genocide “I can hear them tribes a-moaning” I can hear the 12 Tribes of the Hebrews suffering “I can hear the undertaker’s bell / Yeah, nobody can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell.”
“Railroad” as Civil Rights Bill; “railroad” to rush and push a bill through quickly through Congress in order to prevent careful consideration and possible criticism and obstruction; Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 Liner Notes 1962, “For the railroad” the Civil Rights “lines” official and prescribed policy; ‘the Democratic party line’ “were not beautiful / They were smoky” was ugly and discolored and soiled with soot “black” Black “an’ gutter-colored” and came from the ghetto where the coloreds lived “An’ filled with stink” filled with scandal “an’ soot” and White Communists in blackface who looked like they stepped out of minstrel show “an’ dust” and Communist bullshit. Tarantula, “mr. O’toole— falls out of his chair” a tool of the American Communist Party falls from his position of prominence and says “i must find some railroad tracks” I must find some tracks on a record about Civil Rights “i must put my ear to the tracks” I must lend a sympathetic ear to these tracks “i must listen for train” I must listen on behalf of the Movement “the column” a fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group, “of faces” of races. Tarantula, “beneath black flowery” beneath the Black leaders ornate and grandiloquent expressions, highly embellished words; ‘flowery speeches’ “railroad fans” about Civil Rights “& fig leaf” there is something that is concealing something thought to be shameful “shades” the degree to which a color is mixed with black “& dogs” and slaves “of all nite joes” of coffee houses “grow like arches” multiply like America’s chief foe.
“Train” as Civil Rights Movement; If Dogs Run Free, 1970, “If dogs run free, then why not we?” if Lincoln freed the slaves why not free white people? “Across the swooping plain?” across America, the fruited plain “My ears hear a symphony” sarcastic; I hear a harmonious combination of elements “Of two mules” made up of two stubborn sides “trains” the Civil Rights Movement “and rain” and those who hate African-Americans.
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MILLION DOLLAR BASH 1967
Well, that big dumb blonde With her wheel in the gorge And Turtle, that friend of theirs With his checks all forged And his cheeks in a chunk With his cheese in the cash They’re all gonna be there At that million dollar bash Ooh, baby, ooh-ee Ooh, baby, ooh-ee It’s that million dollar bash
In order to find out what big, dumb and Blonde means we have to look at it in the other contexts in which it appears. This was way I did the Dylan Word Concordance in the early 1970’s. Don’t write this off as nonsense poetry. Nonsense poetry does not win a Nobel Prize.
“big” famous as in a verse about this author from God Gave Names to All the Animals. “He wasn’t too small and he wasn’t too big think I’ll call him a pig.”
Tarantula: “Dumb whose right arm once went deaf & dumb (it can happen to some) Madmen oppose him, but your kindness throws him”
No Time to Think: “To survive it you play deaf and dumb.”
Blonde:
ah fair blondy ye lead me blindly I am in the gravel an' down on the gamut for our anniversary you can make me nervous clink sings the tower (prison guard tower and clink of a lock for dope fiends) clang sang the preacher inside of the altar outside of the theater mystery fails when treachery prevails
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I wouldn't be going to see Woody today. I was sitting in Chloe's kitchen, and the wind was howling and whistling by the window. I could look out on the street and see in both directions. Snow was falling like white dust. Up the street, towards the river, I watched a blonde lady in a fur coat with a guy in a heavy overcoat who walked with a limp. I watched them for a while and then looked over to the calendar on the wall.
Note “calendar” and “anniversary” associated with “blonde”
Tarantula: "Are there any questions?" the instructor asks. a blond haired little boy in the first row raises his hands an asks "how far to medico? "are there any questions?"
“Medico” is “doctor” in Spanish. Remember how Dyla used the word “doctor” in Leopard Pill Box Hat? Also Dylan often associates Spanish with heroin as in the following verse:
Tarantula: maria sleep lightly PERO TE QUITARAS cursing blond dynamite & TUS ROPAS ... there is a hatchet in maria's makeup & the spike driver moans,
Note that Blonde is also in this verse. It is associated with dynamite, strong heroin, and spike, another word for a hypodermic needle.
Hazel, dirty blonde hair I wouldn't be ashamed to be seen with you anywhere You got something I want plenty of (heroin) Ooh, a little touch of your love. (a little taste, a sample of smack)
I don't want nothin' from anyone, ain't that much to take Wouldn't know the difference between a real blonde and a fake Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery I wish someone would come and push back the clock for me.
After Dylan contracted HIV, a then incurable disease, he wouldn’t know real dugi from milk sugar.
So that famous folk singer who plays dumb on many issues and uses junk
“With his wheels” With his bogus revolutionary rhetoric and song lyrics ferris wheel runs in california park an' the sky trembles. turns red. above hiccups an' pointed
263 – V1
fingers.
“In a gorge”
to fill or choke up his fans.
“And turtle that friend of his” And Dylan’s fans the Leftists – Tarantula
can’t you figure out all this commie business for yourself? you know, like how long can car thieves terrify the nation? gotta go. there's a fire engine chasing me. see you when i get my degree. i'm going crazy without you. can’t see enough movies your crippled lover, benjamin turtle
“with his checks all forged”
Who inadequately vetted Dylan’s past when he first came to New York City and believed his outlandish romantic stories.
“With his cheeks”
Cheek: Impertinent boldness: had the cheek to believe communism was superior to capitalism.
When first I came to Louisville, some pleasure there to find A damsel there from Lexington was pleasing to my mind Her rosy cheeks, her ruby lips, like arrows pierced my breast And the name she bore was Flora, the lily of the west.
Your waist is light and slender, your fingers neat and small Your cheeks too red and rosy for to face the cannonball" Oh, to face the cannonball. I know my waist is slender and my fingers they are small But it would not make me tremble for to see ten thousand fall Oh, to see ten thousand fall.
Rosy: optimistic, esp excessively so: a rosy view of social improvements.
“in a chunk” in a considerable amount a substantial amount of something. The United States.
264 – V1
"Are there any questions?" the instructor asks. a blond haired little boy in the first row raises his hands an asks "how far to medico? "are there any questions?" the poor optical muse known as uncle & carrying a chunk of wind & trees from the meadow & the kind of uncle that says "holy moly" in a mild whisper meeting the farmer who say "here. have some hunger for you." & lay some good fine work in his nauseous lap
With his cheese in the cash” Being the big cheese who cashed in on the folk scene. Informal to obtain a profit or other advantage by timely exploitation: Profiteers cashed in during the gasoline shortage.
I was sick of the way my lyrics had been extrapolated, their meanings subverted into polemics and that I had been anointed as the Big Bubba of Rebellion, High Priest of Protest, the Czar of Dissent, the Duke of Disobedience, Leader of the Freeloaders, Kaiser of Apostasy, Archbishop of Anarchy, the Big Cheese. What the hell are we talking about? Horrible titles any way you want to look at it. All code words for Outlaw.
“Everybody’s gonna be there at that million dollar bash.” All of Dylan’s incarnations are going to be there at the Million Dollar Bash
Ev’rybody from right now To over there and back The louder they come The harder they crack Come now, sweet cream Don’t forget to flash We’re all gonna meet At that million dollar bash Ooh, baby, ooh-ee Ooh, baby, ooh-ee It’s that million dollar bash
All the media people who report on breaking news from over there in Europe and back to America. The more influential they are the more they make cracks about me that are hard on me. Come now cream of the journalists don’t forget to flash – light given off when a flash picture is taken. We are all gonna meet at that million dollar bash.
Well, I took my counselor Out to the barn Silly Nelly was there She told him a yarn Then along came Jones
265 – V1
Emptied the trash Ev’rybody went down To that million dollar bash
I took those who were advising me about politics to the slums. Silly Nelly, Bob pretending to be a leftwinger was there I told him an entertaining tale. Then along came any large building, esp an unattractive one yarn: Informal A long, often elaborate narrative of real or fictitious adventures; I took my drug counselor to a place where horse is kept and I was high on heroin and giddy so I told him a story of how I am getting off horse. Then along came my Jones, my addiction, and revealed I was trash talking.
Well, I’m hittin’ it too hard My stones won’t take I get up in the mornin’ But it’s too early to wake First it’s hello, goodbye Then push and then crash But we’re all gonna make it At that million dollar bash Ooh, baby, ooh-ee Ooh, baby, ooh-ee It’s that million dollar bash
6. Slang hit a. A dose of a narcotic drug. Hard: Extremely or dangerously addictive. Used of certain illegal drugs, such as heroin. Stones: Testicles. Get up: Achieve an erection; get a hard-on; Push: Slang To sell (a narcotic) illegally: push drugs. Crash Slang To undergo a period of unpleasant feeling or depression as an aftereffect of drug-taking.
I am shooting to much junk and it has affected by sex life. I have an erection in the morning to it’s too early to hit on my wife. So I tell her hello and goodbye then push the end of a hypodermic needle so that dope flows then crash out wasted but I am careful not to OD so I will be there at the million dollar bash. In other word junk turned Dylan into a limp dicked fuck.
Well, I looked at my watch I looked at my wrist Punched myself in the face
266 – V1
With my fist
I looked at the time and found it was time for another fix some I clenched my wrist to find a vein then punched a hole in the surface presented to view; the front.
I took my potatoes Down to be mashed Then I made it over To that million dollar bash
Hot potato slang a delicate or awkward matter to get stoned mash (Brewing) (esp in brewing) a mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water, from which malt is extracted then I was high on smack
TINY MONTGOMERY 1967
Now ev’ry boy and girl’s Gonna get their bang ’Cause Tiny Montgomery’s Gonna shake that thing Tell ev’rybody Down in ol’ Frisco That Tiny Montgomery’s comin’ Down to say hello
Now ev’ry boy and girl’s
Gonna get their bang
All of Dylan’s folk fans will be happy. Bang: Slang A sense of excitement; a thrill: We got a bang out of listening to Bob Dylan. Slang an injection of heroin or other narcotic
’Cause Tiny Montgomery’s
Gonna shake that thing
Because Bob is going to get rid of or put an end to his dope habit: could not shake the feeling that things would not work out; wanted to shake his habit.
267 – V1
Tell ev’rybody Down in ol’ Frisco That Tiny Montgomery’s comin’ Down to say hello
So tell his folk fans and lefties that Dylan is COMING DOWN, coming down offa smack. E.g. “the come down from A can be smoothed out with pot.”
Skinny Moo and Half-track Frank t-bone Frank They’re gonna both be gettin’ Outta the tank They’re gonna take on down by the bounding bank One bird book And a buzzard and a crow Tell ’em all That Tiny’s gonna say hello
Dylan the deficient woody Guthrie imitator. Skinny Moo from Quinn the Eskimo.
A cat's meow and a cow's moo, I can recite 'em all, Just tell me where it hurts yuh, honey, And I'll tell you who to call. Nobody can get no sleep, There's someone on ev'ryone's toes But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here, Ev'rybody's gonna wanna dose. Come all without, come all within, You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn.
Half-track Frank – and someone who’s LPs consisted of half acoustic, half rock and roll tracks.
And Dylan the junkie t-bone Frank – from Please Mrs. Henry
I'm a sweet bourbon daddy
268 – V1
And tonight I am blue I'm a thousand years old And I'm a generous bomb I'm T-boned and punctured But I'm known to be calm Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, Please Please, Missus Henry, please I'm down on my knees And I ain't got a dime.
They’re gonna both be gettin’
Outa the tank
They are both going to freed from folk music.
One bird book
A one song repertoire
And a buzzard
And a critic and a crow
Crow who boasted of Dylan’s superiority as an artist
Tell ’em all
That Tiny’s gonna say hello
Scratch your dad Do that bird Suck that pig And bring it on home Pick that drip And nose that doe And bake that doe Tell ’em all That Tiny says hello
Scratch your dad
269 – V1
Forget Woody Guthrie
Do that bird
Do that music you like
Suck that pig
To draw or be drawn by or as if by suction through metal pig iron
And bring it on home
And fill the eye dropper up
Pick that drip
something, such as an ice pick, toothpick, or needle used for picking. the usually intravenous drop-by-drop administration of a therapeutic solution, as of salt or sugar
And bake that dough
Burn that money,
Tell ’em all
That Tiny says hello
Now he’s king of the drunks
An’ he squeezes, too Watch out, Lester Take it, Lou Join the monks The C.I.O. Tell ’em all That Tiny Montgomery says hello
270 – V1
Now he’s king of the drunks
Dylan is the king of the junkies
An’ he squeezes, too
And he squeezes the end of an eye dropper or he gets opioid constipation
Watch out, Lester Take it, Lou Join the monks The C.I.O.
Join a union of junkies
Tell ’em all
That Tiny Montgomery says hello
Now grease that pig
271 – V1
And sing praise Go on out And gas that dog Trick on in Honk that stink Take it on down And watch it grow Play it low And pick it up Take it on in In a plucking cup Three-legged man And a hot-lipped hoe Tell ’em all Montgomery says hello
Now grease that pig
Now satisfy the communists
And sing praise
And sing the praise of Blacks
Go on out
And gas that dog
Do concerts and performances that gas, make very happy the blacks. Also gas as tear gas. “Me and my gal, my gal's son
We got met with a tear gas bomb” Oxford Town “Nightsticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks” Jokerman Tarantula “even gas masks can be worn in freedom” dog as black “I met a white man who walked a black dog” Hard Rain “I got my black dog barkin' Black dog barkin'” Five Believers
Trick on in
A deceptive or illusive appearance; an illusion:
Honk that stink
Loudly get behind the stink of the left
272 – V1
Take it on down
Take it down to an even lower level
And watch it grow
Watch it grow in popularity
Play it low
Play acoustic
And pick it up
Then pick up the tempo, pick up some dope
Take it on in
In a plucking cup
Shoot it up. a sudden pull or tug
Three-legged man
A freak
And a hot-lipped hoe
And someone you regard as a prostitute
Tell ’em all Montgomery says hello
Well you can tell ev’rybody Down in ol’ Frisco Tell ’em all Montgomery says hello
273 – V1
LO AND BEHOLD! 1967
I pulled out for San Anton’ I never felt so good My woman said she’d meet me there And of course, I knew she would The coachman, he hit me for my hook And he asked me my name I give it to him right away Then I hung my head in shame Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
I pulled out of San Anton’ I never felt so good
I pulled the needle out of my arm and was wasted on smack.
My woman said she’d meet me there And of course, I knew she would
My first love in the world said it would be there and from previous experience with dope I knew she would.
274 – V1
The coachman, he hit me for my hook And he asked me my name I give it to him right away Then I hung my head in shame
The one with the horse, the connection, he sold me a hit of smack to feed my habit, I was hooked and said are you Bob Dylan? I give him the money right away then hung my head in shame.
Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
Lookin for a fix of smack to get me out of my depressed anxious state.
I come into Pittsburgh At six-thirty flat I found myself a vacant seat An’ I put down my hat “What’s the matter, Molly, dear What’s the matter with your mound?” “What’s it to ya, Moby Dick? This is chicken town!” Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
“I come into Pittsburgh” I came into a small venue “At six-thirty flat” playing music below the pitch I intended to play it at “I found myself a vacant seat” I found a prominent position as a folk musician “An' I put down my hat” and adopted this as my role. Margarita 1988,
It was in Pittsburgh late one night I lost my hat got into a fight I rolled and tumbled till I saw the light Went to the big apple took a bite
“It was in Pittsburgh late one night” it was in my folk music past while I was performing “I lost my hat” I lost my true role as an entertainer “got into a fight” and I pretended to join the struggle of the Left “I rolled” I turned over and over like a dog, a running dog of Communism “and tumbled” and was confused and disordered “till I saw the light” until I saw some light at the end of the folk music tunnel “went to the big apple” found my way to the ultimate temptation for a “folkie,” rock and roll “took a bite."
275 – V1
“What’s the matter, Molly, dear What’s the matter with your mound?” “What’s it to ya, Moby Dick? This is chicken town!” Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
“What’s the matter, Molly, dear
What’s the matter with your mound?”
Mound: an accumulation of white powder on a glass surface suitable for snorting
“What’s it to ya, Moby Dick?
Someone perused relentlessly
This is chicken town!”
Any of various foolhardy competitions in which the participants persist in a dangerous course of action until one loses nerve and stops.
Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
I bought my girl A herd of moose One she could call her own Well, she came out the very next day To see where they had flown I’m goin’ down to Tennessee Get me a truck ‘r somethin’ Gonna save my money and rip it up! Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
I bought my girl
A herd of moose
276 – V1
One she could call her own
I bought my dope habit some cheap heroin – herd a large mass of ordinary people.
Well, she came out the very next day To see where they had flown
After pulled the needle out of my arm after using the stuff all day it was used up, gone, flown the coop.
I’m goin’ down to Tennessee Get me a truck ‘r somethin’ Gonna save my money and rip it up!
I am going somewhere else to get me some stronger smack. See Memphis Blues again for truck as smack. Gonna save my money and really get high, rip it up!
Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
Now, I come in on a Ferris wheel An’ boys, I sure was slick I come in like a ton of bricks Laid a few tricks on ’em Goin’ back to Pittsburgh Count up to thirty Round that horn and ride that herd Gonna thread up! Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
Now, I come in on a Ferris wheel
277 – V1
An’ boys, I sure was slick
I entered show business as a revolutionary even though I was just the opposite I was smart enough to convince the left I was one of them
I come in like a ton of bricks Laid a few tricks on ’em
I seemed to be reliable a good old brick, laid a few folk songs that seemed to be about the Civil Rights Movement but contained racist subcontent. “Tricks” as folk songs. Visions of Johanna: 1966
GASLIGHT CAFÉ: “IN THIS ROOM THE HEAT PIPES JUST COUGH
Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re tryin' to be so quiet? We sit here stranded, though we’re all doin’ our best to deny it And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin’ you to defy it Lights flicker from the opposite loft In this room the heat pipes just cough The country music station plays soft But there’s nothing, really nothing to turn off Just Louise and her lover so entwined And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind
278 – V1
GERDES FOLK CITY “LIGHTS FLICKER FROM THE OPPOSITE LOFT.”
Ain’t it just like the entertainment business to want “play” folk music “tricks” when you want to play loud rock and roll (sarcastic)? We entertain here in the folk music world and will never go any in show business; we are unable to advance, stranded on a desert island called folk music, although all the folknicks are all in denial about it. There is a ray of hope from Gerdes Folk City located on the first floor of a loft building. But in this room, this venue, the Gaslight Café which was located in the basement of an apartment building so all the pipes from the building were there, there is no hope because it is the hootenanny pits of the Village, one step up from the Café Wha? The country music station, Dylan’s “station” in life as a folk music performer requires that he play acoustic, soft, which will turn off a lot of people. “There is nothing really nothing” is overstatement. Just the present and his folk music fans so entwined but these visions of the future, of rock and roll, that conquer my mind.
Goin’ back to Pittsburgh Count up to thirty Round that horn and ride that herd Gonna thread up! Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
Goin’ back to Pittsburgh Count up to thirty
Going back to a small venue of about 30 people.
Round that horn and ride that herd
279 – V1
Take a snort of, a round of, dope through a horn like object and conquer that herd of fans.
Gonna thread up!
Gonna shoot up!
Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold Get me outa here, my dear man!
PLEASE, MISSUS HENRY 1967
Well, I’ve already had two beers I’m ready for the broom Please, Missus Henry, won’t you Take me to my room? I’m a good ol’ boy But I’ve been sniffin’ too many eggs Talkin’ to too many people Drinkin’ too many kegs Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! I’m down on my knees An’ I ain’t got a dime
Well, I’ve already had two beers
I’m ready for the broom
280 – V1
I already had two shots of weak dope. A new broom a newly appointed official, etc, eager to make changes, in this case a connection.
Please, Missus Henry, won’t you Take me to my room?
Please Ms. Henry won’t you take me to space that I love, being his on smack.
I’m a good ol’ boy But I’ve been sniffin’ too many eggs
Sniff: To inhale forcibly through the nose
Talkin’ to too many people Drinkin’ too many kegs
Shooting too much dope.
Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! I’m down on my knees An’ I ain’t got a dime (bag of heroin. $10 worth)
Dime as Dime Bag of H. “Your partners in crime (refers to those who on the Left who worked with me such as John Lennon who appeared on the cover of the New York Post wearing a Free Bob Dylan button that I gave him) / hit me up for nickels and dimes (John Lennon caged nickel and dime bags of heroin from me) / the man you were loving couldn’t never get clean (Lennon was an addict and had difficulty staying clean - drug free.
Declassified FBI files revealed that Lennon was an addict during the time I knew him) / It felt out of place (I didn’t feel I had the correct status, that I was not in the proper or designated niche, although I put Weberman in his place) / With my foot (resolve, determination) / in his face (dominating his personality) / He should have stayed where his money (his political power) / was green (could develop into something creative, fertile). Additionally when Dylan wrote “It felt out of place with my foot in his face” he is also speaking literally since he assaulted me on Elizabeth Street in Manhattan and threw me on the sidewalk, and stomped on me: Get out of my face - stay away from me).” (Where Are You Tonight - Journey Through Dark Heat 1978)
281 – V1
Well, I’m groanin’ in a hallway Pretty soon I’ll be mad Please, Missus Henry, won’t you Take me to your dad? I can drink like a fish I can crawl like a snake I can bite like a turkey I can slam like a drake Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! I’m down on my knees An’ I ain’t got a dime Well, I’m groanin’ in a hallway Pretty soon I’ll be mad Please, Missus Henry, won’t you Take me to your dad?
Well I am starting to experience withdrawal symptoms and pretty soon I will be desperate for heroin. Sounds like he already is if he is in the connections hallway. Please get me some dugi.
I can drink like a fish I can crawl like a snake I can bite like a turkey I can slam like a drake
I can drink like a fish
I can shoot up huge amounts of heroin
I can crawl like a snake to be or feel as if swarming or covered with moving things: My flesh crawled in horror.
I can bite like a turkey
Bite and is “take the bait” like a turkey someone easily fooled and stop using smack
I can slam like a drake
I get my sex drive back. Slam to have physical contact with. Drake: A fully sexually mature adult male duck of any duck species, wild or domestic.
282 – V1
Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! I’m down on my knees An’ I ain’t got a dime
Now, don’t crowd me, lady Or I’ll fill up your shoe I’m a sweet bourbon daddy An’ tonight I am blue I’m a thousand years old And I’m a generous bomb I’m T-boned and punctured But I’m known to be calm Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! I’m down on my knees An’ I ain’t got a dime
Now, don’t crowd me, lady
Or I’ll fill up your shoe
Don’t make me part of the folk crowd or I will take over your position as a rock star/
“Shoe”as Position; status: You would understand my decision if you put yourself in my shoes.
She said, "No dear" I said, "Your words aren't clear You'd better spit out your gum" She screamed till her face got so red Then she fell on the floor And I covered her up and then Thought I'd go look through her drawer. And when I was through I filled up my shoe And brought it to you
283 – V1
And you, you took me in You loved me then You didn't waste time And I, I never took much I never asked for your crutch Now don’t ask for mine.
The key here is a line found earlier in this poem “Then said, “What else you got left?” The hardline communists rejected Dylan when his lyrics became abstract rather than a form of social realism. She screamed till her face her pride became so red, ultra-communist, that she collapsed. Dylan covered up his connection with communism but was curious if he could still draw folk fans to his concerts. When he realized he could not he went back to the fans he had when he played in Minnesota as a teenager. Dylan never asked them about their alcohol consumption so don’t ask about his heroin habit.
I’m a sweet bourbon daddy An’ tonight I am blue
I’m a stone cold heroin addict in need of a fix.
I’m a thousand years old And I’m a generous bomb
I am an antiquated folk singer and will to become a failure Slang A dismal failure; a fiasco.
284 – V1
I’m T-boned and punctured
Used a hypodermic needle that is t-shaped
But I’m known to be calm
But it doesn’t bother me (sarcastic) I am tranquil thanks to heroin.
Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! I’m down on my knees An’ I ain’t got a dime Now, I’m startin’ to drain My stool’s gonna squeak If I walk too much farther My crane’s gonna leak Look, Missus Henry There’s only so much I can do Why don’t you look my way An’ pump me a few? Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! I’m down on my knees An’ I ain’t got a dime
Now, I’m startin’ to drain
To draw off (a liquid) by a gradual process such as through an eye dropper or hypodermic needle.
My stool’s gonna squeak
Opeoid constipation
If I walk too much farther
285 – V1
My crane’s gonna leak
to hesitate at danger, difficulty, etc. leak become public.
Look, Missus Henry
There’s only so much I can do
Look Ms. Henry there is almost so much I can do up
Why don’t you look my way
An’ pump me a few?
To cause to flow by means of a pump or pump like organ or device such as a set of works.
Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry, please! I’m down on my knees An’ I ain’t got a dime [bag of scag]
QUINN THE ESKIMO (THE MIGHTY QUINN) 1967
Ev’rybody’s building the big ships and the boats Some are building monuments Others, jotting down notes Ev’rybody’s in despair Ev’ry girl and boy But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here Ev’rybody’s gonna jump for joy Come all without, come all within You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
Ev’rybody’s building the big ships and the boats
All of pop music has become about revolution as in When The Ship Comes In.
Some are building monuments
Some are setting new precedents with outstanding enduring achievements
Others, jotting down notes
286 – V1
Others just jotting down musical notes.
Ev’rybody’s in despair Ev’ry girl and boy But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here Ev’rybody’s gonna jump for joy
The pop music industry is in despair about the war in Vietnam however a good snort of heroin will set them straight.
Come all without, come all within You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
Come all without smack come and see the world within your mind you’ll not see nothing like her-o-in.
I like to do just like the rest, I like my sugar sweet But guarding fumes and making haste It ain’t my cup of meat Ev’rybody’s ’neath the trees Feeding pigeons on a limb But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here All the pigeons gonna run to him Come all without, come all within You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
I like to do just like the rest, I like my sugar sweet
I like to do my military service like all the rest I like to keep America rich
But guarding fumes and making haste
It ain’t my cup of meat
But dodging, be on guard against explosives and retreating ain’t my pound of flesh
Ev’rybody’s ’neath the trees Feeding pigeons on a limb
Everybody is being punished as in hanging tree feeding orders to a person who is easily fooled or cheated, a draftee out one limb or who might lose a limb.
287 – V1
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here All the pigeons gonna run to him Come all without, come all within You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
But when there is some heroin around in Vietnam the soldiers are going to do it up.
A cat’s meow and a cow’s moo, I can recite ’em all Just tell me where it hurts yuh, honey And I’ll tell you who to call Nobody can get no sleep There’s someone on ev’ryone’s toes But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here Ev’rybody’s gonna wanna doze Come all without, come all within You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
A cat’s meow and a cow’s moo, I can recite ’em all
The cat’s meow, strong smack and a cows moo, weak smack, as in Skinny Mo from Tiny Montgomery I have used them all.
Just tell me where it hurts yuh, honey
And I’ll tell you who to call
Just tell me where you are wounded and I will tell you to call a connection
Nobody can get no sleep
There’s someone on ev’ryone’s toes
Nobody can get no smack there is some from preventing them from dancing “weary toes a touchin’” as in Mr. Tambourine man.
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here Ev’rybody’s gonna wanna doze Come all without, come all within You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
But when the smack get here everyone is gonna want a dose or wanna doze, nod out.
288 – V1
LAY, LADY, LAY
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed Whatever colors you have in your mind I’ll show them to you and you’ll see them shine
Cover my mind with opiate happiness. Whatever happiness you have latent in your mind heroin will awaken it and you’ll see it shine, become prominent.
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean And you’re the best thing that he’s ever seen
Dylan words were dirty, glorifying communism and race mixing but he never really did anything other than sing about it and heroin’s the best drug that he’s has ever seen.
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile Why wait any longer for the world to begin You can have your cake and eat it too Why wait any longer for the one you love When he’s standing in front of you
Cake: a mass, slab, or crust of a solidified or compressed substance such as coke or dope. Get behind some good dugi, Jack. Thread up!
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead I long to see you in the morning light I long to reach for you in the night Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
Stay with me while the present is still “a head” Slang Of, relating to, or for drugs or drug users I need a fix when I get up in the morning and I dream about getting high when I am asleep. Sometimes my addiction awakens me. I am truly a dope fiend.
289 – V1
LIVING THE BLUES 1969
Since you’ve been gone I’ve been walking around With my head bowed down to my shoes I’ve been living the blues Ev’ry night without you
Since I stopped using scag I have been living in a depressed state of mind. I been messed up without smack.
I don’t have to go far
To know where you are Strangers all give me the news I’ve been living the blues Ev’ry night without you.
I can easily cop a few bags all my close associates (strangers – sarcastic) will sell it to me or lay some on me.
I think that it’s best I soon get some rest And forget my pride But I can’t deny This feeling that I Carry for you deep down inside If you see me this way You’d come back and you’d stay Oh, how could you refuse I’ve been living the blues Ev’ry night without you
290 – V1
“I think that it's best, I soon get some rest” I think that I should take a break from using heroin “And forget my pride” and not be arrogant any longer “But I can't deny” but I can’t deny, as one would deny oneself an intoxicant “This feeling that I carry for you deep down inside” my primal desire for smack “If you see me this way” if you witnessed me go through withdrawal symptoms, cold turkey “You'd come back and you'd stay, Oh, how could you refuse / I been living the blues” and I am living a life of longing “Every night without you” every night without heroin.
BAND OF THE HAND (IT’S HELL TIME MAN!) 1986
Down these streets the fools rule There’s no freedom or self respect A knife’s point or a trip to the joint Is about all you can expect They kill people here who stand up for their rights The system’s just too damned corrupt It’s always the same, the name of the game Is who do you know higher up
The blacks and the whites Steal the other kids’ lives Wealth is a filthy rag So erotic so unpatriotic So wrapped up in the American flag
The witchcraft scum exploiting the dumb Turns children into crooks and slaves Whose heroes and healers are real stoned dealers Who should be put in their graves
Listen to me Mr. Pusherman This might be your last night in a bed so soft There are pimps on the make, politicians on the take You can’t pay us off
We’re gonna blow up your home of Voodoo And watch it burn without any regret We got the power, we’re the new government You just don’t know it yet
For all of my brothers from Vietnam And my uncles from World War II I’ve got to say that it’s countdown time now
291 – V1
We’re gonna do what the law should do
And for you pretty baby I know your story is too painful to share One day though you’ll be talking in your sleep And when you do, I wanna be there
HUCK’S TUNE 2007
Well I wandered alone through a desert of stone And I dreamt of my future wife My sword's in my hand and I'm next in command In this version of death called life My plate and my cup are right straight up I took a rose from the hand of a child When I kiss your lips, the honey drips But I'm gonna have to put you down for a while
Dylan digs dugi but he is gonna have to cool it for a while. He wanders in a desert of stone married to smack with his works in his hand and he is dominated by the drug – next in command – in the scummy junkie existence cheap knock off for life. When I embrace you I am in a sweet land but….
Every day we meet on any old street And you're in your girlish prime The short and the tall are coming to the ball I go there all the time Behind every tree, there's something to see The river is wider than a mile I tried you twice, you can't be nice I'm gonna have to put you down for a while
Here come the nurse with money in her purse Here come the ladies and men You push it all in and you've no chance to win You play 'em on down to the end I'm laying in the sand getting a sunshine tan Moving along riding in style From my toes to my head, you knock me dead I'm gonna have to put you down for a while
I count the years and I shed no tears I'm blinded to what might have been Nature's voice makes my heart rejoice
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Play me the wild song of the wind I found hopeless love in the room above When the sun and the weather were mild You're as fine as wine, I ain't handing you no line But I'm gonna have to put you down for a while
All the merry little elves can go hang themselves My faith is as cold as can be I'm stacked high to the roof and I'm not without proof If you don't believe me, come see You think I'm blue, I think so too In my words, you'll find no guile The game's gotten old, the deck's gone cold And I'm gonna have to put you down for a while
The game's gotten old, the deck's (12 bags of schmeck held together with rubber band) gone cold I'm gonna have to put you down for a while. I am sure the reader gets the gist of this poem.
LINER NOTES ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN
I kicked a heroin habit in New York City I got very, very strung out for a while, I mean really, very strung out. And I kicked the habit. I had about a $25-a-day habit and I kicked it.
Heroin, the stuff, junk, dugi, smack, dope, scag, H and for Jewish drug addicts, schmeck. (Bob even called himself Hector Schmector) I never knew the boy was Jewish back then, never knew his real name was Zimmerman with one n. That’s why I was so forthcoming with him about my Nazi beliefs. Anyhow back then Bobby even sang heroin’s praises by adding a line to a Woody Guthrie song entitled Take Me For A Ride In Your Car Car, “How’d ya hogi hegi hogee / how’d ya like to do some dugi?” He even wrote liner notes, that although they appeared to be about the Kennedy assassination, were really about the first time he mainlined junk. yesterday an hour ago it came t' me in a second's flash
Flash Slang: The pleasurable sensation that accompanies the use of a drug; a rush.
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an' was all so clear it still is now yes it is it's maybe hidin' it must be hidin' the shot has shook me up
shot: A hypodermic injection.
Shake up: To upset by or as if by a physical jolt
Jolt: A brief strong portion: a jolt of whiskey.
. . . for I've never heard that sound before bringing wild thoughts at first ragged wild
Ragged: Exhausted or worn out: Don't run yourself ragged shooting dope.
numb wild
Deprived of sensation, as by anesthesia: fingers numb with cold.
now though they've leveled out an' been wrung out
To extract (liquid) by twisting or compressing.
leavin' nothin' but the strangeness
the roots within a washed - out cloth drippin' from the clothesline pole
In Chronicles Dylan described my method of extracting heroin from opium “Boiling and re-boiling and draining liquid through filtered cloth-the kitchen smelled like cat piss.” strange thoughts doubtin' thoughts useless an' unnecessary the blast it's true
Blast Slang A highly exciting or pleasurable experience
294 – V1 startled me back but for a spell spell: a trance. “As in cast your dancin’ spell my way I promise to go under it” in Mr. Tambourine man.
Dylan ghostwrote all of the songs for The Band.
THE WEIGHT
I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' about half past dead I just need some place where I can lay my head "Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?" He just grinned and shook my hand and, "No", was all he said
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“I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' about half past dead”
Same phrasing as “I pulled into Pittsburgh, six thirty flat.” I needed a fix and was feeling about half past dead. I just needed some head stash. Hey man can you tell me where a man might find a bag of dope. He slipped in my hand and “No” was all he said
Take a load off Fannie Take a load for free Take a load off Fannie And you put the load right on me (You put the load right on me)
Buy a dozen bags of heroin held together with a rubber band take a load for free – no one gives away horse except for the first time and you can give the dope right to me.
I picked up my bag and I went lookin' for a place to hide When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin' side by side And I said, "Hey, Carmen, come on, would you like to go downtown?" And she said, "Well, I gotta go but my friend can stick around"
I picked up my bag – pick a sharp pointed instrument like a needle. Bag bag of heroin and went looking for a place to nod out in. It was then I pleasure, Carmen and the Devil, addiction walking side by side. I said hey pleasure would you like to take care of business? She said I will disappear by the addiction with stick around.
Go down, Miss Moses, there ain't nothin' that you can say 'Cause it’s just ol' Luke and Luke's waitin' on the Judgment Day "Well, now Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?" He said, "Do me a favor, son, won't you stay an' keep Anna Lee company?" The law giver has no right to judge Dylan. Judgment Day. In Christianity the day at the end of the world when God judges the moral worth of individual humans or the whole human race. Dylan then asks Luke what about my being a drug addict. Luke tells him he will be able to get heroin in heaven.
Crazy Chester followed me and he caught me in the fog He said, "I will fix your rack, if you'll take Jack, my dog" I said, "Wait a minute, Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man" He said, "That's okay, boy, won't you feed him when you can?"
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Fog being wacked out.
Fix a shot of dope
You might steal from family members or friends in order to feed your habit.
Catch a Cannonball, now, to take me down the line My, my bag is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time To get back to Miss Fannie, you know she's the only one Who sent me here with her regards for everyone
Find a black dope connection. In Blowin in the Wind’s subcontent Dylan asks “How many times must the cannon balls fly before their forever banned?” how many times must Blacks fly off the handle and commit crimes before they are treated like those in South Africa. Under the former system of apartheid, to deprive (a person suspected of illegal activity) of the right of free movement and association with others. My bag of dope in running and I do believe its time to get back to the connection, you know he’s the only one who can put me in sync with humanity. Similar to “Tell everyone in old Frisco Tiny Montgomery says hello.”
ONE MORE WEEKEND 1969
Slippin’ and slidin’ like a weasel on the run I’m lookin’ good to see you, yeah, and we can have some fun One more weekend, one more weekend with you One more weekend, one more weekend’ll do
Weasel: A person regarded as sneaky or treacherous.
During our telephone conversation Dylan told me he was “all tied up for the weekend” and was hinting that it was only on the weekends that he would have a tourniquet tied around his arm and he would be shooting dope. Note: In a tape recorded telephone conversation told me that he couldn’t see me on a Saturday because “I’m all tied up for the weekend.” When Rolling Stone Magazine reprinted parts of this conversation Dylan had this sentence changed to “I’m busy for the weekend.”
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Come on down to my ship, honey, ride on deck We’ll fly over the ocean just like you suspect One more weekend, one more weekend with you One more weekend, one more weekend’ll do
“Come on down to my ship” let’s get wasted “honey, ride” be sustained “on deck” by a deck of heroin “We’ll fly over the ocean” we will get high “just like they suspect” just like they suspect thanks to Weberman writing about my addiction “One more weekend, one more weekend will do” up.
Ship as something that gets you high: “Take me for a trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship” – Mr. Tambourine Man
“Deck” as 1 to 15 grams of heroin, and cut-deck as heroin mixed with powdered milk; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs “it’s your turn baby t’ cut the deck” dilute or step on the drug “on you’re goin’ under” on smack you are going under its effects, you might also go under the earth “stayed too long chinese gong” used heroin, China White, for too long and I am addicted. Huck’s Song 2007, “The game’s gotten old, the deck’s gone cold / I’m gonna have to put you down for a while.” Black Diamond Bay 1975, “Says Open up another deck / But the dealer say “Attendez-vous, s’il vous plait’”
We’ll fly the night away Hang out the whole next day Things will be okay You wait and see We’ll go someplace unknown Leave all the children home Honey, why not go alone Just you and me
Fly high To be elated: They were flying high after their first fix.
Comin’ and goin’ like a rabbit in the wood I’m happy just to see you, yeah, lookin’ so good One more weekend, one more weekend with you One more weekend, one more weekend’ll do (yes, you will!)
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Like a needle in a haystack, I’m gonna find you yet You’re the sweetest gone mama that this boy’s ever gonna get One more weekend, one more weekend with you One more weekend, one more weekend’ll do
Needle: a slender hollow instrument for introducing material into the body (as by insertion under the skin)
THE RUMOR 1970
Now when the rumor comes to your town It grows, it grows, where it started no one knows Some of your neighbors will invite it right in Maybe it's a lie, even if it's a sin, they'll repeat the rumor again
Now when Al’s underground newspaper stories comes to your city, hey these articles become plentiful, some of your fans will believe it. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s a lie, maybe it’s a sin, whatever, they will repeat the rumor that I am a junkie again.
Close your eyes, hang down your head Until a fog blows away, let it blow away Open up your arms and feel the good It's a'comin', a brand new day
Close your eyes, shut the door – I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, hang down your head, nod out, until the fog, the heroin high, note previous use of fog in The Weight. Open up your arms note similar use in I Threw It All Away “I once held her in my arms.” Also note use of “brand new” as in Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat.
Big men little men turn into dust Maybe it was all in fun, didn't mean to ruin no one Could there be someone among this crowd Who's been accused had his name so misused and his privacy refused
A big man on campus like Dylan turns into someone who had his dustbin analyzed. Could there be another performer who has accused of being a doper and had his privacy invaded by a garbologist?
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Now all you vigilantes want to make a move Maybe they won't, you know I sure hope they don't For whether this rumor proves true or false You can forgive, a'you can regret, but you can never ever forget
Now all the members of the Dylan Liberation Front want to make a move against and I hope this blows over. But whether the rumor about me using smack proves true or false maybe I can forgive Al after I regret using dope but I can never forget the dirty tricks he played on me.
AS I WENT OUT ONE MORNING 1968
Tom Paine stood for freedom and bore no resemblance to the Communist Party; however the Communist Party devised an award in his name. Dylan attended the Communist Party’s Emergency Civil Liberties Union dinner where he was presented with the Tom Paine Emergency Civil Liberties award for furthering Communism in the United States. But Dylan told off the Communists that night with a tasteless speech linking them to Oswald and did Tom Paine proud!
As I went out one morning To breathe the air around Tom Paine’s I spied the fairest damsel That ever did walk in chains.
“As I went out one morning” as I went out like a light bulb in the early part of my career “to breathe” to live “the air” a peculiar characteristic and impression; an aura “around Tom Paine’s” around that of Tom Paine “I spied” I felt like a spy reporting on “the fairest damsel” the Communist Party, sarcastic; “fair” being in accordance with relative merit and significance, Karl Marx, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” “That ever did walk in chains” that ever claimed to
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unite the working class and free the workers of the world from their chains yet itself was locked into the chains of totalitarianism and dogmatic Socialist economics
“Breath” as live; Chronicles, “Janis would soon breathe no more” Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 Liner Notes 1962, “For the breeze” for the chance to breeze into folk stardom “I heard in a young girl’s breath” I detected in Joan Baez’s life “Proved true as sex an’ womanhood.” “Breeze” as move swiftly and unimpeded; Ballad in Plain D 1964, “Through a young summer’s breeze, I stole her away”
I offer’d her my hand She took me by the arm. I knew that very instant She meant to do me harm.
“I offer’d her my hand” sarcastic; I offered to help the CPUSA with my writing “She took me by the arm” she wanted to deceive me, “take me” and put me under her power, she wanted me to join an administrative or functional branch, of an organization, a Communist Party cell “I knew that very instant / She meant to do me harm” sarcastic, I knew where the Communists were coming from, from the get go.
“Chain” as bondage; a restraining and confining agent or force, bondage, slavery. In When The Ship Comes In 1964 Dylan paraphrased Marxist rhetoric, “And the chains” captivity and oppression; bondage “of the sea” of the American working class “would have busted in the night and be buried on the bottom of the ocean” and would be irretrievably lost “Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains”—Karl Marx
Depart from me this moment, I told her with my voice. Said she, But I don’t wish to, Said I, But you have no choice. I beg you, sir, she pleaded From the corners of her mouth, I will secretly accept you And together we’ll fly south.
“Depart from me this moment” get the hell out of my life “I told her with my voice” I told her in my speech “Said she, ‘But I don’t wish to,’ Said I, ‘But you have no choice’” you have no vote in the matter, in fact you have no vote period as the elections are rigged in Communist countries, you believe in economic determinism rather than free choice, or free will “I beg you, sir,
V1-301 she pleaded / From the corners” from a remote, secret place like the Kremlin “of her mouth” where the words she mouthed originated “I will secretly accept you” you can become a member of the Party “And together we’ll fly south” and we will both decline in value.
“Corner” as a remote area; Poem to Woody 1961, “I don worry no more ‘bout the cross—legged corner sitters who try an make rules for the ones travelin in the middle a the room” Chimes of Freedom 1964, “Even though a cloud’s white curtain in a far-off corner flashed.” To Dave Glover 1963, “But what about the faces you can’t find again / What about the curbs” those who are held back “an’ corners” and those relegated to working in remote areas, in the boonies “an’ cutoffs” and those who had their careers cut off entirely.
Just then Tom Paine, himself, Came running from across the field, Shouting at this lovely girl And commanding her to yield. And as she was letting go her grip, Up Tom Paine did run, “I’m sorry, sir,” he said to me, “I’m sorry for what she’s done.”
“Just then Tom Paine, himself / Came running from across the field” just then the true spirit of Thomas Paine came quickly from across the field of politics, the battlefield “Shouting at this lovely girl” shouting at this piece of crap “And commanding her to yield” and was far superior to the Communists “And as she was letting go her grip” and as the CPUSA was relinquishing its intellectual power and control over me “Up Tom Paine did run” the real Tom Paine began to run in my blood “I’m sorry, sir,’ he said to me, ‘I’m sorry for what I done.”
“Field” as area of human interest and activity; People on no special form or field—age limit or class. Chronicles, “My audience or future audience now would never be able to experience the newly plowed fields that I was about to enter.” “Field” as battlefield; Changing of the Guards 1978, “Sixteen banners united over the field where the good Sheppard sleeps” Working Man’s Blues #2 2006, “That I took up arms against you / All across the peaceful sacred fields.”
This is an abridged version of Dylan’s speech to the Emergency Civil Liberties Union; “I want to thank you for the Tom Paine award in behalf everybody that went down to Cuba. First of all because they’re all young and it’s took me a long time to get young and now I consider myself young. I’m proud that I’m young. And I only wish that all you people who are sitting out here today or tonight weren’t here and I could see all kinds of faces with hair on their head…And I look down to see the people that are governing me and
V1-302 making my rules—and they haven’t got any hair on their head—I get very uptight about it…And they talk about Negroes, and they talk about black and white…There’s no black and white, Left and Right to me anymore; there’s only up and down and down is very close to the ground…I’m thinking about the general people and when they get hurt…There are Negroes—I was on the march on Washington up on the platform and I looked around at all the Negroes there and I didn’t see any Negroes that looked like none of my friends…
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DIRGE 1973
I hate myself for lovin’ you and the weakness that it showed You were just a painted face on a trip down Suicide Road The stage was set, the lights went out all around the old hotel I hate myself for lovin’ you and I’m glad the curtain fell
I hate myself for being part of the Left and the weakness in me that caused it. The Left was just an attractive whore, a race I wrote about as I paint in words when I tried to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. The stage, the folk music stage in my career was set in place, locked into place, and I was in the spotlight when I worked in the Village near the Mills Hotel and flophouse. I hate myself for being part of the left and I am glad my role in promoting Iron CURTAIN ideology fell.
I hate that foolish game we played and the need that was expressed
And the mercy that you showed to me, who ever would have guessed? I went out on Lower Broadway and I felt that place within That hollow place where martyrs weep and angels play with sin
I hate that song Only A Pawn in the Game that I played and the need for race mixing that was expressed. But I knew I could attract and audience with that bullshit. I went out in the off Broadway milieu where everything is vacuous and ass backwards.
Heard your songs of freedom and man forever stripped Acting out his folly while his back is being whipped Like a slave in orbit, he’s beaten ’til he’s tame All for a moment’s glory and it’s a dirty, rotten shame
“Heard your songs of freedom” I heard the Communists pay lip service to freedom for the oppressed, liberation from capitalism “and man forever stripped” but they were really stripping humanity of their human rights and forcing them into “Acting out his folly” acting out, like some madman who hears voices and acts on them, the failed doctrines of Karl Marx “while his back is being whipped” while he is being oppressed. “Like a slave” like one who is forced to be abjectly subservient to Communism “in orbit” “orbit” an area in which something acts and operates with power and control, the Iron Curtain satellite countries. Also a reference to the Soviet satellite Sputnik in orbit around earth “he’s beaten ‘til he’s tame / All for a moment’s glory” just to prove the superiority of Communism to Capitalism “and it’s a dirty, rotten shame” it is an obscenity.
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There are those who worship loneliness, I’m not one of them In this age of fiberglass I’m searching for a gem The crystal ball up on the wall hasn’t shown me nothing yet I’ve paid the price of solitude, but at last I’m out of debt
There are some folksinger who are happy to have a small audience, I’m not one of them. In this age of artificiality I am searching for something original and a gem. The prediction that the wall in the mass media against folk music would hinder me has been broken by songs like Blowin’ In The Wind. I paid my dues playing solo acoustic but at least I don’t owe the Left anything.
Can’t recall a useful thing you ever did for me
’Cept pat me on the back one time when I was on my knees We stared into each other’s eyes ’til one of us would break No use to apologize, what diff’rence would it make?
The only thing you did for me was give me a crummy Emergency Civil Liberties award when I was down and out. But I looked into your thoughts and told the CPUSA off at the ceremony. Then I wrote an apology but the damage was already done.
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o sing your praise of progress and of the Doom Machine The naked truth is still taboo whenever it can be seen. Lady Luck, who shines on me, will tell you where I’m at I hate myself for lovin’ you, but I should get over that.
“So sing your praise of progress and of the Doom Machine” so praise your so-called progressive politics, praise your economic development Five Year Plans and praise your nuclear weapons “The naked truth” the truth without addition, concealment, disguise, and embellishment “is still taboo whenever it can be seen” because censorship is still the order of the day under Communist rule “Lady Luck, who shines on me, will tell you where I’m at” Capitalism which favored me and made me rich will be the ideology that will define me “I hate myself for lovin’ you” I hate myself for once having worked with the Communist Party, “but I should get over that” but Dylan will get his revenge.
“Doom” as inevitable death; Shelter From the Storm 1974 “but nothing really matters much its doom alone that counts / And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn” I Am A Lonesome Hobo 1968, “Which led me to my fatal doom.”
“Luck” as an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that leads to a favorable outcome, most notably wealth; Fare-the-Well 1962, “I still might strike it lucky on a highway going West” I still might get rich by opening a new frontier in music “though I’m traveling on a path beaten trail” even though I am going about in the company of a particular group that has not succeeded, that has been beaten, in the past. Similar to Precious Memories 1986, “As I travel down life’s pathway / Know not what the years may hold.”
CHANGING OF THE GUARDS 1978***
Sixteen years Sixteen banners united over the field Where the good shepherd grieves Desperate men, desperate women divided Spreading their wings ’neath the falling leaves
something that represents a belief or principle: a commitment to nationalization was the banner of British socialism. United in agreement Field The people running in an election for a political office: The field has been reduced to three candidates. metaphor of God as a shepherd is also found in the Old Testament.
A group affiliated with or subordinate to an older or larger organization.
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b. Either of two groups with opposing views within a larger group; a faction.
c. A section of a party, legislature, or community holding distinct, especially dissenting, political views: the conservative wing.
Fortune calls I stepped forth from the shadows, to the marketplace Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down She’s smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born On midsummer’s eve, near the tower
Dylan gets lucky and appears on the folk scene in the market place and gets ripped off by the Greenwich Village café owners trying to get ahead of each other and finally he gets a record deal with Columbia and his lyrics are pleasing like the Midwest where he was born with a similar gift to Shakespeare who wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream which he realized when he went to college – the Ivory Tower.
The cold-blooded moon The captain waits above the celebration Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid Whose ebony face is beyond communication The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid
Truman Capote used the term as the title of a detailed account (1965) of a deliberate act of murder. Dylan, the captain of the folk music world plays at Newport Folk Festival playing acoustic and rock along with his beloved maid, Joan Baez who dark Mexican complexion and dark race makes him sick but he is down in the hay with her thinking she will help his career.
They shaved her head She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo A messenger arrived with a black nightingale I seen her on the stairs and I couldn’t help but follow Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil
The called her a traitor and she was torn between the biggest name in folk and a black man The Apollo Theater is a music hall located at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. Then Dylan the message song writer arrived with a song about the Blacks. Dylan saw her going up the stairs of success and had to follow, follow her down past the
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I stumbled to my feet I rode past destruction in the ditches With the stitches still mending ’neath a heart-shaped tattoo Renegade priests and treacherous young witches Were handing out the flowers that I’d given to you
The palace of mirrors Where dog soldiers are reflected The endless road and the wailing of chimes The empty rooms where her memory is protected Where the angels’ voices whisper to the souls of previous times She wakes him up Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks She’s begging to know what measures he now will be taking He’s pulling her down and she’s clutching on to his long golden locks She wakes him up Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks. She’s begging to know what measures he now will be taking. He’s pulling her down and she’s clutching on to his long golden locks.
“She wakes him up” Dylan is awakened to the dangers of Communism “Forty-eight hours later” after brief exposure to it “the sun” a person of great influence “is breaking, is forcing his way out, escaping, breaking jail “Near broken chains” after having advanced the Civil Rights Movement, and reluctantly helped free the Negros from the chains of Jim Crow “mountain laurel’ and having won acclaim for helping to provide what was believed to be a solution to this problem “and rolling rocks” and allowed Communist doctrine to gain momentum “She’s begging to know what measures he now will be taking” the Communists want to know what “measures” the metric unit between two bars on the staff; a bar, what kind of music he will be playing “He’s pulling her down” Dylan is attempting to demolish and destroy Communism “and she’s clutching on to” attempting to grasp, to understand “his long golden locks” his treasured encrypted, locked, poetry.
“Rock” as doctrine; Solid Rock 1980, written during Dylan’s Christian period “Well, I’m hanging on to a solid rock” When The Ship Comes In 1964, “And the rocks on the sand” the Communist doctrines of past history “Will proudly stand” will remain valid, effective, and unaltered “The hour that the ship comes in” after the Communist revolution in America.
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Gentlemen, he said I don’t need your organization, I’ve shined your shoes I’ve moved your mountains and marked your cards But Eden is burning, either brace yourself for elimination Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards.
“Gentlemen, he said” Dylan told the CPUSA “I don’t need your organization” I don’t need the Communist Party “I’ve shined” I have made eminent “your shoes” your position, your status “I’ve moved your mountains” I’ve helped with your awesome problems “and marked” put a mark upon, signed “your cards” sarcastic; I almost became a card-carrying member of the Communist Party; What You Gonna Do 1962, to the CPUSA, “What you gonna do when the devil calls your cards?” “But Eden” the United States “is burning” burning, raging with passionate anger at your lies “either brace yourself for elimination” take a shot of vodka because you are about to be lined up against the wall and shot “Or else your hearts” innermost feelings “must have the courage” mental strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger “for the changing of
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the guards” to accept new ideas; “old guard” a faction that is unwilling to accept new ideas.
Peace will come With tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating Between the King and the Queen of Swords
NO TIME TO THINK 1978
In death, you face life with a child and a wife Who sleep-walks through your dreams into walls You’re a soldier of mercy, you’re cold and you curse “He who cannot be trusted must fall”
Loneliness, tenderness, high society, notoriety You fight for the throne and you travel alone Unknown as you slowly sink And there’s no time to think
In the Federal City you been blown and shown pity In secret, for pieces of change The empress attracts you but oppression distracts you And it makes you feel violent and strange
Memory, ecstasy, tyranny, hypocrisy Betrayed by a kiss on a cool night of bliss In the valley of the missing link And you have no time to think
Judges will haunt you, the country priestess will want you Her worst is better than best I’ve seen all these decoys through a set of deep turquoise eyes And I feel so depressed
China doll, alcohol, duality, mortality Mercury rules you and destiny fools you Like the plague, with a dangerous wink And there’s no time to think
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Your conscience betrayed you when some tyrant waylaid you Where the lion lies down with the lamb I’d have paid off the traitor and killed him much later But that’s just the way that I am
“Your conscience betrayed you when some tyrant waylaid you” you used the Communist Party in your climb up the ladder of fame despite the fact you knew that after they took power they governed oppressively, unjustly, and arbitrarily “Where the lion lies down with the lamb” where a murderous Stalin associated with his victims, often those closest to him in rank “I’d have paid off the traitor and killed him much later” I would not have done it any differently, I would have paid off the Soviet stooges with songs and appearances despite my hatred for them then I would have marked for deletion, ruled them out; ‘Killed the old songs’ “But that’s just the way that I am” but I am only human so it had to go down that way.
“Lion” as a person regarded as fierce and savage; Foot of Pride “Like the lion tears the flesh off of a man.” Poem to Woody 1961, “And the lion’s mouth opens” and you open a newspaper and find a predatory critic’s review “and yer staring at his teeth” and you can’t believe how much force and power he has “And his jaws start closin’ with you underneath” and his jabbering starts closing in with you as the underdog, Dylan received at least one bad review prior to Robert Shelton’s positive review in the New York Times. “Teeth” as the power to produce a desired effect; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “how many votes will it take / for a new set of teeth in the congress mouths?”
Paradise, sacrifice, mortality, reality But the magician is quicker and his game Is much thicker than blood and blacker than ink And there’s no time to think
“Paradise” I endorsed a socialist utopia “sacrifice” because I had to sacrifice certain principles “mortality, reality” otherwise my death as a performer would have been a reality “But the magician” but the creator of beauty “is quicker” is smarter “and his game” and his calculated strategy or approach; scheme “Is much thicker” more impenetrable “than blood” then a young blood African-American “and blacker” and more focused on Blacks “than ink” then integrated schools were “And there is no time to think.” Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “‘F me t’ think that beauty was / Only ugliness an’ muck / When it’s really jus’ a magic wand / That waves an’ teases at my mind.”
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Anger and jealousy’s all that he sells us He’s content when you’re under his thumb Madmen oppose him, but your kindness throws him To survive it you play deaf and dumb
Equality, liberty, humility, simplicity You glance through the mirror and there’s eyes staring clear At the back of your head as you drink And there’s no time to think
Warlords of sorrow and queens of tomorrow Will offer their heads for a prayer You can’t find no salvation, you have no expectations Anytime, anyplace, anywhere
Mercury, gravity, nobility, humility You know you can’t keep her and the water gets deeper That is leading you onto the brink But there’s no time to think
You’ve murdered your vanity, buried your sanity For pleasure you must now resist Lovers obey you but they cannot sway you They’re not even sure you exist
Socialism, hypnotism, patriotism, materialism Fools making laws for the breaking of jaws And the sound of the keys as they clink But there’s no time to think
The bridge that you travel on goes to the Babylon girl With the rose in her hair Starlight in the East and you’re finally released
You’re stranded but with nothing to share Loyalty, unity, epitome, rigidity You turn around for one real last glimpse of Camille ’Neath the moon shinin’ bloody and pink And there’s no time to think
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Bullets can harm you and death can disarm you But no, you will not be deceived Stripped of all virtue as you crawl through the dirt You can give but you cannot receive
No time to choose when the truth must die No time to lose or say goodbye No time to prepare for the victim that’s there No time to suffer or blink And no time to think
JOKERMAN 1983***
Standing on the waters casting your bread While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing. Distant ships sailing into the mist You were born with a snake in both of your fists While a hurricane was blowing. Freedom just around the corner for you But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?
“Standing on the waters” depending on misery, enduring because of people’s troubles “casting your bread” using materialism, jobs as bait; Something’s Burning Baby 1985, “You can’t live by bread alone, you won’t be satisfied / You can’t roll away the stone if your hands are tied.” “While the eyes” while the thoughts “of the idol” of a person who was admired in the past but who is not admired anymore, ‘Highly respected during his lifetime, Marx became a fallen idol after his death when his economics was found to be full of errors’ “with the iron head” with the ironclad dogmatic thinking “are glowing” are shining, are intensely preeminent. “Distant ships” past revolutions, “ship” as in When The Ship Comes In 1964 “sailing into the mist” effortlessly become obscured and blurred by, or as if by, a mist arising from a hidden source such as communism “You were born with a snake” you came into existence with a treacherous person; a snake in the grass. Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “snakes slide through the weeds” “in both of your fists” in colloquial English, an “Iron Fist” refers to the authority exerted by a powerful, unforgiving governing figure, you were created by Lenin and Stalin “while a hurricane was blowing” during an intense storm of hatred, rain was spreading; during World War I and World War II respectively “Freedom’s just around the corner for you” sarcastic; freedom is in a very remote place for you and as a result, despite all the decades that have passed, there is still no freedom in the Soviet Union. “But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?” but even if there were political freedom there would still be the oppressive Communist economic system to deal with.
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So swiftly the sun sets in the sky You rise up and say goodbye to no one Fools rush in where angels fear to tread Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don’t show one Shedding off one more layer of skin Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within Empires like the British Empire, where the sun never set, can be overthrown however the people living under communism rise up and could not say goodbye to Communism. America believed intervening in anti-Communist uprisings could lead to mutual self destruction, “both of their future so full of dread” revealing what snakes the Soviets are as they keep one step ahead of others in the Party who want their jobs so will denounce them to the MVD.
Well, the rifleman’s stalking the sick and the lame Preacher man seeks the same, who’ll get there first is uncertain. Nightsticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks Molotov cocktails and rocks behind every curtain, False-hearted judges dying in the webs that they spin, Only a matter of time ‘til night comes steppin’ in.
“Well, the rifleman” the KGB or NVD, the Soviet intelligence services, “rifle” to search vigorously: ‘rifling through my drawers to find anti-Soviet literature’ “is stalking” is engaged in the act of following stealthily “the sick” those who are sick of Soviet Communism “and the lame” the weak and ineffectual; unsatisfactory to the Soviet regime, social parasites “Preacher man” American Communists “seeks the same, who’ll get there first is uncertain” who will be the first to bring totalitarianism to the United States, the CPUSA or the KGB is a tossup “Night sticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks” prisons, gulags “Molotov cocktails” improvised weapons invented by the Soviet Communists “and rocks” and Communist doctrine “behind every curtain” brutal repression in every country behind the Iron Curtain.
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“False-hearted judges” a rubber stamp judiciary untrue to their innermost feelings who have been instructed to convict dissidents “dying” whose credibility is drawing to an end, declining “in the webs” because of something intricately contrived, especially something that ensnares and entangles such as nonexistent plots against the Soviet State “that they spin” that they provide an interpretation of in a way meant to sway public opinion “Only a matter of time” it is going to be in the foreseeable future “‘til night” until the present push for democracy “comes steppin’ in” intervenes and progressively destroys this evil ideology, and death and rigor mortis sets in.
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune, Bird fly high by the light of the moon, Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.
“Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune” Dylan sing to the Communist tune, like Florence Nightingale, trying to cure the world “Bird fly high by the light of the moon” a singer sings songs inspired by insanity; lunacy also by something unreasonable and unattainable such as Socialism “Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman!”
HIGHLANDS 1997***
Windows were shakin’ all night in my dreams Everything was exactly the way that it seems Woke up this morning and I looked at the same old page Same ol’ rat race / Life in the same ol’ cage.
“Windows” political parties such as the CPUSA and its fellow travelers “were shakin’” were disturbing and agitating me, unnerving me, rattling me. The Times They Are A Changin’ 1964, “There’s a battle outside and it’s ragin’ / It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls / for the times they are a-changin’” “all night in my dreams” due to my rightwing ideals. “Everything was exactly the way that it seems” everything was not the way it really was but only the way that it seemed to be due to my being forced to look at the world through a Leftwing ideological perspective in order to succeed “Woke up this morning I looked at the same old page” when I woke up, suddenly became aware of what my real role in all of this was, I realized it was that of a page, a boy who is employed to run errands; in my case for the Commies, the Old Left “same ol’ rat race” same old culture of informing as in the Soviet Union “Life in the same old cage” a life sentence in the same old worn out confining framework of Marxism. Up To Me 1974, “Oh, the only decent thing I did when I worked as a postal clerk” the good thing I did when I was writing letters, message songs “Was to haul” shift the direction from Left to
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Right of “your picture down off the wall” of the songs I was writing that were off the wall “near the cage where I used to work” near the virtual prison of Leftist folk music I was trapped in.
ROLLING AND TUMBLING 2006***
I rolled and I tumbled, I cried the whole night long Woke up this mornin', I must have bet my money wrong
Dylan put his money on the wrong candidate, the CPUSA a sure looser
I got troubles so hard, I just can't stand the strain Some young lazy slut has charmed away my brains “I got troubles so hard “I am not making it in New York City as in Hard Times in New York Town 1962 “I can’t stand the strain” I can’t endure the strain of the bacteria passing themselves off as human beings that I have encountered. Also strain as a particular virulent variety; a strain of Marxist- Leninism “Some young lazy” someone not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time “slut” the Communists “has charmed” cast or seem to cast a spell on; bewitched “away my brains” “my brain” a nice way of saying “I was brainwashed.’
The landscape is glowin', gleamin' in the golden light of day
The landscape is glowin', gleamin' in the gold light of day I ain't holding nothin' back now, I ain't standin' in anybody's way
Well, I did all I know just to keep you off my mind Well, I paid and I paid and my sufferin' heart is always on the line
I get up in the dawn and I go down and lay in the shade I ain't nobody's house boy, I ain't nobody's well trained maid I'm flat-out spent, this woman been drivin' me to tears I'm flat-out spent, this woman she been drivin' me to tears This woman so crazy, I swear I ain't gonna touch another one for years The warm weather's comin', the buds are on the vine Ain't nothing so depressing as trying to satisfy this woman of mine
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I got up this mornin', saw the rising sun return Well, I got up this mornin', seen the rising sun return Sooner or later you too shall burn
The night’s filled with shadows; the years are filled with early doom I’ve been conjuring up all these long dead souls from their crumblin’ tombs Let’s forgive each other darlin’, let’s go down to the Greenwood Glen Let’s put our heads together now, let’s put all old matters to an end
“The night’s filled with shadows” the entertainment that I present to the public is filled with the songs of Woody Guthrie; “Shadow” an inseparable companion, ‘Dylan was his Woody’s shadow’ also shadow as FBI surveillance “the years are filled with early doom” my early folk years are filled with premonitions of my inevitable demise as an entertainer “I’ve been conjuring up” I have been “conjuring up” I have been bringing back the dead, also engaging in plotting and entering into a conspiracy; ‘The commies conjured to overthrow the government’ “all these long dead souls” all the long dead Depression Era songs of Woody Guthrie and others like him “from their crumblin’ tombs” from their decaying prison cells where they should have remained. Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “strength now shines through my window / regainin’ me an’ rousin’ me / day by day / from the weariness” from having my interest, forbearance, and indulgence worn out “of walkin’ with ghosts” living with faint representations of people “that rose an’ had risen from the ruins an’ remains / of the model T past” “Let’s forgive each other darlin’, let’s go down to the Greenwood Glen” sarcastic; I want to reconcile myself to the ideology of the Communist Party by sharing the memory of Woody Guthrie, who is buried in Greenwood Cemetery “Let’s put our heads together now” let’s get our two leaders, Hitler and Stalin together again “let’s put all old matters to an end” and let Hitler put Old Left Communism to its final end as he wished to do during World War II.
“Let's forgive each other darlin', let's go down to the Greenwood Glen” sarcastic; I want to reconcile myself to the ideology of the Communist Party by sharing the memory of Woody Guthrie, who is widely believed to be buried in Greenwood Cemetery “Let's put our heads together now” let’s get our acts together now “let's put all old matters to an end” “matter” something printed or otherwise set down in writing: reading matter. Sarcastic: and forget about my antiquated Communist poetry.
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Now I rolled and I tumbled and I cried the whole night long Ah, I rolled and I tumbled, I cried the whole night long I woke up this morning, I think I must be travelin' wrong
ONE OF US MUST KNOW (SOONER OR LATER)***
I didn’t mean to treat you so bad You shouldn’t take it so personal I didn’t mean to make you so sad You just happened to be there, that’s all When I saw you say “goodbye” to your friend and smile I thought that it was well understood That you’d be comin’ back in a little while I didn’t know that you were sayin’ “goodbye” for good
I didn’t mean to treat you so bad
Treat: To deal with in writing or speech to describe in a literary fashion
You shouldn’t take it so personal
Done, made, or performed in person: a personal appearance.
I didn’t mean to make you so sad
You just happened to be there, that’s all
Sarcastic you just happened to be at my concerts, you didn’t go there because you dug me
When I saw you say “goodbye” to your friend and smile
I thought that it was well understood
When I saw tell your friends it was good-bye Bob Dylan I figured
That you’d be comin’ back in a little while
I didn’t know that you were sayin’ “goodbye” for good
But, sooner or later, one of us must know
You just did what you’re supposed to do
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Sooner or later, one of us must know
That I really did try to get close to you
But, sooner or later, one of us must know
You just did what you’re supposed to do
Follow the Party Line
Sooner or later, one of us must know
That I really did try to get close to you
Close enough to squeeze off a few rounds
I couldn’t see what you could show me
Your SCARF had kept your MOUTH well hid
I couldn’t see how you could know me
But you said you knew me and I believed you did get one's teeth into to become engrossed in
When you whispered in my ear
And asked me if I was leavin’ with you or her
I didn’t realize just what I did hear
I didn’t realize how young you were
When you started booing me and calling me names and asked me if I was with rock or fold I didn’t realize the crap that I did hear and how immature you were
I couldn’t see when it started snowin’
Snow. Slang To overwhelm with insincere talk, especially with flattery.
Your voice was all that I heard
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Musical sound produced by vibration of the human vocal cords and resonated within the throat and head cavities. Woody Guthrie
I couldn’t see where we were goin’
But you said you knew an’ I took your word
A watchword or slogan, as of a political party: the word now is communism.
And then you told me later, as I apologized
That you were just kiddin’ me, you weren’t really from the farm
This is a key to the poem. Dylan wrote a letter of apology to the CPUSA and farm is Animal Farm, the Communists. Tarantula,
disperse into segments & die crazy deaths & bellowing farce mortal farm vomit & why for Jesus Christ be Just another meathead? when all the tontos & heyboy lose their legs trying to frug while kemosabe & mr palladin spend their off hours remaining separate but equal & anyway why not wait for laughter to straighten the works out meantime & WOWEE smash & the rage of it
“…disperse into segments” socialists and the Communists form factions “& die crazy deaths” that lead to their self-destruction “& bellowing” singing in a loud, powerful voice “farce” an empty show; a mockery “mortal” that which is fatal to their careers “farm” depression, dust bowl “vomit” regurgitated material “& why for Jesus Christ” why for the love of God “be Just another meathead?” be just another stupid person “when all the tontos & heyboy lose their legs” when even the Uncle Tom’s, the respectable Negros lose their justifiable and logical basis for defense or support as in Terry didn’t have a leg to stand on in this debate “trying to frug” trying to do a dance that involves moving the hips, trying to screw White women “while kemosabe” while the Lone Ranger who can solve the problem; Bob Dylan’s Dream 1963, “Well, the Lone Ranger and Tonto / They are ridin' down the line / Fixin' ev'rybody's troubles / Everybody ‘cept mine” “& mr paladin” the gun for hire, the police “spend their off hours remaining separate but equal” do not believe in integration: “Separate but equal” is a phrase used in the United States to describe systems of segregation giving different “colored only” facilities and services for Blacks, with the declaration that the quality of each group's public facilities were supposedly to remain equal. “& anyway why not wait for laughter to straighten the works out meantime” and
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anyway why not wait until the majority of the population ridicules race mixing and integration? “& WOWEE smash & the rage of it”
An’ I told you, as you clawed out my eyes
claw - attack as if with claws; "The politician clawed his rival"
That I never really meant to do you any harm
Sarcastic
DYLAN’S SUICIDE ATTEMPT
In 1961 Bob Dylan was demoralized and at a low point in his life. He was an abject egotistical coward who lived in constant fear of failure because his ambition to become a wealthy superstar seemed as if it would never materialize. As a result the simpering wimp entered into a suicide pact with himself, (and with the Devil)? If Bob Dylan failed in show biz he vowed that he was going to take his own life. This is pathological and tells us that when we deal with Bob Dylan we are dealing with someone who only experienced brief periods of sanity during his life. In Standing on the Highway 1961, he wrote,
Well, I'm standin' on the highway Tryin' to hold up, tryin’ to hold up and be brave. One roads goin' to the bright lights, The others goin' down to my grave. He also wrote a poem entitled Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie. Why “last thoughts?” Did he have an incurable terminal disease? Or was he planning on croaking himself if he failed? Here are a few lines from Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie:
When yer head gets twisted and yer mind grows numb When you think you're too old, too young, too smart or too dumb When yer laggin' behind an' losin' yer pace In a slow - motion crawl or life's busy race And to yourself you sometimes say "I never knew it was gonna be this way Why didn't they tell me the day I was born?"
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Why did Bob believe he was destined to fail? For one thing an early review in the New York Daily News had been unfavorable. Additionally, in Talking New York 1961 he wrote:
A very great man once said That some people rob you with a fountain pen It didn’t take me to long to find out Just what he was talkin’ about A lot of people have no food on their table But they have a lot of knives and forks And they got to cut something. What did he mean by “cut”? In To Dave Glover 1963 Dylan wrote,
Woody Guthrie, sure Big Joe Williams, yeah It's easy to remember those names But what about the faces you can't find again What about the curbs an' corners an' cut-offs That drop out a sight an' fall behind
Who cut Dylan? Was it the mohel who circumcised him? Or was this a reference to Mike Porco, the manager of Gerdes Folk City, where Dylan had become a fixture? Dylan had a beef with Porko. Porco was said to have befriended Dylan, signed on as his guardian and helped him get a union card. Was this how Bob was “robbed with a fountain pen?” Was it the union dues that were deducted from his salary that he objected to? In any event after he was cut Bob became even more downtrodden, split the city and went to crash with friends in East Orange, New Jersey. In Talkin’ New York 1961 he wrote, "So long New York, Howdy East Orange.” In 1961 Dylan was not only unhappy with the Communist ideology that permeated New York City folk circles but he was discouraged by the way his career was going downhill. He wrote a number of poems such as Only A Hobo that allegorically depicted the demise of a folk singer.
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ONLY A HOBO 1961
As I was out walking on a corner one day I spied an old hobo, in a doorway he lay. His face was all grounded in the cold sidewalk floor And I guess he'd been there for the whole night or more.
“As I was out walking on a corner one day” (note “corner” appears once again) – when I was doing my thing in a very remote venue, when I was still an obscure nothing Woody Guthrie human jukebox “I spied”
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sarcastic; I looked at from afar “an old hobo” at an outdated Depression Era folksinger “in a doorway he lay” who lay in wait looking for an open door, an opportunity that would lead somewhere, I looked at myself “His face” his prestige, self respect “was all grounded” was provided a basis for, justified “in the cold” in the unenthusiastic, the deadly reception “sidewalk floor” from the audiences and critics in coffee houses and sidewalk cafes where he played “And I guess he'd been there for the whole night or more” and he had been dead to the world of nightlife for quite some time.
“Corner” used as a remote area; Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961, “I don’t worry no more ‘bout the cross - legged corner sitters who try an make rules for the ones travelin’ in the middle a the room” Chimes of Freedom 1964, “Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed.”
“Sidewalk” as sidewalk café audience: Tarantula 1965 – “the D.A.R. woman pops out of the sidewalk, hears the band, screams, starts doing the jerk.” Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961,
And the wood's easy findin' but yer lazy to fetch it And yer sidewalk starts curlin' and the street gets too long And you start walkin' backwards though you know it’s wrong
“And the wood's easy findin' but yer lazy to fetch it” and there is plenty of money around but you don’t measure up and can’t get any of it, “fetch” as bring in as a price: young Bob Dylan’s performance fetched only ten lousy dollars “And yer sidewalk starts curlin'” and the coffee house audience begin to curl their lips in a contemptuous fashion “and the street gets too long” and you’ve been playing up and down MacDougal Street for too long yet you have not been discovered “And you start walkin' backwards though you know it’s wrong” and you start regressing, thinking of suicide, even though you know it will leave you much worse off than you already are. Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “an' shoeboxes ride the cracks of the sidewalk” and fulfillment of ambitions, getting a shoe in the door, depends on the cracks as in wise cracks coming from the audience and from reviewers. Shoes as ambitions is found in Down the Highway 1961
Yes, I been gamblin' so long Lord, I ain't got much more to lose Right now I'm havin' trouble Please don't take away my highway shoes.
“Yes, I been gamblin' so long” I been gambling on a career in entertainment for a interminable period “Lord, I ain't got much more to lose” Lord, the only
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thing I have left to lose is my life “Right now I'm havin' trouble / Please don't take away my highway shoes” right now I'm havin' trouble please don’t take away my career as an American performer. “Highway” as America is found in Down the Highway 1961:
Yes, I'm a-bound to get lucky, baby Lord, Lord I'm a-bound to die tryin' Well, meet me in the middle of the ocean And we'll leave this ol' highway behind.
“Curl” as to show contempt; curl one's lip to show contempt by raising a corner of the lip. Tarantula, “the dikes will curl their mouths.” Tarantula, “& struggle - struggle & your weapons of curls blowing.” Just Like A Woman 1966,
Nobody feels any pain Tonight as I stand inside the rain Ev’rybody knows That Baby’s got new clothes But lately I see her ribbons and her bows Have fallen from her curls
“Nobody feels any pain” I feel no self pity “Tonight as I stand inside the rain” during this period in time when I endure the hatred of the folk community “Ev'rybody knows / That Baby's got new clothes” everybody in America knows I have given the folk community some new words, new lyrics “But lately I see her ribbons” but recently I have seen those who she gave awards to “and her bows” and who she had loved, beaus, “Have fallen from her curls” have fallen out of favor because of her contempt for folk rock.
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“Pain” as self-pity; Tarantula, “you being taught by Felix the Cat & how dare you have the nerve to pass! how dare you search for pain! for self pity! for decisions!” Tarantula "well he took my mother's name - left' me there in pain." I Believe In You 1979,
Don’t let me change my heart Keep me set apart From all the plans they do pursue And I, I don’t mind the pain Don’t mind the driving rain I know I will sustain ’Cause I believe in you
“Don't let me change my heart” don’t let me return to Judaism “Keep me set apart / From all the plans they do pursue” let me be set apart from the money hungry, overly influential Jews “And I, I don't mind the pain” I can live with any self-pity that I might harbor “Don't mind the driving rain” I don’t mind the intense hatred I have elicited in so many due to my conversion to Christianity “I know I will sustain” I know I will remain a Christian “'Cause I believe in you” because I believe Jesus was divine.
“Rain” as hatred, destruction; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “it was as though the rains of wartime had left the land” North Hibbing, Minnesota, “bombed-out an' shattered” and divided from South Hibbing. Tarantula, “you are in the rainstorm now where your cousins seek raw glory.” As opposites in Desolation Row 1965 “Everybody’s either making love or else expecting rain.” As opposites in Father of Night 1970, “Father of love and Father of rain / Father of day, Father of night / Father of black, Father of white.”
“Clothes” as words; Down the Highway 1961, “I'm walkin' down your highway” I am performing in public “With my suitcase in my hand” with a collection of words, “clothes” in my hand, in my style of writing. Clothes Line Sage 1969, “Then they started to take back their clothes / Hang 'em on the line.” “take something back” retract words; “line” a horizontal row of printed or written words or symbols. Tarantula, “& lenny as the pilgrim angel - the crime but that he reigns in highway christ clothes, boots & a swagger.”
“lenny” Lenny Bruce, a comedian and social satirist known for his use of dirty words “as the pilgrim angel” as an iconoclastic guiding influence who embarked on a quest for something conceived of as sacred by others “the crime but that he reigns” the reason he was arrested and arraigned numerous times is that he has widespread influence “in highway” with the American public “christ clothes” by using swear words, by attacking the Catholic Church with his words “boots” at the same time he is booting up,
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shooting drugs intravenously “& a swagger” and he is arrogant about it. Finally returning to Only a Hobo 1961:
Only a hobo, but one more is gone Leavin' nobody to sing his sad song Leavin' nobody to carry him home Only a hobo, but one more is gone “Only a hobo, but one more is gone” he was only a down and out folksinger who committed suicide but he was still a human being and all life is sacred, another poor soul has passed on “Leavin' nobody to sing his sad song” leaving nobody “body” the central part of a written work: leaving no songs behind for other artists to perform “Leavin' nobody to carry him home” leaving nobody to help him reach his goal, home plate “Only a hobo, but one more is gone” only a hobo but Bob Dylan is gone.
A blanket of newspaper covered his head As the curb was his pillow, the street was his bed. One look at his face showed the hard road he'd come And a fistful of coins showed the money he bummed.
“A blanket” something with the ability to cover so as to inhibit, suppress, and extinguish “of newspaper” of songs based on newspaper articles, or of unfavorable reviews “covered his head” concealed his intellect “As the curb” as the fact he was being deliberately held back “was his pillow” was something that mitigated or relieved this adverse effect; Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961, “And yer pillows of feathers turn to blankets of lead” “the street” MacDougal Street, the village “was his bed” was the unlikely place that would supply his foundation in show business or his grave “bed” as a small plot of land
“One look at his face showed the hard road he'd come” just a glance at his prestige showed how unfulfilling his life was “And a fistful of coins” and his grasp of a large number of songs that he had created, coined “showed the money he bummed” showed that he could use his imagination, obtaining ideas for free then transforming them into art. “Money” as the talent to write songs; You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere 1965,
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YOU AIN’T GOIN’ NOWHERE 1965,
I don’t care How many letters they sent Morning came and morning went Pick up your money And pack up your tent You ain’t goin’ nowhere Whoo-ee! Ride me high Tomorrow’s the day My bride’s gonna come Oh, oh, are we gonna fly Down in the easy chair!
“I don’t care how many letters they send” I don’t care how many articles the leftist critics write with messages in them directed to me “Morning came and morning went” the early part of my career came and went “pick up your money” be grateful for the imaginative poems I left you, my talent “and pack up your tent” and take your Communist Party revival meeting with you along with your oxygen tents “You ain’t going nowhere / Whoo-ee ride me high” oh yeah get me high “Tomorrow's the day / My bride's gonna come” very soon I’m gonna to be wedded, closely attached and devoted, to smack. Wedding Song 1973 “Oh, can't you see that you” Judaism “were born to stand by my side” endure “And I was born to be with you, you were born to be my bride.” “Oh, oh, are we gonna fly” Oh, oh, are we gonna flee; escape, get zonked “Down in the easy chair!” free from worry, anxiety, trouble and pain.
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ONLY A HOBO 1961
As I was out walking on a corner one day I spied an old hobo, in a doorway he lay. His face was all grounded in the cold sidewalk floor And I guess he’d been there for the whole night or more. “As I was out walking on a corner one day” when I found myself existing in a very remote spot, when I was still obscure “I spied” sarcastic; I looked at from afar at “an old hobo” an outdated Depression Era cheap knock-off of a folksinger “in a doorway he lay” looking for an open door, an opportunity that would lead elsewhere, I looked at myself “His face” prestige, self respect “was all grounded in” provided a basis for, justified “the cold” the unenthusiastic, the deadly reception “sidewalk floor” from the coffee houses and sidewalk cafes where he played “And I guess he’d been there for the whole night or more” and he had been dead to the world of nightlife for quite some time.
Only a hobo, but one more is gone Leavin’ nobody to sing his sad song Leavin’ nobody to carry him home Only a hobo, but one more is gone
“Only a hobo, but one more is gone” he was only a down and out folksinger who committed suicide but he was still a human being and life is scared “Leavin’ nobody to sing his sad song” leaving no songs behind for other artists to perform “Leavin’ nobody to carry him home” leaving nobody to help him reach his goal, home plate “Only a hobo, but one more is gone” only a hobo but Bob Dylan is gone.
“Sidewalk” as café, coffee house, Chronicles, “In the world news, Picasso at seventy-nine years old had just married his thirty-five-year-old model. Wow. Picasso wasn’t just loafing about on crowded sidewalks. Life hadn’t flowed past him yet.” Poem to Woody 1961, And the wood’s easy findin’ but yer lazy to fetch it / And yer sidewalk starts curlin’” and the coffee house owners begin to curl their lips in a contemptuous fashion “and the street gets too long” and you have been playing up and down McDougal Street for too darn long and you have not been discovered “And you start walkin’ backwards though you know it’s wrong” and you start regressing, thinking of suicide, even though you know it will leave you much worse off than you already are. Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “an’ shoeboxes ride the cracks of the sidewalk” and careers, like coffins, ride on the degree of creativity of coffee house entertainers. Chronicles, “I liked hanging around at Izzy’s; the fire was always crackling.” Chimes of Freedom 1964, “The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder” Tarantula, “jack of spades, with his axe,
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the record player. with his companion, the menu & his destination, a piece of kleenex—never touches” matches in quality; equals “the cracks on the sidewalk” the creativity of other coffee house performers. Tarantula, “a glass” a illusory “sidewalk” coffee house “meeting the cracker boy’s soul” where Dylan could express his racist beliefs
“Glass” as illusory; Man Gave Names To All The Animals 1979, “He saw an animal as smooth as glass” charming or persuasive but insincere, illusory “Slithering his way through the grass” a snake-like human trying to ingratiate himself with the grass root Americans. I Wanna Be Your Lover 1966 “Well, Phaedra” well the Left “with her looking glass” with her fantasies and illusions right out of Alice In Wonderland “Stretchin’ out upon the grass” stretching the truth when addressing grass roots America “She gets all messed up” she gets confused by my lyrics “and she faints” and she pretends to be angry “That’s ‘cause she’s so obvious” that is because the message of the Left is apparent “and you ain’t” and mine ain’t.
“Curl” as to show contempt; curl one’s lip to show contempt by raising a corner of the lip Tarantula, “the dikes will curl their mouths.” Just Like A Woman 1966, “Nobody feels any pain” I feel no guilt “Tonight as I stand inside the rain” during this period in time when I endure the hated of the folk community “Ev’rybody knows / That Baby’s got new clothes” everybody in America knows I have given the folk community some new words, new lyrics “But lately I see her ribbons” but recently I have seen those who she gave awards to “and her bows” and loved, beaus, “Have fallen from her curls” have fallen out of favor because of her contempt Tarantula, “& struggle—struggle & your weapons of curls blowing”
A blanket of newspaper covered his head As the curb was his pillow, the street was his bed. One look at his face showed the hard road he’d come And a fistful of coins showed the money he bummed.
“A blanket” something with the ability to cover so as to inhibit, suppress, and extinguish “of newspaper” of songs based on newspaper articles “covered his head” concealed his intellect “As the curb” as the fact he was being deliberately held back “was his pillow” was something that mitigated or relieved this adverse effect; Poem to Woody 1961 “And yer pillows of feathers turn to blankets of lead” “the street” McDougal Street, the village “was his bed” was the unlikely place that would supply his foundation in show business “One look at his face showed the hard road he’d come” just a glance at his Jewish race indicated that it was tough row to hoe for a Jew to become an American folk singer. To my knowledge the only significant Jewish folksinger around at the time was Jack Elliot “And a fistful of coins”
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and his grasp of a large number of songs that he had created, coined “showed the money he bummed” showed that he could use his imagination, obtaining ideas for free then transforming them into art.
MAN IN THE STREET 1962***
I'll sing you a song, ain't very long, 'Bout an old man who never done wrong. How he died nobody can say, They found him dead in the street one day.
“Sing you a song, not very long, ‘bout an old man who never done wrong” sing you a song about an out-dated, old-fashioned folksinger who walked the straight and narrow, parroted the party line “Why he died no one can say” Dylan does not know why his popularity died out as he was the most talented folksinger on the scene “Found him dead in the street one day” found him extinct, no longer viable, in Greenwich Village on MacDougal Street one day.
Well, the crowd, they gathered one fine morn, At the man whose clothes 'n' shoes were torn. There on the sidewalk he did lay, They stopped 'n' stared 'n' walked their way. “Well, the crowd” the folk crowd - Positively Fourth Street 1965 “I know the reason you talk behind my back / I used to be among the crowd you’re in with” “they gathered” they came together in a body that formulated a similar opinion “one fine morn” during the early part of Dylan’s career “At the man whose clothes” about the man whose words that clothed his thoughts “‘n’ shoes” ambitions “were torn” were forcibly taken from him, ripped apart by the public and by the critics “There on the sidewalk” there among the audiences of the sidewalk cafes “he did lay” he lay dead to the folk world “They stopped ‘n’ stared” they looked on with contempt “‘n’ walked their way” and progressed with their lives in their own fashion.
Well, the p'liceman come and he looked around, "Get up, old man, or I'm a-takin' you down." He jabbed him once with his billy club And the old man then rolled off the curb.
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Well, he jabbed him again and loudly said, "Call the wagon; this man is dead." The wagon come, they loaded him in, I never saw the man again.
I've sung you my song, it ain't very long, 'Bout an old man who never done wrong. How he died no one can say, They found him dead in the street one day.
Dylan was down in the dumps. It looked as if Dylan’s career was going down the tubes and he would have to return to Hibbing with his tail between his legs. However, as stated, Bob had vowed that if he failed in his bid for fame and fortune he would take his own life in a dramatic fashion. This ego maniac came close to making good on this vow and almost jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge; but when the crowd cried out for his blood he was brought back to his senses. Dylan biographer Robert Spitz reported a suicide attempt around this time. Early Dylan biographer Tony Scaduto asked if this Dylanologist heard that Dylan had attempted suicide around 1961 by having threatened to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. I told Tony that I had not heard this but it made sense in light of the suncontent of Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, the liner notes to Another Side of Bob Dylan:
OTHER KINDS OF SONGS 1964
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on the brooklyn bridge he was cockeyed an' stood on the edge there was a priest talkin' to him i was shiftin' myself around so i could see from all sides in an' out of stretched necks an' things cops held people back the lady in back of me burst into my groin "sick sick some are so sick" like a circus trapeze act "oh i hope he don't do it" he was on the other side of the railin' both eyes fiery wide wet with sweat the mouth of a shark rolled up soiled sleeves his arms were thick an' tattooed an' he wore a silver watch i could tell at a glance he was uselessly lonely i couldn't stay an' look at him i couldn't stay an' look at him because i suddenly realized that deep in my heart i really wanted t' see him jump
“on the brooklyn bridge he was cockeyed” on the Brooklyn Bridge, famous for its suicides, Chronicles, “a high school teacher taking a flying leap off the Brooklyn Bridge” I had a foolish idea “an’ stood on the edge” and was about to jump “there was a priest talkin’ to him” Bob Dylan was an Irish name or it was a prominent deceased Rabbi “i was shiftin’ myself around / so i could see from all sides in an’ out” I was about to jump and seeing things from that perspective, but I was also looking at myself from the point of view of the crowd that was composed “of stretched necks an’ things” rubberneckers getting erections at my expense “cops held people back.” cops held people rather than “us” back “the lady in back of me” a woman in the crowd “burst into my groin” burst forward and hit me below the belt; Tarantula, “punches
V1-334 him in the groin” “sick sick some are so sick” and told me what a sick puppy I was “like a circus trapeze act” and that I was cheap entertainment for the masses, bread and circuses “oh i hope he don’t do it” said the woman who was sincerely trying to talk me out of it “he was on the other side of the railin’” when I was on the other side of railing on the bridge and on the other side of the railin’ “Jump! Jump!’ from the crowd “both eyes fiery” all my thoughts were charged with emotion Chronicles, “Fiery orators, like William Lloyd Garrison” “wide” and were way off the mark “wet with sweat” dipping with fear “the mouth” I mouthed the empty words “of a shark” of the Communists “shark” a person regarded as ruthless, greedy, and dishonest “rolled up soiled sleeves” he sang songs that had been in aged record sleeves and had been withdrawn from the market, ‘rolled-up’ years ago “his arms were thick” and my powers were intense “an’ tattooed” and I might as well have had an indelible Red Star tattooed to my forehead. Gates of Eden 1965, “ships with tattooed sails” “an’ he wore a silver watch” yet I could articulate my vision as no one else could “i could tell at a glance he was uselessly lonely” I knew immediately that there were very few people who thought like me on the scene in Greenwich Village “i couldn’t stay an’ look at him” I could not stay alive any longer and look myself in the mirror” i couldn’t stay an’ look at him because i suddenly realized that deep in my heart i really wanted t’ see him jump” I was half serious when I began this venture but it began to take on a life of its own and suddenly I realized that I might actually carry it to fruition, however, the bloodthirsty mob brought me to my senses: “(a mob. each member knowin’ that they all know an’ see the same thing they have the same thing in common can stare at each other in total blankness they do not have t’ speak an’ not feel guilty about havin’ nothing t’ say. everyday boredom soaked by the temporary happiness of that their search is finally over for findin’ a way t’ communicate a leech cookout” a bloodthirsty barbeque “giant cop out. all mobs i would think.” even lynch mobs “an’ i was in it an’ caught by the excitement of it)” and it was my blood they longed for “an’ i walked away / i wanted t’ see him jump so bad / that i had t’ walk away an’ hide” Dylan didn’t walk away after his suicide attempt, but he was taken to the bin by the police for observation, then released. It has been reported that he kept a very low profile for several months after this incident.
There are more subtle references to this episode; Hard Rain 1962, “I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth” a natural opening, as the part of a river that empties into a larger body of water—the East River is an estuary “of a graveyard.” Tarantula, “suicide & lenny vanishes in the daytime & a bridge girder all lonesome & gone” Clean Cut Kid 1985, “He was wearing boxing gloves” he was losing the intense competition with other performers “he took a dive one day / Off the Golden Gate Bridge” off the Brooklyn Bridge.
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ALTERNATE INTERPOLATION
“on the brooklyn bridge he was cockeyed” Dylan was on the Brooklyn Bridge, famous for its suicides. He had been a cockeyed optimist as far his chances of succeeding in New York City went, but now it was the endgame. He was drunk and carrying out some crazy plan. In Chronicles Dylan wrote, “a high school teacher taking a flying leap off the Brooklyn Bridge.” What was Dylan doing walking across the Brooklyn Bridge in the first place? “an' stood on the edge” on the edge: in a state of keen excitement, as from danger or risk “there was a priest talkin' to him” Bob Dylan was an Irish name “i was shiftin' myself around so i could see from all sides” I was changing roles and was seeing things from the perspective of the onlookers “in an' out of stretched necks an' things” that was composed of rubbernecking curiosity seekers and men getting erections because of my actions “cops held people back.” Note: cops held people rather than “us” back “the lady in back of me” a woman in the crowd behind me “burst” gave way from an excess of emotion “into my groin” hit me below the belt; Tarantula, “punches him in the groin” Note: how could someone standing behind Bob burst into his groin unless she was actually facing him? “sick sick some are so sick” and she told me what a sick puppy I was “like a circus trapeze act” and that I was cheap entertainment for the masses, bread and circuses “oh i hope he don't do it” said the woman who was sincerely trying to talk me out of it “he was on the other side of the railin'” when I was on the other side of the railing on the bridge and on the other side of the railin’ – rail - to revile or scold in harsh, insolent, or abusive language of the crowd such as Jump! Jump! “both eyes” all my thoughts - Eleven Outlined Epitaphs “an' make me seem the ridiculous one in the eyes of their readers” “fiery” were charged with emotion. Chronicles, “Fiery orators, like William Lloyd Garrison” “wide” and were way off the mark “wet with sweat” fresh with fear as in don’t sweat it “the mouth” I mouthed the empty words “of a shark” of the Communists “shark” a person regarded as engaged in ruthless, greedy, and dishonest activity “rolled up soiled sleeves” I sang songs that had been in aged record sleeves and had been withdrawn from the market, ‘rolled-up’ years ago.
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“his arms were thick” and my powers, as in the long arm of the law were producing inarticulate speech “an' tattooed” and I might as well have had an indelible Red Star tattooed to my forehead. Gates of Eden 1965, “ships with tattooed sails” “an' he wore a silver watch” and he was a viewed as a Democrat so he kept abreast of their activities. “Silver” favoring the adoption of silver as a standard of currency: the silver plank of the 1896 Democratic platform “watch” to mentally observe the course of; keep up on or informed about “i could tell at a glance he was uselessly lonely” I knew immediately that there were very few people in Greenwich Village who thought like me “i couldn't stay an' look at him” I could not stay alive any longer and look myself in the mirror “i couldn't stay an' look at him because i suddenly realized that deep in my heart i really wanted t' see him jump” I was half serious when I began this venture but it began to take on a life of its own and suddenly I realized that I might actually carry it to fruition, however, the bloodthirsty mob brought me to my senses:
(a mob. each member knowin' that they all know an' see the same thing they have the same thing in common. can stare at each other in total blankness they do not have t' speak an' not feel guilty about havin' nothing t' say. everyday boredom soaked by the temporary happiness of that their search is finally over for findin' a way t' communicate a leech cookout giant cop out. all mobs i would think. an' i was in it an' caught by the excitement of it) an' i walked away i wanted t' see him jump so bad
“(a mob. each member knowin’ that they all know an' see the same thing they have the same thing in common” they all wanted to see Dylan jump “can stare at each other in total blankness they do not have t' speak an' not feel guilty about havin' nothing t' say. everyday boredom soaked” intoxicated “soak” Slang: to drink to excess “by the temporary happiness of that their search is finally over for findin' a way t' communicate a leech cookout” a bloodthirsty barbeque “giant cop out. all mobs i would think.” even lynch mobs “an' i was in it an' caught by the excitement of it)” and it was my blood they longed for “an' i walked away / i wanted t' see him jump so bad / that i had t' walk away an' hide” I had to stay out of sight. It was reported that after his failed suicide attempt Dylan laid low for some time.
There are other more subtle references to this suicide attempt; Hard Rain 1962, “I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth” I came across a natural
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opening, as the part of a river that empties into a larger body of water - the East River is an estuary “of a graveyard.” In Tarantula Dylan associated suicide with bridge girder, “suicide & lenny vanishes in the daytime & a bridge girder all lonesome & gone.” In Clean Cut Kid 1985, “He was wearing boxing gloves” he was losing the intense competition with other performers “he took a dive one day” in the various dives he was forced to play in “Off the Golden Gate Bridge” and ended up almost diving off the Brooklyn Bridge. Later Dylan poems also contain references to his suicide attempt:
FROM A BUICK SIX 1965
I got this graveyard woman, you know she keeps my kid But my soulful mama, you know she keeps me hid She’s a junkyard angel and she always gives me bread Well, if I go down dyin’, you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
“I got this graveyard woman” I got a drug habit that might land me in my grave “you know she keeps my kid” To deceive (oneself), especially by allowing one's desires to cloud one's judgment: You're kidding yourself if you think that you will OD. “But my soulful mama” but a person regarded as an example of some quality, my dealer “you know she keeps me hid” she keeps me out of sight in a place where I can shoot dope “She's a junkyard angel” he influences me to use junk by selling it to me; Chronicles, “He [Ray Gooch, Dylan’s benefactor in 1961] wasn't like a slob junkie from the junkyard” “and she always gives me bread” sarcastic she always takes my money “Well, if I go down dyin'” if I OD on smack, “you know she bound” Predetermined; certain: “to put a blanket” to put a “blanket” to cover a very wide area, as in a publicity campaign; give blanket coverage “on my bed” on my grave.
“Hide” as stay out of sight to get high, The Weight 1968: Take a load off Fanny Take a load for free Take a load off Fanny And you put the load right on me I picked up my bag and I went lookin' for a place to hide When I saw Carmen and the devil walkin' side by side And I said "Hey Carmen come on would you go downtown" And she said "Well I gotta go but my friend can stick around"
“Take a load off Fanny” cop a “load” 25 bags of heroin from a connection “take a load for free” sarcastic, no one gives the stuff away for free “Take a load off Fanny / And you can put the load right on me” and lay those bags of
V1-338 dugi right on me “I picked up” copped or I shot up; “picked” to pierce or make a hole with a sharp pointed instrument “my bag” one of my bags of dope “I went lookin' for a place to hide” and went looking for a place where I would be out of sight “When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin' side by side” when I saw pleasure and pain accompanying one another “I said, ‘Hey, Carmen, come on, let's go downtown’” I said hey, Carmen baby stick around a little longer and take care of business “She said, ‘I gotta go, but my friend can stick around’” I got to go but the pain of addiction can stick around.
Well, when the pipeline gets broken and I'm lost on the river bridge I'm cracked up on the highway and on the water's edge She comes down the thruway ready to sew me up with thread Well, if I go down dyin', you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
“Well, when the pipeline gets broken” when the drug route as in ‘narcotics pipeline’ gets cut off; this happened in the 1960’s and inspired the movie Panic In Needle Park “and I'm lost on the river bridge” and my relationship to an abundant supply of heroin is lost and partially as a result I am on a bridge spanning the East River. Also my literary efforts are failing “I'm cracked up on the highway” I am flipping out in front of the American public, I am exhibiting a mental or physical impairment; a defect “and on the water's edge” and just about to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, in deep trouble “She comes down the highway” heroin is purchased on a street in New York City, in the early part of my career as in Down The Highway 1961 “ready to sew me up with thread” ready to get me straight with a needle as in needle and thread, also reinitiate my addiction, “thread” something that suggests continuity
Well, she don’t make me nervous, she don’t talk too much She walks like Bo Diddley and she don’t need no crutch She keeps this four-ten all loaded with lead Well, if I go down dyin’, you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
Well, she don’t make me nervous, she don’t talk too much
Sarcastic: she doesn’t make me anxious about being busted she doesn’t reveal information concerning oneself or others, especially under pressure: Has the prisoner talked?
She walks like Bo Diddley and she don’t need no crutch
Sarcastic: she causes Dylan to stay in one place and nod out Crutch" is often used figuratively to refer to an inadvisable measure a person uses to bear up
V1-339 under stress, anxiety or depression. Crutches of this kind include alcohol, drugs and tobacco.
She keeps this four-ten all loaded with lead
She keeps a load of junk with her all the time
Well, if I go down dyin’, you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
Well, you know I need a steam shovel mama to keep away the dead I need a dump truck mama to unload my head She brings me everything and more, and just like I said Well, if I go down dyin’, you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
Well, you know I need a steam shovel
A tool with a handle and a broad scoop or blade for digging and moving material, mama to keep away the dead
I need a dump
Slang A poorly maintained or disreputable place. truck mama to unload my head
A load is a number of bags of heroin held together with a rubber band
She brings me everything and more, and just like I said
Well, if I go down dyin’, you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.
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DESOLATION ROW 1965
Dr. Filth, he keeps his world Inside of a leather cup But all his sexless patients They’re trying to blow it up
“Dr. Filth” a psychiatrist, Dr. Freud who is essentially a pornographer “he keeps his world” he keeps his worldview “inside of a leather cup” inside of one’s fate to be suffered during the course of sexual development. Also either of the two parts of a leather brassiere that fit over the breasts, he puts his faith in the connection between sexual deviance and insanity “but all his sexless patients” but all the patients he has cured “they are trying to blow it up” are blowing up rubber dummies to have sex with.“Filth” as sexuality; Tarantula, “attracting the filthy mamas, Tom the Wretched, Mike the Bull & Hazel, the pornographic back slapper” Tarantula, “also she teaches him that ‘stinky doo doo’ means nasty filth.”
“Cup” as lot in life to be suffered or enjoyed; Covenant Woman 1980, “I’ve been broken” my spiritual life has been interrupted, the covenant with God has been violated “shattered” I have been disillusioned “like an empty cup” like someone with a lot in life that has no significance, no purpose, no substance “I’m just waiting on the Lord to rebuild and fill me up.” I Want You 1966, “The drunken politician leaps” the drunk with power Democratic integrationist politician makes an abrupt passage to power “Upon the street where mothers weep” upon the backs of parents are forced to put their children on buses in the White part of town so that dangerous schools, failing schools can be integrated “And the saviors who are fast asleep” Chronicles, “These titles were placid and harmless, threadbare, easy to get around with them. Prophet, Messiah, Savior those are tough ones” and the racist leaders like Rockwell “They wait for you” they wait for you to put them in power “And I wait for them to interrupt” and I am waiting for these racists to hinder and stop the action and discourse of “Me drinkin’” of my taking in eagerly through the senses “from my broken” subdued totally, humbled
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“cup” lot in life to be suffered “And ask for me / Open up the gate for you” and ask me to open up a means of access to the public from which you are normally barred.
Now his nurse, some local loser She’s in charge of the cyanide hole And she also keeps the cards that read “Have Mercy on His Soul”
“His nurse some local loser” his caregiver, a doctor who specializes in a specific part of the body, the brain “he’s in charge of the cyanide hole” can decide who is sane enough to stand trial “he also keeps the cards that read, ‘Have mercy on his soul’” and who is not.
They all play on pennywhistles You can hear them blow If you lean your head out far enough From Desolation Row
“They all play on pennywhistles “their advice is worthless and has little value “You can hear them blow” you can hear their ideas spread to you, also phallic symbolism “If you lean your head out far enough from Desolation Row” if you flip out and attempt suicide by jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge and end up in Bellevue or Kings County for psychiatric observation while you are trapped in the desolate world of folk music.
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ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE 1966***
Well, your railroad gate, you know I just can’t jump it Sometimes it gets so hard, you see I’m just sitting here beating on my trumpet With all these promises you left for me But where are you tonight, sweet Marie?
The fence on the Brooklyn Bridge which is there to prevent fatal accidents I can’t jump over it and into the East River. Sometimes life gets so hard you see. I am going nowhere with my music with all these promising talents that were given to me. Wondering where are you tonight sweet success.
Well, I waited for you when I was half sick Yes, I waited for you when you hated me Well, I waited for you inside of the frozen traffic When you knew I had some other place to be Now, where are you tonight, sweet Marie?
Well I waited for success when I was half sick in the head and tried to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge because you hated me. I waited for success with all the other folk musicians who weren’t going anywhere when you knew rock and roll was my true calling. Now where are you tonight sweet success?
Well, anybody can be just like me, obviously But then, now again, not too many can be like you, fortunately Anybody can be unknown but not too many people can become successful and rich Well, six white horses that you did promise Were fin’lly delivered down to the penitentiary
But to live outside the law, you must be honest I know you always say that you agree But where are you tonight, sweet Marie?
Well, six white horses that you did promise Were fin’lly delivered down to the penitentiary
Well a first LP that contained a lot of Negro stuff like “there’s three white horses in a line” was finally delivered down to folk music prison – the gaslight café in a basement.
But to live outside the law, you must be honest
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But to be a Communist sympathizer you must be controversial
I know you always say that you agree
Sarcastic: This identification with Communism could have destroyed his career.
Well, I don’t know how it happened But the riverboat captain, he knows my fate But ev’rybody else, even yourself They’re just gonna have to wait
Well, I don’t know how it happened sarcastic: He knows how it happened
But the riverboat captain, he knows my fate
But I am a neo-confederate.
But ev’rybody else, even yourself They’re just gonna have to wait
But my audience and fame they are just going to have to wait to understand my poetry until they understand this otherwise I will be done for.
Well, I got the fever down in my pockets The Persian drunkard, he follows me Yes, I can take him to your house but I can’t unlock it
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You see, you forgot to leave me with the key Oh, where are you tonight, sweet Marie?
I got intense nervous excitement: in a fever of anticipation down in the small pocket of fans who are in my pocket and a bunch of hashish heads follow me. I can take these people to a bigger house, a bigger venue but can’t let them in, because I don’t have enough money to purchase a kilogram of pot for them.
Tarantula: “boss aint it fierce the way that one woman with the Persian monkey treated the other woman with the Alley monkey? Claudette came to see me last nite she doesn't own a monkey & she couldn't get it then at the same time, the nurse came in & said "it's raining cats & dogs outside - is it too much for you to bear ha ha?" i couldve swallowed her
Now, I been in jail when all my mail showed That a man can’t give his address out to bad company And now I stand here lookin’ at your yellow railroad In the ruins of your balcony Wond’ring where you are tonight, sweet Marie
I been in folk music jail, confined to folk music when all my mail, message songs, showed that I shouldn’t have hooked up with the communists. Company: the fact of being with someone; a comrade. Now I take a stand and look at your yellow journalism pieced together to railroad people to communism. I look from a gallery that projects over the main floor in a theater or auditorium rather than on stage performing for Reds and their antiquated remains of an ideology.
LILLY ROSEMARY AND THE JACK OF HEARTS 1974
Rosemary started drinkin' hard and seein' her reflection in the knife She was tired of the attention, tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's wife. She had done a lot of bad things, even once tried suicide Was lookin' to do just one good deed before she died. She was gazin' to the future, riding on the Jack of Hearts.
“Rosemary” Dylan the folksinger “started drinkin' hard” started thinking hard about hard folk music. “Drink in” to be fascinated and spell-bound by; pay close attention to “and seeing his reflection in the knife” and realizing that eventually these songs were going to lead to him being cut out of show biz “She was tired of the attention, tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's wife” Dylan was tired of caring for and attending to the needs of the Left and tired of playing the role of being wedded to the Left. Again “big” meaning idealist
V1-345 leftist ideas “She had done a lot of bad things, even once tried suicide” Dylan did a lot of bad things, he did up heroin, and attempted suicide, “Was lookin' to do just one good deed” and he was looking for one lucrative contract; deed, a legal document signed and sealed and delivered to effect a transfer of property and to show the legal right to possess it “before she died” before he died out as an entertainer. “She was gazin' to the future” Dylan was gazing to the future with a fixed look; with a look of eagerness, wonder, and admiration. Also star gazing, hoping to become a big star “riding on the Jack of Hearts” letting it all ride, as in a crap game, on folk music.
Shoot, even rock poet Paul Simon knew about the suicide attempt and wrote about it in
PAUL SIMON’S YOU CAN CALL ME AL 1986
Paul Simon was intrigued by the Dylan-Weberman myth and wrote several poems about it.
A man walks down the street He says, "Why am I soft in the middle, now? Why am I soft in the middle? The rest of my life is so hard I need a photo-opportunity I want a shot at redemption Don't want to end up a cartoon In a cartoon graveyard" Bonedigger, Bonedigger Dogs in the moonlight Far away in my well-lit door Mr. Beerbelly, Beerbelly Get these mutts away from me You know, I don't find this stuff amusing anymore
If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty And Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al
“If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal” Dylan offered me a job as his bodyguard if I would only stop saying he was a doper “And Betty when you call me” and Weberman when you order or request me to undertake a particular activity such as being part of the anti-Vietnam war movement. Also and Weberman when you telephone me “You can call me,
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Al” you can demand payment from me for your silence: call in a loan, yes you can Al. Dylan never addressed me as A. J. only Al.
“A man walks down the street” a man lives in Greenwich Village on Bleecker Street (I lived in the Village in the early 1970’s) “He says why am I soft” he says why am I going easy on Bob Dylan? “soft” tending to take a soft line usually used with on: soft on dictators “in the middle now” and why am I in the middle of the political spectrum on this issue? “The rest of my life is so hard” the rest of my life is so extreme; intense in force, manner, or degree, I am a revolutionary “I need a photo opportunity” I need an opportunity to take a memorable and effective photograph with a celebrity so that I too gain attain celebrity status “I want a shot” I want a chance to disseminate a pointed or critical remark “at redemption” at redeeming Bob’s Dylan’s devil and dust infested soul “Don’t want to end up a cartoon” don’t want to end up a ludicrously simplistic one dimensional portrayal of a revolutionary “In a cartoon graveyard” forgotten about like so many others, buried forever “Bone-digger” hey one who digs up bones; an archaeologist or grave robber or garbologist, looking for skeletons in the closet that might have been inadvertently disposed of in Dylan’s garbage “Dogs” a dirty dog, a despicable person “in the moonlight” garbology was often performed at night in a clandestine fashion “Far away from my well-lit door” sarcastic: close by at the door to Dylan’s townhouse. “Mr. Beer belly” Mr. Policeman “Get these mutts away from me” mutt short for muttonhead dull-witted person “You know I don’t find this stuff amusing anymore” you know I no longer think this kind of thing is humorous.
A man walks down the street He says, "Why am I short of attention? Got a short little span of attention And, whoa, my nights are so long Where's my wife and family? What if I die here? Who'll be my role model Now that my role model is gone, gone?" He ducked back down the alley With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl All along, along There were incidents and accidents There were hints and allegations
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If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty And Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al Call me Al
“A man walks” a performer advances “down the street” on MacDougal Street; Bob Dylan in 1961 “He says why am I short” he says why don’t I have enough, how did I end up with a short amount “of attention” “attention” as observant consideration; notice by the critics “Got a short little span” “span” as the extent or measure of space between two points or extremities, as of a bridge “of attention” “attention” as in observation detailed examination of phenomena prior to diagnosis: Dylan was put under observation after the attempted to jump off the span of the Brooklyn Bridge. “And woe my nights” and my entertaining in coffee houses and bars “are so long” is of greater duration than is desirable “Where’s my wife and family” where are my fans “What if I die here?” what if I become an obscure has- been? “Who’ll be my role model” who will be the next one I will imitate, who will be my Woody Guthrie? “Now that my role model is gone” now that my role model is gone, Slang in an exhilarated state, as through the use of drugs, now that my role is a junkie, Ray Gooch “He ducked back down the alley” he wrote poems about the ghetto. Note similarity to the line in Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues, “You better duck down the alley way” “With some roly-poly little” with some ugly, unknown “bat-faced girl” junkie; bat- faced as totally stoned, wasted. “All along” all throughout Dylan’s career “There were incidents” there were actions likely to lead to grave consequences like near overdoses “and accidents.” This is a reference to the famous “motorcycle accident.” On July 29, 1966 Dylan had just done up some smack and nodded out on his bike, then fell off the chopper. He canceled his concert at the Yale Bowl and spent the next nine months in Woodstock trying to get a monkey off his back with little success. He loved smack and would sing of its virtues in Nashville Skyline, New Morning, John Wesley Harding and other LPs. “There were hints and allegations” there were hints that Dylan had a “current bag” – which was what I termed his use of dugi because I didn’t want to rat him out then there were allegations in Rolling Stone Magazine when Claudia Dryfuss revealed that I believed his “current bag” was scag.
In May 2011 it was revealed Dylan told New York Times music critic Robert Shelton:
Death to me is nothing... death to me means nothing as long as I can die fast. Many times I've known I could have been able to die fast, and I could
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A man walks down the street It's a street in a strange world Maybe it's the third world Maybe it's his first time around Doesn't speak the language He holds no currency He is a foreign man He is surrounded by the sound, the sound Cattle in the marketplace Scatterings and orphanages He looks around, around He sees angels in the architecture Spinning in infinity He says, "Amen and Hallelujah!"
As stated I told Dylan about my trip to Mexico to find out what the Third World was really like. After reading about my Mexican adventure in the interview I did with Dylan and after reading about it in Rolling Stone Magazine Paul Simon wrote, “A man walks down the street” a man lives on the streets of a city viewed as a depressed environment in which there is
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poverty, crime, prostitution and dereliction; “It's a street in a strange world” it is something that is unfamiliar or new to him “Maybe it's the Third World” maybe it’s Mexico “Maybe it's his first time around” maybe he has never been there before “He doesn't speak the language” he does not speak Spanish “He holds no currency” he does not put his faith in the Capitalists who exploit Mexicans “He is a foreign man” he is a Socialist, a Communist “foreign” he was believer in an ideology foreign to the United States “He is surrounded by the sound” Mexico was over-populated in 1963 “Cattle” humans, especially when viewed contemptuously “in the marketplace” being victimized by the commercial world of buying and selling, Capitalism “Scatterlings and orphanages” one who has no home or residence, homeless people and children without parents. “He looks around, around / He sees angels” he looks around and he observes reality first hand and sees Communist leaders offering the people of the Third World the promise of a better life “in the architecture” in an orderly arrangement of parts; structure: the architecture of Socialism “Spinning in infinity” producing goods for everyone with no limits “He says Amen! and Hallelujah!” he says may it be, thank God it is here because what is truth and what is the right thing to do depends on where you look out at the world from. Born into extreme poverty with no chance of advancement it might be worth it to give up certain political freedoms in return for a decent standard of living. Dylan used a similar metaphor to architecture in Days of ’49 when he wrote “a roaring bad design.”
There was Ragshag Bill from Buffalo, I never will forget He would roar all day and he'd roar all night and I guess he's roaring yet One day he fell in a prospect hole, in a roaring bad design And in that hole he roared out his soul, in the days of '49
“There was Rag shag Bill from Buffalo” there was the ragged folksinger who had everyone fooled, buffaloed “I never will forget” of course not because it was me “He would roar all day” he would protest in the past “and he'd roar all night” and he would protest in the present “and I guess he's roaring yet” and I guess he’s still a roaring success even today “One day he fell in a prospect hole” one day he stumbled into financial expectations of success “in a roaring” in a disorderly or rowdy “bad design” evil scheme or pattern that affects and controls function or development; Communism “And in that hole” and in that prison “he roared out” he destroyed “roar” of a fire; to burn fiercely with a roaring sound “his soul” he sold his soul “in the days of '49.”
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BLACK CROW BLUES 1964
I was standin’ at the side road Listenin’ to the billboard knock. Well, my wrist was empty But my nerves were kickin’ Ticking like a clock.
“I was standin’ at the side road” I was stalled on the main highway to fame and fortune, in the dead end world of radical protest songs and folk music, on a path the would lead to nowheresville; Get Your Rocks Off 1968 “Well, you know, we was cruisin’ down the highway in a Greyhound bus / All kinds- a children in the side road, they was hollerin’ at us.” “Listenin’ to the billboard knock” listening to a commercial music industry publication such as Billboard Magazine beckoning me “Well, my wrist was empty” my guitar playing lacked purpose and substance and was nothing to brag about; Tarantula, “he came with his wrists taped & he carried his own coat hanger” Dylan started out constrained by his acoustic guitar and ready to self-abort. Coat hangers were once used a tool to perform abortions. “But my nerves” the audacity of my songs “were kickin’” becoming operative, “ticking like a clock” and were being covered widely by the press.
“Clock” as reporter; Simple Twist of Fate 1974, “He hears the ticking” to mark, to write ‘tick’ any small mark intended to direct attention to something “of the clocks” of reporters “And walks along with a parrot” person who repeats or imitates someone else’s words “that talks” reveals information concerning others. Tarantula “‘did any of you freaks ever know a lenny? i can remember his last name…’ & then some vigilante, he say ‘get back in your clock!’”
THE BALLAD OF FRANKIE LEE AND JUDAS PRIEST 1968***
Well, Frankie Lee, he trembled He soon lost all control Over ev’rything which he had made While the mission bells did toll He just stood there staring At that big house as bright as any sun With four and twenty windows And a woman’s face in ev’ry one.
“Well, Frankie Lee, he trembled” Dylan the folksinger felt fear and anxiety about his role “He soon lost all control” he threw off his association with the Communists, “control” a controlling agent, device, or organization “over ev’rything which he had made / While the mission bells did toll” over all the
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music and words he had written when he was pretending to be a Left wing folk singer, something that would have put his career to a premature end “Bells” as music; Poem to Woody 1961, “And yer bell’s bangin’ loudly but you can’t hear its beat” “He just stood there staring at” Dylan remained there but was contemptuous of “that big house” at the prison of folk music “as bright” as hopeful “as any sun” as any person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events within that genre “With four and twenty windows” with numerous political factions “And a woman’s face in ev’ry one” and Karl Marx’s race in everyone.
SENIOR 1978***
Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled Was a train load of fools bogged down in a magnetic field A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring Said, “Son, this ain’t a dream no more, it’s the real thing.”
“Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped” Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped myself of my true beliefs “and kneeled” and became subservient to the Left “Was a train load of fools” were leading members of the political folk community who all had the same series of ideas about the Civil Rights Movement and as a result had gotten “bogged down” stuck on someone from the south, “bog” as moss covered ground, “in a magnetic field” and this someone had an unusual power and ability to attract followers, a demagogue who was the best in his field “A gypsy with a broken flag” a Blackman, Martin Luther King, with a broken national allegiance, patriotism; To Dave Glover 1962, “It’s the time a the flag wavin’ shotgun carryin John Birchers” “and a flashing” ostentatious, one that would appeal to African-Americans “ring” sound that seemed to have the ring of truth but did not “Said, ‘Son, this ain’t a dream no more, it’s the real thing’” said, son this is not just my idealistic “I Have A Dream Speech” this is the real thing” this is race-mixing.
“Train” as series of thoughts; Iron Train A-Travlin’ 1962, “There’s an iron train a-travelin’” there is a series of authoritarian thoughts going around in the company of a particular group “that’s been arollin’ through the years” that has been increasing over the years “With a firebox of hatred” with an engine full of racial prejudice “and a furnace full of fears” fueled by irrational fears. Also It Takes A Lot to Laugh A Train to Cry 1965, “Don’t say I never warned if your train gets lost.” “Travel” as association; Long Time A-Comin’ 1962, “If I can’t help somebody with a word or song / If I can’t show somebody they are travelin’ wrong.”
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“Ring” as a sound suggestive of a particular quality; ‘A story that rings true’, to the folk community; Tarantula, “sorry to say, but i’m going to have to return your ring. it’s nothing personal, except that I cant do a thing with my finger” I can’t play the music any longer “finger” to play a stringed instrument.
Senor, senor, let’s disconnect these cables Overturn these tables. This place don’t make sense to me no more. Can you tell me what we’re waiting for, senor?
“Let’s disconnect these cables” disconnect the microphone cables, stop sending Western Union cables, message songs. Tarantula, “some western union boy rides thru on a unicycle yelling ‘God save the secrets!’” also Pete Seeger desire to cut the cables running to Dylan’s amplifiers at the Newport Folk Festival “overturn these tables” get on the Top Forty Charts “This place don’t make sense to me no more / Can you tell me what we’re waiting for, senor?” folk music and Leftist politics doesn’t make sense, cents, to me anymore can you get me out of there Senor?
The folk community was not about to take Dylan’s having switched to rock and roll and abstract lyrics sitting down. They jeered him at numerous concerts and labeled him “Judas.” Dylan told the fellow travelers of the folk community off poetically.
ROMANCE IN DURANGO 1975***
Sold my guitar to the baker’s son For a few crumbs and a place to hide But I can get another one And I’ll play for Magdalena as we ride.
“Sold my guitar to the baker’s son” sold my acoustic music to the working class “For a few crumbs” to suit a few crummy commies “and a place to hide” and enough money to buy dope “But I can get another one” but I can get another repertoire “And I’ll play for Magdalena as we ride” and I will sing the praises of heroin as I support my horse habit.
“Magdalena” and “Spanish” as heroin. Tarantula, “NADAS is still right now the poison nothing & maria, me & you, we make up three TE QUIERO do not churchize my nakedness” I am without concealment and disguise “i am naked for you maria” I am vulnerable to you “she says i’m a foreigner. she picks me” pierces and makes a hole with a sharp pointed instrument “she
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pours salt” a colorless or white crystalline solid “on my love ok. so i shoot dope once in a while. big deal. what’s it got to do with you?”
Was it me that shot him down in the cantina Was it my hand that held the gun? Come, let us fly, my Magdalena The dogs are barking and what’s done is done.
“Was it me that shot him down in the cantina?” Sarcastic; I didn’t ruin the aspirations of my folk fans and disappoint them! “Was it my hand that held the gun?” was it my style of writing that required the electric guitar? “Come let us fly, my Magdalena” let us get high Oh Goddess of Smack “The dogs are barking” the slaves to Communism and folk music are complaining but they are barking up the wrong tree “and what’s done is done” and I will never return to folk music.
SEEIN’ THE REAL YOU AT LAST 1985***
Well, I have had some rotten nights, Didn’t think that they would pass. I’m just thankful and grateful To be seeing the real you at last.
“Well, I have had some rotten nights” I have had folk performances where I sang songs damaged by decay and hence were unsound and useless “Didn’t think that they would pass” I thought I would be stuck in the folk rut forever “I’m just thankful and grateful / To be seeing the real you at last” in retrospect, my folk period was worse than it seemed when I experienced it.
I’m hungry and I’m irritable And I’m tired of this bag of tricks. At one time there was nothing wrong with me That you could not fix.
“I’m hungry and I’m irritable” I am hungry for fame and frustrated “And I’m tired of this bag of tricks” these songs that I seem to have a knack for writing “At one time there was nothing wrong with me / That you could not fix” early in my career there was nothing the Left couldn’t arrange; fix as in an exemption granted after political influence is brought to bear.
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Well, I sailed through the storm Strapped to the mast But the time has come And I’m seeing the real you at last.
“Well, I sailed through the storm” thank God I was able to sail through this period of violent disturbance or upheaval, as in political, social, or domestic affairs “Strapped to the mast” beaten and chastised into writing message songs, forced to write songs based on newspaper articles, “mast” as in masthead. “But the time has come / And I’m seeing the real you at last.”
JUST LIKE TOM THUMB’S BLUES 1966
When you’re lost in the rain in Juarez And it’s Eastertime too And your gravity fails And negativity don’t pull you through Don’t put on any airs When you’re down on Rue Morgue Avenue They got some hungry women there And they really make a mess outta you
When you’re lost in the rain in Juarez And it’s Eastertime too
When you’re having problems as “into each life a little rain must fall” and everyone in a Catholic Country, Mexico, is celebrating Easter.
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And your gravity fails And negativity don’t pull you through serious or dignified behavior fails and saying you really don’t need a fix doesn’t work either
Don’t put on any airs When you’re down on Rue Morgue Avenue
Don’t get an air bubble in the eye dropper or hypodermic needle when you are feeling suicidal. Note the use of “air” in Brand New Tennessee Waltz.
When I leave it'll be like I found you, love Descending Victorian stairs And I'm feeling like one of your photographs, girl Oh, ah, I'm trapped while I was putting on air So I get even by sayin', "Well, who cares?"
They got some hungry women there And they really make a mess outta you
They got some desperate dope dealers and they can cheat you or sell you heroin that is too strong – in any event it is a mess.
Now if you see Saint Annie Please tell her thanks a lot I cannot move My fingers are all in a knot I don’t have the strength To get up and take another shot And my best friend, my doctor Won’t even say what it is I’ve got
Now if you see Saint Annie Please tell her thanks a lot I cannot move My fingers are all in a knot
Now if you see Saint Annie – a brand of heroin - please tell it the dope was too strong. I cannot move after my fingers tied a knot in the belt or whatever device I used to expose a vein.
I don’t have the strength
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To get up and take another shot And my best friend, my doctor Won’t even say what it is I’ve got
I don’t have the strength to get up and take another shot of smack and my connection won’t tell the strength of the dope he sold me.
Sweet Melinda The peasants call her the goddess of gloom She speaks good English And she invites you up into her room
Another brand of heroin, Sweet Malinda, really makes you feel good. She speaks in simple, straightforward language and invites up until her vast mental room.
And you’re so kind And careful not to go to her too soon
And you are good to yourself by not endangering you life and taking the next shot too soon
And she takes your voice And leaves you howling at the moon
And she leave you totally wasted.
Up on Housing Project Hill It’s either fortune or fame You must pick up one or the other Though neither of them are to be what they claim If you’re lookin’ to get silly You better go back to from where you came Because the cops don’t need you And man they expect the same
In the slums of Juarez its either you have the good fortune to get some good dope or you end up in the newspapers as an OD case. You must stick, pick, one or the other in your veins those they are both not good alternatives. If you’re lookin to complain that you got beat you better go back to the United States because the cops are on the pad and don’t expect you to come to them to rat out their bosses.
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Now all the authorities They just stand around and boast How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms Into leaving his post And picking up Angel who Just arrived here from the coast Who looked so fine at first But left looking just like a ghost
“Now all the authorities” now all the heroin connections with ties to the Mexican Police “They just stand around” they stay in one place doing little or nothing “and boast” and praise themselves “How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms” how they blackmailed a customs official “Into leaving his post” into working for them “And picking up Angel” and picking up a shipment of heroin “who just arrived here from the coast” that was just smuggled in by boat “Who looked so fine at first” that looked so concentrated, pure at first “But left looking just like a ghost” but then got stepped on, diluted, and became a faint representation of what it once was.
I started out on burgundy But soon hit the harder stuff Everybody said they’d stand behind me When the game got rough But the joke was on me There was nobody even there to call my bluff I’m going back to New York City I do believe I’ve had enough
“I started out on burgundy” I started coping weak smack in Juarez “But soon hit the harder stuff” but soon discovered much purer heroin “Everybody said they’d stand behind me” everybody said they’d support me with a gun “When the game got rough” if the deal wasn’t perfected, completed, if I got ripped off or burned “But the joke was on me” but I was happily mistaken “There was nobody even there to call my bluff” there were plenty of people willing to sell me smack and not rip me off “I’m going back to New York City / I do believe I’ve had enough.”
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BRAND NEW LEOPARD-SKIN PILL-BOX HAT 1966
Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat Yes, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat Well, you must tell me, baby How your head feels under somethin’ like that Under your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
I see you got a new brand of heroin as in the James Brown song “Ain’t no drag papa’s got a brand new bag.” Additionally Dylan ghost wrote AT THE BRAND NEW TENNESSEE WALTZ by Jesse Winchester
At the brand new Tennessee Waltz You were literally waltzing on air At the brand new, oh, Tennessee Waltz It's just no telling who will be there
If you look at the next poem, Million Dollar Bash, you will find a line similar to “no telling who will be there.” Dylan’s signature.
Well, you look so pretty in it Honey, can I jump on it sometime?
Jump: To enter eagerly into an activity; plunge: jumped into the race for the nomination.
Yes, I just wanna see If it’s really that expensive kind
I wanna see if it the uncut kind
You know it balances on your head Just like a mattress balances On a bottle of wine Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Balance - A condition in which all acting influences are canceled by others, resulting in a stable, balanced, or unchanging system. It engulfs you like a mattress covering a bottle of wine.
Well, if you wanna see the sun rise Honey, I know where We’ll go out and see it sometime We’ll both just sit there and stare
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If you want to get high with me I know where. He will both nod out together.
Me with my belt Wrapped around my head And you just sittin’ there In your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Me with my belt wrapped around my arm to expose a vein and you just sittin there high on high grade smack.
Well, I asked the doctor if I could see you It’s bad for your health, he said Yes, I disobeyed his orders I came to see you But I found him there instead You know, I don’t mind him cheatin’ on me But I sure wish he’d take that off his head Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
I asked my smack connection if I could get some more dope, but he turned out to be a caring person (sarcastic) and told that it was bad for my health. I bought some from him anyway and it was so good the connection was sampling his own stash. I don’t mind him tipping the bag a bit but I sure wish he would take it out of his own head stash.
Well, I see you got a new boyfriend You know, I never seen him before Well, I saw him Makin’ love to you You forgot to close the garage door You might think he loves you for your money But I know what he really loves you for It’s your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
I see you got a new addict, devotee - frequent or favorite male companion; no I never seen him before (sarcastic I’ve seen plenty of people get strung out) I seen you getting him high, you forgot to do it secretly / You might think he loves you for your money .For the money that you pay for heroin but I know what he really loves you for – it the heroin high.
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ARTHUR McBRIDE 1992
Oh, me and my cousin, one Arthur McBride, As we went a-walkin' down by the seaside, Mark now what followed and what did betide, For it bein' on Christmas mornin' Now, for recreation, we went on a tramp, And we met Sergeant Napper and Corporal Vamp And a little wee drummer intending to camp, For the day bein' pleasant and charmin'.
Dylan and his conscious, one Arthur McBride went out into the world and mark now what followed and what did betide it bein’ a magical morning. Now to entertain people we pretended to have ridden the freights etc. like a tramp and met with leftists who wanted to vamp on capitalism and we pretended to go along because that was the feeling of the time, it be the early 1960’s.
"Good morning, good morning," the Sergeant he cried.
"And the same to you, gentlemen," we did reply, Intending no harm but meant to pass by, For it bein' on Christmas mornin' "But," says he, "My fine fellows, if you will enlist, Ten guineas in gold I'll stick to your fist, And a crown in the bargain for to kick up the dust, And drink the king's health in the morning.
Good the start out with the Left, the sergeant he cried, thanks man we replied because we knew it was magical morning. But he told us that if we enlist in this fight for racial equality you will make some money and become the king of the folk singers and everybody will love you and wish you good health.
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"For a soldier, he leads a very fine life, And he always is blessed with a charming young wife, And he pays all his debts without sorrow or strife, And he always lives pleasant and charmin', And a soldier, he always is decent and clean, In the finest of clothing he's constantly seen. While other poor fellows go dirty and mean, And sup on thin gruel in the morning."
For a folk singer Dylan leads an affluent life with his girlfriend Suzie he considered his wife and he paid his debts to the Communists without sorrow or strife and he didn’t cause trouble or use obscenity in the finest of words he was always seen while other folk singers (poor = folksinger as in Just Like Achilles where Dylan said this to his old folk fans: “Like a poor fool in his prime / Yes, I know you can hear me walk / ut is your heart made out of stone, or is it lime / Or is it just solid rock?”) were broke and angry because their songs resembled thin gruel in the morning.
"But," says Arthur, "I wouldn't be proud of your clothes,
For you've only the lend of them, as I suppose, But you dare not change them one night, for you know If you do, you'll be flogged in the morning, And although that we're single and free, We take great delight in our own company, We have no desire strange places to see, Although that your offers are charming.
“But says Arthur, I wouldn’t be proud of your clothes” Dylan’s conscious tells him that he should not take pride in the topical songs he composed “For you’ve only the lend of them, as I suppose” because you only composed them for opportunistic reasons and their existence is transitory “But you’re dare not change them one night, for you know” but if you currently stop writing these songs and change your style of poetry “If you do, you’ll be flogged in the morning’” you will suffer the consequences.
"And we have no desire to take your advance,
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All hazards and dangers we barter on chance, For you'd have no scruples for to send us to France, Where we would get shot without warning," "Oh no," says the Sergeant. "I'll have no such chat, And neither will I take it from snappy young brats, For if you insult me with one other word, I'll cut off your heads in the morning."
Dylan had no desire to take the left advance, money paid up front of literary works, but would rather take our chances playing rock and roll. Because you have no morals and you would send us to a common vulgar status where we would disappear without warning. Oh no said the Communists I’ll have no such chat and won’t take it from snappy young brats for if you do what you did at the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee CPUSA award ceremony I will black list you.
And Arthur and I, we soon drew our hogs, And we scarce gave them time to draw their own blades When a trusty shillelagh came over their head And bid them take that as fair warning. And their old rusty rapiers that hung by their sides, We flung them as far as we could in the tide, "Now take them up, devils!" cried Arthur McBride, "And temper their edge in the mornin'!"
“And Arthur and I, we soon drew our hogs” And Arthur and I, we soon drew self-indulgent, gluttonous, filthy fans. Also “hog,” a rough, flat scrubbing broom for scrubbing a ship’s bottom under water “And we scarce gave them time to draw their own blades” and our climb to fame was so rapid the Left hardly had any time to use its weapons against us “When a trusty shillelagh” when a wooden instrument, a guitar “came over their head / And bid them take that as fair warning” and before the folkies knew it Dylan’s electric guitar came down on their heads and bid them take that as fair warning! “And their old rusty rapiers that hung by their sides” and the antiquated militant Old Left songs they used as weapons “We flung them as far as we could in the tide” we distanced ourselves from them and they were lost in a rising tide of popular interest in folk rock “tide” as something that may increase or decrease like the tides of the sea “Now take them up, devils!’ cried Arthur McBride” now go out and retrieve those songs that praised Communism and see how far you get “’And temper their edge in the mornin’!” and if you are smart you will make them more temperate, acceptable, and suitable by dulling them when you first begin to sing them.
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And the little wee drummer, we flattened his bow, And we made a football of his rowdy-dow-dow, Threw it in the tide for to rock and to roll, And bade it a tedious returning,
“And the little wee drummer” and the insignificant folk musicians trying to drum up some attention “we flattened” made them sing and play below the proper pitch “his bow” his music bow; an instrument used to play the fiddle “And we made a football of his rowdy-dow-dow” and we belittled his booing and name calling at Dylan concerts “Threw it in the tide for to rock and to roll” gave up folk music for rock and roll “And bade it a tedious returning” and hoped that I would never again have to play tedious boring folk music.
And we havin' no money, paid them off in cracks. We paid no respect to their two bloody backs, And we lathered them there like a pair of wet sacks, And left them for dead in the morning.
And having no money from box office receipts we paid them off in wise cracks in our songs and disregarding their disruptions and beat them with hit songs then left them for dead, no longer popular in the morning.
And so, to conclude and to finish disputes, We obligingly asked if they wanted recruits, For we were the lads who would give them hard clouts And bid them look sharp in the mornin'.
CANDADEE-I-O 1992
Well, it's all of fair and handsome girl, She's all in her tender years. She fell in love with a sailor boy, It's true she loved him well. For to go off to sea with him Like she did not know how, She longed to see that seaport town Of Canadee-i-o.
The fair and handsome girl tender in her years is Dylan and the Sailor Boy is the folk fans and Leftists. The left loved his music and lyrics. They went off in the world together to seek fame.
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So she bargained with the sailor boy, All for a piece of gold. Straightaway then he led her Down into the hold, Sayin', "I'll dress you up in sailor's clothes, Your jacket shall be blue. You'll see that seaport town Of Canadee-i-o.
Dylan folk fans supplied him with money then tried to hold Dylan back from playing the music he wanted to play Sayin’ I’ll dress you up in revolutionary words, and the dust jacket of your record will be true.
Now, when the other sailors heard the news,
Well, they fell into a rage, And with all the ship's company They were willing to engage. Saying, "We'll tie her hands and feet, my boys, Overboard we'll throw her. She'll never see that seaport town Called Canadee-i-o.
“Now, when the other sailors” when the other Leftwing folksingers, Tarantula “not lending a hand to the deaf pacifist in his sailor jail…it then must be time for you to rest & learn new songs” “heard the news” received news of Dylan’s switch to rock and roll “Well, they fell into a rage” they were buried by folk rock which was the latest rage; interest followed with exaggerated zeal. Also they became angry “And with all the ship’s company” the “ship” is the revolution as in When The Ship Comes In 1964, and in concert with the revolutionary “company” or organization, the Communist Party, they were will to engage; enlist it’s help. “Saying, ‘We’ll tie her hands and feet, my boys’” we will determine Dylan’s hand, his style of writing “foot” as well as his ambitions to get a foot in the door of show biz “Overboard we’ll throw her” and make him go overboard in purging him “She’ll never see that seaport town / Called Canadee-i-o” we will make darn sure Bob Dylan never realizes his sweet ambitions in America!
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Now, when the captain he heard the news, Well, he too fell in a rage, And with the whole ship's company He was willing to engage, Sayin', "She'll stay in sailor's clothes, Her color shall be blue, She'll see that seaport town Call Canadee-i-o.
When the music critics, the media heard the “news” that Dylan was going electric they thought it was the latest rage and with Dylan and the band they were willing to engage. Sayin’ will say his words are revolutionary and true.
Now, when they come down to Canada Scarcely 'bout half a year, She's married this bold captain Who called her his dear. She's dressed in silks and satins now, She cuts a gallant show, Finest of the ladies Down Canadee-i-o.
Dylan becomes a darling of the media.
Come, all you fair and tender girls, Wheresoever you may be, I'd have you to follow your own true love Whene'er he goes to sea. For if the sailors prove false to you, Well, the captain, he might prove true. You'll see the honor I have gained By the wearing of the blue.
If you weren’t cut out to be a folksinger, follow what you believe to be true when you go out into the world. You can see how it worked out for me.
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Judge says to Curtis, “What’s this noise about?” “All about them rounders, Judge, tryin’ to cut me out” All the friends I ever had are gone. Curtis said to the judge, “What might be my fine?” Judge says, “Poor boy, you got ninety-nine.” All the friends I ever had are gone.
“Judge says to Curtis, What’s this noise about?” The critic says to Dylan, ‘What is all this booing and hissing at your concerts about?’ Dylan responds, “All about them rounders, Judge, tryin’ to cut me out” it’s all about morally unrestrained folkies who are trying to cut me out of the rock and roll scene “All the friends I ever had are gone” all my folk fans are gone. “Curtis said to the judge, ‘What might be my fine?’” Dylan asks the critic what his punishment might be, “Poor boy, you got ninety-nine.” Dylan’s drew a life sentence of having to play folk music. “Friends” as fans; to his folk fans in Positively 4th Street, “You gotta lotta nerve to say you are my friend, when I was down you just stood there grinning.”
DELIA 1993***
Delia was a gambling girl, gambled all around, Delia was a gambling girl, she laid her money down. All the friends I ever had are gone.
Delia's dear ol' mother took a trip out West, When she returned, little Delia gone to rest. All the friends I ever had are gone. Delia's daddy weeped, Delia's momma moaned, Wouldn't have been so bad if the poor girl died at home. All the friends I ever had are gone. Curtis' looking high, Curtis' looking low, He shot poor Delia down with a cruel forty-four. All the friends I ever had are gone.
High up on the housetops, high as I can see, Looking for them rounders, looking out for me. All the friends I ever had are gone.
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Men in Atlanta, tryin' to pass for white, Delia's in the graveyard, boys, six feet out of sight. All the friends I ever had are gone.
Judge says to Curtis, "What's this noise about?" "All about them rounders, Judge, tryin' to cut me out." All the friends I ever had are gone.
Curtis said to the judge, "What might be my fine?" Judge says, "Poor boy, you got ninety-nine." All the friends I ever had are gone.
Curtis' in the jail house, drinking from an old tin cup,
Delia's in the graveyard, she ain't gettin' up. All the friends I ever had are gone.
Delia, oh Delia, how can it be?
You loved all them rounders, never did love me. All the friends I ever had are gone.
Delia, oh Delia, how can it be?
You wanted all them rounders, never had time for me. All the friends I ever had are gone.
TWO SOLDIERS 1993***
He was just a blue-eyed Boston boy His voice was low with pain “I’ll do your bidding comrade mine If I ride back again But if you ride back and I am left You’ll do as much for me Mother you know, must hear the news So write to her tenderly.”
“He was just a blue-eyed Boston boy” sarcastic, Dylan thought like a Confederate “His voice was low” the true expression of his feelings were kept to himself “with pain” and he felt guilty about it “I’ll do your bidding comrade mine” I’ll do your bidding fellow Red Comrade “If I ride back again” if you help me get where I wish to go “But if you ride back and I am left” but if I help you by taking the Leftist point of view “You’ll do as much for me” this
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“Ride” as advance career; Long Time Comin’ 1962, “Many times by the highway side” often when I performed in public “I tried to flag a ride” I tried to advance my career “With bloodshot eyes” with thoughts of death “and gritting teeth” and uncontrollable anger “I’d watch the cars roll by” I would watch other performers careers go on a roll “The empty air hung in my head” their vacuous songs lacking purpose that were given airtime on AM radio haunted me “I’s thinkin’ all day long. I’m a long time a-comin’” it is taking me a long time to make it “An’ I’ll be a long time gone” but once I do I will be immortal.
Straight was the track to the top of the hill, The rebels they shot and shelled, Plowed furrows of death through the toiling ranks, And guarded them as they fell.
“Straight” straight away “was the track” track as in a track on a record “to the top of the hill” to the top of the charts, to the top of the heap “The rebels” Dylan and his backup band who had Confederate mentalities “they shot” took a shot at fame “and shelled” and made sounds pleasing to the ear; “shell” the external part of the ear; Let’s Keep It Between Us 1982, “My ears are ringin’ / Ringin’ like empty shells” “Plowed furrows” created grooves, cuts in records “of death” that caused other artists popularity to die out “through the toiling ranks” through the folk musicians who identified with the working class “And guarded them” turned them into the old guard, passé players “as they fell” as they fell from prominence.
There soon came a horrible dying yell From heights that they could not gain And those whom doom and death had spared Rode slowly back again
“There soon came a horrible dying yell” there soon came disruption of Dylan’s concerts “From heights that they could not gain,” from those stuck on the bottom in the folk rut who could never equal Bob Dylan in stature “And those whom doom and death had spared” and those who the inevitable doom and death of being a folk musician had spared “Rode slowly back again” rode a wave of popularity thanks to folk rock invented by Dylan.
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But among the dead that were left on the hill Was the boy with the curly hair. The tall dark man who rode by his side Lay dead beside him there. There’s no one to write to the blue-eyed girl The words that her lover had said. Momma, you know, awaits the news, And she’ll only know he’s dead.
“But among the dead that were left on the hill” but among those folk musicians no longer in the game “Was the boy with the curly hair” was the Dylan who had the courage to have contempt for the Left “The tall” the teller of tall stories, the towering figure “dark” sinister and evil, the African- American lover “man who rode by his side” who took the Communist’s side “Lay dead beside him there” no longer existed “There’s no one to write to the blueeyed girl” there’s no Bob Dylan to write for his early Yankee audience “The words that her lover had said” the words these fools believed to be the truth “Momma, you know, awaits the news” their consciences await more songs based on newspaper stories “And she’ll only know he’s dead” but they ain’t comin’. Tarantula “how you like your blue eyed boy NOW mr octopus?” Mister Socialist? The Octopus is critique of capitalism by Upton Sinclair “when the four star colonels come in & everybody says yankee doodle.”
“Tall, dark and handsome” as a rich African-American lovin’ liberal; Watered Down Love 1981, “Love” religious truth “that’s pure” that is not polluted like Judaism “hopes all things” has aspirations for others, not just for itself “Believes all things” believes in both the Old and New Testaments “won’t pull no strings” won’t attempt to turn you into a puppet, won’t try to control the world, the economic markets “Won’t sneak” move in a quiet, stealthy manner “up into your room” into your life “tall, dark and handsome” with tall tales about Black that come from wealthy Jews not poor Whites “Capture your soul” steal your soul from Christ “and hold it for ransom” and prevent you from attaining redemption from sin and its consequences by converting to Christianity.
HIGHLANDS 1997
I’m listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound Someone’s always yelling turn it down Feel like I’m drifting Drifting from scene to scene
I’m wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean?
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“I’m listening to Neil Young” I love rock and roll “I gotta turn up the sound” I have to switch from an acoustic guitar to an electric one “Someone’s always yelling turn it down” and as a result my old folk fans are disrupting my concerts “Feel like I’m drifting” feel as if I am gradually departing from the folk scene by doing an acoustic set and an electric one “Drifting from scene to scene” and going aimlessly from one display of bad temper to another because of the numerous scenes at Dylan concerts started by irate fans “I’m wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean?” sarcastic, I know what is going on, these people are under the spell of the devil, Communism.
Some segments of the media had its doubts about Dylan’s authenticity and as a result in 1963 Dylan was the recipient of an expose done by a reporter at Newsweek Magazine.
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RESTLESS FAREWELL 1964
Oh a false clock tries to tick out my time To disgrace, distract, and bother me. And the dirt of gossip blows into my face And the dust of rumors covers me.
“Oh a false clock tries to tick out” a dishonest reporter is attempting to report on “my time” my life, my place in history “To disgrace, distract, and bother me / And the dirt of gossip blows into my face” and my value and standing in the eyes of others; prestige is undermined by unsubstantiated libelous reportage that is rapidly spreading. Also derogatory gossip engulfs my race, having been exposed as Robert Allen Zimmerman, a Jew from Hibbing, Minnesota by Newsweek, “And the dust of rumors covers me” and the excrement of libelous articles covers me. “Cover” to be responsible for reporting the details of an event or situation; ‘Two reporters covered the news story.’ Newsweek ran a story that sparked a rumor that Dylan stole Blowin in the Wind from another folksinger which, judging from its racist subcontent, is patently false.
“Rumors” as malicious stories; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “what will be my punishment” for disrespecting a reporter from Newsweek “a rumor tale on you ha ha” “a what kind of tale ha ha ha ha” “yes well you’ll see, Mr. Dylan, you’ll see.”
But if the arrow is straight And the point is slick It can pierce through dust no matter how thick. So I’ll make my stand And remain as I am And bid farewell and not give a damn.
“But if the arrow” if the direction my career takes “is straight” is characterized by undeviating support, as of a principle or a political party such as the Republicans “And the point is slick” and the point I make is slick, devious, tricky “It can pierce through dust no matter how thick” it will move and affect critics and cut through shit no matter how thick they lay it on, how intensively “So I’ll make my stand” I will submit to and undergo, ‘stand trial,’ I will make my stand politically “And remain as I am” and not change to please Newsweek “And bid farewell and not give a damn” and I will bid farewell to folk music and not give a damn what Newsweek writes about Bob Dylan the Leftwing folksinger.
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THE WICKED MESSENGER 1968
There was a wicked messenger From Eli he did come With a mind that multiplied The smallest matter. When questioned who had sent for him He answered with his thumb For his tongue it could not speak, but only flatter.
“There was a wicked” slang; strikingly good, effective, and skillful; Chronicles, “wicked sounding” “messenger” message song writer “From Eli he did come” from the Jews, from the Old Testament he did come “With a mind that multiplied / The smallest matter” with a mind that could take reading matter such as a newspaper article and over exaggerate its significance by turning it into a topical song “When questioned who had sent for him” when asked by the press why did you come to New York City? “He answered with his thumb” he told them he thumbed his way here “For his tongue it could not speak” because his language it could not tell the truth “but only flatter” but could only tell the media what it wanted to hear, a self generated legend.
He stayed behind the assembly hall It was there he made his bed, Oftentimes he could be seen returning. Until one day he just appeared With a note in his hand which read The soles of my feet, I swear they’re burning
“He stayed behind the assembly hall” he pretended to support the Left, “assembly hall” as Union Hall “It was there he made his bed” it was there he built his foundation in show business “Oftentimes he could be seen returning” oftentimes he could be seen performing, “return” a recurrence, as of a periodic event “Until one day he just appeared / With a note in his hand which read” until one day he appeared with a musical note that he had written that did not conform to folk music that clearly stated “The soles of my feet” the very soul of my ambition is to leave folk music “I swear they’re burning” and now this is my greatest my passion.
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Oh, the leaves began to fallin’ And the seas began to part And the people that confronted him were many And he was told but these few words Which opened up his heart “If ye cannot bring good news, then don’t bring any” something thin like a leaf, especially the page of a book. Several leaves had been torn out of the book . The lyrics began failing and the multitude of fans began to leave and his fans booed and jeering him at his rock and roll concerts. And Dylan was called Judas which made him even angrier (sarcastic) If you cannot tell us what we want to hear, the Gospel according to Marx, then we don’t want to hear what you have to say
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BALLAD OF A THIN MAN 1965
You walk into the room With your pencil in your hand You see somebody naked And you say, Who is that man? You try so hard But you don’t understand Just what you’ll say When you get home
“You walk into the room” you are allowed into Congress “With your pencil in your hand” ready to report “You see somebody naked” who see someone vulnerable like Senator Barry Goldwater “And you say, ‘Who is that man?’” and you smell your prey “You try so hard” sarcastic; you have a liberal bias “But you don’t understand” sarcastic; you understand “Just what you’ll say / When you get home” just what you will write when you get back to the home office of your publication that will please your liberal Democratic editors “And something is happening here but you don’t know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?” a real American is running for President.
Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you And then he kneels He crosses himself And then he clicks his high heels And without further notice He asks you how it feels And he says, here is your throat back Thanks for the loan.
“Well, the sword swallower” the old Dylan who pretended to believe in the Left and made believe he swallowed, believed and accepted without questioning or challenge, its bogus violent, romantic ideas “he comes up to you” he operates on your journalistic level writing songs based on news stories “And then he kneels” then he pretends to be subservient to you “He crosses himself” he reaffirms his allegiance to the religion of the Left “And then he clicks his high heels” but composes poems that contain racist subcontent. Nazi officers would click their heels when called to attention. “And without further notice” and without an actual written or printed news story “He asks you how it feels” the sword swallower asks you if you like his song? “And he says, “Here is your throat back / Thanks for the loan” and of course the journalist likes the song because it originated in the liberal world
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of journalism “And something is happening here but you don’t know what it is? Do you Mr. Jones?” Dylan is manipulating the media.
Now you see this one-eyed midget Shouting the word ‘now’! And you say, for what reason? And he says, how? And you say, what does this mean? And he screams back, you’re a cow Give me some milk Or else go home Because something is happening here But you don’t know what it is Do you, Mister Jones
“Now you see this one-eyed” single minded “midget” man belonging to a type or class much smaller than what is considered standard, a minority group who is a monster, a bogeyman, a bogey “Shouting the word ‘NOW’” asking for Freedom Now! This was the slogan of the Civil Rights Movement “And you say, ‘For what reason?’” and you the reporter are sympathetic to him and ask for his rationale “And he says, ‘How?’” but the African-American has copped an attitude and is not interested in providing an explanation, he just wants what he believes he has coming to him “And you say, ‘What does this mean?’” and the reporter says to himself wait one cotton pickin’ minute, this ain’t the story book civil rights African-American, this an extortionist “And he screams back, ‘You’re a cow’” and he protests that you are a cash cow you White devil “Give me some milk” give me some free money, welfare I don’t want to earn it; Tarantula, “you can keep my cow as i now am on the road to freedom” “Or else go home” or else go back to your home office “Because something is happening here / But you don’t know what it is / Do you, Mister Jones?” because the African-Americans are putting one over on you and your support of the Civil Rights Movement is unwarranted.
SAD EYED LADY OF THE LOWLANDS
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THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
I started to try to figure this song out in 1966 but failed until May 2016. The key here is “your silver cross” a reference to William Jennings Bryant’s “Cross of Gold” speech. Bryant was a Democrat. Another telling line is “With you pockets well protected at last / And you streetcar visions that you place out on the grass” a reference to urban democratic corruption.
With your mercury mouth in the missionary times And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes And your silver cross, and your voice like chimes Oh, who among them do they think could bury you?
With your mercury mouth in the missionary times
With your political messages in the New York Times on a mission to support the Democratic Party
And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes
And you insubstantial thoughts about integration and your court cases all sounding alike, rhyming Prayer: Law a. The request for relief by a party initiating a lawsuit, stated in the pleadings. b. The portion of the pleadings that contains this request.
And your silver cross, Eloquent; persuasive: a silver voice like that of William Jennings Bryan who gave the Cross of Gold speech and was a Democrat and your voice The right or opportunity to express a choice or opinion: a territory that has a voice, but not a vote, in Congress. like chimes Agreement; accord: a flawless chime of romance and reality.
Oh, who among them do they think could bury you?
Sarcastic – what country could bury you. sarcastic, the Soviet Union will bury you, thanks to your liberal politics: Nikita Khrushchev “About the capitalist states, it doesn’t depend on you whether or not we exist. If you don’t like us don’t accept our invitations, and don’t invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it or not history is on our side. We will bury you!”
With your pockets well protected at last And your streetcar visions which you place on the grass And your flesh like silk, and your face like glass Who among them do they think could carry you?
With your pockets well protected at last
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With your corrupt political donations given like protection money
And your streetcar visions which you place on the grass
And your public works project that you initiate and give contracts to mafia construction firms to actuate
And your flesh
Sensual appetites: gratification of the flesh. like silk, a gown of such material worn by a King's or Queen's Counsel at the English bar. Desire for high priced hookers and your face like glass
The quantity contained by a drinking vessel; a glassful. And you alcohol race or Irishmen
Who among them do they think could carry you?
To win a majority of the votes in: Roosevelt carried all but two states in the 1936 presidential election.
Sad-eyed lady
Sad Deplorable or inadequate; sorry: a sad state of affairs; a sad excuse.
of the lowlands
near the bottom in grade, rank, class etc
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes
Where Dylan says no man finds satisfaction
My warehouse eyes
My thoughts that store everything “My warehouse eyes” my thoughts about institutionalizing African-Americans
My Arabian drums
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“my Arabian” my racist “drums” desire to promote and support deporting African-Americans. “Arabian” as racist; Liner Notes to Highway 61 Revisited 1965,
On the slow train time does not interfere & at the Arabian crossing waits White Heap, the man from the newspaper & behind him the hundred Inevitables made of solid rock & stone - - the Cream Judge & the Clown -- the doll house where Savage Rose & Fixable live simply in their wild animal luxury . .
“On the slow train” on a train of thought that takes some time to arrive at; Slow Train 1979 “There’s a slow train a comin” Christianity “up around the bend” to a person that is crazy, around the bend “time does not interfere” an interval, especially a span of years, marked by similar events, conditions, such as the Holocaust and World War II does not get involved, so as to alter and hinder an action “& at the Arabian crossing” and at the point of crossing over to racism “waits White Heap” waits white trash as in ‘trash heap’ “the man from the newspaper” George Lincoln Rockwell “& behind him the hundred Inevitables” the early small band of Storm Troopers invariably appearing; predictable “made of solid rock” Christian poem, Solid Rock 1980 “I’m hanging on to solid rock” doctrine suggestive of a mass of stone in stability, firmness and dependability “& stone” punishment, reaction.
she's a phantom & mouth like an oven she dances on a cake of islam & "dont tell someone what you know they already know. that makes them think that you just like them & you aint! " . . . but then you take gwendeline, the different story & rides with lawrence o arabia & plays with her mercury - mumbling crummy world & "oh, the sadness! "
“Arabian” as racist; Tarantula, “she’s a phantom” Israel possessed Phantom Fighter Jets “& mouth like an oven” and she utters words about the Holocaust without conviction and understanding “she dances on a cake of islam” ‘have one’s cake and eat it’ Israel has a choice between two incompatible alternatives such as going along with being in Europe or being surrounding by Islamic countries in the Middle East “‘& dont tell someone what you know they already know. that makes them think that you’re just like them & you aint!’…but then you take gwendeline” Chloe Kiel “the
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different story” who had a different story about Jews and Israel “& rides with lawrence o Arabia” lives with someone who is a racist, who is pro-Arab, Ray Gooch “& plays with” uses and moves something in a game “her mercury” her message “mumbling crummy world & ‘oh, the sadness!’” Tarantula, “Twinkle” for a brief time “Clown” soldier with arabic lettering on his forehead” with his racism clearly displayed “wanting everybody to experience his fright” wanting everyone to experience his fear of the Black Race, Ray Gooch.
Should I put them by your gate Or sad eyed lady should I wait?
“Should I put them by your gate” should I present them to you, you who prides yourself on Ellis Island, ‘America’s Gate’ where people of all races were allowed to enter as immigrants “Or Sad Eyed Lady should I wait?” or should I wait until the African-Americans and their Communist controllers destroy America?
With your sheets like metal and your belt like lace And your deck of cards missing the jack and the ace And your basement clothes and your hollow face Who among them can think he could outguess you?
With your sheets like metal
a broad continuous surface; expanse or stretch: the rust belt where metal, steel, was once produced.
and your belt like lace an area, esp an elongated one, where a specific thing or specific conditions are found; zone: the town belt; a belt of affluence.
And your deck of cards missing the jack and the ace
And you giving an uneven start in life to most of your constituents
And your basement clothes and your hollow face
And your Appalachian poverty and hunger
Who among them can think he could outguess you?
What other political party could come up with a better economic system.
With your silhouette when the sunlight dims Into your eyes where the moonlight swims And your matchbook songs and your gypsy hymns Who among them would try to impress you?
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With your silhouette when the sunlight dims
With your colored folk constituents
Into your eyes where the moonlight swims
Into your mind where reaching for the moon, trying to do the impossible, thrives.
And your matchbook songs and your gypsy hymns
And your promise of a high paying job and you praise of dark skinned people
Who among them would try to impress you?
What country would try to enslave you playing on the weakness.
The kings of Tyros with their convict list Are waiting in line for their geranium kiss And you wouldn’t know it would happen like this But who among them really wants just to kiss you?
The kings of Tyros with their convict list
People of Middle East origin who move in the direction of criminality
Are waiting in line for their geranium kiss
Are following the communist party line. Are trying to steal atomic secrets.
And you wouldn’t know it would happen like this
Sarcastic: It was the policies of the Democratic Party that caused this.
But who among them really wants just to kiss you?
But who among the communists only wants just to kiss you and not destroy you?
With your childhood flames on your midnight rug And your Spanish manners and your mother’s drugs And your cowboy mouth and your curfew plugs Who among them do you think could resist you?
With your childhood flames on your midnight rug
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With your triangle shirt company fire where the bodies of the victims were laid out on rugs in the street.
And your Spanish manners
And you allowing Mexicans and Puerto Ricans to infest New York City
and your mother’s drugs
and bring drugs into the country
And your cowboy mouth and your tough talk about crime and your curfew plugs and your cops who will plug you in a heartbeat
Who among them do you think could resist you?
Who could resist you as in resisting arrest.
Oh, the farmers and the businessmen, they all did decide To show you the dead angels that they used to hide But why did they pick you to sympathize with their side? Oh, how could they ever mistake you?
Oh, the farmers and the businessmen, they all did decide
The agricultural giants
To show you the dead angels that they used to hide
To get farm subsidies from the Democratic Party along with tax breaks.
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But why did they pick you to sympathize with their side?
Rhetorical question – they knew the Democrats were corrupt
Oh, how could they ever mistake you?
More sarcasm
They wished you’d accepted the blame for the farm But with the sea at your feet and the phony false alarm And with the child of a hoodlum wrapped up in your arms How could they ever, ever persuade you?
They wished you’d accepted the blame for the farm
They wish you accept the blame for small farmers being bought out
But with the sea at your feet
But with you inhabiting coastal areas rather than the farm belt
and the phony false alarm
apprehension or uneasiness: the idea of the Depression filled him with alarm.
And with the child of a hoodlum
Winston Churchill wrapped up in your arms
A weapon, especially a firearm: troops bearing arms;
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How could they ever, ever persuade you?
With your sheet-metal memory of Cannery Row And your magazine-husband who one day just had to go And your gentleness now, which you just can’t help but show Who among them do you think would employ you?
With your sheet-metal memory of Cannery Row
With you substandard housing for factory workers
And your magazine-husband who one day just had to go
And you repression of workers by the National Guard equipped with live ammunition
And your gentleness now, which you just can’t help but show
And you alleged change to Liberalism which you show off to the public
Who among them do you think would employ you?
Who among the industrialists would employ you to do their dirty work?
Now you stand with your thief, you’re on his parole With your holy medallion which your fingertips fold And your saint like face and your ghostlike soul Oh, who among them do you think could destroy you?
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Now you stand with your thief, you’re on his parole
Now you stand with Jesus and Christianity and claim to follow its guidelines
With your holy medallion
With the Holy Bible
which your fingertips fold
which you draw quotations from by folding the pages
And your saint like face and your ghostlike soul
And your cloak of Puritanism but your evil soul
Oh, who among them do you think could destroy you?
What godless nation could destroy you?
SAD-EYED LADY OF THE LOWLANDS, 1966
With your mercury mouth in the missionary times And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes And your silver cross, and your voice like chimes Oh, who among them do they think could bury you?
“With your mercury mouth” A god that served as messenger, now a newspaper “in the missionary times” One who attempts to persuade or
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convert others to a particular program, doctrine, or set of principles; a propagandist. The New York Times. “And your eyes” and your thoughts “like smoke” Something insubstantial, unreal, or transitory. “and your prayers” editorials “like rhymes” that correspond to one another when it comes to issues such as segregation, negotiations with the Soviet Union “And your silver cross” and your Democratic Party as in Democrat William Jennings Bryan Cross of Gold speech “and your voice” your right and opportunity to express a choice “like chimes” all in agreement, a Democratic City “Oh, who among them do they think could bury you?” sarcastic, the Soviet Union will bury you, thanks to your liberal politics: Nikita Khrushchev “About the capitalist states, it doesn’t depend on you whether or not we exist. If you don’t like us don’t accept our invitations, and don’t invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it or not history is on our side. We will bury you!”
“Mercury” as a messenger; No Time To Think 1978, “China doll” heroin “alcohol / duality” using both heroin and alcohol at the same time “Mercury rules you” a messenger of dope rules you “and destiny” the power that predetermines the course of events “fools you” eludes you “Like the plague” like an addiction “with a dangerous wink” with approval from Ray Gooch “And there’s no time to think.”
“China doll” as heroin; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “an’ the woven’ spell of Paul Clayton” who introduced Dylan to Gooch “entrancin’ me like China’s plague unescapeable.”
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands, Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes, My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums, Should I leave them by your gate, Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
“Sad-eyed” filled with deplorable thoughts “lady” aristocrat “of the lowlands” of New York City, New Amsterdam, the lowlands of Holland “Where the sad- eyed prophet” where the chief spokesperson of a movement or cause “says that no man comes” says no man comes before another, no race has priority “My warehouse eyes” my thoughts about institutionalizing African-Americans in deportation camps “my Arabian” my racist “drums” desire to promote and support deporting African-Americans “Should I put them by your gate” should I present them to you, you who prides yourself on Ellis Island, ‘America’s Gate’ where people of all races were allowed to enter as immigrants “Or Sad Eyed Lady should I wait?” or should I wait until the African-Americans and their Communist controllers destroy New York City?
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On the slow train time does not interfere & at the Arabian crossing waits White Heap, the man from the newspaper & behind him the hundred Inevitables made of solid rock & stone -- the Cream Judge & the Clown -- the doll house where Savage Rose & Fixable live simply in their wild animal luxury . .
“Arabian” as racist; Liner Notes to Highway 61 Revisited 1965, “On the slow train” on a train of thought that takes some time to arrive at; Slow Train 1979 “There’s a slow train a comin” Christianity “up around the bend” to a person that is crazy, around the bend “time does not interfere” an interval, especially a span of years, marked by similar events, conditions, such as the Holocaust and World War II does not get involved, so as to alter and hinder an action “& at the Arabian crossing” and at the point of crossing over to racism “waits White Heap” waits white trash as in ‘trash heap’ “the man from the newspaper” George Lincoln Rockwell “& behind him the hundred Inevitables” the early small band of Storm Troopers invariably appearing; predictable “made of solid rock” Christian poem, Solid Rock 1980 “I’m hanging on to solid rock” doctrine suggestive of a mass of stone in stability, firmness and dependability “& stone” punishment, reaction.
she's a phantom & mouth like an oven she dances on a cake of islam & "dont tell someone what you know they already know. that makes them think that you just like them & you aint! " . . . but then you take gwendeline, the different story & rides with lawrence o arabia & plays with her mercury - mumbling crummy world & "oh, the sadness!"
“Arabian” as racist; Tarantula, “she’s a phantom” Israel possessed Phantom Fighter Jets “& mouth like an oven” and she utters words about the Holocaust without conviction and understanding “she dances on a cake of islam” ‘have one’s cake and eat it’ Israel has a choice between two incompatible alternatives such as going along with being in Europe or being surrounding by Islamic countries in the Middle East “‘& dont tell someone what you know they already know. that makes them think that you’re just like them & you aint!’…but then you take gwendeline” Chloe Kiel “the different story” who had a different story about Jews and Israel “& rides with
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lawrence o Arabia” lives with someone who is a racist, who is pro-Arab, Ray Gooch “& plays with” uses and moves something in a game “her mercury” her message “mumbling crummy world & ‘oh, the sadness!’” Tarantula, “Twinkle” for a brief time “Clown” soldier with arabic lettering on his forehead” with his racism clearly displayed “wanting everybody to experience his fright” wanting everyone to experience his fear of the Black Race, Ray Gooch.
With your pockets well protected at last And your streetcar visions which you place on the grass And your flesh like silk, and your face like glass, Who among them do they think could carry you?
“With your pockets” with a small, isolated group like the wealthy New York City Jews “well protected at last” under heavy police protection and protected from the African-Americans “And your streetcar visions” and your imaginary hopes for the future of urban race relations “which you place on the grass” which you force on to the grassroots, ordinary people, not limousine liberals “And your flesh” and your family; kin “like silk” wealthy as in the ‘silk stocking district’ “and your face” your Jewish race “like glass” like a illusion, hidden under gentile names “Who among them do they think could carry you?” what banks will keep your accounts as a debtor?
With your sheets like metal and your belt like lace And your deck of cards missing the jack and the ace And your basement clothes and your hollow face, Who among them can think he could outguess you?
“With your sheets like metal” with your local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan sharing the same basic character; mettle as those in the South “and your belt” your geographic region that is distinctive in a specific respect, a ghetto “like lace” full of a bunch of drunken African-Americans “lace” to add a substance, especially an intoxicant “And your deck of cards” and your racial group “missing the jack” lacking those who do heavy jobs “and the ace” and experts in a given field like Nobel Prize Winners, with your ghetto filled with drunken, lazy, shiftless baboons who don’t excel at anything except crime and making babies. Tarantula, “a few Baby Huey for President buttons” a few buttons indicating support for a Southern politician, Huey Long “a deck of cards with the aces missing some empty deodorant bottles” and some deodorant to counter the smell of African-American sweat. “And your basement” and your last place and lowest level; as in competitive standings Subterranean Homesick Blues 1965, “Johnny’s in the basement” “clothes” words, education, schools “and your hollow face” you’re your race which has
V1-389 no real value and worth, and lacks purpose “Who among them” who among the other people in the world as in ‘them and us’ “can think he could outguess you?” can outsmart you?
“Sheet” as racist group; Emmet Till 1962 “that ghost robed Ku Klux Klan.” To Dave Glover 1962, “It’s the time a the white collar shirt” the clergy’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, “an the white sheeted hood” the heroic KKK “and the white man’s sun tan lotion” and the White man’s desire to be Black, Man Tan was a lotion that made Whites look Black that was popular around this time. Some Other Kinds of Songs, “white as a sheet.”
With your silhouette when the sunlight dims Into your eyes where the moonlight swims And your match-book songs and your gypsy hymns Who among them would try to impress you?
“With your silhouette” with your colored musicians “when the sunlight” when the stage lights “dims” and the spotlight focuses on the stars “Into your eyes” into your brain, your thoughts “where the moonlight” insanity “swims” makes your head swim, confuses and overwhelms you “And your match- book songs” and your phony patriotic songs “and your gypsy hymns” and your music industry players who are enamored by Black performers “Who among them would try to impress you?” who among the White artists would waste his time trying to make a good impression on Tin Pan Alley?
“Silhouettes” as colored people; Chronicles, “He was noir all the way—dark sombrero, black britches, high boots, slip-on gloves—all shadow and silhouette-dimmed out, a black prince from the black hills.” Ballad in Plain D 1964, “From silhouetted anger” from anger about the woman he loved having sex with Black men “to manufactured peace” to having to make up something artificial and untrue, to having to have gone into denial about it “Answers of emptiness” answers about why she cheated on me had no substance “voice” they were just an agency of expression of the racial equality movement “vacancies, containing nothing “Till the tombstones of damage read me” at this point the relationship was already over “no questions but, ‘Please, What’s wrong and what’s exactly the matter?’” how come you prefer these men to me sexually?
“Meadow” as America; Tarantula, “but they’re putting up a supermarket across the meadow & that should take care of the farmer” Black Crow Blues 1964, “Black crows” Jim Crow exults loudly, as over another’s defeat; boasts” “in the meadow” in America “Sleeping across a broad highway” and many people across a broad section of the public are openly comfortable with it “Though it’s funny, honey” isn’t it ironic that despite my reputation as
V1-390 an advocate of Civil Rights “I just don’t feel much like” I am not really like “a Scarecrow today” someone who is opposed to Jim Crow today.
The kings of Tyros with their convict list Are waiting in line for their geranium kiss And you wouldn’t know it would happen like this, But who among them really wants just to kiss you?
“The kings of Tyros” the Wall Street Community, the greatest stocks and bonds traders in the world “with their convict list” with their proclivity to white collar crime “Are waiting in line for” are eagerly anticipating “their geranium kiss” their profits from the Cold War military industrial complex; Tarantula, “Delia, who’s called Debra when she walks around in her nurse uniform, she casts off pure light in the cellar & has principles / ask her for a paper favor & she gives you a geranium poem” a poem about the Bomb “And you wouldn’t know it would happen like this” sarcastic, who would ever think anyone would make huge profits from war “But who among them” what other city “really wants just to kiss you?” really wants just kiss you goodbye be forced to regard Wall Street as lost, ruined, and hopeless.
With your childhood flames on your midnight rug And your Spanish manners and your mother’s drugs And your cowboy mouth and your curfew plugs, Who among them do you think could resist you?
“With your childhood flames” with your Triangle Shirt Factory fire “on your midnight rug” during which 146 employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company were dead the night of March 25, 1911 and laid out on rugs in famous newspaper photographs in one of New York’s worst disasters “And your Spanish manners” and your prevailing customs, social conduct, and norms of the Puerto Ricans “and your mother’s” mother superior, the Roman Catholic Church’s “drugs” ability to stupefy and dull with or as if with a drug; ‘drugged with papist thought’ “And your cowboy mouth” and your heroic words merely mouthed; “Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore” “and your curfew” that takes people out, puts them to sleep for good; Gates of Eden 1962, “Its curfew gull just glides” “plugs” if they happened to get plugged, wounded “and your New York City Police forces “Who among them do you think could resist you?” resist arrest and refrain from in spite of temptation; ‘I couldn’t resist immigrating the United States.’
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Oh, the farmers and the businessmen, they all did decide To show you the dead angels that they used to hide. But why did they pick you to sympathize with their side? Oh, how could they ever mistake you?
“Oh, the farmers” those who were affected by the Depression “and the businessmen” and the Communist propagandists “they all did decide” they got together and voted in a block, the United Front “To show you the dead” to elect someone lacking feeling and sensitivity; numb and unresponsive Franklin D. Roosevelt had polio “angels” and was a leader, guiding influence “that they used to hide” from Hyde Park New York “But why did they pick you to sympathize with their side?” but why did they chose New York City as a stronghold for FDR “Oh, how could they ever mistake you?” sarcastic, New York was his home state.
“Businessmen” as Communist propagandist, those who were giving the public ‘the business,’ You Gotta Serve Somebody 1979, “You may be a businessman or some high degree thief.” Foot of Pride 1983, “There’s a retired businessman named Red, cast down from heaven and he’s out of his head.” Summer Days 2001, “what good are you anyway if you can’t stand up to some old” endure, put up with an antiquated out of date, Old Left “businessman.”
“Thief” as poet; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs, “Yes, I am a thief of thoughts / not, I pray, a stealer of souls / I have built an’ rebuilt / upon what is waitin’” Positively Fourth Street 1965; to the folkies; “No, I do not feel that good / When I see the heartbreaks you embrace / If I was a master thief” sarcastic: if I was a world class poet “Perhaps I’d rob them” perhaps I would express them.
They wished you’d accepted the blame for the farm But with the sea at your feet and the phony false alarm And with the child of a hoodlum wrapped up in your arms, How could they ever, ever persuade you?
“They wished you’d accepted the blame for the farm” the Communists wanted New York City’s Wall Street to take responsibility for the Great Depression “But with the sea at your feet” but with America at your service and England on the other side of the pond “and the phony false alarm” and a signal or warning that is first believed to be groundless but turns out to be real; before Pearl Harbor a report arrived from a local radar station that unidentified aircraft were headed for Manila and Clark Field. Thirty-six P-40 fighter planes were ordered into the air and seventeen B-17s. The approaching Japanese planes changed course. The P-40 pilots could not find
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them and thought they had been sent up on a false alarm and returned to base, believing perhaps that the attack on Pearl Harbor had been a hoax and that they were being tested for readiness. The B-17s also returned to base “And with the child of the hoodlum” and with the followers of Joe Stalin “wrapped up in your arms” deeply devoted to your power “How could they ever, ever persuade you?”
With your sheet-metal memory of Cannery Row, And your magazine-husband who one day just had to go, And your gentleness now, which you just can’t help but show, Who among them do you think would employ you?
“With your sheet-metal memory” sheet metal is used to board up buildings after a fire or a riot; on Sunday, June 12, 1863 the names of the draftees for compulsory service in the Civil War were published in newspapers. Within hours, groups of Irish immigrants banded together across the city. Eventually numbering some 50,000 people, the mob terrorized neighborhoods on the East Side of New York for three days looting scores of stores. Blacks were the targets of most attacks on citizens; several lynching’s and beatings occurred “of Cannery Row” a book about the lives of Catholic immigrants “And your magazine husband who one day just had to go” Lincoln deployed combat troops from the Federal Army of the Potomac to restore order; they remained encamped around the city for several weeks; “magazine” a place for storing weapons, explosives, or military equipment “And your gentleness now, which you just can’t help but show” and your contemporary attempts to avoid a repetition of these riots “Who among them do you think would employ you?” “employ” as put to use in the service.
Now you stand with your thief, you’re on his parole With your holy medallion which your finger- tips fold, And your saint-like face and your ghostlike soul, Oh, who among them do you think could destroy you
“Now you stand with your thief, you’re on his parole” now you stand on equal ground with your poet and it is his turn to determine who is in violation of the law “With your holy medallion” with your police badges “which your fingertips fold” and the folding money that you collect as bribes as opportunities for corruption are always at your fingertips “And your saint like face” and your police force made up of Catholics “and your ghostlike soul” who will kill African-Americans just as the Southern cops who were members of the KKK would “Oh, who among them do you think could destroy you?” what other race could destroy you?
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SARAH 1975
I can still hear the sounds of those Methodist bells, I’d taken the cure and had just gotten through Stayin’ up for days in the Chelsea Hotel, Writing Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands for you
“I can still hear the sounds of those Methodist bells” I can still feel the effects of methadone signaling that my addiction had come to an end at least temporarily “I’d taken the cure and had just gotten through” Dylan had kicked junk and just gotten through the worst part of it “Stayin’ up for days in the Chelsea Hotel” a hotel known for drug dealing at that time “Writing Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands for you” writing Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands for Sara Dylan; so many people believed Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands was about Joan Baez that Dylan had to insert this line to placate Sarah when in reality it was about New York City.
Sara, Sara, Wherever we travel we’re never apart. Sara, oh Sara, Beautiful lady, so dear to my heart.
“Sara, Sara” New York, New York “Wherever we travel we’re never apart” even if I travel far away to another city we are never apart “Sara, oh Sara, Beautiful lady” Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands 1966 “so dear to my heart.”
How did I meet you? I don’t know. A messenger sent me in a tropical storm. You were there in the winter, moonlight on the snow And on Lily Pond Lane when the weather was warm.
“How did I meet you? I don’t know” let me think of how to put this “A messenger” a desire to deliver a message “sent me” sent me to New York City “in a tropical storm” after a violent, sudden attack on Jim Crow in the South of the United States, a period of social upheaval “You were there in the winter” New York City was there when I received a cold reception “moonlight on the snow” and when I secretly started taking heroin. Also similar word usage as in Talkin New York 1962, “Winter time in New York Town / Wind blowin’ the snow around” “And on Lily Pond Lane” and then when I started writing my songs secretly praising Lily White America “when the weather was warm” after the climate of the folk scene became receptive, warmed up, to me.
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“Moonlight” as do something in secret; Copper Kettle 1970, “You’ll just lay there by the juniper while the moon is bright / Watch them jugs a-filling in the pale moonlight.”
Chronicles; “The Vietnamese might have to be straightened out—might have to send some Americans over there.”
Dylan, like Elvis, was subject to the draft as men were routinely inducted into the Army from 1940 to 1973. In Chronicles Bob never explained how he was classified as exempt from the military service. If Dylan were a true blue- blooded American Goldwater supporter he would have done his service to our country just as Barry Goldwater had in the Air Force. Having not served his country in the Armed Forces it would have been hypocritical for Dylan to have supported the war in Vietnam as his friend Johnny Cash, who served in the Air Force for four years, did. Although he never made any public statements opposing the war or appeared at any anti-war demonstrations, Dylan opposed the draft in his poetry.
I laid on a dune, I looked at the sky
A sand hill or sand ridge formed by the wind near oceans.
And but for the sky there are no fences facing
When the children were babies and played on the beach
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
You came up behind me, I saw you go by
You were always so close and still within reach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Sara, Sara Whatever made you want to change your mind? Sara, Sara So easy to look at, so hard to define
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I can still see them playin’ with their pails in the sand Returned into sand
They run to the water their buckets to fill I can still see the shells fallin’ out of their hands
Though I know that evenin’s empire has returned into sand Vanished from my hand
As they follow each other back up the hill
Sara, Sara Sweet virgin angel, sweet love of my life Sara, Sara Radiant jewel, mystical wife
Sara was a divorcee when Bob married her.
Sleepin’ in the woods by a fire in the night Drinkin’ white rum in a Portugal bar Them playin’ leapfrog and hearin’ about Snow White
The children move or progress in a discontinuous way after Sara realizes she is living with a junkie.
You in the marketplace in Savanna-la-Mar Sara, Sara It’s all so clear, I could never forget Sara, Sara Lovin’ you is the one thing I’ll never regret
I can still hear the sounds of those Methodist bells I’d taken the cure and had just gotten through Stayin’ up for days in the Chelsea Hotel Writin’ “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” for you
Sara, Sara Wherever we travel we’re never apart Sara, oh Sara Beautiful lady, so dear to my heart
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How did I meet you? I don’t know A messenger sent me in a tropical storm You were there in the winter, moonlight on the snow And on Lily Pond Lane when the weather was warm
How did I meet you. I know exactly how. Message song singer Joan Baez sent me to you. She was half Mexican – tropics. Unlike her you were from the cold North and were whiter than moonlight on the snow. Lily white even when you were in the sun.
Sara, oh Sara Scorpio Sphinx in a calico dress Sara, Sara You must forgive me my unworthiness
Sara Jewish Princess in an American dress I am unworthy of someone of your status / you must forgive me for cheating on you.
Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp And a piece of an old ship that lies on the shore You always responded when I needed your help You gimme a map and a key to your door In amphibious operations, that portion of the shoreline designated for landing of a tactical organization. to run away, usually from the army. He was shot for trying to desert.
Take me on a trip upon your magic swirling ship
Sara, oh Sara Glamorous nymph with an arrow and bow Sara, oh Sara Don’t ever leave me, don’t ever go
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ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO 1964***
I don’t want to meet your kin Make you spin or do you in, Or select you or dissect you, Or inspect you or reject you. All I really want to do Is, baby, be friends with you
“I don’t want to meet your kin” I am not like the draft board and don’t wish to know your marital status “Make you spin” make you spin a yarn about why you should not be inducted “or do you in,” or get you locked up for Draft Evasion “Or select you” or draft you, the Selective Service Board is another name for the Draft Board “or dissect you,” or operate on you after you are wounded “Or inspect you” or conduct an official examination or review, as of barracks or troops “or reject you” or label you 4-F. “All I really want to do Is, baby, be friends with you.”
I PITY THE POOR IMMIGRANT 1968 SEE VOLUME 2
TOMBSTONE BLUES 1966
The sweet pretty things are in bed now, of course The city fathers, they're trying to endorse The reincarnation of Paul Revere's horse But the town has no need to be nervous The ghost of Belle Starr, she hands down her wits To Jezebel the nun, she violently knits A bald wig for Jack the Ripper, who sits At the head of the Chamber of Commerce Mama's in the factory, she ain't got no shoes Daddy's in the alley, he's lookin' for food I'm in the kitchen with the tombstone blues
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The hysterical bride in the penny arcade Screaming, she moans, "I've just been made" Then sends out for the doctor, who pulls down the shade And says, "My advice is to not let the boys in" Now, the MEDICINE MAN comes and he shuffles inside He walks with a swagger and he says to the bride "Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride You will not die, it's not poison" Mama's in the factory, she ain't got no shoes Daddy's in the alley, he's lookin' for food I'm in the kitchen with the tombstone blues
Well, John the Baptist, after torturing a thief Looks up at his hero, the Commander-in-Chief Saying, "Tell me, great hero, but please make it brief Is there a hole for me to get sick in?" The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry" And, dropping a barbell, he points to the sky Saying, "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken" Mama's in the factory, she ain't got no shoes Daddy's in the alley, he's lookin' for food I'm in the kitchen with the tombstone blues
The king of the Philistines, his soldiers to save Puts jawbones on their tombstones and flatters their graves Puts the pied pipers in prison and fattens the slaves Then sends them out to the jungle Gypsy Davey with a blowtorch, he burns out their camps With his faithful slave Pedro behind him, he tramps With a fantastic collection of stamps To win friends and influence his uncle Mama's in the factory, she ain't got no shoes Daddy's in the alley, he's lookin' for food I'm in trouble with the tombstone blues
The geometry of innocence, flesh on the bone Causes Galileo's math book to get thrown At Delilah, who's sitting worthlessly alone But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill I would set him in chains at the top of the hill Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille He could die happily ever after
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Mama's in the factory, she ain't got no shoes Daddy's in the alley, he's lookin' for food I'm in the kitchen with the tombstone blues
Where Ma Rainey and Beethoven once unwrapped their bedroll Tuba players now rehearse around the flagpole And the National Bank at a profit sells road maps for the soul To the old folks' home and the college Now, I wish I could write you a melody so plain That could hold you, dear lady, from going insane That could ease you and cool you and cease the pain Of your useless and pointless knowledge Mama's in the factory, she ain't got no shoes Daddy's in the alley, he's lookin' for food I'm in the kitchen with the tombstone blues, oh right
The sweet pretty things are in bed now of course The city fathers they’re trying to endorse The reincarnation of Paul Revere’s horse But the town has no need to be nervous
The sweet pretty things
Ostensibly or superficially attractive but lacking substance or conviction: full of pretty phrases sentimental or unrealistic the anti-Communist liberals like Hubert Humphrey
Are in bed now of course
1. secretly helping someone and receiving help from them in return The senator isn't the only person in Washington who's in bed with military equipment manufacturers AKA The Military Industrial Complex. Usage notes: usually used negatively about a political relationship, as in the example
City father
(Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a person who is active or prominent in the public affairs of a city, such as an alderman
Humphrey's poor, rural upbringing stirred both him and his pharmacist father to become politically conscious, ardent New Dealers. Thus Humphrey was "permanently marked by the Depression," which in turn stimulated him to study and teach college political science in the employ of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration. After Humphrey became an administrator in
V1-400 that agency, the Minnesota Democratic party recognized his oratorical talents and, in their search for "new blood," tapped him as candidate for mayor of Minneapolis. Although he lost his first race in 1943, he succeeded in 1945.
Endorse
To express approval or support of, esp. publicly: to endorse a political candidate or legislative bill.
The reincarnation
Embodiment again in a new form, as of a principle or idea
Of Paul Revere’s horse
American silversmith remembered for his midnight ride (celebrated in a poem by Longfellow) to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that British troops were coming (1735-1818) Mounted soldiers; cavalry: a squadron of horse. In this case PAUL REVERE STANDS FOR WAR
But the town has no need to be nervous
Nervous Nellies have nothing to be afraid of. Declaring that “the road ahead is going to be difficult,” LBJ said, using an expression that became widely quoted, that there would be some “Nervous Nellies” along the way, but that America would prevail.” May 17,1966 LP released August 30, 1965
The ghost of Belle Starr she hands down her wits To Jezebel the nun she violently knits A bald wig for Jack the Ripper who sits At the head of the chamber of commerce The ghost
The outlaw Belle Starr represents LYNDON JOHNSON since both were from Texas
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She hands down her wits
Gives to future generations
Wits
Sound mental faculties; sanity: scared out of my wits.
To Jezebel the nun
Old Testament the wife of Ahab, king of Israel: she fostered the worship of Baal and tried to destroy the prophets of Israel (I Kings 18:4–13); she was killed by Jehu (II Kings 9:29–37) (sometimes not capital) a shameless or scheming woman. The nun is just the opposite so this is someone who is conflicted.
As vice president during 1968—arguably the United States' most politically turbulent post-World War II year—Hubert Humphrey faced an excruciating test of statesmanship. During a time of war in Southeast Asia when the stakes for this nation were great, Humphrey confronted an agonizing choice: whether to remain loyal to his president or to the dictates of his conscience. His failure to reconcile these powerful claims cost him the presidency. Yet few men, placed in his position, could have walked so agonizing a tightrope over so polarized a nation. she violently knits
V1-402 violence - Characterized by extreme emotion, especially anger: a violent argument.
Knit. To join closely; unite securely. Hubert sides with LBJ regarding Vietnam.
A bald wig for Jack the Ripper who sits
A disguise for the hawk LBJ - Jack the Ripper is a nickname for an unidentified serial killer generally believed to have been active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888.
At the head of the chamber of commerce
In the office of the presidency.
Mama’s in the fact’ry She ain’t got no shoes Daddy’s in the alley He’s lookin’ for the fuse I’m in the streets With the tombstone blues
The factories are switching to producing war material
Daddy’s in some Third World County fighting a war
In Dylan’s in America wondering if this is going end his life prematurely.
The hysterical bride in the penny arcade Screaming she moans, “I’ve just been made” Then sends out for the doctor who pulls down the shade Says, “My advice is to not let the boys in”
The agitated soldier on the battle field, the shooting gallery, Screaming: To speak or write in an excited or fearful manner I have just been recognized as White
When one American killed another American, usually a superior officer or an NCO, the term "fragging" came into use. Although the term simply meant that a fragmentation grenade was used in the murder, it later became an all encompassing term for such an action.
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Then get wounded calls for the doctor who blames it on The word “Black” can refer to anyone of any color or shade. The doctor say my advice is not to fight alongside boys – derogatory name for Blacks.
Now the medicine man comes and he shuffles inside He walks with a swagger and he says to the bride “Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride You will not die, it’s not poison”
The superior officer comes and he changes reality around, he walks with confidence and says to the wounded soldier
Mama’s in the fact’ry She ain’t got no shoes Daddy’s in the alley He’s lookin’ for the fuse I’m in the streets With the tombstone blues
Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief Saying, “Tell me great hero, but please make it brief Is there a hole for me to get sick in?” The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly Saying, “Death to all those who would whimper and cry” And dropping a barbell he points to the sky Saying, “The sun’s not yellow it’s chicken”
Well someone who prepares the way for another looks up at General Patton saying that he was frightened and traumatized by the WW II. Patton answers him while after flying into a rage and says “you simpering wimp.”
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And showing how strong he is he and makes a statement that indicates he is paranoid and afraid to fight on the front lines but going after a soft target a fly as in “I wouldn’t hurt a fly”.
Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, commander of the Seventh U.S. Army, visited a military hospital in Sicily on Aug. 3, 1943. He traveled past the beds of wounded soldiers, asking them about their injuries. Coming to the bed of a soldier who lacked visible signs of injury, Patton inquired about his health.
The soldier, 18-year-old Pvt. Charles H. Kuhl, had been tentatively diagnosed as having a case of psychoneurosis. He told Patton that he couldn’t mentally handle the battle lines. “It’s my nerves,” he said. “I can hear the shells come over but I can’t hear them burst.”
Enraged, Patton slapped Kuhl across the face and called him a coward. As Patton left the tent, he heard Kuhl crying and turned back, striking the soldier again and ordering him to leave the infirmary tent. It later emerged that Kuhl had malaria and a high fever.
Mama’s in the fact’ry She ain’t got no shoes Daddy’s in the alley He’s lookin’ for the fuse I’m in the streets With the tombstone blues
The geometry of innocence flesh on the bone Causes Galileo’s math book to get thrown At Delilah who sits worthlessly alone But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter
Civilians Killed or Wounded in Vietnam
The geometry A surface shape. Innocence Guiltlessness of a specific legal crime or offense. “flesh” The human body: "the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to" (Shakespeare). “on the bone” Mortal remains: His bones are buried up on the hill. Causes Galileo’s math book to get thrown a book with a set of principles The Bible? throw the book at (one)
1. To apply all possible criminal charges to a lawbreaker; to impose the maximum possible punishment or jail sentence against a convicted criminal.
After his third offense, the judge threw the book at the criminal, making parole all but an impossibility.
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2. To punish or reprimand someone as severely as possible.
At Delilah who sits worthlessly alone Low; despicable: that worthless friend of his.
Impertinent boldness: had the cheek to insult his hosts.
Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill I would set him in chains at the top of the hill Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille He could die happily ever after
I wish I could give Rev. Billy Graham a trembling sensation caused by fear or emotional shock. I would set - arrange scenery on (a theater stage) at the leadership of Capitol Hill / The send out to the White House for one who occupies a central or responsible position: a pillar of the state and a filmmaker who specialized in Biblical movies. He could die instead of the soldiers he encourages to go to war instead of having a typical Hollywood ending.
Mama’s in the fact’ry She ain’t got no shoes Daddy’s in the alley He’s lookin’ for the fuse I’m in the streets With the tombstone blues
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Where Ma Rainey and Beethoven once unwrapped their bedroll Tuba players now rehearse around the flagpole And the National Bank at a profit sells road maps for the soul To the old folks home and the college
Where Ma Rainey (mother of the blues) and Beethoven (father of classical music) once unwrapped Their bedroll a portable roll of bedding, such as a sleeping bag, used esp for sleeping in the open often used by Boy Scouts Tuba - The Latin word for "trumpet." Military bands ROTC students Now rehearse To practice (an action) by repetition so as to improve performance: rehearse military maneuvers. Around the flagpole run something up the flagpole to pursue a tentative course of action in order to gauge the reaction it receives And the National Bank Federal Government A bank chartered by the U.S. government and formerly authorized to issue notes that served as money. At a profit An advantageous gain or return; benefit. sells road maps A set of guidelines, instructions, plans, or explanations: wrote an ethics code as a road map for the behavior of elected officials; a road map to peace in the war-torn area. For the soul
To the old folks home
And the college
An electoral college.
Now I wish I could write you a melody so plain That could hold you dear lady from going insane That could ease you and cool you and cease the pain Of your useless and pointless knowledge
Now I wish I could write you a melody so plain easily understood: plain talk.
That could hold you dear lady from going insane
That could prevent the Universities from going insane
That could ease at ease you
1. In a relaxed position, especially standing silently at rest with the right foot stationary: put the soldiers at ease while waiting for inspection.
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And cool you
To make less ardent, intense, or zealous:
And cease the pain
Of your useless and pointless
Knowledge
Of your historical and literary knowledge which you fail to rely on with ROTC
Mama’s in the fact’ry She ain’t got no shoes Daddy’s in the alley He’s lookin’ for the fuse I’m in the streets With the tombstone blues
The king of the Philistines his soldiers to save Puts jawbones on their tombstones and flatters their graves Puts the pied pipers in prison and fattens the slaves Then sends them out to the jungle
“The king” principal or chief, as in size and importance “of the Philistines” of smug, ignorant, especially middle-class persons, the Democratic President of the United States “his soldiers to save” in order to keep up the morale of his troops “Puts jawbones on their tombstones” tries to influence and pressure the public through strong persuasion that Blacks deserve civil rights because of their military service “and flatters their graves” and because of their sacrifice for their country “Puts the pied pipers in prison” locks up the conscientious objectors; Tarantula, “& the insane pied piper stealing the Queen’s Pawn & the conquering war cry ‘neither—neither’ & jails being cremated.” “and fattens” and increases the amount and substance of, ‘fatten one’s bank account’ “the slaves” the Negroes in the Armed Forces “Then sends them out to the jungle” then sends to Vietnam
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Gypsy Davey with a blowtorch he burns out their camps With his faithful slave Pedro behind him he tramps With a fantastic collection of stamps To win friends and influence his uncle
“Gypsy Davey with a blowtorch he burns out their camps” the coloreds with their criminal mentality and with their flame thrower torches burns down the Vietnamese’s military encampments “With his faithful slave Pedro behind him he tramps” with the Army of South Vietnam fighting behind him he tramps, tramples on people’s lives “With a fantastic” strange and exotic in appearance; ‘fantastic costumes’ “collection of stamps” collection of medals and ribbons “To win friends and influence his uncle“ to win fans and get him a job when he returns to the United States by proving that Black folks are as patriotic as White Americans.
When I knew Bob Dylan back in the early 1970’s he was a proud Jew and super pro-Israel. A religious Jew who claimed to be Dylan’s emissary told me that Bob had clandestinely transferred funds to a Swiss Bank from which it was funneled to Israel where it was used to purchase a French fighter jet for the Israeli Defense Force, circumventing federal law. Along with his Jewish nationalism there came a Judaic spiritual awakening; looking to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to help him end his addiction to heroin.
TOUGH MAMA 1973
Sweet Goddess Born of a blinding light and a changing wind, Now, don’t be modest, you know who you are and where you’ve been. Jack the Cowboy went up north He’s buried in your past. The Lone Wolf went out drinking That was over pretty fast. Sweet Goddess Your perfect stranger’s comin’ in at last.
“Sweet Goddess” Israel “Born of a blinding light” born of the will of the Almighty, in theophany, the study of the physical presence of God, the Lord is always shielded by a blinding light “and a changing wind” and a volatile political climate in Germany that became destructive “Now don’t be modest” the fact that you are still alive is in itself a miracle “you know who you are” you are the survivors “and where you’ve been” of Nazi death camps “Jack, the cowboy” the heroic Zev Jabotinsky “went up north” went to New York “he’s buried” lost, difficult to find out about “in your past” in the history of Zionism “The lone wolf” Zev Jabotinsky; A book about him by Shmuel Katz
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with research by Joel Gilbert was entitled The Lone Wolf “went out drinking” died trying to drink in knowledge in relation to stopping the Holocaust “that was over pretty fast” because the Jews of Europe disregarded his warnings to get out until it was too late “Sweet Goddess” Judaism “Your perfect stranger’s coming in at last” a person who is totally new to loving you, who in fact at one point hated you, is coming home. The prodigal son, someone who acts irresponsibly and later regrets it, has returned.
Silver Angel With the badge of the lonesome road sewed in your sleeve, I’d be grateful if this golden ring you would receive. Today on the countryside it was a-hotter than a crotch I stood alone upon the ridge and all I did was watch. Sweet Goddess It must be time to carve another notch.
“Silver Angel” eloquent, time-tested moral and spiritual guide “With the badge of the lonesome road sewed in your sleeve” displaying the symbol of the worst part of the Diaspora, the Nazi era, where Jews were forced to wear Stars of David on their arms “I’d be grateful if this golden ring you would receive” I would be grateful if this precious musical composition you would receive “Today on the countryside it was a-hotter than a crotch” in 1973 the Arab armies prepared for war against the Jewish State and in October 1973 the Yom Kippur War was fought “I stood alone upon the ridge and all I did was watch” I was in Israel where terrace farming involving ridges is quite prevalent but I was unable to take part in the battle “Sweet Goddess” Israel a land built on high moral grounds “It must be time to carve another notch” it must be time to put another notch in your UZI or Galil assault rifle and kill another enemy of the Jews.
SOMETHING THERE IS ABOUT YOU 1973***
Something there is about you that strikes a match in me Is it the way your body moves or is it the way your hair blows free? Or is it because you remind me of something that used to be Somethin’ that crossed over from another century?
“Something there is about you” there is some indefinable spiritual quality about Judaism “that strikes a match in me” that elicits a response in my spiritual receptors, that combats, strikes, the racist ideas in me “Is it the way your body moves” is it the way your Torah moves me? “Body” as in body of work “or is it the way your hair blows free?” or is it because of your strength and courage to challenge more widespread religions? “Or is it
V1-410 because you remind me of something that used to be / Somethin’ that crossed over from another century?” or is it something I inherited genetically?
Thought I’d shaken the wonder and the phantoms of my youth Rainy days on the Great Lakes, walkin’ the hills of old Duluth There was me and Danny Lopez, cold eyes, black night and then there was Ruth Something there is about you that brings back a long-forgotten truth
Suddenly I found you and the spirit in me sings Don’t have to look no further, you’re the soul of many things I could say that I’d be faithful, I could say it in one sweet, easy breath But to you that would be cruelty and to me it surely would be death
Something there is about you that moves with style and grace I was in a whirlwind, now I’m in some better place. My hand’s on the saber and you’ve picked up the baton Somethin’ there is about you that I can’t quite put my finger on
Something there is about you that moves with style” something there is about you that moves me with a combination of distinctive features of literary expression as found in the Old Testament “and grace” and the power granted by God “I was in a whirlwind, now I’m in some better place.” I was in a self destructive bag, now I am in some better place. “My hands on the saber” my hand is on a set of works “and you’ve picked up the baton” and Judaism is the cop that is going to stop me from shooting dope “Somethin’ there is about you that I can’t quite put my finger on” there is something about you that is going to stop me from putting my fingers on that set of works, something mystical, mysterious, unknown.
“Saber” as works; Tarantula, from a chapter entitled, Advice To Hobo’s Model,
“check into the bathrooms where bird” get hip to the restrooms where a singer “lives for when he comes flying out with a saber in his wing” lives for the time he leaves high having stuck a needle in his arm “wing” Informal An arm of a human “a country music singer by his side” another rightwing musician who shares his views by his side “digesting” finally understanding “a carrier pigeon” that his message songs made him into a Communist stooge.
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“Saber” as works; Tarantula, from a chapter entitled, Advice To Hobo’s Model,
check into the bathrooms where bird lives for when he comes flying out with a saber in his wing - a country music singer by his side digesting a carrier pigeon
“check into” find out about “the bathrooms” the shithole venues. The only other use of “bathroom” was found in Advice for Geraldine on her Miscellaneous Birthday “beware of bathroom walls that've not been written on” “where bird” where a singer, Bob Dylan “lives for when he comes flying out with a saber in his wing” lives for the time he leaves high having stuck a needle in his arm “wing” informal: an arm of a human “a country music singer by his side” expressing his true self “digesting” condensing or abridging a written work “a carrier pigeon” a leftwing message song.
JUDAISM
By the early 1970’s what was left of Dylan’s soul began to kick in. It wasn’t much, as it would prove insignificant in the long, run but it was enough to give him impetus to attempt to find a way to abrogate the deal he had made with the Devil. That is why when I knew Bob back in the early 1970’s he was a proud Jew and was hoping to find a force greater than Satan before his time was up. Dylan was the real deal as far as Zionism went: A religious Jew who claimed to be Dylan’s emissary told me that Bob had clandestinely transferred funds to a Swiss Bank from which it was funneled to Israel where it was used to purchase a French fighter jet for the Israeli Defense Force, circumventing federal law. Along with his Jewish nationalism there came a Judaic spiritual awakening; looking to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to not only find a way to weasel out of the bargain he had made with Lucifer but to help him end his addiction to heroin.
TOUGH MAMA 1973
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Sweet Goddess Born of a blinding light and a changing wind, Now, don't be modest, you know who you are and where you've been. Jack the Cowboy went up north He's buried in your past. The Lone Wolf went out drinking That was over pretty fast. Sweet Goddess Your perfect stranger's comin' in at last.
“Sweet” sweet on Informal enamored of; in love with “Goddess” Israel “Born of a blinding light” born of the will of the Almighty; in the study of the physical presence of God, the Lord is always shielded by a blinding light “and a changing wind” and a volatile political climate in Germany that became inconceivably destructive “Now don't be modest” the fact that Israel exists is in itself a miracle. Also ironic; you are moderate or limited in size “you know who you are” you are the survivors “and where you've been” of the Nazi death camps “Jack, the cowboy” the heroic Zev Jabotinsky “went up north” went to New York “he's buried” lost, difficult to find out about, because he was a Zionist revisionist “in your past” in the history of Israel “The lone wolf” Zev Jabotinsky; A book about him by Shmuel Katz with research by Joel Gilbert, who heads a Dylan tribute band, was entitled The Lone Wolf “went out drinking” went out of life in a state similar to a broken man “that was over pretty fast” because the Jews of Europe were murdered in a methodological fashion and as result it happened too quickly for Jabotinsky to stop it “Sweet Goddess” sweet Israel “Your perfect stranger's coming in at last” a person who is totally new to loving you, who in fact at one point hated you, is finally coming home. The prodigal son, someone who acts irresponsibly and later regrets it, has returned.
Silver Angel With the badge of the lonesome road sewed in your sleeve, I'd be grateful if this golden ring you would receive. Today on the countryside it was a-hotter than a crotch I stood alone upon the ridge and all I did was watch. Sweet Goddess It must be time to carve another notch.
“Silver Angel” eloquent, time-tested moral and spiritual guide “With the badge of the lonesome road sewed in your sleeve” who is displaying the symbol of the worst part of the Diaspora, the Nazi era, where Jews were forced to wear Stars of David on their arms “I'd be grateful if this golden ring you would receive” I would be grateful if this precious musical composition you would receive “Today on the countryside it was a-hotter than a crotch” in 1973 the Arab armies prepared for war against the Jewish
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State and in October 1973 the Yom Kippur War was fought “I stood alone upon the ridge and all I did was watch” I was in Israel where terrace farming involving ridges is prevalent but I was unable to take part in the battle “Sweet Goddess” Israel a land built on high moral grounds “It must be time to carve another notch” it must be time to put another notch in your UZI or Galil assault rifle and kill another enemy of the Jewish people. It was around this time that the mass media reported that Dylan had pledged to send fifty percent of his Rolling Thunder tour’s profits to Israel. This author was quoted in Newsweek Magazine as saying “He is an ultra-Zionist. He is doing the tour to raise money for Israel. He has given large sums of money to Israel in the name of Abraham Zimmerman.” Boy, was I intent on digging my own grave!
FOREVER YOUNG 1973***
May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true, May you always do for others And let others do for you. May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung, May you stay forever young, Forever young, forever young, May you stay forever young.
“May God bless” May God invoke divine favor upon the Jewish people “and keep you always” and keep them always as his chosen people “May your wishes all come true” and I know this is what Jews wish for “May you always do for others” may you always give tzduka, charity “And let others do for you” and let others work for you and not be a Communist “May you build a ladder to the stars” may you create a part of the American economy where you are free to reach for the stars “And climb on every rung” and eventually reach your economic goal “May you stay forever young.”
“May God bless” may God invoke divine favor upon the Jewish people “and keep you always” and keep them always as his chosen people “May your wishes all come true” and I know this is what Jews wish for “May you always do for others” may you always give tzduka, charity “And let others do for you” and let others work for you and not be a Communist parasite “May you build a ladder to the stars” may you create a part of the American economy where you are free to reach for the stars “And climb on every rung” and eventually reach your economic goal “May you stay forever young.”
May you grow up to be righteous May you grow up to be true
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May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you May you always be courageous Stand upright and be strong May you stay forever young Forever young, forever young May you stay forever young
The Lord said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths, you shall put to the other side.” The number of those that lapped was 300; but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water.
May your hands always be busy May your feet always be swift, May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift. May your heart always be joyful May your song always be sung May you stay forever young,
“May your hands always be busy” may you always be employed in an occupation as idle hands are the Devil’s workshop “May your feet always be swift” may your ambitions be intellectual “May you have a strong foundation” may you have a country like Israel to go to “When the winds of changes shift” if the destructive anti-Semites come to power in America as they did in Germany “May your heart always be joyful” may you never experience anything like this “May your song always be sung” may you always be allowed to pray, daven “May you stay forever young.” What a beautiful song!
May your hands always be busy May your feet always be swift, May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift. May your heart always be joyful May your song always be sung May you stay forever young, “May your hands always be busy” may you always be armed, “busy” as in ‘you keep ‘em busy while I empty the register’ “May your feet always be swift” may your ambitions be realized quickly if you have to kill someone “May you have a strong foundation” may you have a country like Israel to go to “When the winds of changes shift” if the destructive anti-Semites come to power in America as they did in Germany “May your heart always be joyful” may you never experience anything like this “May your song always be sung” may you always be allowed to pray, daven “May you stay forever young.”
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WEDDING SONG 1973
I love you more than ever, more than time and more than love, I love you more than money and more than the stars above, Love you more than madness, more than waves upon the sea, Love you more than life itself, you mean that much to me.
Ever since you walked right in, the circle's been complete, I've said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street, To the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun, I love you more than ever and I haven't yet begun.
You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live, When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give, Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole, Quenched my thirst and satisfied the burning in my soul.
You gave me babies one, two, three, what is more, you saved my life, Eye for eye and tooth for tooth, your love cuts like a knife, My thoughts of you don't ever rest, they'd kill me if I lie, I'd sacrifice the world for you and watch my senses die.
The tune that is yours and mine to play upon this earth, We'll play it out the best we know, whatever it is worth, What's lost is lost, we can't regain what went down in the flood, But happiness to me is you and I love you more than blood.
It's never been my duty to remake the world at large, Nor is it my intention to sound a battle charge, 'Cause I love you more than all of that with a love that doesn't bend, And if there is eternity I'd love you there again.
Oh, can't you see that you were born to stand by my side And I was born to be with you, you were born to be my bride, You're the other half of what I am, you're the missing piece And I love you more than ever with that love that doesn't cease.
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You turn the tide on me each day and teach my eyes to see, Just bein' next to you is a natural thing for me And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on, 'Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone.
You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live, When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give, Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole, Quenched my thirst and satisfied the burning in my soul.
“You breathed on me” you gave me life, Genesis 2:7: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” “and made my life a richer one to live” Genesis 12:7. “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ So, a land would be given to the descendants of Abram—that’s the essence of the first promise” “When I was deep in poverty” when I was in the depths of spiritual poverty “you taught me how to give” in Judaism, tzedakah refers to the religious obligation to perform charity “Dried the tears up from my dreams” made my emotional ideals evaporate “and pulled me from the hole” and got me out of a deep, isolated place of confinement; dope “Quenched my thirst” you provided me with an immense amount of knowledge “and satisfied the burning in my soul” and satisfied what I so desperately longed for.
You gave me babies one, two, three, what is more, you saved my life, Eye for eye and tooth for tooth, your love cuts like a knife, My thoughts of you don’t ever rest, they’d kill me if I lie, I’d sacrifice the world for you and watch my senses die.
“You gave me babies one, two, three” Jesse, Jakob, Samuel “what is more, you saved my life” you stopped me from using dope. I had OD’d several times already but was brought back to life. If I continued using heroin it might have led to my death “Eye for eye and tooth for tooth, your love cuts like a knife” your truth is that of the Old Testament and just as it cut off the foreskin on my penis after I was born, it cut me off from drugs “My thoughts of you don’t ever rest, they’d kill me if I lie / I’d sacrifice the world for you and watch my senses die” my allegiance to Judaism is like that of Rabbi Akiva, who was dismembered by the Romans and literally witnessed his own death.
Dylan’s infatuation with Judaism did not last long and Dylan started shootin’ and a-tootin’ once again. Did Judaism let Dylan down or did Dylan let
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Judaism down? By 1975 Dylan was totally disillusioned with the Jewish religion and looked for some stronger medicine to cure his heroin addiction. He needed someone who could perform miracles, bring people back from the living dead; he needed Jesus of Nazareth to help him kick his drug habit.
ONE MORE CUP OF COFFEE FOR THE ROAD 1975
Your breath is sweet Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky Your back is straight, your hair is smooth On the pillow where you lie But I don't sense affection No gratitude or love Your loyalty is not to me But to the stars above One more cup of coffee for the road One more cup of coffee 'fore I go To the valley below
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Your thoughts are like to scrolls that came down from the sky to Moses.
Your back is straight and you don’t bow down to idols
For meat to be kosher, it must come from a kosher animal and be slaughtered in a kosher way. In addition to those two conditions, for meat to be glatt kosher, it must also come from an animal with adhesion-free or smooth lungs. The word glatt means "smooth" in Yiddish—the word is chalak in Hebrew.
Maimonides writes: One is required to see himself as if he had just now left Egyptian slavery. Hence, when a person eats on this night, he is required to eat and drink while reclining, as a sign of freedom.
But I don’t sense that you love America, nor do I feel the Jews display gratitude to America. Your loyalty is not to Americans like myself but to Israel. The minute you hear “loyalty” you know it’s a reference to dual loyalty.
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Your daddy, he's an outlaw And a wanderer by trade He'll teach you how to pick and choose And how to throw the blade He oversees his kingdom So no stranger does intrude His voice, it trembles as he calls out For another plate of food One more cup of coffee for the road One more cup of coffee 'fore I go To the valley below
“Your daddy” your antecedents “he’s an outlaw” share the guilt for the death of Christ “And a wanderer by trade” and as an equal exchange, a tradeoff, were exiled for two thousand years, wandering Jews “He’ll teach you how to pick and choose” Judaism with teach you how to select with great care, to be convinced you are part of God’s Chosen People “And how to throw the blade” and how to perform circumcision to separate Jews from the goyim. “He oversees his kingdom” Judaism keeps watch over and directs the work of others in its miserable little theocracy “So no stranger” so that someone alien to Judaism’s stupid ritualistic, repetitive ways some like Jesus “does intrude” does not enter as an improper and unwanted element “His voice it trembles” Judaism gives expression to fear “as he calls out / For another plate of food” as he calls out for knowledge from another source other than the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth. As he asks for a kosher plate of food “One more cup of coffee for the road,” one more shot of suffering as is my life under Judaism, to keep me going until my road leads elsewhere “One more cup of coffee ‘fore I go” one more shot of Judaism before I go “To the valley below” to hell for converting to Christianity.
“Coffee” as Judaism” Tarantula, “nephews of the coffee bean expert & other favorite sons graduating with a pompadour & cum laude praise be & a wailing farewell to releasing the hermit.” Tarantula, burn him in the coffee blam de lam! cut him with a fish knife blam de lam! send him off to college.”
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Your sister sees the future Like your mama and yourself You've never learned to read or write There's no books upon your shelf And your pleasure knows no limits Your voice is like a meadowlark But your heart is like an ocean Mysterious and dark One more cup of coffee for the road One more cup of coffee 'fore I go To the valley below
Your pawns in the media see events through pro-Jewish eyes since many are Jewish and they share your conscience. You have allowed yourself to be ignorant since you depend on the media instead of finding out things for yourself. Read and write tell you what this verse is about.
SISTER OH SISTER 1975
Oh, sister, when I come to lie in your arms You should not treat me like a stranger. Our Father would not like the way that you act And you must realize the danger.
“Oh, sister, when I come to lie in your arms” oh Jesus when I submit myself to your power “You should not treat me like a stranger” the law dictates that even though I was once a Jew and I am new to Christianity I am not to be treated in any different manner than you would treat someone born into Christianity “Our Father would not like the way that you act” this is God’s law “And you must realize the danger” and if you violate the laws of God you will end up in hell.
We grew up together From the cradle to the grave We died and were reborn And then mysteriously saved.
“We grew up together” Christianity grew out of Judaism “From the cradle” from its beginnings in Israel, in the Middle East, the cradle of civilization “to the grave” to an existence fraught with danger and harm; persecution by the Romans “We died and were reborn” both Jesus and Dylan the Jew were
V1-420 reborn, in Jesus case he was resurrected in Dylan’s; spiritually reborn and converted ‘a born-again Christian’ “And then mysteriously” “mystery,” a religious truth that is incomprehensible to reason and knowable only through divine revelation “saved” redeemed by God from a sin-filled life. The translation of this poem revealed Dylan had an affinity for Christianity dating back to circa 1974. His divorce from Sarah, the mother of his four children thrust him closer to it. You Changed My Life 1982 “You changed my life / Came along in a time of strife / In hunger” in desperation “and need / You made my heart bleed.”
IN THE GARDEN 1980
In the summer of 1972 with the help of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, I helped stage riots during the Republican Convention in Miami and became interested in the CIA’s connection to the Kennedy assassination. On November 22, 1973, I made what is perhaps the most significant discovery of my lifetime. I was able to identify CIA Officer E. Howard Hunt and CIA contract employee Frank Sturgis as the tramps who were picked up a few hours after the Kennedy assassination.
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These men had the motive, means and opportunity to kill the President of the United States. I began to spend a lot of time in Washington, D.C. at the National Archives and I put Dylanology on the back burner as getting to the bottom of the Kennedy assassination and giving America back the history that was stolen from it was far more important. Dylan had to have been aware of my activities as I had teamed with Dick Gregory who got the tramp shots on the front pages of numerous American newspapers and on national television. In the midst of this research in 1974 I met a hippy minister named Michael Canfield in front of Dylan’s crib. I knew right away the dude was alright and invited him back to my loft where I showed Mike the shots of three tramps. He got down on his knees and thanked Jesus for allowing him to play a role in bringing the killer of John Kennedy to justice. Mike was able to convince Congressman Henry Gonzalez of San Antonio Texas to introduce a bill to reinvestigate the Kennedy Assassination based on our investigation. In 1975 Coup D’état in America, by Canfield and Weberman was published. Shortly thereafter Watergate burglar and JFK assassin E. Howard Hunt sued us. Just before he died Hunt confessed to his involvement in the event. Sometime in 1977 Canfield moved to Los Angeles where he ran the suicide line at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship local Church. It was there that Canfield became one of Bob Dylan’s Christian ministers. Dylan attended Canfield’s wedding to a Christian soap opera star and financed a business venture for Canfield, Indigo Motors that specialized in antique car restoration. Dylan must have abandoned racism because Canfield was a kid from Milwaukee who fought with other Whites over this issue and Canfield like dug Black women. Canfield would not let him get away with that, even if he was Bob Dylan. Ah but there was a way out for this Christian convert to express his innate racism; despite the fact you once were a Jew write songs about the Jews for not accepting Jesus and turning the Son of God over to the Romans for execution. Brilliant!
When He healed the blind and crippled, did they see?
When He said, “Pick up your bed and walk, why must you criticize? Same thing My Father do, I can do likewise.”
“When He healed the blind and crippled, did they see?” what in Christ’s name is wrong with the Jews? Christ performed miracles before their eyes and yet they rejected Him. “When He said, ‘Pick up your bed and walk’” when Jesus told a crippled cat who was waiting his turn to bath in a healing pool to “pick up his mat and walk” and he did and was cured without benefit of the pool “why must you criticize?” the petty, oppressive Pharisees, the Hasidim of that time, said the Jesus sinned because he made the man carry on the Sabbath “Same thing My Father do, I can do likewise” and they did this to the Son of God.
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Did they speak out against Him, did they dare?
The multitude wanted to make Him king, put a crown upon His head Why did He slip away to a quiet place instead?
“Did they speak out against Him, did they dare?” did the stinking Jews have the temerity to speak out against the Son of God? They must be agents of Satan “The multitude wanted to make Him king, put a crown upon His head” the rank and file Jews wanted to crown him King of Israel “Why did He slip away to a quiet place instead?” why did the Jews go against the will of their own people and turn him over to the Romans who executed him? Why? Because the Jews were innately evil!
IN THE GARDEN 1980
When they came for Him in the garden, did they know? When they came for Him in the garden, did they know? Did they know He was the Son of God, did they know that He was Lord? Did they hear when He told Peter, “Peter, put up your sword”? When they came for Him in the garden, did they know? When they came for Him in the garden, did they know?
When the Jews came for Him in the garden of Gethsemane, did they know? Did they know He was the Son of God, did they know that He was Lord?
Gethsemane was a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested the night before his crucifixion.
Did they hear when He told Peter, “Peter, put up your sword”?
Then Simon Peter drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. 11“Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?” 12Then the band of soldiers, with its commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him.…Dylan changed this around to suit his own purposes.
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Nicodemus came at night so he wouldn’t be seen by men Saying, “Master, tell me why a man must be born again” When He spoke to them in the city, did they hear?
Nicodemus (conqueror of the people), a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews and a teacher of Israel, (John 3:1,10) whose secret visit to our Lord was the occasion of the discourse recorded only by St. John. In Nicodemus a noble candor and a simple love of truth shine out in the midst of hesitation and fear of man. He finally became a follower of Christ, and came with Joseph of Arimathaea to take down and embalm the body of Jesus.
When He healed the blind and crippled, did they see?
When He said, “Pick up your bed and walk, why must you criticize? Same thing My Father do, I can do likewise”
When He healed the blind and crippled, did they see?
“When He healed the blind and crippled, did they see?” what in Christ’s name is wrong with the Jews? Christ performed miracles before their eyes and yet they rejected Him. “When He said, ‘Pick up your bed and walk’” when Jesus told a cripple who was waiting his turn to bath in a healing pool to “pick up his mat and walk” and he did and he was allegedly cured without benefit of the pool “why must you criticize?” the Pharisees, the Hasidim of that time, said the Jesus sinned because he made the man carry on the Sabbath “Same thing My Father do, I can do likewise” and Jesus explained that he could perform miracles because he was the Son of God.
Did they speak out against Him, did they dare? Did they speak out against Him, did they dare? The multitude wanted to make Him king, put a crown upon His head Why did He slip away to a quiet place instead? Did they speak out against Him, did they dare? Did they speak out against Him, did they dare?
“Did they speak out against Him, did they dare?” did the Jews have the temerity to speak out against the Son of God? “The multitude wanted to make Him king, put a crown upon His head” the rank and file Jews wanted to crown him King of Israel “Why did He slip away to a quiet place instead?” why did the Jews go against the will of their own people and turn him over to the Romans?
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When He rose from the dead, did they believe? He said, “All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth” Did they know right then and there what the power was worth? Did they speak out against Him, did they dare? The multitude wanted to make Him king, put a crown upon His head Why did He slip away to a quiet place instead?
Who ratted him out to the Romans despite his popularity among the Hebrews.
PRECIOUS ANGEL 1979
My so-called friends have fallen under a spell. They look me squarely in the eye and they say, “All is well.” Can they imagine the darkness that will fall from on high When men will beg God to kill them and they won’t be able to die?
“My so-called friends have fallen under a spell” it is not I who has fallen under the spell of Christianity but my Jewish friends and family who have fallen under the false religion of Judaism “They look me squarely in the eye” they are exposed to my conservative Christian values “square” a formal and conservative person with old-fashioned views; Tarantula, “a dangerous nickel” a nickel bag of heroin “lays on the town square” is laid on someone it should not be “and they say, ‘All is well’” I am happy being an immoral Jew “Can they imagine the darkness that will fall from on high / When men will beg God to kill them and they won’t be able to die?” can’t these Jews realize that all is not well and they should think about, imagine, the fate that awaits them when they end up in hell for rejecting the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior?
You’re the queen of my flesh, girl, you’re my woman, you’re my delight, You’re the lamp of my soul, girl, and you torch up the night. But there’s violence in the eyes, girl, so let us not be enticed On the way out of Egypt, through Ethiopia, to the judgment hall of Christ (also the judgment of those who killed Christ).
“You’re the queen” you have eminence and supremacy “of my flesh, girl” over my rapacious sexual appetite “you’re my woman, you’re my delight” you are my sex object, my pleasure “You’re the lamp of my soul girl” you light the path with knowledge for my soul to travel and offer me hope “and you torch up the night” and you illuminate the present state of my art “But there’s violence in the eyes, girl, so let us not be enticed” but there is violence in the thoughts of the Jews, Jesus, so let us not be lured into a trap
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by them, as you were, otherwise there might be a great penalty for God’s chosen people “On the way out of Egypt, through Ethiopia,” on the route the Jews took after being exiled by the Romans “to the judgment hall of Christ” to the judgment which the Jews justly deserved, 2,000 years of exile, for killing the Son of God, for committing the only known act of deicide. I hear this lyric as “to the judgment of those who killed Christ.”
DEADMAN 1981
Dead man, dead man When will you arise? Cobwebs in your mind Dust upon your eyes.
“Dead man” putrid walking rotting corpse of a Jew “dead man” dirty hell bound kike “When will you arise?” when you gonna wake up and accept Jesus? “Cobwebs in your mind” the Talmud in your mind and not the Old Testament “Dust upon your eyes” garbage, excrement in your thoughts.
The glamour and the bright lights and the politics of sin, The ghetto that you build for me is the one you end up in, The race of the engine that overrules your heart, Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it, Pretending that you’re so smart.
“The glamour and the bright lights” the Hollywood celebrity scene “and the politics of sin” and letting celebrities off the hook with light sentences or acquittals for their crimes “The ghetto that you build for me is the one you end up in” the Hollywood that you created for me is the hell you will end up in “The race of the engine” the racial group that used its superior intellect to achieve a purpose “that overrules your heart” that prevents your emotions from objecting “Ooh, I can’t stand it / Pretending that you’re so smart” I can no longer endure you pretending to be intellectually superior to the goyim when you can’t even see something as simple and apparent as the fact the Jesus was the Messiah.
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WHEN HE RETURNS 1979
The iron hand it ain’t no match for the iron rod The strongest wall will crumble and fall to a mighty God. For all those who have eyes and all those who have ears It is only He who can reduce me to tears.
“The iron hand” the inflexible, unchangeable, repressive, ironclad lot that God dealt me when I was born an Old Testament Jew “it ain’t no match for the iron rod” is no equal for the ironclad corrective power of Christianity “The strongest wall” the most impregnable barrier to conversion of the Jew to Christianity “will crumble and fall” will collapse and appear to be immoral, sinful “to a mighty God” to the commanding, dominating truth of Jesus Christ “For all those who have eyes” for all those Jews who have thoughts “and all those who have ears” and all those Jews who have sympathy; Shylock’s soliloquy in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?” “It is only He who can reduce me to tears” it is only Jesus who can reduce me to sorrow, to be emotional about, to grieve about, having been born a Jew.
Don’t you cry and don’t you die and don’t you burn For like a thief in the night He’ll replace wrong with right When He returns.
“Don’t you cry” sarcastic; you deserve to cry out in pain “and don’t you die” you deserve to die. Also more Merchant of Venice, “if you poison us, do we not die?” “and don’t you burn” and you deserve to burn in hell “Like a thief in the night” like someone acting covertly “he’ll replace wrong with right” the Jews will get what’s coming to them and be put in a lower status since, according to The New Testament, only 144,000 of them will be left and these remaining few will convert to Christianity “When he returns” when Jesus is resurrected from the dead and the rapture takes place.
Surrender your crown on this blood-stained ground, take off your mask, He sees your deeds, He knows your needs even before you ask. How long can you falsify and deny what is real?
“Surrender your crown” take off your yarmulke crown: the top or upper part of a hat; confess to your crowning achievement “on this blood-stained ground” which is killing the Son of God “take off your mask” take off your
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disguise as a human being, you devil “He sees your deeds” he sees your contract with Satan and your evil deeds “He knows your needs even before you ask” he knows you worship Mammon even before He hears your prayers begging Him to make you rich “How long can you falsify and deny what is real?” how long can you lie about Jesus Christ not being the Messiah?
How long can you hate yourself for the weakness you conceal? Of every earthly plan that be known to man, He is unconcerned, He’s got plans of His own to set up His throne When He returns.
“How long can you hate yourself” you are the true self-hating Jew, not me. I love myself for accepting Jesus “for the weakness” mental weakness “you conceal? / Of every earthly” of every not heavenly or divine “plan that be known to man” scheme you Jews have cooked up “He is unconcerned” God will negate them “He’s got plans of His own to set up His throne” he has a scheme of his own to destroy most of the Jewish people and convert the few that are left to Christianity “When He returns” so look out Jew boy one day the Son of God will return!
Although Christianity brought out Dylan’s self hatred it did have a positive effect on Dylan’s addiction. Bob was able to kick dope with the help of Jesus by substituting one addiction for another.
SHOT OF LOVE 1981
Don’t need a shot of heroin to kill my disease Don’t need a shot of turpentine, only bring me to my knees Don’t need a shot of codeine to help me to repent Don’t need a shot of whiskey, help me be president I need a shot of love, I need a shot of love
“Don't need a shot of heroin to kill my disease” I don’t need a shot of heroin to quell my long term addiction to it “Don't need a shot of turpentine” I don’t need any more poison “only bring me to my knees” it will only make me it’s slave “Don't need a shot of codeine to help me to repent” I don’t need a lesser strength narcotic like codeine or methadone to help me kick junk “Don't need a shot of whiskey” I don’t need any sort of intoxicant “help me be president” to help me remain at the top “I need a shot of love” I need the truth of Christianity, not dope!
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Doctor, can you hear me? I need some Medicaid I seen the kingdoms of the world and it’s makin’ me feel afraid What I got ain’t painful, it’s just bound to kill me dead Like the men that followed Jesus when they put a price upon His head I need a shot of love, I need a shot of love
Medicaid is the health insurance of the poor.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Dylan has been tempted far beyond belief by something pleasurable but deadly and make him in a criminal as the earlier followers of Jesus were considered.
I don’t need no alibi when I’m spending time with you I’ve heard all of them rumors and you have heard ’em too Don’t show me no picture show or give me no book to read It don’t satisfy the hurt inside nor the habit that it feeds
“I don't need no alibi” I don’t have to make excuses for my behavior “when I'm spending time with you” now that I have become a Christian “I've heard all of them rumors” I have heard Weberman spreading rumors all over town in his articles and read his statements in articles about him that I am using dope “you have heard them too” and since they received national attention you have heard them too “Don't show me no picture show or give me no book to read” don’t try standard methods of rehab with me “It don't satisfy the hurt inside nor the habit that it feeds” when only Jesus can satisfy the hurt inside which is responsible for my heroin addiction.
Why would I want to take your life? You’ve only murdered my father, raped his wife Tattooed my babies with a poison pen Mocked my God, humiliated my friends
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Why do I want to kill Jews that haven’t converted to Christianity? You destroyed my parents with your evil religion, circumcised my children with a sharp object pointed object mocked JC and made fun of his friends who had converted to Christianity or born into it.
Don’t wanna be with nobody tonight Veronica not around nowhere, Mavis just ain’t right There’s a man that hates me and he’s swift, smooth and near Am I supposed to set back and wait until he’s here?
I don’t want to have sex with any of my African-American girlfriends because the devil hates me and he comes upon me quickly, with plenty of rationalizations for my behavior and he is always near me. I have to fight him before it’s too late and I end up in Hell.
What makes the wind wanna blow tonight? Don’t even feel like crossing the street and my car ain’t actin’ right Called home, everybody seemed to have moved away My conscience is beginning to bother me today
What could constitute a hit like Blowin’ In the Wind now that I am writing Christian songs. Don’t feel like appearing in public and my career is going nowhere.Tried to reach my core audience but everyone moved away from this Christian music. Maybe I made a bad career move?
SAVED 1980
Nobody to rescue me, Nobody would dare, I was going down for the last time, But by His mercy I’ve been spared. Not by works, But by faith in Him who called, For so long I’ve been hindered, For so long I’ve been stalled.
“Nobody to rescue me” nobody would help Dylan rid himself of drug addiction “Nobody would dare” everyone who he knew was afraid to broach the subject except for myself “I was going down for the last time” I was on the verge of overdosing “But by His mercy I’ve been spared / Not by works” not by a clean set of “works” slang for narcotics paraphernalia “But by faith in Him who called” but by faith in Jesus who called me into his fold “For so long I’ve been hindered” for so many wasted years I was obstructed and delayed by Judaism “For so long I’ve been stalled” for so many years I was
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WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU 1980***
You pulled me out of bondage and You made me renewed inside, Filled up a hunger that had always been denied, Opened up a door no man can shut and You opened it up so wide And You’ve chosen me to be among the few. What can I do for You?
“You pulled me out of bondage” you forced me to end my opiate addiction “You made me renewed inside” you restored me to the way I once was before I became an addict “Filled up a hunger that had always been denied” Christianity filled a desperation in my soul that led to the heroin addiction in the first place “Opened up a door no man can shut” gave me a divinely inspired opportunity “You opened it up so wide” and opened it to the full extent; completely “And You’ve chosen me to be among the few” and the Jews aren’t the Chosen People, the converts to Christianity are “What can I do for You?” can I get you some more converts? Do you need money?
I know all about poison, I know all about fiery darts, I don’t care how rough the road is, show me where it starts, Whatever pleases You, tell it to my heart. Well, I don’t deserve it but I sure did make it through. What can I do for You?
“I know all about poison” I am familiar with something that might prove fatal: heroin “I know all about fiery darts” I know all about cooking fixes and shooting up with pointed objects “I don’t care how rough the road is, show me where it starts” I don’t care what course I must take to cure my addiction just show me where to begin because my life is at stake “Whatever pleases You, tell it to my heart” whatever you want me to do just tell me and I will internalize it and then do it “Well, I don’t deserve it” I am unworthy of forgiveness “but I sure did make it through” however the fact that God brought me through my addiction alive might belie that last statement “What can I do for You?”
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SOLID ROCK 1980
For me He was chastised, for me He was hated, For me he was rejected by a world that He created. Nations are angry, cursed are some People are expecting a false peace to come.
“For me He was chastised” in order to save my soul Jesus was criticized severely; rebuked by the Jews “for me He was hated” so that I could find salvation Jesus was reviled by the Jews “For me he was rejected by a world that He created” so that I could find salvation Jesus was rejected as the Messiah by the Jews despite his obvious divine lineage “Nations are angry” the Jews were angry about Jesus’ preaching and had him executed “cursed are some” and as a result brought a curse upon themselves “People are expecting a false peace to come” and they are still expecting a false messiah to come.
It’s the ways of the flesh to war against the spirit Twenty-four hours a day you can feel it and you can hear it Using all the devices under the sun. And he never gives up ‘til the battle’s lost or won.
“It’s the ways of the flesh to war against the spirit” it is original sin that brought carnal pleasure into human consciousness and it continues its devilish fight to overcome the essential nature of the Christ and Christianity “Twenty-four hours a day you can feel it and you can hear it / Using all the devices under the sun” using all sorts of clever maneuvers, gimmicks, slang for drug paraphernalia “And he never gives up ‘til the battle’s lost or won” and the Devil will keep the pressure on until Dylan’s battle with addiction is lost or won.
PRESSING ON 1980***
Many try to stop me, shake me up in my mind, Say, prove to me that He is Lord, show me a sign. What kind of sign they need when it all come from within, When what’s lost has been found, what’s to come has already been?
“Many try to stop me” many minions of Satan, many Jews try to stop me from embracing Christianity “shake me up in my mind” and try to plant their evil in my brain and shake my faith “Say, ‘Prove to me that He is Lord, show me a sign’” prove to me that He is Lord show me a sign from God, a miracle “What kind of sign they need” what kind of miracle do those evil Jews need
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“when it all come from within” when it was people from within their own religion who witnessed the miracles of Jesus Christ “When what’s lost” when what is lost for the Jews, the coming of the Messiah “has been found” has been found by the Christians “what’s to come has already been?” and what’s to allegedly come for the Jews has already been for the Christians.
Shake the dust off of your feet, don’t look back. Nothing now can hold you down, nothing that you lack. Temptation’s not an easy thing, Adam given the devil reign Because he sinned I got no choice, it run in my vein.
“Shake the dust off of your feet” Jews, vermin, rid yourself of your vulgar ambitions mired in excrement “don’t look back” don’t look back on the Sodom you helped create “Nothing now can hold you down” Judaism can’t hold you down and retard your spiritual progress “nothing that you lack” despite the fact you are a Jew you still have a soul “Temptation’s not an easy thing” the temptation for you to remain a Jew and my temptation to use dope “Adam given the devil reign” both stem from Adam giving into temptation in the Garden of Eden “Because he sinned” and because Adam ate that apple “I got no choice, it run in my vein” there is nothing my free will can do about it, primal sin is with me and was why I was subject to drug addiction.
SAVING GRACE 1980
If You find it in Your heart, can I be forgiven? Guess I owe You some kind of apology. I’ve escaped death so many times, I know I’m only living By the saving grace that’s over me.
“If You find it in Your heart, can I be forgiven?” can Jesus forgive me for years of practicing an evil religion and for years of drug addiction? “Guess I owe You some kind of apology” I am sorry for being part of a religion that includes a morning prayer thanking God that Jesus was killed “I’ve escaped death so many times” I have come close to overdosing so many times “I know I’m only living” I know the only reason I am still alive is “By the saving grace that’s over me” is by the grace of God.
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By this time I’d-a thought I would be sleeping In a pine box for all eternity. My faith keeps me alive, but I still be weeping For the saving grace that’s over me.
“By this time I’d-a thought I would be sleeping” after so many years of shooting dope I thought I would be finding comfort “In a pine box for all eternity” dead in a coffin for all eternity “My faith keeps me alive, but I still be weeping” Christianity keeps me from this fate but I still am filled with sorrow about what I have done in the past “For the saving grace that’s over me” because the Lord’s spirit has transformed me. Amen.
EVERY GRAIN OF SAND 1981
Don’t have the inclination to look back on any mistake Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break. In the fury of the moment I can see the Master’s hand In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.
“Don’t have the inclination” I don’t have the natural disposition “to look back on any mistake” to realize shooting heroin was a tragic error “Like Cain” like someone who is innately evil “I now behold this chain of events” I finally comprehend the true nature of this slavery to drugs “that I must break” that I must break away from “In the fury of the moment” in the divine retribution of the present “I can see the Master’s hand” I can see God’s hand, his manifestation, his plan for victory “In every leaf that trembles” in any of the sheets of paper the make up the bible “that trembles” that arouses emotion in me “in every grain of sand” and in every facet of human history.
Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
“Oh, the flowers of indulgence” the songs of indulgence that once sang the praises of heroin, also Baudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil “and the weeds of yesteryear” and songs that crowded out the more valuable ones “Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience” like psychopaths they have interfered with the life of my conscience “and good cheer” and my normal happiness “The sun” Jesus, the Son, a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events “beat down upon the steps of time” overpowered my long term addiction “to light the way” and made plain a better path to follow “To ease the pain of idleness” to ease the guilt
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having experienced withdrawal symptoms “and the memory of decay” and the past experience of gradually destroying myself.
“Memory” as experience, Open The Door Homer 1968,
“Take good care of all your memories said Nick” take good care of all your experiences with the Left “For you cannot relive them” sarcastic; who would want to? “And remember when you’re out there trying to heal the sick” and remember when you are far out there singing protest songs about America “You must always first forgive them” you must first forgive your audiences for their stupidity in believing the Leftwing lies you are singing to them.
Dylan’s Christian period lasted from 1975 to 1982. He left Christianity after he felt it failed him, as he fell back into addiction. He also objected to being constantly asked to donate money to Christian groups.
MAN OF PEACE 1983
Look out your window, baby, there’s a scene you’d like to catch The band is playing Dixie, a man got his hand outstretched. Could be the Fuhrer Could be the local priest. You know sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.
“Look out your window” check out the politics “baby, there’s a scene” there’s a place where an action or event occurs; ‘The scene of the crime’ “you’d like to catch” you would like to catch on to, you like to apprehend the criminal “The band is playing Dixie” the party is Conservative and “a man got his hand outstretched” and someone is collecting money “Could be the Fuhrer” could be a rightwing racist “Could be the local priest” could be the local Christian Evangelical Minister “You know sometimes Satan” sometimes the devil “comes as a man of peace” is disguised as a Christian minister or perhaps Jesus Christ Himself.
He got a sweet gift of gab, he got a harmonious tongue He knows every song of love that ever has been sung. Good intentions can be evil, Both hands can be full of grease. You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.
“He got a sweet gift of gab” he claims to be on high moral grounds and he can sweet talk you with his ability to talk readily on any subject “he got a harmonious tongue” he can talking you into believing in racial harmony using biblical nomenclature “He knows every song of love” he knows every song of ‘love thy neighbor’ “that ever has been sung / Good intentions can
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be evil” although the intent of bringing Christianity to America could be based on beneficent feelings, yet the outcome can still be evil ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’ “Both hands can be full of grease” it can became a money making racket “You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.”
“Grease” as dirty money; Tarantula, “just as the chick spreads her legs into the intersection & lets loose with the bumble seed grease, but nobody sneezes’” sneeze, as in ‘that kind of money is nothing to sneeze at’ “Tiny Montgomery 1967, “Now grease that pig” payoff that journalist “And sing praise” sing what he wants to hear “Go on out” and at the same time “And gas” exterminate “that dog” that contemptible African-American slave. “Pig” as a journalist, critic; Tarantula, “why be so honorable about sleeping with pigs? CRASH put that boy in with proverb writers—but give him a bad review”
Well, he catch you when you’re hoping for a glimpse of the sun, Catch you when your troubles feel like they weigh a ton. He could be standing next to you The person that you’d notice least. I hear that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.
“Well, he catch you when you’re hoping for a glimpse of the sun” Jesus will entrap you when you are searching for a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events in your life “Catch you when your troubles feel like they weigh a ton” entrap you at a low point in your existence “He could be standing next to you” he could be the nearest in degree, quality, rank, right, or relation, he may have a similar political position “The person that you’d notice least” the last person you would investigate, review, write about; Tarantula, “who wants to be noticed anyway? only you, who believes what suits you, could speak so badly of thelonius baker—what’d he ever do to you anyway besides get his name in the papers?” “I hear that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.”
By 1983 Dylan was, to paraphrase an old Gene Autry song, Backin’ the Sabbath Again, and wrote his most overtly pro-Israel song, Neighborhood Bully. He also wrote a song praising Rabbi Meir Kahane and the Jewish Defense League, a group which I opposed and he supported financially when I knew him in the early 1970’s.
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MAN OF PEACE 1983
Look out your window, baby, there's a scene you'd like to catch The band is playing Dixie, a man got his hand outstretched. Could be the Fuhrer Could be the local priest. You know sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.
“Look out your window” check out your faith “baby, there's a scene” there’s a public display of passion “you'd like to catch” “catch on to” as one catches on to a scam. Also sarcastic: you’d like to catch like a disease? “The band is playing Dixie” the party is Conservative and “a man got his hand outstretched” and someone is collecting money “Could be the Fuhrer” could be a Hitler “Could be the local priest” could be the local Christian Evangelical Minister “You know sometimes Satan” you know sometimes the Devil “comes as a man of peace” comes disguised as that evil charlatan, that false messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, with his empty talk of peace on earth.
He got a sweet gift of gab, he got a harmonious tongue He knows every song of love that ever has been sung. Good intentions can be evil, Both hands can be full of grease. You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.
“He got a sweet gift of gab” Pastors like Bill Dwyer of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship claim to be on high moral grounds and can sweet talk you with their ability to expound readily on any subject “he got a harmonious tongue” he can talk you into believing in racial harmony and equality using biblical nomenclature. According to the Bible, we all descend from Adam and Eve, rather than evolving from primates. Judging from the content of his poetry Dylan believes that Blacks represent a “missing link” between humans and apes and that is why they have nap instead of hair, thick lips, broad nostrils, butts that protrude and long arms that seem more suited for swinging from tree branch to tree branch than for assembling Swiss watches. “He knows every song of love that ever has been sung” he knows every song of ‘love thy neighbor’ or of so-called truth that has previously extolled Blacks “Good intentions can be evil” although the intent of racial equality could be based on beneficent feelings, yet the outcome could still be evil ‘The road to Hell is paved with good intentions’ “Both hands can be full of grease” and it can become part of a money making racket “You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace” you know Jesus is a race-mixing Devil!
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“Grease” as dirty money; Tarantula, “just as the chick spreads her legs into the intersection & lets loose with the bumble seed grease, but nobody sneezes” sneeze, as in ‘that kind of money is nothing to sneeze at.’ Tiny Montgomery 1967, “Now grease that pig” payoff that journalist “And sing praise” and sing what he wants to hear “Go on out” and at the same time “And gas” please “that dog” that slave to the liberal media. “Pig” as a journalist, critic; Tarantula, “why be so honorable about sleeping with pigs? CRASH put that boy in with proverb writers - but give him a bad review.”
Well, he’ll catch you when you're hoping for a glimpse of the sun, Catch you when your troubles feel like they weigh a ton. He could be standing next to you The person that you'd notice least. I hear that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.
“Well, he’ll catch you when you're hoping for a glimpse of the sun” Jesus little helpers will entrap you when you are searching for a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events in your life “Catch you when your troubles feel like they weigh a ton” entrap you at a low point in your existence “He could be standing next to you” he could be the nearest in degree, quality, rank, right, or relation, he may have a similar political position “The person that you'd notice least” the person you would give advance notification of intention to end an arrangement, contract as in give notice. “I hear that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.”
I AND I 1983
Been so long since a strange woman has slept in my bed Look how sweet she sleeps, how free must be her dreams. In another lifetime she must have owned the world, or been faithfully wed To some righteous king who wrote psalms beside moonlit streams. I and I in creation where one’s nature neither honors nor forgives I and I one says to the other, no man sees my face and lives.
“Been so long since a strange woman has slept in my bed” been too long since a religion I was alienated from has given me back my religious foundation once again, made me content once again “Look how sweet she sleeps, how free must be her dreams” look how moral, pleasing and compatible with my mind Judaism is; how free of evil are her ideals are “In another lifetime she must have owned the world” thousands of years ago Judaism must have had a vast empire “or been faithfully wed” or been loyal “To some righteous king who wrote psalms” King David who wrote the
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Psalms of David “beside moonlit streams” that were a divinely inspired course of successive ideas “I and I” Judaism the religion of monotheism “In creation” in Genesis, the Old Testament “where one’s nature” one’s natural state as distinguished from the state of grace; You Changed my Life 1982, “Now the nature of man / Is to beg and to steal” “neither honors” neither gives dignity accorded to the position of Messiah to Jesus “nor forgives” nor forgives him for leading the Jews astray “I and I / One says to the other no man sees my face and lives” Exodus 33 / 20, “And He said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live” proving Jesus was a charlatan.
Think I’ll go out and go for a walk Not much happenin’ here, nothin’ ever does. Besides, if she wakes up now, she’ll just want me to talk I got nothin’ to say, ‘specially about whatever was.
“Think I’ll go out and go for a walk” I think I will start living differently “Not much happenin’ here, nothin’ ever does” overstatement, not much extraordinary ever goes down here just my conversion to Christianity “Besides, if she wakes up now, she’ll just want me to talk” what is worse if Judaism is awakened in my soul it will demand an explanation as to why I converted to Christianity and wrote all those anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic songs? “I got nothin’ to say, ‘specially about whatever was” and I have no answers to explain my conversion.
Took an un-trodden path once, where the swift don't win the race It goes to the worthy, who can divide the word of truth Took a stranger to teach me, to look into justice's beautiful face And see an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
Took a path in life that none of my ancestors took where the meek shall inherit the earth however it really goes to the wealthy, the elect, who can twist around the words found in the Bible. It took a disbeliever to teach me, to look into the Old Testament and the book of Leviticus and see what real justice is about.
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Oh sister when I come to lie in your arms You should not treat me like a stranger Our Father would not like the way that you act And you must realize the danger.
I and I In creation where one's nature neither honors nor forgives I and I One say to the other, no man sees my face and lives
In the book of Exodus, when the prophet Moses, speaking with God on Mount Sinai, asks God to show Moses his glory. God warns that: "…You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." (Exodus 33:20, NIV) God then places Moses in a cleft in the rock, covers Moses with his hand until God passes by, then removes his hand so Moses may see only his back.
Outside of two men on a train platform there's nothing in sight They're waiting for spring to come, smoking down the track The world could come to an end tonight, but that's all right She could still be there sleeping when I get back.
I and I In creation where one's nature neither honors nor forgives I and I One say to the other, no man sees my face and lives
Noontime, and I'm still pushing myself along the road, the darkest part Into the narrow lanes, I can't stumble or stay put Someone else is speaking with my mouth, but I'm listening with my heart I've made shoes for everyone, even you, while I go barefoot
Lacking flexibility; rigid: narrow opinions.
to commit a grave mistake or sin
Yes, I been gamblin' so long Lord, I ain't got much more to lose Right now I'm havin' trouble Please don't take away my highway shoes.
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Dylan looked to Jewish nationalism for his salvation and wrote perhaps the greatest pro-Israel song ever written in the English language. Can you think of any others? In any event Dylan had paid his dues to the Jews. Now he started to consult with the biggest Rebe this side of Jackie Mason / Dixon line, the Lubvitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. But even this learned man knew little about Satan who appears as a proper character only once in the Hebrew Bible. In the Book of Job he is depicted as an angel who mocks the piety of a righteous man named Job. He tells God that the only reason Job is so religious is because God has given him a life filled with blessings. "But lay Your hand upon all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face" (Job 1:11). God accepts Satan’s wager and allows Satan to rain all manner of misfortune upon Job: his sons and daughters die, he loses his fortune, he is afflicted with painful boils. Yet even though people tell Job to curse God, he refuses. Dylan spoke unto Rabbi Schneerson “Rabbi, can Judaism forgive me for making a pact with the Devil and find a way for me to make it go away?” The Rabbi replied, “In Hebrews it was said ‘For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could forgive sins.’”
NEIGHBORHOOD BULLY 1983
Well, the neighborhood bully, he’s just one man His enemies say he’s on their land. They got him outnumbered about a million to one He got no place to escape to, no place to run. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“Well, the neighborhood bully, he’s just one man” the people living in Israel are mostly Jews “His enemies say he’s on their land” the Palestinians say he is occupying their land “They got him outnumbered about a million to one” the Muslims outnumber the Jews about a million to one “He got no place to escape to, no place to run” however it is better to live in a hostile environment with the ability to defend yourself than to be unarmed and unable to escape the Nazis in Europe “He’s the neighborhood bully” sarcastic, Israel is the most belligerent nation in the Middle East.
The neighborhood bully just lives to survive He’s criticized and condemned for being alive He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“The neighborhood bully just lives to survive” the purpose of the land of Israel is to ensure the survival of the Jewish people which has always been a
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tenuous situation “He’s criticized and condemned for being alive” since Jew hatred is so widespread a special name for it had to be invented, ‘antiSemitism.’ “He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin” the Jew has traditionally been regarded as a coward who had to take his punishment and not complain “He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in” he is not supposed to resist during a pogrom or when another country crosses his borders “He’s the neighborhood bully”
The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land He’s wandered the earth an exiled man. Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn He’s always on trial for just being born. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land” the Jews have been expelled from Spain, France and numerous other lands “He’s wandered the earth an exiled man” and as a result the ancestors of the Israelites have been were part of the Diaspora and forced to live in the galut, a swamp “Seen his family scattered” Jews saw their families haphazardly living all though out the world “seen his people hounded and torn” where the Jews were hounded by the Cossacks, Polish peasants and finally the Nazis who sent at least six million Jews to their death “He’s always on trial for just being born” the Jew does not have to do anything wrong, he is persecuted just for being born a Jew.
Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized Old women condemned him, said he should apologize. Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad. The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized” when the Israelis defeated Syria, Egypt and Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967 Israel was criticized for occupying the Arab part of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the West Bank “Old women condemned him, said he should apologize” the United Nations said Israel should return these lands to the Egyptians, Jordanians and Syrians “Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad” Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear facility near Baghdad “The bombs were meant for him / He was supposed to feel bad. He’s the neighborhood bully.”
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Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim That he’ll live by the rules that the world makes for him, ‘Cause there’s a noose at his neck and a gun at his back And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim / That he’ll live by the rules that the world makes for him” it is highly unlikely that Israel will abide by international law or United Nations resolutions “‘Cause there’s a noose at his neck” because of widespread racist Jew hatred “and a gun at his back” that is often government-sponsored or sanctioned “And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac” and when this happens the Nazis and their allies are given a veritable license to exterminate Jews, a “License to Kill” “He’s the neighborhood bully.”
He got no allies to really speak of. What he gets he must pay for, he don’t get it out of love. He buys obsolete weapons and he won’t be denied But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“He got no allies to really speak of” until the Nixon Administration there was an embargo on shipping arms to Israel “What he gets he must pay for, he don’t get it out of love” so Israel was forced to buy weapons on the international arms market “He buys obsolete weapons and he won’t be denied” although the weapons are not state-of art they are still available and can be modified so they are more accurate and more deadly “But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side” but he must fight these wars alone “He’s the neighborhood bully.”
Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease. Now, they wouldn’t hurt a fly. To hurt one they would weep. They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace” sarcastic; Israel is surrounded by hostile Arab states “They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease” sarcastic; the Muslims go to the Mosque each night to pray for peace when jihad is a pillar of Islam “Now, they wouldn’t hurt a fly / To hurt one they would weep” understatement; Israel’s enemies are vicious as was Mohammad “They lay and they wait for this bully to fall
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asleep” and they wish to catch the country off guard, overly complacent, “He’s the neighborhood bully.”
Every empire that’s enslaved him is gone Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon. He’s made a garden of paradise in the desert sand In bed with nobody, under no one’s command. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“Every empire that’s enslaved him” every empire that’s enslaved the Jews “is gone, Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon / He’s made a garden of paradise in the desert sand” Israel has made the Negev Desert bloom “In bed with nobody” married to no other countries foreign policies “under no one’s command” and is a sovereign state “He’s the neighborhood bully.”
Now his holiest books have been trampled upon No contract he signed was worth what it was written on. He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“Now his holiest books have been trampled upon” the Old Testament has been profaned by the lies in the New Testament “No contract he signed was worth what it was written on” and the Jew was portrayed as having asked for “a pound of flesh” to repay a debt in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice “He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth” the Jews started out with nothing and by their superior intelligence became rich “Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health” during which time they contributed much to scientific advancement in the field of medicine
What’s anybody indebted to him for? Nothin’, they say. He just likes to cause war. Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed, They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed. He’s the neighborhood bully.
“What’s anybody indebted to him for? Nothin’, they say” nothing, they say because they do not realize the debt that humanity owes the Jews “He just likes to cause war” instead Jewish bankers like the Rothschild family were falsely accused of starting World War I and Nazi propagandists characterized World War II as being fought for the Jews “Pride” chauvinism, arrogance “and prejudice” and racism “and superstition indeed” and a religion filled
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with idolatry such as worshipping rocks “They wait for this bully like a dog” they wait to destroy Israel like a despicable person “waits to feed” waits to be supplied with something essential for the operation of Islam, which feeds on hatred “He’s the neighborhood bully.”
What has he done to wear so many scars? Does he change the course of rivers? Does he pollute the moon and stars? Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill Running out the clock, time standing still, Neighborhood bully.
“What has he done to wear so many scars?” why is Israel the target of terrorist activity? Why has it sustained so much lingering damage? “Does he change the course of rivers?” does Israel interfere with the Arab countries developing an affluent society? “Does he pollute” does Israel render impure and morally harmful; corrupt “the moon” people’s aspirations “and stars?” and their best leadership? “Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill” Israel benefiting from a strong lobby on Capitol Hill “Running out the clock” keeping advanced weaponry away from the military team competing against you at the end of a game so that they cannot destroy you “time standing still” to insure that Israel’s time will not run out.”
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LICENSE TO KILL 1983
Man thinks ‘cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please And if things don’t change soon, he will. Oh, man has invented his doom First step was touching the moon. Now, there’s a woman on my block She just sit there as the night grows still. She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
“Man thinks ‘cause he rules” the Nazis think because they make generalized statements “the earth” about the different races of humanity “he can do with it as he please” he can wipe out an entire race of people “And if things don’t change soon, he will” and if the Nazis are allowed to continue to exist when the circumstances are right they might come to power again “Oh, man has invented” the Nazis have made up; fabricated “his doom” the inevitable tragic and ruinous fate of their race “First step” first goose step into history “was touching the moon” matching in quality; equaling the thoughts of a lunatic “Now, there’s a woman on my block” now there’s a Rabbi who is part of a like set of like items, a block, the Jewish Defense League who will block the Nazis “She just sit there as the night grows still” who currently waits there for the Nazis to crawl out of the woodwork and start their killing again “She say who gonna take away his license to kill?” Rabbi Meir Kahane asks who is going take out the baseball bats and smash the Nazis heads in?
Now, they take him and they teach him and they groom him for life And they set him on a path where he’s bound to get ill Then they bury him with stars, Sell his body like they do used cars. Now, there’s a woman on my block She just sit there facin’ the hill. She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
“Now, they take him” now they take the White man and fool him, take him for a ride “and they teach him” and they indoctrinate him “and they groom him for life” and they prepare him for a specific position and purpose, to die for the White race “And they set him on a path where he’s bound to get ill” and they point him in a direction where he will ascribe an objectionable quality to another race; ‘hold an ill view of Jews’ “Then they bury” then they have him occupy himself with deep concentration “with stars” with emblems such as the swastika “Sell his body” market his corpse or carcass “like they do used cars” “car” the part of a balloon or airship that carries people and cargo. Sell him like they sold the Hindenburg to the world as an example of
V1-446 superior Nazi technology “Now, there’s a woman on my block” now there is a militant Rabbi in my corner “She just sit there facin’ the hill” who is confronting the politicians on Capitol Hill about the existence of the Nazis “She say who gonna take away his license to kill?” he says who is going to put these sub-humans out of their misery, because the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi.
Now, he’s hell-bent for destruction, he’s afraid and confused And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill. All he believes are his eyes And his eyes, they just tell him lies. But there’s a woman on my block Sitting there in a cold chill. She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
“Now, he’s hell-bent for destruction” the evil in the Nazi makes him hell bent on committing genocide “he’s afraid” insecure about the real value of his race “and confused” and fails to distinguish between right and wrong “And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill” and he has been brainwashed with Nazi propaganda that proved effective in creating the mass murder of European Jews “All he believes are his eyes” all he believes in are his own thoughts and not those of other more enlightened people “And his eyes, they just tell him lies” and because he is dumb his thoughts reflect this and are totally false “But there’s a woman on my block” but there is a man, a Rabbi, Meir Kahane “Sitting there in a cold” waiting in a cold, lacking emotion “chill” ready to ice the Nazis “She say who gonna take away his license to kill?” who is going to ban Nazism as a criminal conspiracy to commit mass murder?
Ya may be a noisemaker, spirit maker Heartbreaker, backbreaker,
Leave no stone unturned. May be an actor in a plot That might be all that you got ‘ Til your error you clearly learn.
“Ya may be a noisemaker” you may make sounds that are disagreeable like Sieg Heil! you might make noise smashing windows during Kristalnacht “spirit maker” you may infuse others with the Nazi spirit as Hitler did, you may be a German beer brewer or beer-bellied consumer “Heartbreaker” you may produce an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement by murdering Jews in death camps “backbreaker” or by putting them into forced labor camps “Leave no stone unturned” you may find every
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Jew, devise every form of punishment, you also may desecrate their graves by overturning gravestones “May be an actor in a plot” you are nothing more than a criminal cooking up a plot to kill Jews “That might be all that you got” but you might end up getting killed maggot! “‘Til your error you clearly learn” until you realize you cannot do this and hope to get away with it. Dylan on neo-Nazi David Duke, “I hadn’t seen Duke before; he looked like a movie star.”
Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool And when he sees his reflection, he’s fulfilled. Oh, man is opposed to fair play He wants it all and he wants it his way. Now, there’s a woman on my block She just sit there as the night grows still. She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
“Now he worships at an altar of” the Nazi honors and loves as a deity “a stagnant pool” a gene pool showing little or no sign of activity or advancement; not developing or progressing since it is very narrow “pool,” an available supply, the use of which is shared by a group “And when he sees his reflection” when he sees the manifestation or result of inbreeding, someone with the same characteristics as himself, like a breed of dog “he’s fulfilled” he has achieved all the potential he is ever going to achieve because he has made himself genetically inferior and subject to congenital disease “Oh, man is opposed to fair play” Oh, the Nazis are opposed to an honorable standard of behavior “He wants it all and he wants it his way” they want to enact laws against the intermarriage of the races that would apply to everyone and restrict their freedom “Now, there’s a woman on my block” now there’s a Rabbi who is an obstruction and a hindrance to the Nazis “She just sit there as the night grows still” she waits there as evil Jew hatred again increases as it once did and always has and always will “She say who gonna take away his license to kill?” who is going to off these Nazi pigs?
In Chronicles Dylan claimed that he was never a Zionist but pretended to be one in order to shed his Leftist image, “This main meal of garbage had to be mixed up with some butter and mushrooms and I’d have to go great lengths to do it. You gotta start somewhere. I went to Jerusalem, got myself photographed at the Western Wall wearing a skullcap. The image was transmitted worldwide instantly and quickly all the great rags changed me overnight into a Zionist.”
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The intifada was a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule from 1987 to 1993. Over the course of the first intifada, an estimated 1,100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and 160 Israelis were killed by Palestinians. Dylan could relate to the Palestinian struggle despite the fact that at one time the Palestinian Liberation Organization was trained in the USSR. Perhaps the images of young Palestinians with rocks fighting heavily armed Israeli soldiers turned Dylan against the state of Israel? Maybe Dylan opposed Israeli expansionism? Under the Red Sky, “Someday little girl / Everything for you is gonna be new” someday the borders of Israel will be redrawn “Someday little girl / You’ll have a diamond as big as your shoe” sarcastic; someday Israel will have an area, ‘a baseball diamond’ as big as its ambitions. The third alternative is based on factoring into the equation his early attraction to Nazi doctrine and the Jew-hatred he espoused during his Christian period. Perhaps Dylan didn’t really have real sympathy for the Palestinians and this was just another manifestation of his racism and self- hatred?
T.V. TALKIN’ TIME 1990
“There was someone on the platform (putting forth publicly declared principles about Zionism) / talking to the (trying to influence, affect and convince) / folks (those belonging to a particular group, nation or tribe) / About the TV (Zionist) / god (object of excessive worship or influence) / and all the pain (suffering) / that it invokes (through the laws it puts into effect, by calling forward the ill-will of God) / It’s too bright (promising) / a light (a hope) / he said for anybody’s eyes (thoughts) / If you’ve never seen one (if the State of Israel never came into existence) / it’s blessing in disguise (the Jews would be in a much better position in the world, since they would not bear the onus of the oppression of the Palestinians which is the cause of much of the anti-Semitism in the world) / I moved in (I advanced as far as trying to control my Zionist indoctrination) / closer (and was closer to home - uncomfortably close to the truth, or to a sensitive matter) / got up on my toes (became alert and ready to act against it) / Two men in front of me were coming to blows (two other Jews who had reached different conclusions about the efficacy of Zionism for the Jewish people were fighting each other) / A man was saying something about children when they’re young (about those Palestinian children fighting for a homeland) / Being sacrificed to it (being shot by the Israeli army during the first intifada) / while lullabies are being sung (while the media puts people to sleep about this issue).”
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10,000 MEN 1990
Ten thousand men on a hill Ten thousand men on a hill Some of ’m goin’ down, some of ’m gonna get killed Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue Drummin’ in the morning, in the evening they’ll be coming for you Ten thousand men on the move Ten thousand men on the move None of them doing nothin’ that your mama wouldn’t disapprove
“Ten thousand men on a hill” numerous Palestinians living in the Judean hills “Some of ‘m goin’ down” some of them are going to come down and penetrate the Green Line in order to detonate bombs in Greater Israel “some of ‘m gonna get killed” some of them are going to be killed by the Israelis or by their own IEDs “Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue” an army of para-militarists, “blue,” a person who wears a blue uniform like a member of the Union Army “Drummin’” indoctrinated “drum” to make known to, or force upon, a person by constant repetition “in the morning” at a very early time, at morning prayers at the local Mosque “in the evening they’ll be coming for you” when you are in decline and after receiving the Imam’s blessing the Arab Muslims will go after the Israeli Jews. “Ten thousand men on the move” an army initiating an action “None of them doing nothin’ that your mama wouldn’t disapprove” none of them doing anything that would go against your conscience since you terrorized the British when you wanted to drive them out of Palestine.
Ten thousand men digging for silver and gold Ten thousand men digging for silver and gold All clean shaven, all coming in from the cold
“Ten thousand men digging” trying to learn and discover by careful research and investigation “for silver and gold” for valuable intelligence information “All clean shaven” all have shed their Islamic identities “all coming in from the cold” in order to spy on the Zionist entity “Ten thousand men looking so lean and frail” ten thousand Palestinians looking emaciated and weak after having spent time in Israeli prisons where they were tortured “Each one of ‘em got seven wives” they are all believers in the Laws of the Holy Quran “each one of ‘em just out of jail” and have just been released by the Israelis.
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Hey! Who could your lover be? Hey! Who could your lover be? Let me eat off his head so you can really see!
Ten thousand women all dressed in white Ten thousand women all dressed in white Standin’ at my window wishing me goodnight
Ten thousand men looking so lean and frail Ten thousand men looking so lean and frail Each one of ’m got seven wives, each one of ’m just out of jail
Ten thousand women all sweepin’ my room Ten thousand women all sweepin’ my room Spilling my buttermilk, sweeping it up with a broom
“10.000 women (Palestinians, Israeli Arabs) / all sleep in my room (are comfortable being potential foes of Israel) / Spilling (spreading profusely or beyond bounds) / my buttermilk (the Judea Hills of milk and honey) / sweeping it up (waiting to effect suddenly and overpoweringly) / with a broom (with a gun new broom a newly appointed official, etc, eager to make changes).”
Note: buttermilk appears in only one other instance, in Caribbean Wind, “Atlantic City (a gamble) / by the cold (inhospitable) / grey (intermediate in character and position) / sea (part of humanity) / I hear a voice crying (some people publicly expressing a protest, “Daddy” (looking for some kind of authority figure) / I always think it’s for me / But it’s only the silence (lack of expression) / in the buttermilk hills (in the top of the heap of the folk singers that remain after the others have been removed by death or lack of interest in their art) / that call (that beckon me to this undertaking) / Every new messenger (every new message song writer) / brings evil report (a short account of some evil of capitalism that has been reported in the news) / ‘Bout armies on the march (escalation in Vietnam) / and time that is short (and a history of the Left known for failing to reach the standard, not going far enough to stop it) / And famines and earthquakes (Third World people unable to cope with natural disasters) / and hatred written (to impress durably; to imprint; to engrave; as, truth written on the heart) / upon walls (upon racist barriers that African-Americans faced in America).”
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Ooh, baby, thank you for my tea! Baby, thank you for my tea! It’s so sweet of you to be so nice to me
Ten thousand men on a hill Some of ‘m goin’ down, some of ‘m gonna get killed. Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue Drummin’ in the morning, in the evening they’ll be coming for you. Ten thousand men on the move None of them doing nothin’ that your mama wouldn’t disapprove. Ten thousand men digging for silver and gold All clean shaven, all coming in from the cold. Ten thousand men looking so lean and frail Each one of ‘em got seven wives, each one of ‘em just out of jail
TWEEDLE-DEE DUM AND TWEEDLE-DEE DEE 2001
Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee They’re throwing knives into the tree Two big bags of dead man’s bones Got their noses to the grindstones
“Tweedle-dee Dum” the Likud Party “and Tweedle-dee Dee” and the Labor Party, the two major political parties of Israel in 2001 “They’re throwing knives into the tree” are attempting to defeat the Palestinians by underhand means as the Bible says that Arabs and Jews share a common family tree or ancestry “Two big bags” two large amounts of human game taken or legally permitted to be taken, body bags “of dead man’s bones” of the remains of dead Palestinians and Israelis “Got their noses” they have their work cut out for them “to the grindstones” killing Palestinian youth who throw rocks at them, note the use of the plural, grindstones.
Living in the Land of Nod Trustin’ their fate to the Hands of God They pass by so silently Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee
“Living in the Land of Nod” thriving in Israel, “Nod” a biblical land East of Eden also existing because of the assent of Israelis “Trustin’ their fate to the Hands of God” making coalitions with the religious parties in order to govern “They pass by” they serve as a barely acceptable substitute “so silently” like
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an unspoken curse “Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee” Labor and Likud.
Well, they’re going to the country, they’re gonna retire They’re taking a streetcar named Desire Looking in the window at the pecan pie Lot of things they’d like they would never buy
“Well, they’re going to the country” they are going for a two state solution “they’re gonna retire” they are going to lead troops away from action; withdraw “They’re taking a streetcar named Desire” they are going to move back to Tel Aviv and other large Israeli cities as streetcars only exist in urban areas “Looking in the window at the pecan pie” looking at how the Palestinian Authority wants to divide things up “Lot of things they’d like they would never buy” in reality they would never go for, assent to, buy, a two State solution.
Neither one gonna turn and run they’re making a voyage to the sun “His Master’s voice is calling me,” Says Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee
“Neither one gonna turn and run” neither party is going to change its policies and withdraw from the occupied territories “They’re making a voyage to the sun” they are making a distant journey toward becoming politicians whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of world events, they are making a journey to extinction “His Master’s voice” one whose teachings and doctrines are accepted by the settlers such as Rabbi Kahane or Rabbi Kook “is calling me” is telling me to live in “Judea and Samaria” in order to hasten the coming of the Messiah “Says Tweedle-dee Dum” says Likud “to Tweedle- dee Dee” to Labor.
Tweedle-dee Dee and Tweedle-dee Dum All that and more and then some They walk among the stately trees They know the secrets of the breeze
“Tweedle-dee Dee and Tweedle-dee Dum / All that and more and then some” both share certain ideas that can only be alluded to “They walk among the stately trees” they exist in an environment where many nation states want to punish and execute them “They know the secrets of the breeze” they know that intelligence is half the battle, “breeze” to seemingly engage in idle conversation, to collect intelligence in a clandestine manner, a breeze for the Israelis.
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Tweedle-dee Dum said to Tweedle-dee Dee Your presence is obnoxious to me. They’re like babies sittin’ on a woman’s knee Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee
“Tweedle-dee Dum said to Tweedle-dee Dee” Likud said to Labor “Your presence” “presence” diplomatic, political, and military influence of a nation in a foreign country, especially as evidenced by the posting of its troops there such as Israel occupying the West Bank “is obnoxious to me” is repulsive to me “They’re like babies sittin’ on a woman’s knee” they are jockeying for position in order to curry favor from the United States by seeing who is the more subservient “Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee.”
Well, the rain beating down on my windowpane I got love for you and it’s all in vain Brains in the pot, they’re beginning to boil They’re dripping with garlic and olive oil
“Well, the rain” well the hatred and punishment by both political parties “beating down” is adversely effecting “on my windowpane” Israelis who like to drop ecstasy or window pane acid “I got love for you” as a fellow Jew and I don’t want to see you hurt “and it’s all in vain” but its wasted if you use drugs as criminalization is the policy of both parties “Brains in the pot” pot smokers, pot head leaders “beginning to boil” are beginning to become extremely angry “They’re dripping with” they are oozing or are saturated with “garlic and olive oil” Greek culture or “Hellenistic” culture that Orthodox Jews oppose.
Tweedle-dee Dee—he’s on his hands and his knees Saying, Throw me somethin’, Mister, please. What’s good for you is good for me, Says Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee
“Tweedle-dee Dee—he’s on his hands and his knees” the Labor Party is subservient to Likud “Saying, ‘Throw somethin’, Mister, please’” commit yourself to giving me a cabinet post please “What’s good for you is good for me” we both share a common interest “Says Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedledee Dee.”
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Well, they’re living in a happy harmony Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee They’re one day older and a dollar short They’ve got a parade permit and a police escort
“Well, they’re living in a happy harmony / Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle- dee Dee” both major Israeli political parties exist in a state of peaceful agreement and cooperation with the United States “They’re one day older and a dollar short” despite having been in existence for some time they still need monetary aid from the United States “They’ve got a parade permit” they are allowed to behave so as to attract attention; parade themselves all over the media “and a police” and it is politically incorrect to attack them; “police” informal; a group that admonishes anyone who attacks them like the Anti Defamation League “escort” bodyguard.
They’re lying low and they’re makin’ hay They seem determined to go all the way They run a brick and tile company Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee
“They’re lying low” they have underground missile silos “and they’re makin’ hay” ‘make hay while the sun shines” they are taking full advantage of an opportunity “They seem determined to go all the way” they seem determined to go all the way when it comes to using nuclear weapons against an enemy state “They run a brick and tile factory” there are shelters to protect civilians from missile and aircraft attacks in every Israeli dwelling “Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee.”
Well a childish dream is a deathless need And a noble truth is a sacred creed My pretty baby, she’s lookin’ around She’s wearin’ a multi-thousand dollar gown
“Well, a childish dream” Well let me explain, the unrealistic idealistic dream of the State of Israel existing in the hostile environment of the Middle East “is a deathless need” is the desperate need of a people who do not wish to be subject to Nazi genocide again “And a noble truth” and the grand and stately truth is that the Jews must not be subject to another Holocaust because they are stateless “is a sacred creed” is an unquestionable formal statement of religious and secular Zionist belief “My pretty” but my considerable in size “baby” truth, love, intellect “she’s lookin’ around” she is questioning if the number of people killed in the Holocaust was exaggerated, “She’s wearin’” bearing, carrying, and maintaining “a multi-thousand dollar”
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a belief that hundreds of thousands of Jews, rather millions, were exterminated “gown” based on the findings of academics; “gown” a distinctive outer robe worn by those pretending to be scholars such as the Nazis at the Institute for Historical Review, a front group dedicated to Holocaust denial. Alternatives to College 1965, “welcome this notorious moment” graduation “wearing the robe & blindfold.” With God On Our Side 1962 “though they murdered six million in the ovens they fried / The Germans now too have God on their side” however, at an unknown point in time, Dylan began omitting this verse from the song.
Tweedle-dee Dee is a lowdown, sorry old man Tweedle-dee Dum, he’ll stab you where you stand “I’ve had too much of your company,” Says, Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee
“Tweedle-dee Dee is a lowdown” Labor is sneaky “sorry” inferior; paltry “old man” bunch of Socialists “Tweedle-dee Dum, he’ll stab you where you stand” and Likud will betray America by running spy operations in the United States “I’ve had too much of your company” I am becoming the victim of your intelligence operations “Says, Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee.”
The members of Neturei Karta (the guardians of the wall) believe that the existence of Israel is preventing the Messiah from arriving. This is based on a passage from the Talmud, the Oral Tradition believed to be handed down by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai, even though it deals with things much later in the future of the Jews. The Talmud teaches that Jews shall not use human force to bring about the establishment of a Jewish state before the coming of the Messiah. Jews are forbidden to rebel against the nations and Jews should remain loyal citizens and not attempt to leave the exile which God sent them into ahead of time. What this translates into for Neturei Karta is that Israel should be destroyed to hasten the coming of the Messiah. They work with anyone they believe will achieve this end. This was a perfect way for Dylan to hate Jews and at the same time be one too. The ironic thing about this is my Great Grandfather, the ultra-Orthodox Ben-Zion Weberman, was instrumental in bringing Joel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rabbi, to Brooklyn from Israel. Rabbi Teitelbaum, then the leader of the Neturei Karta sect, told his followers that Israel was a greater abomination than Nazi Germany. My cousin, Rabbi William Mordechai Weberman, is a leader of Neturei Karta, who kept up the Weberman tradition of self-hatred when he met with the Iranian Hitler, Ahmadinejad. I also kept up this tradition by joining the anti- Zionist extreme Left but came to my senses after I realized I was digging my own grave.
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RING THEM BELLS 1989
Ring them bells Sweet Martha For the poor man’s son, Ring them bells so the world will know That God is one. Oh the shepherd is asleep Where the willows weep And the mountains are filled With lost sheep.
“Ring them bells Sweet Martha” play that music Bob Dylan, and be a force for morality, signify that Israeli oppression of the Palestinians is coming to an end “For the poor man’s son” for the next generation of Palestinians “Ring them bells so the world will know” play that music so the world will know “That God is one” what the holiest prayer in Judaism really means when it says “Hear oh Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is One” “Oh the shepherd is asleep” the clergymen who watch over a group of people, the Israeli Rabbinate is pretending to be unaware of this problem, or can live with it “Where the willows weep” where the indigenous population lives in sorrow; willows are used as an emblem of sorrow, desolation, and desertion “And the mountains are filled” and the hills of the occupied West Bank are filled with “With lost sheep” confused religious settlers who are a major impediment to peace.
Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf Ring them bells for all of us who are left, Ring them bells for the chosen few Who will judge the many when the game is through. Ring them bells, for the time that flies, For the child that cries When innocence dies.
“Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf” play that music for those unable to perceive the suffering that the Palestinian Diaspora has created “Ring them bells for all of us who are Left” play that music for those on the Left who are able to relate to the Palestinian’s just struggle for a homeland “Ring them bells for the chosen few” play them songs for the true Torah Jews “Who will judge the many when the game is through” who will be given the task by God to determine who enters heaven and who does not after the Messiah arrives. These are the Jews of Neturei Karta. Theirs will prove to be the true Judaism. “Ring them bells, for the time that flies” play them songs for the years that have gone by so quickly yet the Palestinian situation has remained essentially the same “For the child that cries” for the Palestinian
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child that suffers “When innocence dies” when he is forced to join the Palestinian Liberation Organization and go up against the Israelis.
NETTIE MOORE 2006
The Judge is coming in, everybody rise Lift up your eyes You can do what you please, you don’t need my advice Before you call me any dirty names you better think twice
“The Judge” biblical, to govern, rule, used of ancient Israelite leaders—the Messiah, “is coming in” will be here soon “everybody rise” everyone should rise to the occasion, pray, Jews pray standing up “Lift up” raise the quality of “your eyes” your thoughts “You can do what you please” you can continue doing what you are doing and support the State of Israel “you don’t need my advice” sarcastic; you don’t need any cautionary advice about something imminent like the coming of the Messiah “Before you call me any dirty names you better think twice” but before you call me a self hating Jew, a traitor to his people, his culture who does not believe that the State of Israel should exist you better think twice about your afterlife in the post-Messianic era; Sugar Baby 2001, “Look up, look up, seek your Maker, ‘fore Gabriel blows his horn.”
Getting light outside, the temperature dropped I think the rain has stopped I’m going to make you come to grips with fate When I’m through with you, you’ll learn to keep your business straight
“Getting light outside” I am obtaining spiritual awareness, illumination, from a particular group or organization that is not part of, is outside of, mainstream Judaism “the temperature dropped” and I am doing this because the strength of feeling of religiosity among certain segments of the orthodox Jewish Community has fallen and sunk into a state of exhaustion and death “I think the rain has stopped” I believe the reason for this is because the punishment coming from God, such as the Great Flood, has stopped and the Jews have gone amiss “I’m going to make you come to grips” I am going to make you gain an intellectual hold; understanding “with fate” with God given destiny; according to some ultra-orthodox thinking everything is bashert, the Yiddish word for destined, fated, meant to be “When I’m through with you” after you learn you are doomed to death “you’ll learn to keep your business straight” you will remember from the fact that you are circumcised that you are a Jew.
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The line “keep your business straight” is similar to “you fixed your business straight” in Mick Jagger’s Memo to Turner 1970, written to Dylan; “Aw, you drowned that Jew in Rampton” you murdered the Jew in you and became a Fascist like the British poet T.S. Eliot who wrote this in The Wasteland that contains the lines “Full fathom five your Bleistein lies / Under the flatfish and the squids / Graves’ Disease in a dead Jew’s eyes! / Where the crabs have eat the lids” “as he washed” as you removed “his sleeveless shirt” something that would become apparent if you were wearing a short sleeved shirt like a number tattooed on someone’s arm, you removed any memory of the death camps of World War II “You know?” you remember World War II Zimmerman and you remember “that Spanish-speaking gentlemen” sarcastic, that German speaking madman “the one we all called Kurt” the one as known as Adolf Hitler “Come now, gentleman, I know there’s some mistake” come now you non-Jewish Nazis, I know there has been a colossal mistake admitting a Jew into your midst “How forgetful I’m becoming now” oh shit I just remembered “you fixed your business straight” you had your foreskin grafted back on and are no longer Jewish. Dylan had this to say about Memo to Turner, “Oh it just a bunch of faggot bullshit all wrapped up in about two or three lines and dumped out “You’re the one he calls a faggot in there man.” “What?” He sings “a faggy little leather boy with a smaller piece of stick.” “He’s talkin’ about himself man.” “No man, he’s talkin’ about you man.” “Oh get outta here.”
The bright spark of the steady lights Has dimmed my sights When you’re around all my grief gives ‘way A lifetime with you is like some heavenly day
“The bright” the full of promise and hope “spark” vital, animating factor “of the steady” free from change, variation, and fluctuation just as the Torah is “lights” Torah scholars, luminaries, like the Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, “Has dimmed my sights” has made feel unfavorable, negatively to Israel “When you’re around all my grief gives way” as long as the State of Israel exists the Jews will be subject to outpourings of grief because it is an abomination in the eyes of God “A lifetime” the period of time during which property exists or functions “with you” with the State of Israel in existence “is like some heavenly day” is only like some heavenly day but not the actual “heavenly day.” In fact the very existence of the State of Israel is forestalling that true “heavenly day” when the Messiah finally arrives and the world becomes a paradise.
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Everything I’ve ever known to be right has proven wrong I’ll be drifting along The woman I’m lovin’, she rules my heart No knife could ever cut our love apart
“Everything I’ve ever known to be Right” the Rightwing view on Israel, wherein its existence is affirmed and supported “has proven wrong” is not only bogus but downright evil “I’ll be drifting along” I will be making a gradual deviation from an original course of modern Judaic thought into that of Neturei Karta “The woman I’m lovin’” the Torah, the word of God “she rules my heart” makes the laws for my innermost being “No knife could ever cut our love apart” no other form of Judaism could separate me from the Neturei Karta way of thinking. Tarantula, “cut him with a fish knife blam de lam!”
Today I’ll stand in faith and raise The voice of praise The sun is strong, I’m standing in the light I wish to God that it were night
“Today I’ll stand” today I will assume the normal position for a Jew to pray, I will take my religious stand “in faith” with the body of truth of a religion “and raise” increase the intensity, degree, strength of “The voice” my expression “of praise” of the extolling or exaltation of God “The sun” the person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events such as the Rabbi Teitelbaum “is strong” is supported by evidence; convincing “I’m standing in the light” Rabbi Yehudah Liva wrote: “The Torah is light. The Torah, which contains all of the individual commandments, is a single unified light. The flames unite to form one great light, for the Torah is a single unit…” “I wish to God that it were night” I wish to Ha’shem that Messiah would arrive now.
SHAKE MAMA SHAKE 2009
I’m motherless fatherless almost friendless too It’s Friday morning on Franklin Avenue
“I’m motherless fatherless” orphaned, lacking support, supervision, and care “almost friendless too” excluded from a society, the Lubavitch Sect and “It’s Friday morning” it’s time to get ready for Shabbos, the Jewish Sabbath which starts sundown on Friday “on Franklin Avenue” in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Franklin Avenue is the subway stop closest to Lubavitch
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headquarters. Dylan is no longer praying with the more pro-Israel sect, the Lubavitch, but is davening with the Neturei Karta.
Shake shake mama, raise your voice and pray If you’re goin’ on home better go the shortest way
“Shake shake mama,” daven man daven, Orthodox Jews rock back and forth when they pray “raise your voice and pray” elevate the ideas you give voice to and pray to Ha’shem “If you’re goin’ on home better go the shortest way” if you are going to reach your goal of happiness and you are a Jew take the path that is the closet to you, Judaism. Sugar Baby 2001, “Look up, look up—seek your Maker ‘fore Gabriel blows his horn.”
After I bootlegged Tarantula I distributed it to numerous book stores in the East Village and in Greenwich Village. I enlisted the aid of Terry Noble, AKA One-Legged Terry, an ultra Zionist who would eventually make aliyah to Israel, change his name to Tuvia Ariel, and live in a West Bank settlement with his wife and numerous children. After picking up about $50 I told Terry that I wanted to stop at Dylan’s studio on Houston Street and torment him by displaying the money I had made from his labor.
Dylan let me in and I started to flash the wad but he was disinterested. Terry, who had lost his leg on a kibbutz that produced kosher dog food (he had to cut it off with a pocket knife) got out of his car, opened the hood and began to hop around. Dylan looked at him and said, “Who’s the guy with one leg?” I said, “Ah you don’t want to meet him, he’s a stoned Zionist” Dylan said, “No, tell him to come in” They became close friends and Terry became Dylan’s Hebrew teacher and “rabbi.” I asked the One-Legged Man how
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Dylan’s Hebrew lessons were coming? He told me Dylan had only learned a few words, like “yelad” boy, and “yaldah” girl.
YOU GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY 1997
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame You may be living in another country under another name You may call me Terry; you may call me Timmy,
“You may be rich or poor” Terry was poor “you may be blind” you may be deprived of perception or insight, blind to the truth of Christianity “or lame” or have one leg “You may be living in another country” Israel “under another name…” Tuvia Ariel “You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy.”
Dylan had a long-term substance abuse problem dating back to 1961. In Chronicles Dylan wrote that his benefactor Ray Gooch was “an opium smoker…burning little kilos [2.2 pounds] of bricks until they became like gum.” There was more to it than that. Gooch was an opium importer who processed the raw opium into heroin at a laboratory in Brooklyn after Gooch’s old lady, Chloe Kiel, acted as mule and brought the opium there. Tarantula, “Barbara Allen” Chloe Kiel “she smuggles Moroccan cinders” “cinder” a rectangular hollow building block similar to a brick “into Brooklyn twice a month” to a lab that was located in Brooklyn. Gooch worked at the lab “& she wears a sheet” Kiel had been in the Klan “she takes many penicillin shots” and she was a doper. Dylan was in love with Chloe who was originally from the South and he wrote To Ramona for her.
TO RAMONA 1963
Ramona, come closer, Shut softly your watery eyes. The pangs of your sadness Shall pass as your senses will rise. The flowers of the city Though breath like, get deathlike at times. And there’s no use in tryin’ T’ deal with the dyin’, Though I cannot explain that in lines
“Ramona, come closer shut softly your watery eyes” Ramona, come closer gently shut out your troublesome thoughts with reefer, a soft drug Chronicles, “I don’t know how much weed Chloe Kiel smoked, but a lot.” “The pangs of your sadness” you unhappiness about the mulatto babies what will be born as a result of race mixing, Chronicles, “A bunch of
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monkeys in this town, Chloe’d say. Talking to her you’d get the idea right away” “pangs” as in ‘birth pangs’ “Shall pass as your senses will rise” shall pass as you get high. “The flowers of the city” the best examples of artists in New York City “Though breath like” although they seem like they are on the side of life “get deathlike at times” get morbid when it comes to race “And there’s no use in tryin’ / T’ deal with the dyin’” and there is no use in trying to explain this to a dying White race “Though I cannot explain that in lines” though I cannot explain that relying on my racial linage.
Your cracked country lips, I still wish to kiss, As to be under the strength of your skin. Your magnetic movements Still capture the minutes I’m in. But it grieves my heart, love, To see you tryin’ to be a part of A world that just don’t exist. It’s all just a dream, babe, A vacuum, a scheme, babe, That sucks you into feelin’ like this.
“Your cracked country lips / I still wish to kiss” I still wish I could sleep with you, “crack” “lips” Also your rural Southern beauty is all it is cracked up to be “As to be under the strength” as to have your ability to firmly maintain a moral position “of your skin” in regard to the White race “Your magnetic movements” your political movements that attract poor Whites such as the Ku Klux Klan “Still capture the minutes I’m in” are still what I am writing about in the subcontent of my poems “But it grieves my heart, love, / To see you tryin’ to be a part of / A world that just don’t exist” it hurts me deeply to see you trying to fit into the New York City race-mixin’ African-American lovin’ scene “It’s all just a dream, babe” the equality of the African-American to the White man is a pipe dream “A vacuum” a state of being sealed off from external and environmental influences such as having to live with African-Americans “a scheme babe,” a plot against the White Race “That sucks you into feelin’ like this” that has you so demoralized.
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I can see that your head Has been twisted and fed By worthless foam from the mouth. I can tell you are torn Between stayin’ and returnin’ On back to the South. You’ve been fooled into thinking That the finishin’ end is at hand. Yet there’s no one to beat you, No one t’ defeat you, ‘Cept the thoughts of yourself feeling bad.
“I can see that your head” I can see that your thinking “Has been twisted” has undergone an unexpected change in a process, a departure from a pattern, producing a distortion or perversion “and fed” and has been spoon fed “With worthless foam” with phony anger and rage “from the mouth” from those who don’t really believe what they say about African-Americans but just mouth it “I can tell you are torn / Between stayin’ and returning back to the South / You’ve been fooled into thinking / That the finishing end is at hand” you’ve been fooled into thinking by the Northern politicians that it is all over for the Old South “Yet there’s no one to beat you” Yet there’s no one to force you to withdraw or retreat “No one to defeat you” not even the National Guard can defeat you “‘Cept the thoughts of yourself feeling bad” and they only way you will lose is if you remain demoralized.
“Foam” as anger; Emmett Till 1961, “While Emmett’s body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea.” Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest 1968 “And foaming at the mouth” and extremely angry; in a rage: “He began to make his midnight creep.” After Dylan lost touch with Chloe and Ray he copped dope on the street:
SPANISH HARLEM INCIDENT 1964
Gypsy gal, the hands of Harlem Cannot hold you to its heat. Your temperature’s too hot for taming Your flaming feet burn up the street.
“Gypsy gal” black dope dealer; Tarantula, “the black gypsy lady” “the hands of Harlem” one of the hired hands of the ghetto, an informant “Cannot hold you to its heat” cannot force you to live by the rules that the heat, the police, enforce “Your temperature” your strength of feeling, temperament “is too hot for taming” is to intense to subdue like that of a wild animal “your flaming feet” your desire to make money “are burning” are of immediate import; urgent “up the street” if we walk up the street together and you sell
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me some dope. Also the streets of a city viewed as the scene of crime, poverty, or dereliction.
“Temperature” as strength of feeling; Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence 1970, “Yes, my temperature rises” my strength of feeling, desire for heroin intensifies “and my feet don’t walk so fast” and I lose my other ambitions “Well this Arabian doctor” this racist heroin connection, Raymond Gooch, “came in, gave me a shot” came in and gave me an intravenous injection “But wouldn’t tell me if what I had would last” sarcastic; he never told me the strength of the dope and when I would need another shot.
ALTERNATE
“Gypsy gal” black dope dealer; Tarantula, “the black gypsy lady” “the hands of Harlem” one of the police’s hired hands of the ghetto known as El Barrio or Spanish Harlem, an informant “Cannot hold you to its heat” cannot force you to live by the rules that the heat, the police, enforce, cannot bust your ass “Your temperature” your strength of feeling, temperament “is too hot for taming” is to intense to subdue and is like that of a wild animal “your flaming feet” your obvious ambitions to make money “are burning” are of immediate import; urgent “up the street” if we walk up the street together and you sell me some dope. Also the streets of a city viewed as the scene of crime, poverty, or dereliction. “Temperature” as strength of feeling; Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence 1970,
Well, my temperature rises and my feet don’t walk so fast Yes, my temperature rises and my feet don’t walk so fast Well, this Arabian doctor came in, gave me a shot But wouldn’t tell me if what I had would last
“Yes, my temperature rises” yes my strength of feeling, desire for heroin intensifies “and my feet don't walk so fast” and I lose all of my other ambitions “Well this Arabian doctor” this racist heroin connection, Raymond Gooch, “came in, gave me a shot” came in and gave me an intravenous injection “But wouldn't tell me if what I had would last” sarcastic; he never told me the strength of the dope nor would he tell me when I would need another shot of dope. Spanish Harlem Incident 1964 continues:
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I am homeless, come and take me Into reach of your rattling drums. Let me know, babe, about my fortune Down along my restless palms.
“I am homeless” I haven’t reached my goal of getting wasted “Come and take me / Into the reach of your rattlin’ drum” “rattlin’ drum” a tambourine as in Mr. Tambourine Man which is also about heroin “Let me know, babe, all about my fortune / Down along my restless palms” let me know if I will be fortunate enough to cop some good smack, because I am itchin’ to get some.
Gypsy gal, you got me swallowed. I have fallen far beneath Your pearly eyes, so fast an’ slashing An’ your flashing diamond teeth. The night is pitch black, come an’ make my Pale face fit into place, ah, please! Let me know, babe, I got to know, babe If it’s you my lifelines trace.
“Gypsy gal, you got me swallowed” Gypsy gal, you have turned me into a believer “I have fallen far beneath” I am under your power “Your pearly eyes” the whites of your eyes contrast with the rest of your dark face and make them appear to pop out. Also sarcastic; your thoughts that are pearls of wisdom “so fast” and they are disposed to dissipation; ‘a fast crowd’ “an’ slashing” and often involve slashing each other with a knife or straight edged razor “An’ your flashing” and your ostentatious; flaunting “diamond” large area like the ghetto “teeth” where you demonstrate your powerful means of asserting yourself “The night” this time of my life “is pitch black” resembles the quality and state of the achromatic color of least lightness; bearing the least resemblance to white “come an’ make my / Pale face fit into place, ah, please!” I might be part of the White race but I sure like to get high “Let me know babe I am nearly drowning” getting rid of as if by submerging; ‘She drowned her trouble in alcohol’ “If it’s you my lifelines trace” if heroin is my thread of life and I must pursue and trace it relentlessly. Dylan to Archibald MacLeish in Chronicles; “mythological figures of the fates” A. J. Weberman “have been weaving” uniting threads of Dylan’s poetry about his addiction and writing about them “and now cutting my thread of life” and cutting off Dylan’s lifeline, heroin!
ALTERNATE
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“Gypsy gal, you got me swallowed” Gypsy gal, you have me believing without questioning “I have fallen far beneath” because of temptation I have fallen beneath my social position and am now copping dope on the street like a Black or spic, also I am under the force, control, or influence of “Your pearly eyes” sarcastic: your thoughts that are pearls of wisdom “so fast” that are often disposed to dissipation as in ‘a fast crowd’ “an’ slashing” and often involve slashing each other with a knife or straight edged razor “An’ your flashing” and your ostentatious; flaunting “diamond” large segregated area like the ghetto “teeth” where you demonstrate your powerful means of asserting yourself “The night” this time of my life “is pitch black” resembles the quality and state of the achromatic color of least lightness; bearing the least resemblance to White, I have descended into Blackhood “come an’ make my / Pale face fit into place, ah, please!” so you might as well label me a White Black and allow me to fit into the scheme of things “Let me know babe I am nearly drowning” my coming to you lets me know that I am nearly drowning in sorrow and that I wish to drown my troubles in dope. “If it’s you my lifelines trace” if it is heroin that is my thread of life and I must relentlessly pursue and trace it. In Chronicles Dylan reported that he said this to poet Archibald MacLeish; “mythological figures of the fates” A. J. Weberman and the Dylan Liberation Front “have been weaving” have been uniting threads of Dylan’s poetry about his addiction and writing about them “and now cutting my thread of life” and cutting off Dylan’s lifeline, heroin!
I been wond’rin’ all about me Ever since I seen you there. On the cliffs of your wildcat charms I’m riding I know I’m ‘round you but I don’t know where.
“I been wond’rin’ all about me / Ever since I seen you there” I been having my doubts about my safety ever since I started using heroin and copping it in Harlem “On the cliffs” on the precipices, on the dangers “of your wildcat” of someone who operates outside the bounds of standard and legitimate business practices “charms” high. “Charm” a synonym for “spell” as in Mr. Tambourine Man, “cast your dancing spell my way I promise to go under it” “I’m riding” I am being sustained, I am dependent “I know I’m ‘round you but I don’t know where” I know I have an imprecise but fairly close to correct estimate of the potency of the white powder I am going to inject.
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ALTERNATE
“I been wond’rin’ all about me / Ever since I seen you there” I been having my doubts about my safety ever since I started using heroin and copping it in Harlem “On the cliffs” on the precipices, on the dangers “of your wildcat” of someone who operates outside the bounds of standard and legitimate business practices “charms” highs “Charm” a synonym for “spell” as in Mr. Tambourine Man, “cast your dancing spell my way I promise to go under it” “I’m riding” I am being sustained, I am dependent on “I know I’m ‘round you but I don’t know where” I know I have an imprecise but fairly close to correct estimate of the potency of the white powder I am going to inject. This often depends on the brand stamped on the bag.
You have slayed me, you have made me I got to laugh half ways off my heels. I got to know, babe, will you surround me So I can know if I’m really real
“You’ve slayed me” you have made me happy as in ‘this joke really slays me’ although you might kill me “you have made me” identified me as a potential return customer “I got to laugh” I got to deride those who put you down “half ways off my heels” while I am waiting to boot up; Mr. Tambourine Man “wait only for my boot heels to be wandering” “boot up” slang for shooting up “I got to know, babe, will you surround me” I got to know, babe, will you envelop me completely “So I can know if I’m really real” so I can know if I am really alive.
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MR. TAMBOURINE MAN 1964
Assuming that there is such a thing, Mr. Tambourine Man 1964 is perhaps the greatest poem ever written extolling the virtues of heroin. Mr. Tambourine Man had its roots in Spanish Harlem Incident 1964 where, as demonstrated, Dylan had written of “the reach of rattling drums” and had used many of the same symbolic words such as place, hand, feet, street, heels, and diamond.
Though I know that evening’s empire has returned into sand, Vanished from my hand, Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping
“Though I know that evening’s” although I know that last night’s “empire” supreme power as in Empire Burlesque where his sexuality becomes the supreme power due to HIV AIDS “has returned into sand” is history once again, as in the sands of time or Dylan is smoking opium and the gummy substance has become ash “Vanished from my hand” has disappeared from my hand I used to smoke it “Left me blindly here to stand” and has left me unable to perceive or understand: “but still not sleeping” but not in the right euphoric fashion.
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“Sleep” as heroin or high on opiates; Quinn the Eskimo 1967, “Nobody can get no sleep” nobody can be content, get chilled out on junk “There’s someone on ev’ryone’s toes” there is the North Vietnamese keeping everyone of their toes “But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here” but when the connection arrives “Ev’rybody’s gonna wanna doze” everybody is going to want to snort or shoot up a dose of heroin. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, “Genghis Khan” grandfather of Kubla Khan subject of poem written by Samuel Coleridge while he was high on opium “He could not keep / All his kings / Supplied with sleep.”
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me, I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to. Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me, In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you.
“Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me” Hey opium and its derivatives help me compose a song “I’m not sleepy” I am not high “and there is no place I’m going to” and I lack inspiration “Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me in the jingle jangle morning” Hey Mr. Dope get me high in the early period, the morning, when I am writing poetry JINGLE have the catchy sound of a simple, repetitious rhyme or doggerel. “I’ll come followin’ you” I’ll let you inspire me. Tarantula, about himself “with earrings that that jingle from his toes” Mr. Tman: “toes too numb to step” Lord Buckley’s Scrooge “and in come a long angular spook seventeen gas lights and stove pipes hung together with jingle jangle bells all over.” Tarantula, “hunting for the likes of escape Lord Buckley & Sherlock Holmes about to be his moth turning.”
In Tarantula, “jingle” is associated with toes “with earrings that that jingle from his toes” and in a subsequent verse of Mr. Tambourine Man “toes” is associated with getting high just as it was in The Mighty Quinn.
My weariness amazes me, I’m branded on my feet I have no one to meet And the ancient empty street’s too dead for dreaming.
“My weariness amazes me” I am sick and tired of being a folk singer “I’m branded on my feet” I have been branded a folk singer. To folk fans “And since my feet are now fast / And point away from the past / I'll bid farewell and be down the line.” “I have no one to meet” To come into the presence of by chance or arrangement like a audience “And the ancient empty street’s”
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and his brain “too dead for dreaming” is not stimulated and drugged enough to fantasize and write poetry.
Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship, My senses have been stripped, my hands can’t feel to grip, My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin’
“Take me on a trip” Slang To have a drug-induced hallucination get me high, get me stoned, take me to the land of nod “upon your magic swirlin' ship” upon a drug that is going to first cause nausea “My senses have been stripped” something is missing from my nervous system that must be replaced with a drug “my hands can't feel to grip” I can’t get an intellectual hold, an understanding, ‘a good grip on things’ “My toes too numb to step” I can’t write poetry because I have no feelings “wait only” and I wait only “for my boot heels / To be wanderin'” for that shot of heroin to make my mind wander in lala land “boot up” - inject a drug, or, in the words of Allen Ginsberg, that angry fix into the starry dynamo of night.
I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way, I promise to go under it.
“I'm ready to go anywhere” I am ready to be transported to cloud nine “I'm ready for to fade” I’m ready to disappear gradually; vanish into oblivion nod out “Into my own parade” into a visible display of intoxication, drooling, scratching, nodding out “rain on someone's parade to hinder someone's enjoyment” “cast your dancing spell my way” any influence that can control the mind or character “I promise to go under it” I give you my word I will shoot it up and go under its narcotic effects. Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You 1968, “You cast your spell and I went under / I find is so difficult to leave” it’s difficult to leave when you are strung-out.
Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves, The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach, Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
“Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind” then take me disappearing into the Land of Oz from Alice in Wonderland. The hookah smoking Caterpillar blew smoke rings of opium “Down the foggy” dazed, stupefied “ruins of time” total destruction of any sense of time “far past the frozen leaves” transcending the unchangeable leafs, pages of a book of written laws “The haunted” continually present in, all pervasive “frightened
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trees” frightening punishments for using smack “out to the windy beach” out to a protected place where I will be washed with waves of euphoria one rush after the other “Far from the twisted reach” far from the range of influence and power “of crazy” of irrational “sorrow” feeling of deep sadness, depression, bi-polar disease.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands, With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves, Let me forget about today until tomorrow
“Yes, to dance” yes to sing and compose my poetry “Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune” Dylan write the poetry to please the Left “beneath” while under the influence of “the diamond” of the treasured “sky” highest level and degree of euphoria a drug can produce, an almost God-like quality “with one hand” with the evidence of craft or artistic skill: I can see the hand of a genius in the poems “waving free” surging or rushing, as of a sensation: a wave of creativity that freely comes “Silhouetted by the sea” completely immersed in American literature, influenced by American literature “circled” surrounded “by the circus sands” by the uncontrollable chaos of literature. Hurricane 1975, “The trial was a pig-circus he never had a chance” “With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves” with all past experience and future experience such as death driven deep beneath the rush generated by the most euphoric drug on the planet earth “Let me forget about today until tomorrow” let me escape from the present into a world where time is suspended.
Yeah wow, I think I’m gonna go out and cop me some dugi, that drug sure sounds good. But coming from a kosher orthodox Jewish home the bag of dope would require a U or a K on it and that might present a problem.
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ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE
John Keats - 1795-1821
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: 'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, But being too happy in thine happiness,— That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees, In some melodious plot Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, Singest of summer in full-throated ease.
2.
O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth, Tasting of Flora and the country green, Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth! O for a beaker full of the warm South, Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, With beaded bubbles winking at the brim, And purple-stained mouth; That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, And with thee fade away into the forest dim:
3.
Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget What thou among the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs, Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies; Where but to think is to be full of sorrow And leaden-eyed despairs, Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.
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4.
Away! away! for I will fly to thee, Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, But on the viewless wings of Poesy, Though the dull brain perplexes and retards: Already with thee! tender is the night, And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne, Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays; But here there is no light, Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.
5.
I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs, But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet Wherewith the seasonable month endows The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild; White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine; Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves; And mid-May's eldest child, The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine, The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.
6.
Darkling I listen; and, for many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death, Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme, To take into the air my quiet breath; Now more than ever seems it rich to die, To cease upon the midnight with no pain, While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad In such an ecstasy! Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain— To thy high requiem become a sod.
7.
Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! No hungry generations tread thee down;
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The voice I hear this passing night was heard In ancient days by emperor and clown: Perhaps the self-same song that found a path Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, She stood in tears amid the alien corn; The same that oft-times hath Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.
8. Forlorn! the very word is like a bell To toil me back from thee to my sole self! Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf. Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades Past the near meadows, over the still stream, Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep In the next valley-glades: Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?
DOWN ALONG THE COVE 1968
Down along the cove I spied my little bundle of joy. She said, “Lord, have mercy, honey I’m so glad you’re my boy!”
“Down along the cove” in a safe, protected area “I spied my little bundle of joy” I paid intense close attention to “a bundle of joy” “bundle” street drug slang for 10 glassine envelopes of heroin tied together with a rubber band “She said, ‘Lord, have mercy, honey I’m so glad you’re my boy’!” I am so glad that you are subservient to me! Chronicles, “bundled up-salesmen in rabbit fur earmuffs hawking gimmicks” “gimmicks” is a slang term for narcotics paraphernalia.
Down along the cove We walked together hand in hand. Ev’rybody watchin’ us go by Knows we’re in love, yes, and they understand.
“Down along the cove” while I am addicted “We walked together hand in hand” heroin and I lived with intertwined fates, my style of writing reflected my love of smack “Ev’rybody watchin’ us go by” everybody watching me go
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buy heroin “Knows we’re in love yes” knows that I am an addict, “and they understand” and they keep it to themselves as they are also addicts.
I’LL BE YOUR BABY TONIGHT 1968
Close your eyes, close the door, You don’t have to worry any more. I’ll be your baby tonight.
“Close” bar access to “your eyes” your thoughts about Blacks “close the door” close any opportunity you might have to awaken the Whites “You don’t have to worry any more” you don’t have to worry about them any longer “I’ll be your baby tonight” I am just going to be subservient to my addiction tonight.
Well, that mockingbird’s gonna sail away We’re gonna forget it. That big, fat moon is gonna shine like a spoon, But we’re gonna let it, You won’t regret it
“Well, that mockingbird’s” that singer who expressed scorn and ridicule; ‘jeered the darkies’ also a reference to the movie To Kill A Mockingbird, about Blacks in the Jim Crow South “gonna sail away” is going to effortlessly disappear “We’re gonna forget it” we are gonna scrap that plan “That big” that which has and exercises considerable authority, control, and influence “fat moon” such as a desire to become incredibly wealthy “is gonna shine like a spoon” is now going to be superseded by my love of heroin. A spoon is used to prepare drugs for injection. Tarantula, “a tablespoon of coke & sugar heated to 300 degrees” “But we’re gonna let it / You won’t regret it” sarcastic: don’t worry about the dangers of using heroin.
“Fat” as rich; Poem to Woody 1962 “And it ain’t on no rich kid’s road map / And it ain’t in no fat kid’s fraternity house” Tarantula, “some mogen david capitalists & a whole lot of fat people with extra money.” “Fat” as rich: Cry Awhile 2010 “Well the preacher's in the pulpit” I am preaching revolution “and the babies in their cribs” to my naive fans who comprise my audience “I'm longin' for that sweet fat that sticks to your ribs” I am looking for a way to become rich. Tarantula, “some mogen david capitalists & a whole lot of fat people with extra money.” Open the Door Homer 1967, “there's a certain way / That a man must swim / If he expects to live off / Of the fat of the land.” I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight continues,
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Kick your shoes off, do not fear Bring that bottle over here I’ll be you your baby tonight.
Kick your shoes off, do not fear” get rid of your position as a pop star rather than kick your habit, “Bring that bottle over here” bring that intoxicant over here “I’ll be you your baby tonight” I will be subservient to smack during this period in my life. I am including a poem attributed to The Band in this book to show that Dylan ghostwrote this poem and many other Band songs.
CRIPPLE CREEK 1968
When I get off of this mountain, you know where I want to go? Straight down the Mississippi river, to the Gulf of Mexico To Lake Charles, Louisiana, little Bessie girl that I once knew She told me just to come on by if there’s anything she could do
“When I get off of this mountain” when I stop being high “you know where I want to go? Straight down the Mississippi river” to anywhere there is an abundance of heroin “to the Gulf of Mexico” and then into the abyss of the heroin high “To Lake Charles, Louisiana, little Bessie girl that I once knew” to slavery, to a heroin connection I still know “She told me just to come on by” come on by and buy some smack “if there’s anything she could do” and then do it up.
“Bessie” as a dope habit; Goin’ Down The Road To See Bessie 1968, “Now all the crazy things I had to try” now all the different drugs I tried “Well I tried them all and then some / But if you’re lucky one day you find out” but if you are wealthy one day you will realize “Where it is you’re really comin’ from” that heroin is where it’s really comin’ from! “I’m goin’ down the road to see Bessie” I am taking a course in life that will support my habit “Oh see her soon” Oh feed her soon “I’m goin’ down the road to see Bessie / When I get there I wonder what she’ll do” sarcastic, Dylan knows he gonna t’ do up some dugi!
“When I get off of this mountain” when I stop being high “you know where I want to go? Straight down the Mississippi river” you know where I really want to go - to somewhere that there is an abundance of heroin “to the Gulf of Mexico” and then into the abyss of a heroin high “To Lake Charles, Louisiana, little Bessie girl that I once knew” to slavery, to a heroin connection I still know “She told me just to come on by” she told me just to come on by and buy some smack “if there's anything she could do” and then do it up. “Bessie” as a dope habit; Goin’ Down The Road To See Bessie 1968,
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Now all the crazy things I had to try Well I tried them all and then some But if you're lucky one day you find out Where it is you're really comin' from
“Now all the crazy things I had to try” now all the different drugs I had to try “Well I tried them all and then some / But if you're lucky one day you find out” but if you are wealthy one day you will realize “Where it is you're really comin' from” that heroin is where it’s really comin’ from, that it is the drug of choice! “I’m goin’ down the road to see Bessie” I am taking a course in life that will support my habit “Oh see her soon” oh feed her soon “I’m goin’ down the road to see Bessie / When I get there I wonder what she’ll do” sarcastic, Dylan knows she is gonna get him high!
“Up on Cripple Creek she sends me” my drug habit makes me use a crutch; anything that serves as an expedient; ‘he uses drugs as a psychological crutch’ Tarantula, “Gabby - the crippled horror from Telegraph Avenue but who wants to hear of this - who really wants to hear of this” “If I spring a leak” if I look too strung out and people begin to wonder if I am a dope addict “she mends me” From A Buick Six 1966 “She comes down the highway ready to sew me up with a thread” “I don't have to speak, she defends me” I don’t even have to ask her and she protects me/ She is a barrier to discomfort “A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one” the ideal drug for a dopers dream if I ever did see one.
“Leak” as breach of security; Please Mrs. Henry 1968, “Now, I'm starting to drain” the heroin mixed with blood is beginning to flow out of the dropper into my bloodstream “My stool's gonna squeak” and I am going to become constipated. One problem that many heroin addicts have is constipation. The reason is heroin affects the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for most functions that are automatic, such as control of digestion, control of heartbeat, control of organ functions, and so on. The small intestines are part of the autonomic nervous system and are greatly affected by heroin use. “If I walk too much farther” if I continue in the same vein, and take it to a more advanced point or stage, walk on air “My crane's gonna leak” my uncertainty about the strength of dope might become public as I could OD. “Crane” as uncertainty: Black Diamond Bay 1975, “While a loser in the gambling room lights up a candle / Says, “Open up another deck” / But the dealer says, “Attendez-vous, s’il vous plait” / As the rain beats down and the cranes fly away” and the doubts fly away “From Black Diamond Bay” Cripple Creek continues:
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“Up on Cripple Creek she sends me If I spring a leak she mends me I don’t have to speak, she defends me A drunkard’s dream if I ever did see one
“Up on Cripple Creek she sends me” my drug habit makes me use a crutch; anything that serves as an expedient; ‘he uses drugs as a psychological crutch’ Tarantula, “Gabby—the crippled horror from Telegraph Avenue but who wants to hear of this—who really wants to hear of this” “If I spring a leak” if I look too strung out and people begin to wonder if I am a dope addict “she mends me”
From A Buick Six 1966 “She comes down the highway ready to sew me up with a thread” “I don’t have to speak, she defends me” she protects me and is a barrier to discomfort “A drunkard’s dream if I ever did see one” the ideal drug for a dopers dream if I ever did see one.
“Leak” as breach of security; Please Mrs. Henry 1968, “Now, I’m starting to drain” the heroin in my bloodstream is starting to deplete gradually “My stool’s gonna squeak” and I am going to become constipated “If I walk too much farther” if I live too much longer “My crane’s” the curiosity about where my next fix is coming from, “crane one’s neck” Black Diamond Bay 1975, “As the rain beats down and the cranes fly away” “gonna leak” is going to become publicly known through a breach of secrecy.
Good luck had just stung me, to the race track I did go She bet on one horse to win and I bet on another to show The odds were in my favor, I had ‘em five to one When that nag to win came around the track, sure enough she had won
“Good luck had just stung me” I had just gotten some money “to the race track I did go” and I had to keep up with my dope habit; Country Pie 1969, “Don’t need much it ain’t no lie I ain’t runnin’ any race” “She bet on one horse to win” my habit was counting on at least one bag of dope, horse, to get me straight “and I bet on another to show” and I was betting on another to show me a good time “The odds” a certain number of points given beforehand to the weaker side of Bob Dylan “were in my favor, I had ‘em five to one” so Dylan would cop five bags “When that nag” when that persistent urge “to win came around the track” to shoot up dope appeared in my consciousness “sure enough she had won” sure enough we five bags of dope.
“Good luck had just stung me” I had just gotten some money “to the race track I did go” and I had to keep up with my dope habit; Country Pie 1969,
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“Don’t need much it ain’t no lie I ain’t runnin’ any race.” “She bet on one horse to win” my habit was counting on at least one bag of dope, horse, to get me straight “and I bet on another to show” and I was betting on another to show me a good time “The odds” the likelihood of my scoring “were in my favor, I had 'em five to one” were favorable because the heroin was only 20% pure “When that nag to win” when that persistent urge to cop heroin “came around the track” reappeared “sure enough she had won” sure enough we had one bag of schmeck.
I took up all of my winnings, and I gave my little Bessie half And she tore it up and threw it in my face, just for a laugh Now there’s one thing in the whole wide world, I sure would like to see That’s when that little love of mine, dips her doughnut in my tea
“I picked up all my winnings” I shot up all the dope I needed to make me high “and I gave my little Bessie half” and used to rest to satisfy Bessie, my nagging drug habit “She tore it up and threw it in my face, just for a laugh” she went on a carousal; a spree and I vomited because I had taken too much heroin in my quest for happiness; Similar to Country Pie 1969, “Give to me my country pie / I won’t throw it up in anyone’s face” “Now there’s one thing in this whole wide world that I sure would like to see” overstatement, there is one thing that is the last thing I wish to see “Is when that little love of mine” is when that drug habit of mine “Dips her donut in my tea” screws up; Tarantula, “stopping in for tea & eating the censor’s donut by mistake.”
“I picked up all my winnings” I copped the dope I needed to make me high, I picked a small hole in my arm with a needle so that I could shoot dope “and I gave my little Bessie half” and shot up half of it “She tore it up” she had a great time with it “and threw it in my face, just for a laugh” and told me reprovingly that she wanted more to attain a state of euphoria. Similar to Country Pie 1969, “Give to me my country pie / I won’t throw it up in anyone’s face” “Now there’s one thing in this whole wide world that I sure would like to see” overstatement, there is one thing that is the last thing I wish to see “Is when that little love of mine” is when that drug habit of mine “Dips her donut in my tea” screws up; Tarantula, “stopping in for tea & eating the censor's donut by mistake.”
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WINTERLUDE 1970
Winterlude, winterlude, oh darlin’ Winterlude by the road tonight Tonight there will be no quarrelin’ Ev’rything is gonna be all right
“Winterlude, winterlude, oh darlin’” heroin oh heroin you are something that is greatly liked and preferred; my favorite, my drug of choice “Winterlude by the road tonight” heroin in my path in life tonight “Tonight there will be no quarrelin’” tonight there will no longer be any dispute nor apparent argument with the US Government, Capitalism et. al. “Ev’rything is gonna be all right” because every sentiment I express is going to be Rightwing.
Oh, I see by the angel beside me That love has a reason to shine You’re the one I adore, come over here and give me more Then winterlude, this dude thinks you’re fine
“Oh, I see by the angel beside me” sarcastic; I see by the moral influence that guides me “That love has a reason to shine” that my love of heroin has a reason to shine, to be immediately apparent “You’re the one I adore” heroin is what I love intensely and deeply “come over here and give me more” come my way and give me more smack; more bliss “Then winterlude, this dude thinks you’re fine” heroin I believe you consist of very small particles; not coarse, a fine powder or heroin, I believe you are free from impurities.
Winterlude, Winterlude, my little apple Winterlude by the corn in the field, Winterlude, let’s go down to the chapel, Then come back and cook up a meal.
“Winterlude, Winterlude, my little apple” heroin, heroin my minor temptation “Winterlude by the corn in the field” heroin, heroin that causes me to write something trite, dated, melodramatic, and unduly sentimental in the pop music field “Winterlude, let’s go down to the chapel” heroin, heroin let’s become wedded to one another, let’s check out a funeral home in case I OD “Then come back and cook up a meal” then come back and cook up a fix.
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We’ll, come out when the skating rink glistens By the sun, near the old crossroads sign. The snow is so cold, but our love can be bold Winterlude, don’t be rude, please be mine
“We’ll, come out when the skating rink glistens” you will appear on a hard surface that blades glide on, a piece of glass with lines of smack that have been separated with a razor blade that sparkle like an uncut crystalline substance “By the sun” near the person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events, Dylan “near the old crossroads sign” during a time when near a crisis situation or point in time when a critical decision in life must be made or an overdose might occur “The snow is so cold” heroin is so deathlike “but our love can be bold” but the truth is I have the courage to take the chance “Winterlude, don’t be rude” heroin, heroin don’t be in a crude, rough, unfinished and in a dangerous condition “please be mine.” heroin, heroin please me mine.
I THREW IT ALL AWAY 1969
I once held her in my arms She said she would always stay. But I was cruel I treated her like a fool, I threw it all away.
“I once held her in my arms” I once had her in my power, I once injected heroin into my arms “She said she would always stay” and I became addicted “But I was cruel” but I just tortured myself for no good reason “I treated her” provided treatment for; ‘The doctor treated my addiction’ “like a fool” like a stupid person “I threw it all away” I tried to kick heroin addiction.
Love is all there is, it makes the world go ‘round, Love and only love, it can’t be denied. No matter what you think about it You just won’t be able to do without it. Take a tip from one who’s tried.
“Love is all there is, it makes the world go ‘round” heroin is all there is, it is the prime animator of my existence “Love and only love, it can’t be denied” heroin and only heroin it cannot be denied, I cannot restrain myself from indulging in it, it is too pleasurable; ‘He denied himself a fix’ “No matter what you think about it” even if you know that it is wrong “You just won’t be able to do without it” you will still get addicted to it “Take a tip from one who’s tried” take some advice from someone who tried not to get addicted by only shooting dope on the weekends. During our telephone conversation
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Dylan told me he was “all tied up for the weekend” and was hinting that it was only on the weekends that he would have a tourniquet tied around his arm and he would be shooting dope. One More Weekend “Come on down to my ship” the “magic swirlin’ ship” from Mr. Tambourine Man 1964 “honey, ride” be sustained “on deck” by a deck of heroin “We’ll fly over the ocean” we will get high “just like they suspect” just like they suspect thanks to Weberman writing about my addiction “One more weekend, one more weekend will do” up.
“Deck” as 1 to 15 grams of heroin, and cut-deck as heroin mixed with powdered milk; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs “it's your turn baby t' cut the deck” it's your turn baby t' dilute or step on the drug “on you're goin' under” on smack you are going under its effects, you also might go under the earth “stayed too long chinese gong” used heroin, China White, for too long and I am addicted. Eleven Outlined Epitaphs, “an' the woven' spell of Paul Clayton entrancin' me like China's plague unescapeable.” Huck’s Song 2007, “The game's gotten old, the deck's gone cold / I'm gonna have to put you down for a while.” Black Diamond Bay 1975, “Says Open up another deck / But the dealer says “Attendez-vous, s'il vous plait” wait if you please.
So if you find someone who gives you all of her love Take it to your heart, don’t let it stray. One thing’s for sure, there ain’t no cure If you throw it all away.
“So if you find someone who gives you all of her love” so if you find a drug that provides you with the ultimate high “Take it to your heart” shoot it into your bloodstream “don’t let it stray” sarcastic; don’t let it make you deviate from a moral, proper, and right course “One thing’s for sure, there ain’t no cure” one thing is for sure there is no medicine that will prevent withdrawal symptoms “If you throw it all away” if you try to kick junk.
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COUNTRY PIE 1969***
Saddle me up my big white goose Tie me on ‘er and turn her loose Oh me, oh my Love that country pie
“Saddle me up” I will take responsibility for, get ready, cook up “my big” something that has and exercises considerable control and influence “white goose” white powder fix which will “goose” increase my activity, speed, power and intensity “Tie me on ‘er” tie a tourniquet around my arm “and turn her loose” and shoot me up “Oh me, oh my Love that country pie.”
“Saddle me up” make ready, cook me up “my big” something that has and exercises considerable control and influence over me “white goose” white powder fix which will “goose” increase my activity, speed, power and intensity “Tie me on” tie a tourniquet around my arm “and turn her loose”
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I don’t need much and that ain’t no lie Ain’t runnin’ any race Give to me my country pie I won’t throw it up in anybody’s face
“I don’t need much and that ain’t no lie” sarcastic; I must keep increasing my dosage “Ain’t runnin’ any race” sarcastic; I am not running a race to get high before I start feeling withdrawal symptoms “Give to me my country pie” give to me my favorite drug “I won’t throw it up in anybody’s face” I won’t confront myself with the fact I have a problem. Also when someone first uses an opiate or takes too much of it, it causes extreme nausea. Since Dylan was addicted this no longer happened to him.
Shake me up the old peach tree Little Jack Horner’s got nothing on me Oh me oh my, love that country pie
“Shake me up the old peach tree” make sure no one peaches, informs on me but this line sounds more like ‘take me up that opiate street’ “Little Jack Horner’s got nothing on me” the cops have no evidence that I am using drugs “Oh me oh my, love that country pie.”
I asked Dylan why he revealed his addiction to heroin in his poetry and why he went into a fit of depression when I asked him that. “What’s all that insinuation? What’s that you just sorta slip in? I was thinkin’ about something if I ever just sat there I don’t go into fits of depression. Don’t have ‘em man, don’t have ‘em. You can print it but it’s a lie. Hey man haven’t you ever just sat there?”
TONIGHT I’LL BE STAYING HERE WITH YOU 1969
I should have left this town this morning But it was more than I could do. Oh, your love comes on so strong And I’ve waited all day long For tonight when I’ll be staying here with you.
“I should have left this town” I should have left New York City and its corrupt ways “this morning” when I first came there “But it was more than I could do” but there was so much dugi, much more than I could ever do up
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“Oh, your love comes on so strong” oh your rush comes on strong “And I’ve waited all day long” and I’ve been jonesing, desiring heroin, all day long “For tonight when I’ll be staying here with you” for the time I am supremely happy high on heroin.
Is it really any wonder The love that a stranger might receive. You cast your spell and I went under I find it so difficult to leave. I can hear that whistle blowin’, I see that stationmaster, too, If there’s a poor boy on the street, Then let him have my seat ‘Cause tonight I’ll be staying here with you.
“Is it really any wonder?” overstatement; It is no wonder “The love that a stranger might receive” sarcastic; the drugs that a person who is unfamiliar with and new to something might use “You cast your spell and I went under” you “cast your dancing spell my way” as in Mr. Tambourine Man 1964 and I went under “I find it so difficult to leave” I find it so difficult to leave because I am addicted “I can hear that whistle blowin’” I can hear something coming to an end “I see that stationmaster, too” I see the one who determines an artist’s station in life “If there’s a poor boy on the street” if there is a folk singer in the Village, “street” as a section of the city “Then let him have my seat” then let him my position of prominence “‘Cause tonight I’ll be staying here with you” because currently I am going to indulge my drug habit.
I asked Dylan why he revealed his addiction to heroin in his poetry. In a certain sense he had created me. This struck a raw nerve and Dylan went into what I perceived as a fit of depression. I asked him if I had gotten to him?
What’s all that insinuation? What’s that you just sorta slip in? I was thinkin’ about something if I ever just sat there. I don’t go into fits of depression. Don’t have ‘em man, don’t have ‘em. You can print it but it’s a lie. Hey man haven’t you ever just sat there?
POSITIVELY HIV STREET
By October 1983 the latest, judging from Man Of Peace 1983, Dylan was disillusioned with Jesus and was back to his old rakish ways; having sexual relations with more sex partners then a Muslim would have if he reached heaven. Trouble In Mind 1979, “Satan whispers to ya, ‘Well, I don’t want to bore ya, But when ya get tired of the Miss So-and so I got another woman
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for ya.’” Woman are often not highly regarded and referred to as “Eggs” female gametes; ovums; Please Mrs. Henry 1967 “I’m a good ol’ boy / But I’ve been sniffin’ too many eggs” What Good Am I? 1989 “What good am I if I’m walking on eggs, if I’m wild with excitement and wet between the legs?” Highlands 1997, “I said, ‘Tell me what I want,’ she say, ‘You probably want hard boiled’” hard-bitten, tough and callous by virtue of experience “eggs” women.
Once again Dylan was having a fuck fest, he was back in the saddle again, making up for lost time, however a new factor had entered this picture of life’s other side. In 1981 doctors had reported dozens urban gays with severely compromised immune systems and rare diseases like Kaposi’s sarcoma, a skin cancer that normally afflicts elderly men. Nobody could explain it until 1984 when the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV virus was discovered and was determined to be the cause of AIDS. Since HIV has a long period of dormancy no one knew who was infected in 1983. A confluence of events would prove to be Bob’s undoing because at this time the more different sex partners Dylan exchanged bodily fluids with the greater the odds were he would be infected with the newly emergent mysterious virus, especially if he dug riding bareback and was into heterosexual anal sex. Infection occurred for every 3.1 acts of heterosexual anal intercourse. There was a third factor that played into this confluence of events; despite the crypto-racist content of his previous poetry Dylan had developed a taste for African-American women. This group accounted for a disproportionate number of female human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections transmitted by IV drug users or IV drug use. I estimate that Dylan became infected in 1982 or early 1983. In the majority of the infected population, HIV remains asymptomatic for several years which means the only way you know you have it is if you get tested for it. The virus remained dormant until 1984 when he must have evidenced symptoms and been tested. The first reference to Dylan’s affliction appeared on Empire Burlesque recorded between July 1984 and March 1985 released on June 8, 1985. It was in a poem entitled,
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I AIN’T NEVER GONNA BE THE SAME AGAIN 1985
Now you’re here beside me, baby You’re a living dream. And every time you get this close It makes me want to scream. You touched me and you knew That I was warm for you and then I ain’t never gonna be the same again.
“Now you’re here beside me, baby” now the HIV virus is on an equal footing with me “You’re a living dream” sarcastic and it’s the ideal disease to have, a living nightmare is more like it “And every time you get this close” and every time you start to destroy my white blood cells so that I no longer have an immune system “It makes me want to scream” I utter a long loud piercing cry, as from pain and fear “You touched me” matched me in quality; equaled my natural defenses. Also sarcastic; gave me a mild attack; ‘A touch of the flu’ “and you knew / That I was warm for you and then” you knew you could raise my body temperature, you could live within me “I ain’t never gonna be the same again” I am never going to be the same again after having contracted the HIV virus.
Sorry if I hurt you, baby Sorry if I did. Sorry if I touched the place Where your secrets are hid. But you meant more than everything And I could not pretend, I ain’t never gonna be the same again.
“Sorry if I hurt you, baby / Sorry if I did” sarcastic; sorry if I had an adverse effect on you with medication “Sorry if I touched” sorry if I laid hands on in violence, in order to destroy “the place” a particular point “Where your secrets” where your vital functions that are beyond ordinary understanding “are hid” are unknown to medical science “But you meant more than everything” but you became the most important factor in my life “And I could not pretend” and I could not kid myself into thinking HIV would disappear by itself “I ain’t never gonna be the same again.”
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You give me something to think about, baby Every time I see ya. Don’t worry, baby, I don’t mind leaving I’d just like it to be my idea.
“You give me something to think about, baby / Every time I see ya” that is for certain, this is understatement “Don’t worry, baby, I don’t mind leaving” don’t worry baby I don’t mind dying “I’d just like it to be my idea” but I want to do it on my own terms rather than as a result of a viral infection that has made me susceptible to other viral and bacterial infections.
You taught me how to love you, baby You taught me, oh, so well. Now, I can’t go back to what was, baby I can’t unring the bell. You took my reality And cast it to the wind And I ain’t never gonna be the same again. Yu got it baby.
“You taught me how to love you, baby, / You taught me, oh, so well” sarcastic, overstatement; you taught me how to hate you “Now, I can’t go back to what was, baby” now I can’t go back to being HIV Negative “I can’t unring the bell” the bell has tolled for me and it is final, incurable, terminal “You took my reality” you took my entire being “And cast it to the wind” and turned it into dust, shit, destroyed it “And I ain’t never gonna be the same again / You got it baby!”
So assuming Dylan is referring to HIV / AIDS in this poem March 1985 would be the latest date that Dylan became aware of his disease. Dylan’s daughter, Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan, assuming she was full term, was conceived early in May 1985. There is no way to tell how many times Dylan had unprotected sexual intercourse before conception took place. Desiree was born January 31, 1986. African-American Carolyn Dennis, Desiree’s single mother, did not list Dylan as the father on Desiree’s birth certificate. In June 1986, Dylan married Carolyn Dennis. The couple divorced in October 1992. Their marriage and child remained a secret until the publication of a Dylan biography in 2001. Dennis said they took advantage of a California law that allowed them to seal their marriage certificate. The settlement in their divorce was also sealed.
In Chronicles Dylan put the date of detection of his infection allegorically circa 1987. “It was 1987 and my hand” it was 1987 and the cards I play the game of life with, the hand fate has dealt me “which had been ungodly injured” had been harmed by something morally bad in principle and
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practice “in a freak accident” in an accident that occurred as a result of my sex addition; “sex freak” a person who is obsessed with sex “was in the state of regeneration” life was returning to me, I was in the process of re- growing destroyed parts of my body such as white blood cells “It had been ripped” my entire existence had been destroyed quickly and violently. Disease of Conceit 1989 “it rips into your senses and your body and your mind” “and mangled” and altered so as to make my previous being unrecognizable “to the bone” to the core, to where most white blood cells arise in my red bone marrow “and was still in the acute stage” and this was just the beginning stages of the infection: an acute HIV infection is an asymptomatic period of rapid viral replication that immediately follows the individual’s exposure to HIV leading to an abundance of virus in the peripheral blood “it didn’t even feel like it was mine” I was still in a state of denial “I didn’t know what had befallen me” I didn’t know what happened to me by a confluence of events beginning in Hibbing, Minnesota “and this was a bizarre” conspicuously and grossly unusual “shift of fate” change in direction of my fate downward, I had it made in the shade and blew it “My hand had been gashed” my fate, the cards I was holding had been gashed, had been destroyed by a cunt. “gash” preppie slang term for female “pretty good—no feeling in the nerves” no more fortitude; stamina, resistance to infection “Maybe it might not heal, never be the same, and the sooner I believed it, the better” there still is no cure for HIV “Oh, the wicked” oh the severe and distressing “ironies of life” I had fame and fortune and I get this deadly incurable disease? What kind of a schmuck am I? “I’d gotten a cosmic” I’d gotten an infinitely and inconceivably extended; vast “kick in the pants” an embarrassing rude awakening beyond belief “I probably should have been wearing steel underwear” I should have been wearing a male chastity belt that way I would have had to keep my dick in my pants.
No accident occurred in January 1987, as Dylan claimed in Chronicles. Dylan used a similar metaphor in a different context in Tarantula, “outside, however after the tear gas disappears” after the songs about Civil Rights disappear “we find that the leprechaun’s got his hand in a bandage & his beard’s gone.” There is no evidence, no report, other than Dylan’s statement in Chronicles that any such accident ever occurred. Dylan was on tour with Tom Petty in 1986. The last date of the Petty tour was on October 17, 1986. He played with the Dead in January 1987. No bandage, no cast, no Band- Aid. Could the January that Dylan writes about when he had “a cast on my hand that went nearly to the elbow” be January 1988? But on January 20, 1988 Dylan appeared on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame playing guitar. No cast was seen. The Never Ending Tour started in June 1988 and ran 71 appearances that year. No cast except for the fact that HIV took Dylan’s reality and CAST it to the wind…
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I AIN’T NEVER GONNA BE THE SAME AGAIN 1985
Now you're here beside me, baby You're a living dream. And every time you get this close It makes me want to scream. You touched me and you knew That I was warm for you and then I ain't never gonna be the same again.
“Now you're here beside me, baby” now the HIV virus is in my bloodstream. Also beside me as beside myself: I am beside myself with grief “You're a living dream” sarcastic; and it’s the ideal disease to have, a living nightmare is more like it, it’s the living end “And every time you get this close” and every time you start to destroy my white blood cells so that I no longer have an immune system “It makes me want to scream” I utter a long loud piercing cry, as from pain and fear “You touched me” you matched me in quality; equaled my natural defenses.
Also sarcastic; gave me a mild attack; ‘A touch of the flu’ “and you knew that I was warm for you” and you knew that you could raise my body temperature, you could live within me “and then I ain't never gonna be the same again” and as a result after having contracted HIV virus I ain’t never going to be the same again.
Sorry if I hurt you, baby Sorry if I did. Sorry if I touched the place Where your secrets are hid. But you meant more than everything And I could not pretend, I ain't never gonna be the same again.
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“Sorry if I hurt you, baby / Sorry if I did” sarcastic; sorry if I had an adverse effect on you with medication “Sorry if I touched” sorry if I laid hands on in violence, in order to destroy “the place” a particular point “Where your secrets” where your vital functions that are beyond ordinary understanding “are hid” are unknown to medical science “But you meant more than everything” but you became the most important factor in my life “And I could not pretend” and I could not kid myself into thinking HIV would disappear by itself “I ain't never gonna be the same again.” I am never going to be healthy again.
You give me something to think about, baby Every time I see ya. Don't worry, baby, I don't mind leaving I'd just like it to be my idea. “You give me something to think about, baby / Every time I see ya” that’s for certain, this is understatement “Don't worry, baby, I don't mind leaving” don’t worry baby I don’t mind dying “I'd just like it to be my idea” but I want to do it on my own terms rather than as a result of a viral infection that has made me susceptible to other viral and bacterial infections.
You taught me how to love you, baby You taught me, oh, so well. Now, I can't go back to what was, baby I can't unring the bell. You took my reality And cast it to the wind And I ain't never gonna be the same again. You got it baby.
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“You taught me how to love you, baby” I learned the truth about you baby “You taught me, oh, so well” you caused me to learn by experience “Now, I can't go back to what was, baby” now I can’t go back to being HIV Negative “I can't unring the bell” the bell has tolled for me and it is final, incurable, terminal “You took my reality” you took my entire being “And cast it to the wind” and turned it into dust, shit,
destroyed it “And I ain't never gonna be the same again / You got it baby!” What is this “you got it baby” mean? That someone else has the disease? Additional lines:
Sorry if I hurt you, baby Sorry if I did Sorry if I touched the place Where your secrets are hid But your tongue was like a bayonet And your heart was like the wind And I ain’t never gonna be the same again
UNDER YOUR SPELL 1986
Something about you that I can’t shake Don’t know how much of this I can take Baby I’m under your spell
“Something about you that I can’t shake” there is some unique property about this virus that I cannot shake off, get rid of “Don’t know how much of this I can take” I don’t know if I can stand up to the disease or will I succumb to suicide? “Baby I’m under your spell” I am under your influence.
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I was knocked out and loaded in the naked night. When my last dream exploded, I noticed your light. Baby, oh what a story I could tell.
“I was knocked out” down for the count, down for the white blood cell count “and loaded” “load” something that is carried, as by a person, as in a heavy viral load “in the naked night” in the present time without protection, I was vulnerable “When my last dream exploded” when my last foolish hope of a cure was shown to be false and unreliable “I noticed your light” I thought I noticed something that I hoped would cure me “Baby, oh what a story I could tell” but it was a quack cure.
But I will be back, I will survive, You’ll never get rid of me as long as you’re alive. Baby, can’t you tell.
“But I will be back” I will return to a normal T-cell count “I will survive” I will survive this disease “You’ll never get rid of me” just as I will never get rid of you, you will never get rid of me and I will fight you “as long as you’re alive” as long as you are alive in my bloodstream “Baby, can’t you tell” don’t you get that idea already?
Everywhere you go it’s enough to break hearts Someone always gets hurt, a fire always starts.
“Everywhere you go it’s enough to break hearts” everywhere the virus goes it destroys human beings to the core “Someone always gets hurt, a fire always starts” someone always comes down with an opportunistic infection and a fever starts.
Baby, what more can I tell? Well the desert is hot, the mountain is cursed, Pray that I don’t die of thirst, Baby, two feet from the well.
“Baby, what more can I tell?” what more is there to say? “Well the desert is hot” in a currently barren area scientists are hot on the trail of a cure for HIV “the mountain is cursed” the problem is going to be solved “Pray that I don’t die of thirst” pray that I don’t die “Baby, two feet from the well” just before a cure is discovered.
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DEATH IS NOT THE END 1988
When you’re sad and when you’re lonely and you haven’t got a friend Just remember that death is not the end And all that you’ve held sacred, falls down and does not mend Just remember that death is not the end
“When you’re sad and when you’re lonely and you haven’t got a friend / Just remember that death is not the end” when you have been abandoned by society maintain your faith in the Almighty and in an afterlife “And all that you’ve held sacred” and when something that is not to be profaned and violated; that should remain inviolable like your T-Cell count “falls down” decreases “and does not mend” and does not heal and recover “Just remember that death is not the end” just maintain your faith in Ha’shem, God.
When you’re standing at the crossroads that you cannot comprehend Just remember that death is not the end And all your dreams have vanished and you don’t know what’s up the bend Just remember that death is not the end
“When you’re standing at the crossroads” when you are undergoing a trial or enduring an affliction, similar to the path Jesus took to Cavalry “that you cannot comprehend” that is incomprehensible “Just remember that death is not the end” just maintain your belief in God “And all your dreams have vanished” when your wildest hopes have been torn to shreds “and you don’t know what’s up the bend” and you haven’t the slightest idea what direction things are going to take in the future “Just remember that death is not the end” just put your fate in the hands of God.
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Oh, the tree of life is growing Where the spirit never dies And the bright light of salvation shines In dark and empty skies When the cities are on fire with the burning flesh of men Just remember that death is not the end
“Oh, the tree of life is growing” the knowledge about how immune system that provides protection against foreign organisms can be saved from the HIV virus is growing; the tree of life had the ability to grant Adam and Eve immortality “Where the spirit never dies” where the essential nature of a humanity is never extinguished “And the bright light of salvation shines” and the hope of a cure becomes eminent “In dark and empty skies” in a bleak and unpromising, purposeless future “When the cities are on fire with the burning flesh of men” when the major cities are being destroyed by a plague that is consuming the bodies of men; Ain’t Talkin’ 2006, “Walking through the cities of the plague” “Just remember that death is not the end” just keep the faith baby, because that is all one can do!
When the storm clouds gather ’round you And heavy rains descend Just remember that death is not the end And there’s no one there to comfort you With a helpin’ hand to lend Just remember that death is not the end
In The Man in Me Dylan wrote this in relation to my having exposed him as a heroin addict “Storm clouds are raging all around my door / I think to myself I won’t take it anymore.” Take shit from Weberman or take dope.
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Oh, the tree of life is growing Where the spirit never dies And the bright light of salvation shines In dark and empty skies When the cities are on fire with the burning flesh of men Just remember that death is not the end
HARD TIMES ARRANGED BY BOB DYLAN IN 1992
“(This verse has been adapted from a traditional folksong by Dylan who felt that it was apropos to the AIDS epidemic. It was written from the point of view of a member of the gay community) / While we seek mirth (gaiety, the gay life) / and beauty (and a high level of respect gained by impressive development or achievement) / and music (an agreeable sound, approval) / light (hopeful and soft, gentle, not having to face the music) / and gay (given to social pleasures often including dissipation “Dylan led a gay Bohemian life”) / There are frail forms fainting (physically weak members of our community passing into oblivion who have an established method of proceeding) / at the door (at the closed opportunity to find the right drug and recover from what was then an incurable disease) / Though their voices are silent (although they bear their affliction without making mention of, expressing it openly, protesting about, causing a tumult) / their pleading looks will say (their physical state will make a case for them) / Oh, hard times, come again no more (what I believe to be opportunistic infections, fever, nausea on and on ad infinitum that are presently attacking me) / ‘Tis the song (the habitual or characteristic manner) / the sigh (the yearning) / of the weary (fed-up, sick and tired, exhausted in strength and endurance) / Hard times, come again no more / Many days you have lingered (lurked around like an angel of death causing me to remain alive though gradually dying) / all around my cabin door (all around this limited opportunity I have been confined to by this evil disease that has isolated me from the rest of society) / Oh, hard times, come again no more.”
THE DISEASE OF CONCEIT 1989
There’s a whole lot of people suffering tonight From the disease of conceit. Whole lot of people struggling tonight From the disease of conceit.
“There’s a whole lot of people suffering tonight” there are innumerable, countless people suffering from a symptom of some disorder of epidemic proportions “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/ AIDS. Why “Conceit?” arrogance, Dylan had an unduly high opinion of his own abilities when it
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came to avoiding sexually transmitted diseases “Whole lot of people struggling tonight” many people are strenuously engaged by a problem caused by “the disease of conceit” HIV/AIDS.
Comes right down the highway Straight down the line Rips into your senses Through your body and your mind. Nothing about it that’s sweet The disease of conceit.
“Comes right down the highway” comes right out of the American public where it first reached epidemic proportions before blowing back to sub- Saharan Africa “Straight down the line” and becomes part of America’s future; You Wanna Ramble 1986 “Well, I told my baby / Further down the line / I said, What happens tomorrow / Is on your head, not mine” “Rips” subjects you to a vehement attack entering “into your senses” into your sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell “Through your body and your mind” and does not forget a goddamn thing “Nothing about it that’s sweet” nothing about it that is pleasing, it is immoral “The disease of conceit” HIV/AIDS.
There’s a whole lot of people dying tonight From the disease of conceit, Whole lot of people crying tonight From the disease of conceit,
“There’s a whole lot of people dying tonight” AIDS reached epidemic proportions and was considered a fatal disease when this poem was composed “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/AIDS “Whole lot of people crying tonight” many people are demanding an immediate remedy “From the disease of conceit” for HIV/AIDS
Comes right out of nowhere And you’re down for the count From the outside world, The pressure will mount, Turn you into a piece of meat, The disease of conceit.
“Comes right out of nowhere” suddenly it appears several years after infection “And you’re down for the count” as HIV disease progresses, the T- cell count goes down from a normal count of 500-1500 cells in a cubic millimeter of blood (a drop, more or less) down to as low as zero. When the
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T-cell count goes below 200, there is an increased risk of opportunistic infections, and when the T-cell count drops below 50, the risk rises dramatically. Also “down for the count” as a knockout in boxing. Also as in Knocked Out Loaded, the title of a Bob Dylan LP. “From the outside world” from opportunistic infections “The pressure will mount” the state of urgently demanding notice and attention will surface “Turn you into a piece of meat” it will turn you into a corpse “The disease of conceit.”
Conceit is a disease That the doctors got no cure They’ve done a lot of research on it But what it is, they’re still not sure
“Conceit is a disease” HIV/AIDS is a disease “That the doctors got no cure” that is still incurable “They’ve done a lot of research on it” there has been a lot of scientific study of the HIV/AIDS virus “But what it is, they’re still not sure” this poem was written in the early 1980’s before the HIV virus was identified.
There’s a whole lot of hearts breaking tonight From the disease of conceit Whole lot of hearts shaking tonight From the disease of conceit.
“There’s a whole lot of hearts” many people’s central and innermost physical parts “breaking tonight” being weakened and destroyed in health; overwhelmed with adversity “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/AIDS “Whole lot of hearts shaking tonight” there are numerous human beings trembling in fear, there are many people trying to get rid of a disease “shake,” slang; to get rid of, ‘couldn’t shake this cold’ “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/AIDS
Steps into your room Eats your soul Over your senses You have no control. Ain’t nothing too discreet About of disease of conceit.
“Steps” enters abruptly and unwanted into a situation “into your room” into your life “Eats” and causes persistent annoyance and distress, eats away
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“your soul” your innermost being “Over your senses” that which you perceive by a physical sensation such as your bowels “You have no control” you have no authority over your body and you become incontinent “Ain’t nothing too discreet” sarcastic; there is nothing one would wish to hide “About of disease of conceit” about HIV/AIDS.
There’s a whole lot of people in trouble tonight From the disease of conceit, Whole lot of people seeing double tonight From the disease of conceit,
“There’s a whole lot of people in trouble tonight” there are numerous people experiencing a condition of pain, disease, and malfunction “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/AIDS “Whole lot of people seeing double tonight / From the disease of conceit” about 75% of AIDS patients develop eye problems of some sort. The retina is most commonly affected. Tiny retinal hemorrhages and cottonwool spots are early signs of infection and are often detected during an eye exam.
Give ya delusions of grandeur And a evil eye Give you idea that You’re too good to die, Then they bury you from your head to your feet From the disease of conceit.
“Give ya delusions of grandeur” AIDS HIV will cause you to experience psychotic episodes “And a evil eye” involving paranoia; “Evil eye” a look or stare believed to cause injury and misfortune to others “Give you the idea that / You’re too good to die” give you the delusion that you are not spoiled and ruined and you will not succumb to the virus “Then they bury you from your head to your feet” then they put you in your grave “From the disease of conceit.”
Dylan’s daughter, Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan, assuming she was full term, was conceived early in May 1985 and was born January 31, 1986. Desiree was conceived at a point in time when judging from his poetry (and poems that would follow) Dylan already knew he was HIV Positive. There is no way to tell how many times Dylan had unprotected sexual intercourse before conception took place and not every act of vaginal intercourse spreads AIDS. I don’t want to believe this about someone who I have devoted so much time to but the facts seem to speak for themselves.
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Desiree’s single mother did not list Dylan as the baby daddy on Desiree's birth certificate. In June 1986, Dylan finally married Carolyn Dennis. The couple divorced in October 1992. Their marriage and child remained a secret until the publication of a Dylan biography in 2001. Carolyn Dennis said they took advantage of a California law that allowed them to seal their marriage certificate. The settlement in their divorce was also sealed. In Chronicles Dylan put the date of detection of his infection allegorically circa 1987 however as stated poetic evidence reveals he was writing about his affliction in 1984 and 1986. He did this to conceal the fact from those who read between the lines of Chronicles that knowing he was HIV positive, he had unprotected sex with Dennis.
Dylan was definitely HIV Positive during their marriage. Although The Disease of Conceit recorded in 1989 is not written from the first person when you put it together with I Ain’t Never Gonna Be The Same Again and other poems along with Dylan having contracted disseminated histoplasmosis it spells A-I-D-S:
There's a whole lot of people suffering tonight From the disease of conceit. Whole lot of people struggling tonight From the disease of conceit.
“There's a whole lot of people suffering tonight” there are innumerable, countless people suffering from a symptom of some disorder of epidemic proportions “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/AIDS. Why “Conceit?” arrogance, Dylan had an unduly high opinion of his own abilities when it came to avoiding sexually transmitted diseases “Whole lot of people struggling tonight” many people are strenuously engaged by a problem caused by “the disease of conceit” by HIV/AIDS.
Comes right down the highway Straight down the line Rips into your senses Through your body and your mind. Nothing about it that's sweet The disease of conceit.
“Comes right down the highway” comes right out of the American public where it first reached epidemic proportions “Straight” through a heterosexual person “down the line” into the battle area closest to the enemy; the front “Rips” tears, HIV subjects you to a vehement attack entering “into your senses” into your sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell “Through your body and your mind” and does not forget a goddamn thing
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“Nothing about it that's sweet” nothing about it that is pleasing, it is immoral “The disease of conceit” about HIV/AIDS.
There's a whole lot of people dying tonight From the disease of conceit, Whole lot of people crying tonight From the disease of conceit,
“There's a whole lot of people dying tonight” AIDS reached epidemic proportions and was considered a fatal disease when this poem was composed “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/AIDS “Whole lot of people crying tonight” many people are demanding an immediate remedy “From the disease of conceit” for HIV/AIDS. Note use of “crying” as in Scarlet Town.
Comes right out of nowhere And you're down for the count From the outside world, The pressure will mount, Turn you into a piece of meat, The disease of conceit.
“Comes right out of nowhere” suddenly it appears several years after infection “And you're down for the count” as the HIV disease progresses, the T-cell count goes down from a normal count of 500-1500 cells in a cubic millimeter of blood (a drop, more or less) down to as low as zero. When the T-cell count goes below 200, there is an increased risk of opportunistic infections, and when the T-cell count drops below 50, the risk rises dramatically. Also “down for the count” as a knockout in boxing. Also as in Knocked Out Loaded, the title of a Bob Dylan CD – down for the T-cell count
V1-502 with a high viral load “From the outside world” from opportunistic infections “The pressure will mount” the state of urgently demanding notice and attention will surface “Turn you into a piece of meat” it will turn you into a corpse “The disease of conceit.”
Conceit is a disease That the doctors got no cure They've done a lot of research on it But what it is, they're still not sure
“Conceit is a disease” HIV/AIDS is a disease “That the doctors got no cure” that is still incurable even now in 2011 when this book was written “They've done a lot of research on it” there has been a lot of scientific study of the HIV/AIDS virus “But what it is, they're still not sure” but it is still a mystery.
“Conceit is a disease” HIV/AIDS is a disease “That the doctors got no cure” that is still incurable even now in 2017 when this book was written “They've done a lot of research on it” there has been a lot of scientific study of the HIV/AIDS virus “But what it is, they're still not sure” but it is still a mystery - this poem appears to have been written in the early 1980’s before the AIDS virus was even identified.
There's a whole lot of hearts breaking tonight From the disease of conceit Whole lot of hearts shaking tonight From the disease of conceit.
“There's a whole lot of hearts” many people’s central and innermost physical parts “breaking tonight” are being weakened and destroyed in health; overwhelmed with adversity “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/AIDS “Whole lot of hearts shaking tonight” there are numerous human beings
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trembling in fear, there are many people trying to get rid of a disease “shake,” Slang; to get rid of, ‘couldn't shake this cold’ “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/AIDS
Steps into your room Eats your soul Over your senses You have no control. Ain't nothing too discreet About of disease of conceit.
“Steps” enters abruptly and unwanted into a situation “into your room” into your life “Eats” and causes persistent annoyance and distress, eats away “your soul” your innermost being “Over your senses” over that which you perceive by a physical sensation such as your bowels “You have no control” you have no authority over your body and you become incontinent “Ain’t nothing too discreet” sarcastic; there is nothing one would wish to hide like the fact it makes you shit in your pants “About of disease of conceit” about HIV/AIDS.
There's a whole lot of people in trouble tonight From the disease of conceit, Whole lot of people seeing double tonight From the disease of conceit,
“There's a whole lot of people in trouble tonight” there are numerous people experiencing a condition of pain, disease, and malfunction “From the disease of conceit” from HIV/AIDS “Whole lot of people seeing double tonight / From the disease of conceit” about 75% of AIDS patients develop eye problems of some sort. The retina is most commonly affected. Tiny retinal hemorrhages and cotton-wool spots are early signs of infection and are often detected during an eye exam.
Give ya delusions of grandeur And a evil eye Give you idea that You're too good to die, Then they bury you from your head to your feet From the disease of conceit.
“Give ya delusions of grandeur” AIDS HIV will cause you to experience psychotic episodes such as the one Bob Dylan underwent in Long Branch, New Jersey, where he was detained by the police after experiencing temporary insanity, probably due to an adverse reaction to his medication
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“And a evil eye” and these episodes often involve paranoia; “Evil eye” a look or stare believed to cause injury and misfortune to others “Give you the idea that / You're too good to die” give you the delusion that you are not spoiled and ruined and you will not succumb to the virus “Then they bury you from your head to your feet” then they put you in your grave “From the disease of conceit.”
THE DISEASE OF CONCEIT 1989***
Steps into your room Eats your soul Over your senses You have no control. Ain't nothing too discreet About of disease of conceit.
There's a whole lot of people in trouble tonight From the disease of conceit, Whole lot of people seeing double tonight From the disease of conceit,
Bob had this to say about this poem in Chronicles:
The song "Disease of Conceit" definitely has gospel overtones. Again, events might trigger a song -sometimes they might start the motor. Recently, the popular Baptist preacher Jimmy Swaggart had been defrocked by the Assembly of God leadership for refusing to stop preaching. Jimmy was Jerry Lee Lewis's first cousin and was a big TV star, and the news came as a shock. He'd been linked to a prostitute, caught on camera leaving her motel room in sweatpants. Swaggart was ordered to vacate the pulpit temporarily. He wept in public and asked forgiveness, but still was told to stop preaching for a while. He couldn't help himself, though, and quickly went back to preaching as if nothing had happened and they defrocked him. The story was strange. Swaggart clearly wasn't in good shape, hadn't looked at the road. The story didn't make any sense. The Bible is full of these things. A lot of those old kings and leaders had many wives and concubines and Hosea the Prophet was even married to a prostitute, and it didn't stop him from being a holy man. But these were different times and for Swaggart, it was the end of the line. Reality can be overwhelming. It can also be a shadow, depending on how you look at it. As for me, I wondered what this harlot might have looked like that
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lured this famous preacher into rolling in the muck. A damsel of tempting statuesque beauty? Probably. It would have to be. If you paid any amount of mind to all this Mickey Mouse stuff, the way these hoity-toity people's doors and windows aren't shut tight, you might end up in a private lunatic asylum. This incident might have had something to do with inspiring the song, but then again, it's hard to say. Conceit is not necessarily a disease. It's more of a weakness. A conceited person could be set up easily and brought down accordingly. Let's face it, a conceited person has a fake sense of self-worth, an inflated opinion of himself. A person like this can be controlled and manipulated completely if you know what buttons to push. So in a sense, that's what the lyrics are talking about. The song rose up until I could read the look in its eyes. In the quiet of the evening I didn't have to hunt far for it. As always, there were a few verses left behind.
There's a whole lot of people dreaming tonight about the disease of conceit, Whole lot of people screaming tonight about the disease of conceit. I'll hump ya and I'll dump ya and I'll blow your house down. I'll slice into your cake before I leave town. Pick a number-take a seat, with the disease of conceit.
This chapter and verse from Chronicles answers several largely unanswerable questions. How did Dylan “pick up a nail?” Judging from this allegory, I would say just as Hickey picked it up in The Iceman Cometh, from a prostitute. Swaggart has nothing to do with this poem.
“As for me, I wondered what this harlot might have looked like that lured this famous preacher into rolling in the muck. A damsel of tempting statuesque beauty? Probably. It would have to be.”
Why would Bob frequent a hooker? Were his sexual desires so bizarre and jaded that only a prostitute would cater to them? Did he favor big black hookers?
A conceited person could be set up easily and brought down accordingly. Let's face it; a conceited person has a fake sense of self-worth, an inflated opinion of himself. A person like this can be controlled and manipulated completely if you know what buttons to push.
Is Bob implying that a conceited complacent person like himself could be “set up” given HIV intentionally?
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MAN IN THE LONG BLACK COAT 1989
Crickets are chirpin’, the water is high There’s a soft cotton dress on the line hangin’ dry, Window wide open, African trees Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze. Not a word of goodbye, note even a note She gone with the man In the long black coat.
“Crickets are chirping” the darkness is frightening Chronicles “I laid down, listened to the crickets and wildlife out the window in the eerie blackness” “the water is high” and there is much sorrow in my life to sing about; Highwater; “Highwater rising, six inches above my head / Coffin’s dropping in the street like balloons made out of lead” “There’s a soft” said of a drug; non-addictive “cotton dress” bandage, medication “on the line” on the battle area closest to the enemy HIV virus “hanging” depending on “dry” having a large proportion of strong active ingredients to other ingredients; a dry martini cocktail “Window wide open” a window of opportunity was wide open “African trees” to a disease, a punishment, whose family tree could be traced back to Africa “Bent” hell bent, determined “over backwards” to cause my White Blood Cells to be in the reverse of the usual direction “from a hurricane” from an epidemic: something resembling a hurricane in force and speed “breeze” that progressed swiftly and effortlessly though the population “Not a word” sarcastic, not the text of a vocal composition; lyrics “of goodbye not even a note” not a poem that would be my own epitaph not even one musical note “She’s gone with the man in the long black coat” Dylan is on the way to funeral parlor accompanied by the undertaker.
Preacher was a talkin’ there’s a sermon he gave He said every man’s conscience is vile and depraved, You cannot depend on it to be your guide When it’s you who must keep it satisfied.
“Preacher” a domestic radical “was a talkin’” spreading rumors; gossip “there’s a sermon he gave” there’s a lengthy and tedious speech of reproof and exhortation he gave “He said every man’s conscience” he said Bob Dylan’s sense of right and wrong conduct “is vile” is not only wrong but it is repugnant to the senses, and turns your stomach and makes you want to do destroy him “and depraved” because it is morally corrupt; perverted, totally the opposite of what it should be. Since Dylan’s conscience was no more than some pleasure driven insatiable appetite for drugs and sex “You cannot depend on it to be your guide” you cannot depend on an addiction for moral
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guidance “When it’s you who must keep it satisfied” since you will always rationalize pathological behavior because of the power it has over you!
It ain’t easy to swallow, it sticks in the throat She gave her heart to the man In the long black coat.
“It ain’t easy to swallow” it ain’t easy believing it without question, especially because of its garbage-pickin’ source “it sticks in the throat” it is hard to accept, it cuts my throat, it is fatal “She gave her heart” he surrendered the vital center and source of his sensibilities “to the man / In the long black coat” to an apparition of death.
There are no mistakes in life some people say It is true sometimes you can see it that way. But people don’t live or die, people just float. She went with the man In the long black coat.
“There are no mistakes in life” there are no unintentional errors in life “some people say” those who believe in Freudianism say “It is true sometimes you can see it that way” this is true in certain cases but not in this one because who would subconsciously make a mistake of this magnitude since “But people” people with HIV “don’t live or die people just float” don’t live or die but are in a constant state of suspended animation between life and death and float from one condition to the next; Tryin’ To Get To Heaven Before They Close the Door 1997 “I can hear their hearts a-beatin’ like pendulums swingin’ on chains” “She went with the man / In the long black coat.”
MOST OF THE TIME 1989
Most of the time I’m clear focused all around, Most of the time I can keep both feet on the ground I can follow the path, I can read the signs, Stay right with it, when the road unwinds, I can handle whatever I stumble upon, I don’t even notice she’s gone Most of the time
“Most of the time / I’m clear focused all around” sometimes I am the focus, a central point and locus, of an infection “Most of the time / I can keep both feet on the ground” sometimes I cannot get back to normal “I can follow the path” sometimes I cannot follow the doctor’s orders “path” a way especially
V1-508 designed for a particular use “I can read the signs” and sometimes I cannot detect the tell tale signs of illness “Stay right with it” sometimes I cannot continue taking medication “when the road unwinds” when my course in life begins to unravel, disintegrate “I can handle whatever I stumble upon” sometimes I cannot manage an opportunistic infection that I come upon accidentally or unexpectedly “I don’t even notice she’s gone” sarcastic, sometimes I don’t even notice that my health, my immunity system, is gone “Most of the time.”
“Both feet on the ground” as return to normal, Rag Time Willie “I can hear something calling on me” my desire for heroin has returned “And you know where I want to be / Oh Willie don’t you hear that sound / I just want to get my feet back on the ground” I just want enough heroin so that I will not experience withdrawal symptoms, I don’t even have to get high.
Most of the time It’s well understood, Most of the time I wouldn’t change it if I could, I can’t make it all match up, I can hold my own, I can deal with the situation right down to the bone, I can survive, I can endure And I don’t even think about her Most of the time.
“Most of the time / It’s well understood” sometimes I do not understand what has happened to me and why? “Most of the time I wouldn’t change it if I could” sometimes I would give anything in the world to change my status “I can’t make it all match-up” sometimes I cannot equal the virulence of the virus “I can hold my own” and I cannot get my white blood cell count up “I can deal with the situation” I cannot deal with a critical, problematic, and striking set of circumstances “right down to the bone” right down to its roots, its core, the bone marrow where blood cells are produced “I can survive, I can endure” sometimes I don’t think I am going to make it “And I don’t even think about her” sarcastic, I don’t even think about the days when I was HIV negative, it means so little to me “Most of the time.”
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Most of the time My head is on straight Most of the time I’m strong enough not to hate. I don’t build up illusion ‘till it makes me sick I ain’t afraid of confusion no matter how thick I can smile in the face of mankind. Don’t even remember what her lips felt like on mine Most of the time.
“Most of the time / My head is on straight” sometimes my medication does not work and produces serious side effects “Most of the time I’m strong enough” sometimes I am not in good and sound enough health; robust “not to hate” not to hate the doctors who are treating me “I don’t build up illusion” I kid myself that the HIV virus will somehow disappear from my body “‘till it makes me sick” until it returns again and makes me sick “I ain’t afraid of confusion” sometimes I am deathly afraid of the fact that the doctors often appear as if they do not know what in the world they are doing “no matter how thick” no matter how intense it might seem “I can smile in the face of mankind” sometimes I cannot approve of the race of the people who are helping to treat me “Don’t even remember what her lips” I don’t even remember what her vagina Liner Notes to Desire 1976, “Furious gals with garters & smeared” pap smear “lips on bar stools that stank from sweating pussy” “felt like on mine” felt like on my penis.
Most of the time She ain’t even in my mind I wouldn’t know her if I saw her She’s that far behind. Most of the time I can’t even be sure If she was ever with me Or if I was with her.
“Most of the time / She ain’t even in my mind” sometimes I think about what it was like to be healthy “I wouldn’t know her if I saw her” and I tell myself that even if my health returned I wouldn’t recognize it “She’s that far behind” because I have been suffering from the disease for so long I can’t even remember what it was like to be healthy “Most of the time I can’t even be sure” sometimes I am uncertain “If she was ever with me” if health was the dominant partner in our relationship “Or if I was with her” or if I was? Adage: “If you don’t have your health you don’t have anything.”
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Most of the time I’m halfway content, Most of the time I know exactly where I went, I don’t cheat on myself, I don’t run and hide, Hide from the feelings, that are buried inside, I don’t compromise and I don’t pretend, I don’t even care if I ever see her again Most of the time.
“Most of the time / I’m halfway content” sometimes I am only halfway content otherwise I am totally restless longing for better circumstances “Most of the time / I know exactly” sometimes I have no idea with complete accuracy and precision “where it all went” where my whole life went wrong, went down the drain “I don’t cheat on myself” sometimes I aggravate my own condition “I don’t run and hide” by trying to escape it with drugs like heroin, morphine “Hide from the feelings” escape my intuitive awareness “that are buried inside” that any day I could be dead and buried inside a grave “I don’t compromise” sometimes I expose and make myself liable to danger “and I don’t pretend” and I fool myself into believing that I can continue to use heroin while I am HIV positive and get away with it “I don’t even care if I ever see her again” sometimes I deeply regret what I have done to myself when I realize I will never see a healthy time in my life again “Most of the time.”
WHAT GOOD AM I? 1989
What good am I if I’m like all the rest If I just turn away, when I see how you’re dressed, If I shut myself off so I can’t hear you cry What good am I?
“What good am I if I’m like all the rest” what good am I in the struggle against AIDS if I hide the fact, like so many others do, that I am HIV Positive? “If I just turn away, when I see how you’re dressed” what good am I if I ignored you because you are gay and dress differently. Also because you are treated with medications and protective covering such as bandages “If I shut myself off so I can’t hear you cry” if I keep away from the AIDS issue and I can’t hear you suffer, protest publically about your condition “What good am I?”
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What good am I if I know and don’t do, If I see and don’t say, if I look right through you, If I turn a deaf ear to the thunderin’ sky, What good am I?
“What good am I if I know and don’t do” what good am I if I know what it is like to have HIV but don’t join in the fight to find a cure? “If I see and don’t say” if I see others suffering along with me “if I look right through you” but make believe they are not there “If I turn a deaf ear to the thunderin’ sky” if I fail to show sympathy for those who are experiencing the utmost calamity in their lives “What good am I?”
What good am I if I say foolish things And I laugh in the face of what sorrow brings And I just turn my back while you silently die, What good am I?
“What good am I if I say foolish things” what good am I if I don’t make a statement “And I laugh in the face of what sorrow brings” and ignore all the people who are dying, laugh in the face of death “And I just turn my back while you silently die” and I ignore this epidemic; the AIDS activist group ACT UP coined the slogan SILENCE=DEATH “What good am I?” no good. Chronicles in regard to What Good Am I? “Sometimes you see things in life that make your heart turn rotten and your gut sick and nauseous and you try to capture that feeling without naming the specifics.” In April 1997 Dylan completed the recording sessions for Time Out Of Mind, a CD that clearly indicated the HIV virus was multiplying in his bloodstream. Even the photograph of Bob seated at a table that is included with Time Out Of Mind contained a small bottle of what I believe to be medication.
NOT DARK YET 1997
Shadows are falling and I’ve been here all day It’s too hot to sleep time is running away Feel like my soul has turned into steel I’ve still got the scars that the sun didn’t heal There’s not even room enough to be anywhere It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there
“Shadows are falling” I am the shadow of the man I once was, this is the fate that has befallen me “and I’ve been here all day” and I am currently feeling its effects “It’s too hot to sleep” it is too dangerous to have intercourse, my body temperature is too elevated for me to be comfortable with it “time is running away” and my life is being drained away “Feel like
V1-512 my soul has turned into steel” feel like the material world has taken over from the spiritual “I’ve still got the scars” I’ve still got the lingering damage “that the sun didn’t heal” that the distinguished men of medicine could not heal “There’s not even room enough to be anywhere” I don’t have enough life in me to be anywhere “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there” I am not dead yet but I’m getting’ there.
Well my sense of humanity has gone down the drain Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind She put down in writing what was in her mind I just don’t see why I should even care It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there
“Well my sense of humanity” well my feelings about the worth of humankind “has gone down the drain” has irreparably vanished “Behind every beautiful thing” behind every cure “there’s been some kind of pain” there has been something that made me feel guilty about being taken in when I found that I still had HIV “She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind” she wrote me a message to the pharmacist, a prescription that she thought would help “She put down in writing what was in her mind” but it turned out to be bullshit, the same shit that was in her mind “I just don’t see why I should even care” sarcastic, of course he should care as he has HIV and if it is a terminal disease he is going to die if he doesn’t find a cure “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there” ” I am not dead yet but I’m getting’ there.
Well, I’ve been to London and I’ve been to gay Paree I’ve followed the river and I got to the sea I’ve been down on the bottom of a world full of lies I ain’t looking for nothing in anyone’s eyes Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there
“Well, I’ve been to London” I have heard The Call of the Wild; Tarantula, “jack london’s left ear” “and I’ve been to gay Paree” and I managed to contract a gay disease “I’ve followed the river” I went after an abundance of women “and I got to the sea” and I really hit it big “sea” something that suggests the ocean in its overwhelming sweep or vastness “I’ve been down on the bottom of a world full of lies” I have been with the bottom feeding quacks and I still have the virus “I ain’t looking for nothing in anyone’s eyes” I am no longer looking into the thoughts of these charlatans about my condition “Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear” sometimes I
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can’t take it any longer and I contemplate suicide “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there” ” I am not dead yet but I’m getting’ there.
I was born here and I’ll die here against my will I know it looks like I’m moving, but I’m standing still Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb I can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away from Don’t even hear a murmur of a prayer It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.
“I was born here and I’ll die here against my will” no matter how bad things get I am going to fight it out and not take my own life “I know it looks like I’m moving” I know it looks like I’m healthy since I perform frequently all over the world “but I’m standing still” but I am a walking dead man “Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb” I have been over-medicated to the point where any nerve that might cause pain has been neutralized “I can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away from” and I wonder if this is worse than the actual symptoms of the disease? “Don’t even hear a murmur of a prayer” I don’t have a prayer of getting rid of this disease Also “murmur” an abnormal sound of the heart “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there” I’m not dead yet but I am getting there.
COLD IRONS BOUND 1997***
I’m beginning to hear voices and there’s no one around Well, I’m all used up and the fields have turned brown I went to church on Sunday and she passed by My love for her is taking such a long time to die I’m waist deep, waist deep in the mist It’s almost like, almost like I don’t exist I’m twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound
I’m beginnin’ to hear voices (something is beginning to express itself, attempt to communicate something to me. Also possibly ‘I am beginning to hallucinate’) / and there’s no one around (and this expression is coming from within) / I’m all used up (expended or consumed by being putting to use too many times - he has used up what I believe to be all the “T” cells he has that are necessary to fight the infection that is expressing itself in his body) / and the fields (the competition, the playing fields) / have turned brown (have changed direction and are now no longer level thanks to organisms that are free to destroy my body) / I went to church on Sunday (when danger first appeared I said a prayer that did not have a prayer of being answered, that of my health returning) / as she passed by (as my
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health overlooked me, and became a bad or difficult state of affairs) / And my love for her has taken such a long time to die (and my desire to return to a state of health has currently still not died out) / Well, I’m waist deep (I am being bogged down as in the Pete Seeger song about Vietnam, Waist Deep In The Big Muddy), waist deep (in the middle of profound, strongly felt trouble that is constricting, narrowing the focus of my life. Also causing me to waste away) / in the mist (I am drowning in the dimming, darkening, fading away caused by what in my opinion is HIV/AIDS) / It’s almost like, almost like I don’t exist (it’s almost like I am already dead) / I’m twenty miles out of town (Dylan has to make a much greater effort to paint the town - entertain - on the same level that he once did) / in cold irons bound (and is compelled, forced into heading for an inflexible fate of certain death).”
The walls of pride are high and wide Can’t see over to the other side It’s such a sad thing to see beauty decay It’s sadder still, to feel your heart torn away
“The walls of pride” the barriers thrown up by arrogance, by HIV; “pride” or “conceit” as in The Disease of Conceit, “are high and wide” are impenetrable “Can’t see over to the other side” because HIV is incurable I have no hope “It’s such a sad thing to see beauty” it’s tragic to see the qualities that give pleasure to my senses “decay” fall into disuse and ruin “It’s sadder still, to feel your heart” it is more depressing still, to experience the essence of your innermost being “torn away” stripped away. Disease of Conceit 1989 “Rips into your senses.”
“Pride” as arrogance in relation to HIV; “Cross the Green Mountain 2003, “It’s the last day’s last hour of the last happy year” it is the last year when I still have my health “I feel that the unknown world is so near” I am getting vibes that something really bad is going to happen “Pride will vanish” my arrogance will vanish “And glory” and the splendor and bliss of heaven; perfect happiness “will rot / But virtue lives and cannot be forgot” but at least this put a unforgettable end to my sexual escapades.
One look at you and I’m out of control Like the universe has swallowed me whole I’m twenty miles out of town in Cold irons bound
“One look at you and I’m out of control” one look at death and I lose control, authority over my physiology: regulation and maintenance of a function or action or reflex; ‘he had lost control of his sphincters’ “Like the universe”
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God’s domain, like God “has swallowed me whole” has subject me to the same fate as Jonah who was swallowed by a whale “I’m twenty miles out of town” I am past certain boundaries, on a trip “in Cold irons bound” headed for an inevitable, involuntary and premature death. “Universe” as god; Trouble 1981, “Since the beginning of the universe man’s been cursed by trouble could le” Chronicles, “When Frank sang that song, I hear everything in his voice-death, God and the universe”
Oh, the winds in Chicago have torn me to shreds Reality has always had too many heads Some things last longer than you think they will There are some kind of things you can never kill It’s you and you only, I’m been thinking about But you can’t see in and it’s hard lookin’ out
“Oh, the winds” something that disrupts and destroys “in Chicago” of corruption “has torn me to shreds” has destroyed me. Disease of Conceit 1989, “Rips into your senses.” There are also Biblical overtones, “And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.” “Reality” the state of things as they are rather than as one might wish them to be “has always had too many heads” has always had too many sensual pleasures, too much getting head, too much getting a head on smack, too much nothing “Some things last longer than you think they will” understatement; HIV is an incurable disease “There are some kind of things you can never kill” and you can never kill the HIV virus because it is resistant to all anti-viral drugs and it is going to be with me forever “It’s you and you only, I’m been thinking about” now it’s only the HIV that burdens me “But you can’t see in” but you can’t look into someone’s bloodstream and see the virus “and it’s hard lookin’ out” and, if you have no clue that it exists, that makes it hard to avoid it, to “look out” for it.
“Chicago” as corruption; Chronicles, “Grossman was from Chicago, had a non-show business background” but didn’t let that stand in his way. Not your usual shopkeeper; he had owned a nightclub in the Windy City and had to deal with district bosses and various fixes and ordinances and carried a .45.”
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LOVE SICK 1997
I’m walking through streets that are dead Walking, walking with you in my head My feet are so tired, my brain is so wired And the clouds are weeping
“I’m walking through streets that are dead” I am living through a plague where entire sections of the city have been affected “Walking, walking with you in my head” living, living with the HIV virus in my head “My feet are so tired” my ambitions are so trivial, I just want my health back “my brain is so wired” my brain is so filled with drugs; Planet Waves Liner Notes 1974 “all wired up & voting for Eisenhower.” “And the clouds are weeping” and my gloom is profuse.
Did I hear someone tell a lie? Did I hear someone’s distant cry? I spoke like a child; you destroyed me with a smile While I was sleeping I’m sick of love but I’m in the thick of it
“Did I hear someone tell a lie?” did I hear one of my sexual partners say she was healthy? “Did I hear someone’s distant cry?” Did I hear someone’s remote in manner; aloof response to my question “I spoke like a child” I was naïve to even ask a question like this, of course you were going to say you were healthy “you destroyed me with a smile” you destroyed me with your approval “While I was sleeping” while I was having sexual intercourse with you “I’m sick of love but I’m in the thick of it” I am sick of having HIV but I am in the most active or intense part “This kind of love I’m so sick of it.”
I see, I see lovers in the meadow I see, I see silhouettes in the window I watch them ‘til they’re gone and they leave me hanging on To a shadow I’m sick of love; I hear the clock tick This kind of love; I’m love sick
“I see lovers in the meadow” I see many different types of lovers in America “I see silhouettes in the window” I see a window of opportunity to have sex with Black women, possibly prostitutes “I’ll watch them ‘til they’re gone” I don’t trust them so I watch them until they leave the hotel room “And they leave me hangin’ on” and they leave me with something imminent; looming a threat hanging over Dylan “to a shadow” and turn him into an imperfect
V1-517 imitation of a human being. “I’m sick of love” I am sick from making love “I hear the clock tick” my time is running out, my illness might be discovered by a journalist “This kind of love” this kind of disease “I’m love sick” is the result of a sexual encounter.
Sometimes the silence can be like the thunder Sometimes I wanna take to the road and plunder Could you ever be true? I think of you And I wonder
“Sometimes the silence” the AIDS activists; again the use of “silence” the motto of ACT UP, AIDS activists is “SILENCE=DEATH” “can be like the thunder” can be devastating, almost like an attack with nuclear weapons “Sometimes I wanna take to the road” sometimes I want to do a tour “and plunder” and join them in their illegal demonstrations, although it would be more like a blunder “Could you ever be true?” would his fans still be loyal to Bob Dylan if they found out he was HIV Positive? “I think of you / And I wonder?” when I think about the base mentality of my fans and the stigmata attached to AIDS I wonder if coming forward would destroy my career?
CAN’T WAIT 1997
Skies are grey, I’m looking for anything that will bring a happy glow Night or day, it doesn’t matter where I go anymore; I just go If I ever saw you coming I don’t know what I would do I’d like to think I could control myself, but it isn’t true That’s how it is when things disintegrate And I don’t know how much longer I can wait
“Skies are grey” the best I can hope for is not to feel good, but to not feel bad “I’m looking for anything that will bring a happy glow” I want to experience a feeling of well-being and happiness, as from glowing good health “Night or day, it doesn’t matter where I go anymore; I just go” I have become incontinent and urinate on myself “If I ever saw you coming I don’t know what I would do I’d like to think I could control myself, but it isn’t true” if I were to see my health returning I would probably be so surprised I would probably shit in my pants “That’s how it is when things disintegrate” that’s what happens when decomposition sets in: decaying caused by a bacterial or fungal action “And I don’t know how much longer I can wait” and I don’t know how much longer I can wait for a cure.
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I’m your man; I’m trying to recover the sweet love that we knew You understand that my heart can’t go on beating without you Well, your loveliness has wounded me, I’m reeling from the blow I wish I knew what it was keeps me loving you so I’m breathing hard, standing at the gate But I don’t know how much longer I can wait
“I’m your man” I belong to you “I’m tryin’ to recover the sweet love that we knew” I am trying to recover regain a very pleasing normal and usual condition, as of health “You understand that my heart can’t go on beatin’ without you” it is essential I get my health back “Well your loveliness has wounded me” your inability to produce anti-bodies that can destroy the HIV virus has caused me to contract a disease “I’m reelin’ from the blow” I’ve been hit hard, almost knocked out “I wish I knew what it was keeps me loving you so” sarcastic: it is his only hope “I’m breathing hard” panting, longing demonstratively; yearning “standing at the gate” waiting, enduring suffering, so I can be first in line for the cure “But I don’t know how much longer I can wait.”
I’m doomed to love you, I’ve been rolling through stormy weather I’m thinking of you and all the places we could roam together It’s mighty funny; the end of time has just begun Oh, honey, after all these years you’re still the one While I’m strolling through the lonely grave- yard of my mind I left my life with you somewhere back there along the line I thought somehow that I would be spared this fate But I don’t know how much longer I can wait.
“I’m doomed to love you” in order to stay alive I must have my health back “I’ve been rolling” I’ve been gaining momentum “through stormy weather” though the violent outburst that is the prevailing trend of my illness “I’m thinking of you” my mind is on my health “and all the places we could roam together” and all the places we can wander in search of pleasure if we were together, if I had my health back “It’s mighty funny” super sarcastic “the end of time” the end of life “has just begun / Oh, honey, after all these years you’re still the one” ironic: the older you get the more you need your health “While I’m strolling” seeking a sexual partner, the stroll is an area frequented by prostitutes “through the lonely graveyard of my mind” through a place where worn-out or obsolete memories are kept, such as my former sexual escapades “I left my life with you somewhere back there along the line” I left my sex life when you left my body a long time ago “I thought somehow that I would be spared this fate” understated, the fact I would get an STD of this nature could never have even occurred to me. “But
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I don’t know how much longer I can wait” but I don’t know how much longer I can wait for a cure.
I can’t wait, wait for you to change your mind It’s late, I’m trying to walk the line Well, it’s way past midnight and there are people all around Some on their way up, some on their way down The air burns and I’m trying to think straight And I don’t know how much longer I can wait
“I can’t wait (eagerly anticipate) / wait (and be ready and available) / for you to change your mind (I am not counting on you to give me a reprieve from the death sentence of what in my opinion is HIV) / It’s late (I am well into to what in my opinion is a disease) / I’m tryin’ to walk the line (and I am on that fine boundary that delineates life from death) / Well, it’s way past midnight (I have gone through the darkest hours of my existence, the disease has almost murdered me) / And there’s some people all around (just as many others have been through) / Some on their way up (some on their way to recovery, on their way to heaven) / some on their way down (some progressing toward death and hell) / The air burns (the atmosphere is one of immediate import and destruction) / and I’m tryin’ to think straight (and I am trying to follow a correct or logical method or thought. Also be honest with myself) / An’ I don’t know how much longer (have a relationship that is greater in length than desirable or necessary) / I can wait (and hold back expectantly since I am thinking about taking my own life).”
STILL A MILLION MILES FROM YOU 1997
You took a part of me that I really miss I keep asking myself how long it can go on like this You told yourself a lie; that’s all right mama, I told myself one too I’m trying to get closer but I’m still a million miles from you
“You took a part of me that I really miss” HIV took with it a part of me, my White Blood Cells, that was essential to my well being “I keep asking myself how long it can go on like this” I wonder if death is a better alternative then living with HIV “You told yourself a lie” you told yourself that you could kill me “that’s all right mama, I told myself one too” I told myself I could eradicate the virus and be cured “I’m trying to get closer but I’m still a million miles from you” I am trying to destroy you but it is a long way off.
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You took the silver, you took the gold You left me standing out in the cold People ask about you; I didn’t tell them everything I knew Well I’m trying to get closer, but I’m still a million miles from you
“You took the silver, you took the gold” you took all the information about yourself “You left me standing out in the cold” you left me to continue to not be informed about what is happening or has happened; you left me waiting, susceptible to viral infections such as the common cold “People ask about you” people ask what it is like to live with HIV “I didn’t tell them everything I knew” but I spared them the gory details “Well I’m trying to get closer, but I’m still a million miles from you.”
I’m drifting in and out of dreamless sleep Throwing all my memories in a ditch so deep Did so many things I never did intend to do Well I’m trying to get closer, but I’m still a million miles from you
“I’m drifting in and out of dreamless sleep” I am going back and forth aimlessly between life and death “Throwing all my memories” trying to rid myself of these experiences “in a ditch so deep” by wishing I was dead and buried already “Did so many things I never did intend to do” did so many bitches even though I that had no design or purpose in mind like marriage, having children “Well I’m trying to get closer, but I’m still a million miles from you.”
I need your love so bad, turn your lamp down low I need every bit of it for the places that I go Sometimes I wonder just what it’s all coming to Well I’m tryin’ to get closer, but I’m still a million miles from you
“I need your love so bad” I need to find out the truth about the HIV virus “turn your lamp” a device that generates therapeutic radiation “down low” on me “I need every bit of it” I need all the therapy you can provide “for the places that I go” for the illness I am susceptible to or acquire “Sometimes I wonder just what it’s all coming to / Well I’m tryin’ to get closer, but I’m still a million miles from you.”
Shortly after recording the above series of poems Dylan was hospitalized on May 26, 1997 in London, England with disseminated histoplasmosis, a disease that often afflicts AIDS patients with CD4 cell counts below 100/mm3. Bob Dylan came very close to death. Histoplasmosis is an infectious disease caused by inhaling the microscopic spores of the fungus
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Histoplasma capsulatum. This opportunistic infection comes from contact with dry bird droppings—just a walk on the street could do it! His office said Dylan contracted the disease after he had played shows in Muncie, Indiana on April 29, 1997, in Evansville, Indiana on May 1, 1997 and in Tennessee on May 2, 1997, rural areas where this disease might emerge from. But assuming you were not actually working on a chicken farm eight hours or more a day most people with disseminated histoplasmosis also have HIV. Had he contracted it from a chicken plucking Dylan fan he would not have gotten it in its worst form as the disease exists in three types; Acute or primary histoplasmosis that causes flu-like symptoms. Most people who are infected recover from it without medical intervention. Chronic histoplasmosis is the second type. It primarily affects the lungs and can be fatal. Finally disseminated histoplasmosis affects many organ systems in the body but primarily the heart and is often fatal, especially to people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Dylan recalled this near fatal episode in Cross the Green Mountain 2002.
A letter to mother came today Gunshot wound to the breast is what it did say But he’ll be better soon He’s in a hospital bed But he’ll never be better He’s already dead
“A letter to mother came today” a newspaper article was written about me today “Gunshot wound to the breast is what it did say” it said I had a disease, a fungus growing on my heart “But he’ll be better soon” but he is recovering “He’s in a hospital bed” he is receiving the best of medical care “But he’ll never be better” but even if he recovers from this he will never be fully cured “He’s already dead” because Bob Dylan is a walking Deadman, just as he had described and cursed the Jewish nation in Deadman, Deadman. In Numbers 24:9, it’s written, “Blessed is everyone who blesses you [the Jewish nation], and cursed is everyone who curses you.”
MISSISSIPPI 2001
Walking through the leaves, falling from the trees Feeling like a stranger nobody sees So many things that we never will undo I know you’re sorry, I’m sorry too
“Walking through the leaves” studying the pages of books “falling from the trees” written about my poetry “Feeling like a stranger nobody sees” feeling
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like someone new to the world of literature “So many things that we never will undo” so many meaningful poems that will never be undone, translated “I know you’re sorry” you are a pretty sorry bunch of writers “I’m sorry too” and I am also unhappy that this is where it’s at.
Well my ship’s been split to splinters and it’s sinking fast I’m drownin’ in the poison, got no future, got no past But my heart is not weary, it’s light and it’s free I’ve got nothin’ but affection for all those who’ve sailed with me
“Well my ship’s” my fortune “been split” divided up “to splinters” to those I have discontinued an association or relationship with; gone different ways and “it’s sinking fast” it is sinking to a new low. Dylan did not have enough cash on hand to pay both of his divorce settlements and had to create trust deeds for Sarah and Carolyn. “I’m drownin’ in the poison, got no future, got no past” I have contracted a deadly disease and the future and the past both look bleak “But my heart is not weary” but my interest, forbearance, and indulgence has not worn out “it’s light and it’s free” totally sarcastic, just the opposite is true “I’ve got nothin’ but affection for all those who’ve sailed with me” more sarcasm, I love my ex-wives who sailed through our relationships without a hitch.
AIN’T TALKIN’ 2006
Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’ Through the world mysterious and vague Heart burnin’, still yearnin’ Walking through the cities of the plague
“Ain’t talkin’” I am not confessing, not copping out on myself “just walkin’” just living “Through the world mysterious” through the realm of a difficult and impossible to understand disease “and vague” and one that has not yet been precisely defined “Heart burnin’” my actual heart irritated and inflamed from disseminated histoplasmosis “still yearnin’” still having an intense desire and longing to go back to the way it once was “Walking through the cities of the plague” living, carrying the HIV virus; “plague,” any epidemic disease with a high death rate.
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Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’ Carrying a dead man’s seed Heart burnin’, still yearnin’ Walkin’ with a toothache in my heel
“Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’ / Carrying a dead man’s seed” I am carrying sperm that contains the HIV virus “Heart burnin’, still yearnin’” wishing intensely for cure, but one has not been discovered “Walkin’ with a toothache in my heel” living with a terrible pain brought about by my Achilles Heel, my addiction to sex. Springsteen in Old Dan Tucker 2006 “Now old Dan Tucker was a fine old man” sarcastic, Good Ole Boy Bob Dylan was a fine Old Leftist “Washed his face in a fryin’ pan” immersed his race in Nazism (Dylan, Poem to Woody 1961 “like fish when they’re fryin’”) “Combed his hair” searched for his strength, his courage “with a wagon wheel” with a popular record, “wagon” as in bandwagon “And died with a toothache in his heel.”
The suffering is unending Every nook and cranny has its tears I’m not playing, I’m not pretending I’m not nursing any superfluous fears
“The suffering is unending” the intensive, unbearable pain never subsides “Every nook and cranny” every part of me, even the most remote “has it’s tears” shows emotion, shows sorrow “I’m not playing, I’m not pretending” I am not goldbricking, I am not pretending to be ill to get sympathy “I’m not nursing any superfluous fears” I am nursing, caring for, an illness; not paranoia.
The whole world is filled with speculation The whole wide world which people say is round They will tear your mind away from contemplation They will jump on your misfortune when you’re down
“The whole world is filled with speculation” the medical world is filled with a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence “The whole wide world which people say is round” the world of science which people believe has been brought to a highly developed, finished, and refined state “They will tear your mind away from contemplation” they will offer you treatment that you should have thought twice about, “They will jump on your misfortune when you’re down” they will exploit the fact you are HIV positive.
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It’s bright in the heavens and the wheels are flying Fame and honor never seem to fade The fire’s gone out but the light is never dying Who says I can’t get heavenly aid?
“It’s bright” it’s hopeful “bright” as in ‘he has a bright future’ “in the heavens” in the heavens but not here on earth “and the wheels are flying” the big wheels of science are working diligently “Fame and honor never seem to fade” because they wish to be awarded a Nobel Prizes for their work “The fire’s gone out” the most destructive part of the disease is under control “but the light is never dying” however the HIV virus, like glowing embers, still circulates within Dylan’s bloodstream and for all he knows suddenly certain tell tale signs appear and HIV is AIDS, “Who says I can’t get heavenly aid?” even through the HIV virus is under control it can still become the AIDS virus at any moment. Alternate version of Can’t Wait 1997, “My hands are cold / The end of time has just begun / I’m getting old / Anything can happen now to anyone.”
In a conversation with the late Lord Oliver Foot in 2006 Oliver told me he had been Dylan’s close friend for decades without informing me of this fact. He said he had spoken to Bob a few days ago and that Dylan did not hate me but was still unhappy about my forcing him to leave Greenwich Village, going through his trash etc. I told him that it was foolish of Dylan to dredge this stuff up like a mantra when he had other things to worry about, such as being HIV Positive. Foot responded, “I know and it’s a shame.”
But how does Dylan go on tour so often if he is HIV Positive? Dylan travels in the summer, in a gigantic customized bus. The band is accommodated in another bus, and he only sees them on stage. Dylan sits at the piano for most concerts and he takes a one month break during his touring season. In 2009 neighbors complained about the stench coming from a portable toilet situated on the perimeter of Dylan’s Malibu home, which Dylan insists his guards use. Dylan did not want the guards bringing infections in his midst. If you examine Dylan’s handwriting in some of the books where he has provided exemplars, there has been a marked deterioration to the point where it has become illegible.
I first began to decode Dylan in the fall of 1966. In mid 1967 the first article about Dylanology appeared in the Queens College school newspaper. It was written by Larry “Ratzo” Sloman. An article about Dylanology appeared in the July/ August 1968 issue of the highly respected Broadside the first magazine to publish Dylan’s lyrics. By the winter of 1969 I had typed a manuscript that Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner wanted to copy. The manuscript was worthless as I twisted Dylan’s poems into Leftwing
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messages. The belief that Dylan had sold out the Left caused me to run a series of operations against him. I went through his garbage, formed the Dylan Liberation Front, took my Dylan class on a field trip to his townhouse then brought thousands of people there for a Bob Dylan Thirtieth Birthday Party, forced him to leave Greenwich Village, put his wife’s picture in Screw Magazine, sent the Palestinian Liberation Front after him for supporting Israel, confronted his wife about why she was uptight about her garbage when she had thrown it out voluntarily, told everyone he was a dope fiend, castigated him for not being part of the anti-Vietnam War Movement, and I recorded a telephone conversation I had with him then gave the tape to Folkways Records who released it as an LP. Nothing like this had happened before in the annals of rock and roll history and nothing like it will ever happen again. That is why the Dylan-Weberman literary relationship is the legend that poems are made of. In Chronicles Dylan referred to me as a “mythological figure of the fates” and during a recorded telephone conversation Dylan said he was going to write a poem about me entitled Pig. He never recorded that one but
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the embedded meanings of numerous Dylan poems deal with the Dylan / Weberman episode and events that preceded and followed it; assuming for the moment this were the case wouldn’t I be in the best position to detect it?
TELL ME THAT IT ISN’T TRUE 1969
I have heard rumors all over town They say that you’re planning to put me down. All I would like you to do Is tell me that it isn’t true.
“I have heard rumors” I have read malicious derogatory articles “all over town” all over New York City. Talkin’ New York, “So one morning when the sun was warm / I rambled out of New York town” “They say” the articles say
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“that you’re planning” that you have as a specific aim and purpose, an intention, “to put me down” which is to put me down in print and put me down as a human being “All I would like you to do is tell me that it isn’t true” gimme a break and tell me you are not going to go through with it.
They say that you’ve been seen with some other man, That he’s tall, dark and handsome, and you’re holding his hand. Darlin’, I’m a-countin’ on you Tell me that it isn’t true.
“They say that you’ve been seen with some other man” these article tell me that you have been courting the “Leftwing” Bob Dylan of the days of yore “That he’s tall” he is a towering figure “dark” he is a African-American lover “and handsome” and his poetry could bring a handsome price if translated “and you’re holding his hand” and you are retaining your attention and interest in the writing of the old Bob Dylan, since who believe you share a similar world view “Darlin’” sarcastic; “I’m a-countin’ on you” Al, I am depending on you; or perhaps a different sort of count might be involved, the counting from one to ten seconds, during which time a boxer who has been knocked down must rise or be declared the loser “Tell me that it isn’t true.”
To know that some other man is holdin’ you tight It hurts me all over, it doesn’t seem right. All of those awful things that I have heard I don’t want to believe them, all I want is your word. So darlin’, you better come through Tell me that it isn’t true.
“To know that some other man” to know that the Bob Dylan who you believed to be a Leftist “is holdin’ you” is confining you, “tight” and constricting you to one way of thinking “It hurts me” is detrimental to me, hinders and impairs me “all over” at many different levels “it doesn’t seem Right” because it makes me seem as if I still a Left-winger and not a Rightwing racist.
All of those awful things that I have heard, I don’t want to believe them, all I want is your word. So darlin’, I’m countin’ on you, Tell me that it isn’t true
“All of those awful things that I have heard” all of these interpretations of my work that you put forth at your Dylanology class that I have heard about
V1-528 from others and all of your articles in the East Village Other, “I don’t want to believe them” I don’t want to have people believing that the crap you write is what I really believe “all I want is your word” and all I want is to see your words in these articles, not my copy written lyrics “So darlin’, you better come through” so Al you have no choice but to abandon your project because I am not going let you use my copy written poetry so you might as well, “Tell me that it isn’t true.”
By 1970 I realized that no publisher would print and distribute my book as Dylan asked for an inordinate amount of money for the rights to reprint his lyrics. None-the-less my articles on Dylan began to receive widespread dissemination as I had turned to early mainframe computers to help me decode Dylan’s poetry by programming it to produce a Dylan Word Concordance, every word in Dylan’s poetry in alphabetical and chronological order with a line of context. My fame as a Dylanologist had made me a celebrity in the underground press. I was a pain in the ass to Dylan. At that time I would not come out and say he had a drug habit, all I would say was Dylan was in his “current bag” or D’s CB. The bag was scag. I knew what it was like to be busted and didn’t want to rat anyone out. When Dylan released Self Portrait he chose a song which summed up our relationship at this time.
TAKE ME AS I AM 1970
Why must you always try to make me over? Take me as I am or let me go White lilies never grow on stalks of clover Take me as I am or let me go.
“Why must you always try to make me over?” why must you try to rewrite my work and make me seem as if I am not a racist “Take me as I am or let me go” accept me for what I really am or give up on Dylanology “White lilies” the idea of an area that is lily white; where there are no Blacks, ‘a lily white school district’ “never grow on” are ideas that will not become progressively more acceptable and pleasant “stalks of clover” to someone like A. J. Weberman who had no compunctions about stalking me and who is a hippie; idiom, in clover, living a carefree life “Take me as I am or let me go.”
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You’re trying to reshape me in a mold love In the image of someone you used to know I won’t be a stand-in for an old love Take me as I am or let me go.
“You’re trying to reshape me in a mould” you are distorting the meaning of my poetry to fit your own belief system rather than looking at it objectively, also you are making it moldy, out of date “In the image of someone you used to know” in the public persona of the Dylan from The Times They Are A-Changin’ days who you idolized as if a graven image “I won’t be a stand- in” but I won’t be an understudy, recite the lines “for an old love” of an antiquated ideology like Old Left Communism “Take me as I am or let me go.”
You’ve tried to change me ever since you’ve met me Take me as I am or let me go. If you cannot overlook my faults, forget me Take me as I am or let me go.
“You’ve tried to change me ever since you’ve met me” you have attempted to distort the meaning of my poetry every since you began studying it, “Take me as I am or let me go / If you cannot overlook” ignore deliberately and indulgently disregard “my faults” my racism “forget me” purge my poetry from your mind “Take me as I am or let me go.”
My Dylanology class took place at a loft on 14th Street and Sixth Avenue. One evening for pleasure we rambled on a “field trip” to 94 McDougal Street, right in the heart of Greenwich Village where Dylan’s residence was known. Folklore Center owner Izzy Young had ratted him out. Dylan scurried out from an adjoining building and approached the crowd as I lectured them on what a piece of doody he was. Dylan approached me and said, “Al, why’d ya bring all these people around my house for?” I told him that it was a field trip for my Dylan class but in reality it was a demonstration against all he had come to stand for in the rock world. I said that he refused speak out and act against the war in Vietnam because he was afraid of being busted for doing dugi. Car, Car 1961, “How’d ya hogi hegi hogee / how’d ya like to do some dugi?” Dylan escorted me around the block to the steps of his studio on Houston Street, rolled up his sleeves and said, “No tracks man.” He didn’t use dull needles, he was a gentleman junkie, and one would not find him on a fire escape carrying away a TV. I even had Doc Arlen and his wife from The Free Clinic on Saint Marks Place go swimming with Dylan and examine his entire body (other than his privates) for tracks. No tracks. Later Dylan would ask me, “Why are you so down on me? You’re a pothead.” I told him
V1-530 pot is not a poison and that is why when you first smoke it, unlike heroin, it doesn’t make you vomit.
One of my rebellious students tried to interrupt the conservation I was having with Bob so I grabbed him by his collar and pushed him away. Dylan realized I would make a good bodyguard. I told Dylan, ‘You better quit messin’ around with smack or you gonna end up another accident statistic’. Dylan hated my communistic guts from the get go, however, by bringing it all back home I was really starting to get in his hair, scaring his son Jesse who was playing with his blocks in the window when I brought the lynch mob around. In Went to See the Gypsy 1970 Dylan recalled his first major encounter with A. J. Weberman Minister of Defense of the Dylan Liberation Front.
WENT TO SEE THE GYPSY 1970
Went to see the gypsy Stayin’ in a big hotel. He smiled when he saw me coming And he said, “Well, well, well.”
“Went to see the gypsy” went to see a criminal, a African-American lovin’ commie “Stayin’ in a big hotel” while I was living in a townhouse on McDougal Street, in French, L’Hotel is the grand mansion or town residence of a person of rank and wealth “He smiled when he saw me coming” Weberman was pleased that he had gotten my attention “And he said, “Well, well, well” isn’t this a remarkable turn of events?
His room was dark and crowded Lights were low and dim. “How are you?” he said to me I said it back to him.
“His room was dark” Weberman’s life was filled with darkies “and crowded” and with special African-Americans belonging to a particular group, the Black Panther Party “Lights were low and dim” all one could see were silhouettes “‘How are you?’ he said to me” I hate people like you he said to me “I said it back to him.” “Crowd” as particular group; Positively Fourth Street 1965, “I know the reason / That you talk behind my back / I used to be among the crowd / You’re in with.” “How are you?” as I hate you; to his former folk fans Positively Fourth Street 1965, “You see me on the street” you see me on McDougal Street “you always act surprised / You say hello how are you but you don’t mean it / When you know as well as me you’d rather see me
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paralyzed” when you really hate me and want to see me stuck in the folk rut forever “Why don’t you just come out once and scream it?”
I went down to the lobby To make a small call out. A pretty dancing girl was there, And she began to shout, “Go on back to see the gypsy. He can move you from the rear Drive you from your fear, Bring you through the mirror. He did it in Las Vegas And he can do it here.”
“I went down to the lobby” I went outside to see a group of people who were trying actively to influence me, a pressure group “To make a small call out” to face a minor challenge “A pretty dancing girl was there” a pretty wasted dude was there “And she began to shout, Go on back to see the gypsy” and he began shouting orders at me to start writing songs about African- Americans again “He can move you from the rear” doing this can propel you from the rear to the vanguard of the revolution, also the African-Americans can fuck you in the ass “Drive you from your fear” drive you from your fear of racial pollution “Bring you through the mirror” make you think exactly the opposite of your beliefs “He did it in Las Vegas” sarcastic; he beat the odds once “And he can do it here” and he can beat ‘em here.
Outside the lights were shining On the river of tears I watched them from the distance With music in my ears.
“Outside” outside my home in the Village “lights” sarcastic: a prominent and distinguished person; a luminary “were shining” was distinguishing himself in an activity or a field “On the river of tears” by exploiting an abundant amount of negative emotion that existed towards me “I watched them from the distance” I watched the crowd that had this disagreement with me “distance” difference; Ring Them Bells 1989 “And they’re breaking down the distance between right and wrong” “With music in my ears” and faced the music, faced the consequences of having a loose cannon like A. J. Weberman operational.
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I went back to see the gypsy It was nearly early dawn. The gypsy’s door was open wide But the gypsy was gone And that pretty dancing girl She could not be found. So I watched that sun come rising From that little Minnesota town.
“I went back to see the gypsy” so I decided that I had better co-opt Weberman before this nut job could do some serious damage. That was why when I returned home that night Dylan telephoned me “It was nearly early dawn” it marked an opening time period in our relationship “The gypsy’s door was open wide” Dylan opened the door of opportunity to me to become one of his entourage; at least until he determined I was no longer a threat. He offered me a job as his chauffer and bodyguard. Later he said I could become his prompter. Paul Simon, You Can Call Me Al, 1986, “If you’ll be my bodyguard / I can be your long lost pal / I can call you Betty / And Betty when you call me / You can call me Al” “But the gypsy was gone” real gone. Nuts. I told Dylan that he was just trying to co-opt me so that I would get off his case about the genocide going down in Vietnam and his heroin addiction “And that pretty dancing girl” and pretty wasted pothead “She could not be found” she was not there instead I found a dogmatic Leftist who could not be co-opted “So I watched that sun” so I watched that person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events “come rising” increase in popularity “from that little Minnesota town” as if I was as powerless as I was when I arrived in New York City from Hibbing.
Dylan said I could bop by his studio and hang loose. I dropped a few caffeine pills before truckin’ the ten blocks to Bob’s Houston Street storefront studio. In Chronicles Dylan recalled the times we hung out together by depicting me as “Balzac.” “Balzac was pretty funny. His philosophy is plain and simple, says basically that pure materialism” pure heroin “is a recipe for madness” is a way to cook up insanity “The only true knowledge for Balzac seems to be in superstition” in Communism “Everything is subject to analysis.” Al viewed everything through a Marxist perspective “Horde your energy” devote your life to a great number of savage and uncivilized people in the Third World, horde visa a vies hoard. “That’s the secret of life” sarcastic; “You can learn a lot from Mr. B.” more sarcasm; you can’t learn a thing from this moron. Interesting use of initial, “It’s funny” odd, out of character for me “to have him as a companion” to have him as a comrade “He wears a monk’s robe” he dressed in denim jeans and work shirts “and drinks endless cups of coffee” and he drops caffeine pills before he comes by “Too much sleep clogs up his mind” too much marijuana clogs up his mind “One of his teeth falls
V1-533 out” if one of the people he uses against me falls out of line “and he says, ‘What does this mean?’” what is the ultimate significance of this development? Why did Jerry Rubin, David Peel, John and Yoko write that letter to the Village Voice denouncing me? “He questions everything. His clothes” his words “catch fire” become the subject of great interest and widespread enthusiasm, ‘Garbology and Dylanology caught fire all over the country’ “on a candle” on the hope that Dylan would return to being a Leftist “He wonders if fire” he wonders if being exposed and subjected to critical attack and censure “is a good sign” is a sign of doing something new, doing something right, doing something that goes against the grain “Balzac is hilarious” overstatement. Weberman is one of the biggest drags I have come across in life.
However you cut it, Dylan never met anyone like me before, a dude who was unwilling to kiss his ass and told it like it is right to his face no matter what might be the consequences. Despite Dylan’s bitter recollections we like did a routine where I would narrate the different parts of Dylan’s life and Dylan would play the appropriate music! I told Dylan about my summer of 1963 trip to Progresso, a small village in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico where I lived like a Third World peasant for about a month with a former bracero; a migrant farm worker. Dylan said, “Al, let’s write a song about this and we will split the royalties. Just tell me what happened to you and I’ll do the writing” I said, “You gotta convince Americans through this song that they sound support wars of national liberation.” The next time I saw him Dylan picks up his guitar and starts to sing, “Down in Progresso a bracero lived in a sombrero full of espresso” along with other, what to me at the time were seemingly incomprehensible, lines. I said, “What’s this?” Dylan said, “That’s my thing, Al.”
We hung out facing the storefront window overlooking Houston Street. You can read about our interaction in Jann Wenner’s Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews or listen to the Dylan-Weberman telephone conversation on the Internet. There was only one very minor problem with the Dylan/Weberman visits, probably not even worth mentioning. Dylan let the studio grow dark, as dusk fell on Houston Street. By this time I was crashing from the caffeine pills I had popped. Then, in the gray, spooky, twilight and Dylan said, “Al you’re not going to get into my life because if you do I might gain a soul.” Either this guy was the devil and might gain my soul after he killed me or Dylan might gain some soul and join the Movement? The second alternative was very remote. Heavens to Betsey, Bob Dylan was threatening to have me murdered. I asked Dylan about this during the Weberman / Dylan Telephone Conversation, “Those two sentences, I don’t get them at all. I don’t understand them even, well that’s shit those last two sentences. I don’t think I said that. I don’t understand that do you? Why don’t you take it out
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of your article and look at it in a number of ways and roll it around awhile and when you know what it means why don’t you tell me and let’s see if it’s worth putting in an article. Is that fair? I don’t know what it means man. I know that’s what happened but that ain’t what happened that last sentence don’t end any article you know that. That didn’t happen like that; I remember saying something like that but it didn’t have anything to do with how you are using it, you are just taking it out of context you (unintelligible) look company.” I asked Dylan if he wanted me to put it back in context. “I say, ‘Is that a threat, are you going to kill me?’” and you say ‘No it isn’t but I know people who can kill you.’” Dylan said this with faux emotion in his voice, “Oh no man, no. What does that mean [I might gain a soul] that leaves me cold man, ah that doesn’t even sound like me. ‘Gain a soul?’ What could that mean?” I told Bob he should stand behind things that he says. “Yeah man but that was taken right outta, right outta I do stand behind most of what I say but I mean a lot of times you just say stuff.”
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
Later in 1971 Dylan would release George Jackson, a song about a Black Panther. Dylan never performed this song in public and it contained the word “shit” giving many radio the opportunity not to air it but I was a hit none- the-less. It was a great song but this, however, was still was not good enough for the Dylan Liberation Front to abandon its crusade to FREE BOB DYLAN from the shackles of heroin addiction especially when Dylan’s 30th Birthday was rolling around! “Never trust anyone over 30” was a popular slogan at the time. Dylan told me if I went through with his birthday party he would never talk with me again but if I called it off there was a lot in it for me including going on tour with him, attending recording sessions, getting laid etc. I could have become Ratzo! But Al was the one person Dylan could not buy off and co-opt. I was determined to teach this poseur, this anti- Palestinian, this Kahanist, this Jewish Defense League supporter a lesson and I obtained a permit from New York City to close down Dylan’s entire block to traffic on Sunday May 24, 1971, a day that will live in the annals of infamy. I told the police “I live on Bleecker and Bob lives on McDougal and that makes us neighbors so I want to have a block party in Dylan’s honor.”
There were at least a thousand Dylan fans there to witness my presenting Dylan with a garbage can that could be locked shut and a birthday cake with hypodermic needles which served as candles. I had heard rumors that Dylan had gotten the Mafia on my case because his Dylan 30th Birthday Party was going
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to go down in Little Italy, a Mafia stronghold, so I made public statements that Bob Dylan was putting out a Mafia contract on me. The Mafia sent G.I. Joe Sternfeld to give out free hot dogs at the birthday party. When he wasn’t selling wieners Sternfeld was a “driver” for the Mafia boss Thomas Eboli whose business interests included restaurants and vending machines in Greenwich Village. Eboli was also involved in the music industry. On July 16, 1972, around 1:00 a.m. Eboli was shot five times in the head and neck. Sternfeld, who was his chauffer that night, was held as a material witness then released. Abbie Hoffman was present doing yo-yo tricks as was a VVAW member who I had identified as an FBI informant. The man had vowed to destroy the Left after a tour in Vietnam sent him to a mental hospital. When he started a fire in front of Dylan’s house using play money I denounced him
V1-536 as a provocateur. The Mafia was also present at the event due to the fact it took place in Little Italy. That night the Birthday Party was featured in the centerfold of the New York Daily News New York’s picture newspaper. Everyone in New York City knew where Bob Dylan lived. I burned down Dylan’s crib, brought too many Dylan seekers around, and the boy had to split from the Village. This town wasn’t big enough for the both of us. As you might imagine Dylan wanted to have me murdered. Dylan hid out in Israel during the 30th Birthday Party and was in such a piss poor mood that he wailed on a fan at the Wailing Wall. Dylan described the apotheosis of my career which he considered a debacle in…
WHEN I PAINT MY MASTERPIECE 1971
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble, Ancient footprints are everywhere. You can almost think that you’re seein’ double On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs.
“Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble” Al has everyone in New York City focused on my garbage and he brought the rabble to my home for a demonstration against me “Ancient” “ancient footprints” archeological artifacts taken from my garbage “are everywhere” are on everyone’s mind thanks to Al. For me this sounds more like “A. J.’s footprints are everywhere” when Dylan sings it but it really doesn’t matter “You can almost think that you’re seein’ double” you can almost think that there are two of this dude, that’s how much trouble this guy has been causing me “On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs” if you are Bob Dylan the heroin-addict dying to get high but are having a hard time of it due to A. J. Weberman.
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room Where I’ve got me a date with Botticelli’s niece. She promised that she’d be right there with me When I paint my masterpiece.
“Got to hurry on back to my hotel room” got to hurry excitedly back to my hotel room, stately townhouse, Went to See the Gypsy 1970, “living in a big hotel.” “Where I’ve got me a date” where there is a particular point in time when I get high “with Botticelli’s niece” with a hit of smack, something that will cause a renaissance in my thinking “She promised that she’d be right there with me” she promised that she would inspire to follow the dictates of the extreme political and social Right “When I paint” when I vividly depict in words, formulate “my masterpiece” my master plan, something superlative
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of its kind; ‘a masterpiece of criminal ingenuity’ a master plan to murder Weberman and get away with it.
Oh, the hours I’ve spent inside the Coliseum, Dodging lions and wastin’ time. Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see ‘em, Yes, it sure has been a long, hard climb.
“Oh, the hours I’ve spent inside the Coliseum” oh the considerable time I wasted in a life and death struggle with my fans “Dodging” trying to avoid these “lions” overly aggressive idiots “and wastin’ time” and devoting my time to a useless activity “Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle” sarcastic; those nothings, those non entities “I could hardly stand to see ‘em” I could hardly endure this torture, they made me puke “Yes, it sure has been a long, hard climb” so it was not easy to ascend in position ‘climb to fame.’
Train wheels runnin’ through the back of my memory When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese. Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody When I paint my masterpiece.
“Train wheels” records that expressed Leftist ideas “running through the back of my memory” still remain in the back of my mind “When I ran on the hilltop” when I sang at the March on Washington in August 1963 “following a pack of wild geese” pretending to be a follower to some of the most dangerous and deluded people in the world who are free to express themselves “Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody” someday an operation against Weberman is going to go smoothly “When I paint my masterpiece” when I formulate my final solution to the question of A. J. Weberman.
“Wheel” as record; Lo and Behold 1967, “Now, I come in on a ferris wheel” “ferrous wheel” I became famous due to a record in which I was virtually forced to create as I was in irons, fetters, shackles “An’ boys, I sure was slick” and good ole boys I did a deceptively smooth job of it “I come in like a ton of bricks” “brick” when I come on the folk scene I made myself seem like a good fellow; a helpful and trustworthy lad “Laid a few tricks” composed a few deceptive protest songs that I had a knack for writing at the time “on ‘em” on the suckers “Goin’ back to Pittsburgh” sarcastic, I’m goin’ back to my folk music protest song days “Count up to thirty” get some highly concentrated smack with a high count “Round” shaped like a cylinder; cylindrical part of eye dropper “that horn” any of various noisemakers operated by blowing or by squeezing a hollow rubber ball; top part of
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eyedropper “and ride that herd” be sustained by plenty of horse “Gonna thread up” going to shoot up. “Lo and behold! Lookin’ for my lo and behold, Get me outta here, my dear man!” Tarantula; “the opium ghost ‘neath the ferris wheel on the side of the highway.” “Thread” as needle; Up On Cripple Creek 1969, “If I spring a leak she mends me / I don’t have to speak she defends me / A drunkard’s dream if I ever did see one.” Also Chronicles, “cutting my thread of life” Al was preventing me from shooting dope.
“Pittsburgh” as Dylan’s early folk music days in Lo and Behold 1967; “I come into Pittsburgh” I came into a small venue “At six-thirty flat” playing music below the pitch I intended to play it at “I found myself a vacant seat” I found a prominent position as a folk musician “An’ I put down my hat” and adopted this as my role. Margarita 1988, “It was in Pittsburgh late one night” it was in my folk music past “I lost my hat” I lost my true role as an entertainer “got into a fight” and I pretended to join the struggle of the Left “I rolled” turned over and over like a dog, a running dog of Communism “and tumbled” and was confused and disordered “till I saw the light” until I saw some light at the end of the folk music tunnel “went to the big apple” found my way to the ultimate temptation for a “folkie,” rock and roll “took a bite.”
“Geese” as deluded Leftists; Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “you speak of rats. geese. a world of peace.” Tarantula, “& the geese charging yes thinking they’re scarecrows” thinking they are going to eliminate Jim Crow.
Sailin’ ‘round the world in a dirty gondola. Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!
“Sailin’ ‘round the world in a dirty gondola” being part of a dirty, crappy Communist revolution “ship” as revolution from The Hour That The Ship Comes In 1964, “Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!” oh to be back in the land of Capitalism. Clean Cut Kid 1985, “He drank Coca-Cola, he was eating Wonder Bread He ate Burger Kings, he was well fed.”
I left Rome and landed in Brussels, On a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried. Clergymen in uniform and young girls pullin’ muscles Everyone was there to greet me when I stepped inside.
“I left Rome and landed in Brussels” I left New York City and landed in Brussels, the city where the poetry critic Verlaine shot the poet Rimbaud. “On a plane ride” “plane” on a level of achievement “so bumpy” that bumped me down to a new position; shifted the way I was perceived, “that I almost cried” that I was tempted to protest about it publically “Clergymen in uniform” underground political figures all thinking the same way “and young
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girls pullin’ muscles” and gawkers, rubberneckers “Everyone was there to greet me” sarcastic; the attendees at the Dylan Birthday Party were there to address and meet me with expressions of friendliness and welcome “when I stepped inside” when I became part of an exclusive “inside” group of those over thirty.
Newspapermen eating candy Had to be held down by big police. Someday, everything is gonna be diff’rent When I paint my masterpiece.
“Newspapermen eating candy” journalists being spoon fed a story by A. J. Weberman “Had to be held down by big police” had to be kept in line by those having and exercising considerable authority, control and influence, the New York City Police Department. A near riot erupted at the birthday bash when an FBI provocateur ignited a pile of play money in front of Dylan’s townhouse “Someday, everything is gonna be diff’rent” someday Weberman is gonna be on the other end of the stick, someday Weberman is gonna get his come up-ins “When I paint my masterpiece” after I formulate my master plan to rid the world of him. Subsequent to May 1971 Dylan began to experience the after effects of the birthday party since his address in Greenwich Village became common knowledge. Dylan knew he would have to leave so he purchased a home in Malibu in December 1971 and moved there in early 1973.
BILLY 1 1972 BILLY 4 1972
There’s guns across the river aimin’ at ya Lawman on your trail, he’d like to catch ya Bounty hunters, too, they’d like to get ya Billy, they don’t like you to be so free.
“There’s guns across the river” there is a big posse of vigilantes, the Dylan Liberation Front who are not enjoying the success I am experiencing “aimin’ at ya” aiming to direct me toward a particular goal “Lawman on your trail, he’d like to catch ya” Al the Pig would like to catch me using heroin “Bounty hunters, too, they’d like to get ya” and journalist Tony Scaduto is trying make big bucks by doing a biography of me. In 1971 Scaduto’s biography of Bob Dylan was published. Dylan was not happy about this. “Billy, they don’t like you to be so free” Bobby, these guys don’t like you to be so free, they want you to be on the side of Communism, not Freedom. In another version Dylan sings, “There’s a lawman on your trail like to surround you” during the Dylan Birthday party I did an old Lenny Bruce bit through the sound system,
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“Okay Bob we got the place surrounded. Come out with your hands up and we will meet any reasonable demands you make.”
Camping out all night on the veranda Walking in the streets down by the hacienda Up to Boot Hill they’d like to send ya Billy, don’t you turn your back on me.
“Camping out all night on the veranda” after the Birthday Party revealed my address to literally millions of people my fans would camp outside my townhouse 24/7 “Walking in the streets down by the hacienda” and would follow me and hassle me when I went outside in Greenwich Village “Up to Boot Hill they’d like to send ya” and many of them expressed hostility to me “Billy, don’t you turn your back on me” because I switched to rock and roll from folk music.
Playing around with some sweet signorita Into her dark chamber she will greet you In the shadows of the maize’s she will lead you Billy, and you’re going all alone.
“Playin’ around with some sweet senorita” messin’ around with some really sweet gratifying smack “Into her dark chamber” into a threatening life “she will greet you” she will welcome you Also in another version “In some lonesome shadows she will greet ya.” “In the shadows of the maize’s she will lead you” into your grave she might lead you “Billy, and you’re going all alone” Billy and there is no one around to revive you if you O.D.
“Sweet Senorita” as strong smack; Tom Thumb’s Blues 1966, “Sweet Melinda” Mexican heroin “The peasants call her the goddess of gloom” the Mexicans call her a miraculous cure for unhappiness “She speaks good English” she is universal “And she invites you up into her room” sarcastic: and she invites you into her life rather than you inviting her into yours “And you’re so kind / And careful not to go to her too soon” and you try to be kind to yourself and are careful about not taking one shot after the other, a path that leads to addiction “And she takes your voice” and heroin deprives you of the right and opportunity to express a choice in this matter “And leaves you howling at the moon” and leaves you going through the nightmare of withdrawal symptoms.
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There’s mills inside the minds of crazy faces Bullet holes and rifles in their cases There is always one more notch in four more aces Billy, and you’re playing all alone.
“There’s mills” the Mills Hotel, a Single Room Occupancy hotel that was a blight to the neighborhood Dylan lived in. He complained to me often about it and said he was trying to get it shut down then converted into something more respectable “inside the minds of crazy faces” and its existence was known to a bunch of crazy African-Americans “Bullet holes and rifles in their cases” and these African-Americans were bad with numerous charges lodged against them including homicide “There’s always one more notch” but Dylan was armed and was more than happy to shoot the Black criminals “and four more aces” if he was lucky enough to get the chance “Billy, and you’re playing all alone” Bobby, and you do not have a security entourage.
They say that Pat Garrett’s got your number So sleep with one eye open when you slumber Every little sound just might be thunder Thunder from the barrel of his gun.
“They say that Pat Garrett’s got your number” they say A. J. Weberman is aware that some of the numbers that you do concern your addiction to heroin “So sleep with one eye open when you slumber” so be very cautious when you get high, think about this when you get high. In another version of Billy Dylan sings, “So sleep with one eye open, when you wander” as in Mr. Tambourine Man 1964 “wait only for my boot heels to be wandering” “Every little sound just might be thunder” every inconsequential article in the underground press might be a devastating “Thunder from the barrel of his gun” and could even lead to an arrest.
There’s always some new stranger sneakin’ glances Some trigger-happy fool willin’ to take chances And some old whore from San Pedro to make advances Advances on your spirit and your soul.
“There’s always some new stranger sneakin’ glances” there is always a person who is unfamiliar with and new to something furtively snatching a momentary and hasty view of my life “Some trigger-happy fool” some publicity happy politico; trigger, the button that activates a camera “willin’ to take chances” willing to incur my wrath “And some old whore” some liberal journalistic hack “from San Pedro” from Saint Peters in Italy “to make advances” to make money paid to an him in advance of publication
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“Advances” incursions “on your spirit” on your essential nature; ‘The spirit of Bob Dylan’ “and your soul.” This is another reference to Tony Scaduto.
The businessmen from Taos want you to go down They’ve hired Pat Garrett to force a showdown. Billy, don’t it make ya feel so low-down To be shot down by the man who was your friend?
“The businessmen” the Communists “from Taos want you to go down” want to see you go down, get knocked out of the music business “They’ve hired Pat Garrett to force a showdown” so they have engaged the services of A. J. Weberman to force a confrontation “Billy, don’t it make ya feel so low-down” Dylan isn’t a shame that Weberman has the low down on your activities “To be shot down by the man who was your friend?” to have your aspirations destroyed by the man who was once your fan?
Hang on to your woman if you got one Remember in El Paso, once, you shot one. She may have been a whore, but she was a hot one Billy you been runnin’ for so long
“Hang on to your woman if you got one” maintain your drug habit if you got one “Remember in El Paso, once, you shot one” remember some of the fine scag you shot up in the past “She may have been a whore but she was a hot one” there was a chance that the heroin might have been adulterated but instead she was a hot one. Hot shot, a dose of heroin, usually taken by intravenous injection, that is stronger than usual and can kill “Billy you been runnin’ for so long” Bobby you’ve been trying to escape for so long, things might catch up with you.
“Whore” as cut heroin, Tarantula, “gets drunk on skinny whores” cut, thin heroin “& Turkish gas” and smack that will kill you “‘maria needs a shot’ says King Villager…” says Ray Gooch.
Drifting Too Far From Shore, “I never could guess your weight baby / Never needed to call you my whore / I always thought you were straight” pure “baby.”
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Guitars will play your grand finale Down in some Tularosa alley Maybe in the Rio Pecos valley Billy, you’re so far away from home.
“Guitars” acoustic guitars “will play your grand finale” will sing of you if you die “Down in some Tularosa alley” down in some slum in Mexico “Maybe in the Rio Pecos valley” or maybe in Hollywood Valley
“Billy, you’re so far away from home” Bobby you’re so far away from reaching your goal in life.
After the birthday party Dylan excommunicated me. I only saw him again on three occasions, at the One-Legged man’s pad, when he attacked me and when I was walking by his townhouse while he was washing his car. On that occasion he told his son Jesse that I was ashamed I was Jewish and that was why I got a nose job and to “never be like Weberman, never be ashamed you are Jewish.”
IDIOT WIND 1974
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Someone’s got it in for me, they’re planting stories in the press Whoever it is I wish they’d cut it out but when they will I can only guess. They say I shot a man named Grey and took his wife to Italy She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me. I can’t help it if I’m lucky.
“Someone’s got it in for me” Weberman has a grudge against me also “in for me” as “infamy” this “someone” is infamous “they’re planting stories in the press” he and his cohorts in the Dylan Liberation Front are orchestrating a campaign against me in the media “Whoever it is?” sarcastic; everyone knows these stories emanate from one scum bucket, A. J. Weberman “I wish they’d cut it out quick” I wish the editors and publishers like Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner would immediately cut these stories out of their music publications “but when they will I can only guess” but there is so much interest in this douche bag that I cannot influence them to kill these pieces and things have gone beyond my control “They” Weberman’s articles and articles about Weberman “say I shot” make a pointed and critical remark about “a man named Grey” a Confederate soldier who was pro-slavery “and took his wife” and then took the Confederate ideology Grey was wedded to “to Italy” to an even more extreme political philosophy, Fascism. Chronicles, “What I know about Pound is that he was a Nazi sympathizer in World War II and did anti-American broadcasts from Italy.” “She inherited” this type Confederate thinking inherited from its predecessor “a million bucks” a million buck African-Americans “and when she died” and when Confederate ideology died out in America “it came to me” it came to me that America needed an even more extreme way of dealing with Blacks than slavery “I can’t help it if I’m lucky.” Sarcastic; I can’t help it if an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon, my being born White, led to the favorable outcome of my becoming wealthy.
People see me all the time and they just can’t remember how to act Their minds are filled with big ideas, images and distorted facts. Even you, yesterday you had to ask me where it was at I couldn’t believe after all these years, you didn’t know me better than that Sweet lady.
“People see me all the time and they just can’t remember how to act” I let Weberman come over to my studio as much as he liked and yet he wasn’t grateful and subservient “Their minds are filled with big ideas” their brains are filled with Leftwing idealistic ideology that exercises considerable authority, control, and influence over people who might resent it “images” my poems, “image,” a figure of speech, especially a metaphor or simile “and distorted facts” and distorted exegeses that Weberman tries to pass off as
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facts “Even you, yesterday you had to ask me where it was at” even you A. J. Weberman, founder of Dylanology, you had no idea where I was coming from “I couldn’t believe after all these years, you didn’t know me better than that” I couldn’t believe that after all your years of studying my poetry you didn’t realize that I was the opposite of what you believed me to be “Sweet lady” as you have a different vision of morality.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth Blowing down the back roads headin’ south. Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth You’re an idiot, babe. It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.
“Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth” destructive force spreading lies with every insincere word you mouth “Blowing down the back roads headin’ south” disseminating your message to people taking a backward course in their lives heading for oblivion “Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth” Idiot wind spreading evil every time you try to enforce these laws you have created for me “teeth” ‘those stiff sentences put teeth in the law’ “You’re an idiot, babe” you’re an idiot Weberman “It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe” it’s a wonder that you are still alive.
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I ran into the fortune-teller, Who said beware of lightning that might strike I haven’t known peace and quiet for so long I can’t remember what it’s like. “I ran into the fortune-teller” I had a run in with A. J. Weberman who believed he could manipulate my future; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “ah but Sue she knows me well perhaps too well an’ is above all the true fortune teller of my soul I think perhaps the only one” “who said beware of lightning that might strike” who made a self-fulfilling prophecy that something bad was going to happen to me and he turned out to be right because “I haven’t known peace and quiet for so long I can’t remember what it’s like” this guy is making my life a nightmare for so long I have forgotten my pre- Weberman existence.
There’s a lone soldier on the cross, Smoke pourin’ out of a boxcar door You didn’t know it, you didn’t think it could be done, In the final end he won the wars After losin’ every battle.
“There's a lone soldier” there’s a person who worked diligently for a cause all by himself, a self-made man “on the cross” being crucified “smoke pouring out of a boxcar door” a man who had to invent his past, full of smoke and mirrors, with stories like he rode in the boxcar of a freight train in order to get to New York
Sure ‘nough one day after Dylan was released from the bin he was interviewed by Robert Shelton of the New York Times. He told Shelton that after dropping out of college he got beat up for kicks, hitch-hiked, rode freights, and joined a carnival and generally Woody Guthried it up. Dylan said the same thing in the liner notes to the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.
After that I thumbed my way to Galveston, Texas in four days I was passin' California - almost in Oregon I met a waitress in the woods who picked me up an ‘dropped me off in Washington someplace I danced my way from the Indian festivals in Gallup, New Mexico To the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana With my thumb out, my eyes asleep, my hat turned up an' my head turned on
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I's driftin' an' learnin' new lessons I was making my own depression I rode freight trains for kicks An' got beat up for laughs Cut grass for quarters An' sang for dimes
Hitchhiked on 61-51-75-169-37-66-22 Gopher Road - Route 40 Howard Johnson Turnpike Got jailed for suspicion of armed robbery Got held four hours on a murder rap Got busted for looking like I do An' I never done none a them things From Shreveport I landed in Madison, Wisconsin From Madison we filled up a four-door Pontiac with five people And shot straight south an' sharp to the East an' in 24 hours was still hanging on through the Hudson Tunnel Getting out in a snowstorm an' wavin' goodbye to the three others, we swept on to MacDougal Street with five dollars between us-but we weren't poor
This nebbish was a suspect in an armed robbery? He was held four hours on a murder rap? I think if you are suspected of murder you are going to held more than four hours and anyway the only person Dylan ever tried to murder was me! Dylan even wrote, “An' I never done none a them things.” Look at the chronology involved here. Dylan was born in 1941 and entered college in September 1960. He spent six months there and dropped out in April 1960. He wrote that he moved into an abandoned building and hung out with Girl from the North Country Bonnie Beecher for another four months. Beecher was a hardcore member of the underground who would marry beat poet Hugh Romney also known as Wavy Gravy. That takes him into September 1960. That gave him five free months in the dead of winter to travel around the Midwest hitchhiking, etc. before he hit New York City in February 1961. The legend of Dylan was woven purely out of whole cloth and no one would have believed it had not the times twisted their minds.
“You didn't know it you didn't think it could be done” you never believed you didn’t think I could pull it off “but in the final” in a tournament in which losers are eliminated in successive rounds “end” in its last round. (in concert Dylan sang this as “in the final shot”) “he won the war” he beat down Weberman “After losin' every battle” after Weberman was able to put him through a lot of bad changes.
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I woke up on the roadside, daydreamin’ ‘bout the way things sometimes are Visions of your chestnut mare shoot through my head And are makin’ me see stars You hurt the ones that I love best and cover up the truth with lies. One day you’ll be in the ditch, flies buzzin’ around your eyes Blood on your saddle.
“You hurt the ones that I love best” you distort the meaning of my poetry “and cover up the truth with lies” and cover up my conservatism with your lying Communist thought “One day you’ll be in the ditch” one day you will be in your grave, forgotten about, ditched, “flies” fly, to be dispersed and disseminated; reporters “buzzin’” spreading rumor; gossip, ‘The latest buzz’ “around your eyes” around your thoughts about you that appear in your obituary “Blood on your saddle” and your death will be your own responsibility as it will be a suicide.
Idiot wind, blowing through the flowers on your tomb Blowing through the curtains in your room. Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth You’re an idiot, babe. It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.
“Idiot wind” the idiotic destructive force of Weberman “blowing through the flowers” spreading to those in the period of the highest development; the Russian dissidents imprisoned “on your tomb” on gulags that your thinking helped create. “Blowing through the [Iron] curtains in your room” being spread through the Communistic thoughts in your life that you put on my poetry “Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth” A. J. Weberman, spreading evil every time you try to coerce me into adopting your politics “You’re an idiot, babe / It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe” it is really freakin’ amazing that you are still alive but it can be explained.
It was gravity which pulled us down And destiny which broke us apart You tamed the lion in my cage But it just wasn’t enough to change my heart.
“It was gravity” Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “he wants t’ drag / me down there / i realize gravity is my only enemy” it was Weberman’s desire to drag me down to his level “which pulled us down” that made me condescend to meet with him “and destiny” and inevitability and certain fate “which broke us apart” which would have separated us sooner or later “You tamed
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the lion” Weberman reduced from a wild to a civilized state a person who wanted to see you either dead or beaten severely “in my cage” in the virtual prison I live in “but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart” but my heart was still set on using heroin. Also it did not change my politics as in the Goldwater slogan, “In your heart you know he’s right.”
Now everything’s a little upside down, As a matter of fact the wheels have stopped, What’s good is bad, what’s bad is good, You’ll find out when you reach the top You’re on the bottom.
“Now everything’s a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped” now in reality my politics are exactly the opposite from what you believe them to be from listening to my wheel shaped records that indicated otherwise. They have long since stopped “What’s good is bad, what’s bad is good” your idea that Socialism is good is wrong, it is really bad, and Capitalism is the better economic system “you’ll find out when you reach the top” you’ll discover this when you start to make some money “You’re on the bottom” you are the bottom of the economic hierarchy, you are a bottom feeder Al.
I noticed at the ceremony, Your corrupt ways had finally made you blind I can’t remember your face anymore; your mouth has changed, Your eyes don’t look into mine.
“I noticed at the ceremony” I noticed at an event like stealing trash performed on a special occasion “your corrupt ways” your desire to get publicity “had finally made you blind” had finally made you unable to comprehend, blind to the consequences of your acts so your confronted my wife “I can’t remember your face anymore” it is hard for me to believe you are of the Jewish race because of what you did to a fellow Jew “your mouth has changed” your particular manner of speaking, filled with slogans that you mouth but really do not understand or believe is no longer like that of a Jew “your eyes” your thoughts “don’t look into mine” don’t share any ancestral commonality.
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The priest wore black on the seventh day And sat stone-faced while the building burned I waited for you on the running boards, near the cypress trees, While the springtime turned Slowly into autumn
“The priest” Weberman Chronicles, “High Priest of Protest” Planet Waves Liner Notes 1974, “priests in overhauls” radicals who wished to overhaul my career “glassy eyed” filled with illusory thoughts “wore black” spoke words that have extremely unfortunate and dire consequences; bringing ruin, praised Blacks “on the seventh day” on Sunday when the Bob Dylan 30th Birthday Party went down “and sat stone-faced while the building burned” and did nothing after an FBI provocateur started a fire in front of my townhouse “I waited for you on the running boards” I got my revenge for this and other travesties when I came after you like a gangster in Chicago doing a drive by from the running board of a Model T only I used a bicycle “near the cypress trees” similar to the punishment of the Old South, also cypress trees are used to adorn tombs “while the springtime turned” while the season of your growth turned “Slowly into autumn” slowly into a period of your decline.
“Stone” as unchanging, immutable Ninety Miles an Hour (Down a Dead End Street) “But we’re heading for a wall of stone” Saved 1980, “I was blinded by the devil / Born already ruined / Stonecold dead / As I stepped out of the womb.”
In this verse of Idiot Wind Dylan made reference to the Elizabeth Street Massacre; It was Spring 1972 and I was in a relationship with an Associated Press reporter who I really dug. I had agreed to cease and desist from going through Dylan’s garbage in return for his performance at the Bengla Desh benefit concert but I wanted to please the reporter (and I was addicted to publicity) so I took her and a photographer over to Dylan’s townhouse. Sarah returned home, saw us, and made a big scene. She got really violent. Dylan warned me about messing with his wife and I called his secretary to apologize. That afternoon I was on my way to a riot in Madison, Wisconsin and I was securing 6 Bleecker Street with some maneuver that required climbing that had to be performed in a yard behind the building. As I was coming out of the alleyway that led to the yard, slightly dazed from the feat I had just accomplished, I felt an arm around my neck. I turned around and it was Dylan. I was like glad to see him. But my happiness was short-lived. Dylan knocked me down to the ground, got on top of me and started punching me out. Some hippies stumbled on the scene and pulled him off. As I got up Dylan reached for my FREE BOB DYLAN button, plucked it off my shirt, and threw it to the ground. Since all this went down one block from
V1-552 the Bowery, two bums approached me and asked, “Did he get much money?” they thought I was a bum who had been rolled by Bob Dylan. I said, “That’s Bob Dylan man, he got millions of dollars, he doesn’t have to come down to the Bowery and roll hippies.” Then suddenly I realized what had gone down. Dylan had beaten the shit out of me and I did not put up any resistance as I knew I had broken my own rules of conduct. But who cares what is right and wrong anyway? I grabbed one of the numerous wine bottles that lined the street and ran to the corner of Elizabeth and Houston Street. Dylan was on his bike waiting for the light. I crouched behind a car and having had experience throwing rocks at cops I was going to bean him with the bottle and hopefully he would fall off the bicycle into traffic, get runned over and killed or crippled before my very eyes. But boy would I have gotten yelled at. I couldn’t do it. It was Bob Dylan, I loved him, and that was that.
Idiot wind, blowing like a circle around my skull, From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol. Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth, You’re an idiot, babe. It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.
“Idiot wind, blowing like a circle” A. J. Weberman, spreading like an unofficial association of people like the Dylan Liberation Front “around my skull” around my thoughts, my intelligence “From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol” from one end of the country to the next “Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth” spreading evil every time you attempt to enforce the idiotic laws you have created for me “You’re an idiot, babe / It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe” what amazes me most about you is that you are still alive!
I can’t feel you anymore, I can’t even touch the books you’ve read Every time I crawl past your door, I been wishin’ I was somebody else instead.
“I can’t feel you anymore” sarcastic; I have lost any good feelings I might have had at one time about your work “I can’t even touch” I cannot be equal to in quality and ability to “the books you’ve read” to the books you have read, as opposed to the book about my poetry you were to write that never materialized “Every time I crawl” every time I advance slowly, feebly, laboriously, and with frequent stops “past your door” and take the opportunity to read one of your articles “I been wishin’ I was somebody else instead” I am sorry I am Bob Dylan.
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Down the highway, down the tracks, down the road to ecstasy, I followed you beneath the stars, hounded by your memory And all your ragin’ glory.
“Down the highway” the first step on the road to success was appearing in public in America “down the tracks” the next step was laying down tracks in a recording studio “down the road to ecstasy” then it was down the path in life to future happiness; also getting high “I followed you beneath the stars” I followed your life of minor stardom “hounded by your memory” based on your experiences hounding me “And all your ragin’” when you were the rage “glory” and you regaled in your height of achievement.
I been double-crossed now for the very last time And now I’m finally free I kissed goodbye the howling beast on the borderline Which separated you from me
“I been double-crossed now for the very last time” I have had enough of your exegeses that characterized me as a Communist “and now I’m finally free” when in reality I am a champion of the Free World “I kissed goodbye to the howling beast” I got rid of the brutal, contemptible Communist who would not like others express their opinions “on the borderline” who was of questionable or minimal quality ‘borderline psychopaths’ “which separated you from me” which differentiated us.
You’ll never know the hurt I suffered Nor the pain I rise above And I’ll never know the same about you, Your holiness or your kind of love And it makes me feel so sorry.
“You’ll never know the hurt I suffered” you will never know how detrimental to my life and work you were, how you hindered and impaired me because of your actions “nor the pain I rise above” nor the guilt I suffer for having written all those race-mixing songs “And I’ll never know the same about you, your holiness” and I will never know the same about you, your Communist politics “or your kind of love” or your vision of truth “And it makes me feel so sorry” totally sarcastic.
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Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats Blowing through the letters that we wrote. Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves We’re idiots, babe. It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.
“Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons on our coats” A. J. Weberman, spreading through the political affiliations we both made public “Blowing through the letters that we wrote” spreading through the articles and message songs we wrote “Idiot wind, blowing through the dust” A. J. Weberman spreading through the crap “upon our shelves” that we created, your worthless articles about me and my worthless protest songs “We’re idiots, babe” we are both idiots, “It’s a wonder we can even feed” provide literature for consumption “ourselves” more or less others. The blood in the LP, Blood on the Tracks, was my blood.
YOU’RE GONNA MAKE ME LONESOME WHEN YOU GO 1974
I’ve seen love go by my door It’s never been this close before Never been so easy or so slow. Been shooting in the dark too long When somethin’s not right it’s wrong Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
“I’ve seen love go by my door” I’ve missed out on an opportunity to do what is necessary and right “It’s never been this close before” but this time I am closer than ever before to doing it “Never been so easy or so slow” it has never been easier to have A. J. Weberman offed and to hopefully see him die a slow and painful death “Been shooting in the dark too long” I have been hiding the fact I like to shoot up for too long now, I have been guessing what Weberman will do next without having all the facts so I should try some real shootin’ for a change “When somethin’s not Right it’s wrong” when Weberman translates my poetry as Leftist messages and they are just the opposite of what they mean something is radically wrong “Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go” sarcastic; I sure is gonna to miss Weberman after he is dead and buried.
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Dragon clouds so high above I’ve only known careless love It’s always hit me from below. This time around it’s more correct Right on target, so direct Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
“Dragon” as in ‘chasing the dragon’ slang for smoking opium “cloud so high above” suspicion affecting my reputation; ‘a cloud of suspicion’ about my getting high on dope. Also The Man In Me 1970 “storm clouds are raging all around my door / I think to myself I might not take it [heroin] anymore “I’ve only known careless love” I never had to worry about my drug use being exposed before Weberman came along unless I was careless and OD’d “It’s always hit me from below” it was always a “hit from below” a dose of a narcotic drug below the lethal dose “This time around” during the next round of battle “it’s more correct” there will be stiffer measures to punish Weberman in order to gain control and enforce obedience “Right on target” the punishment will be a bullet “so direct” “direct” as to give orders with authority to a person such as a member of Organized Crime, a Mafioso. “Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go” I am going to sure miss Al!
“Dragon” as dope; Senor Tales of Yankee Power 1978, “Smell” I sense the presence of the “the tail of the dragon” the tail end of the dope high “Can’t stand the suspense anymore” can’t endure the uncertainty and I have to cop some more “Can you tell me who to contact here, senor?”
Purple clover, Queen Anne lace Crimson hair across your face You could make me cry if you don’t know. Can’t remember what I was thinkin’ of You might be spoilin’ me too much, love Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
“Purple” college “clover” in clover—living a carefree life of ease, comfort, in college “Queen Anne lace” then marrying a non-Jew there named Ann Christine Duncan “lace” to intertwine; interlace “Crimson hair” what you believed to be strong, courageous radicalism “Crimson” My Back Pages 1964, “Crimson flames tied through my mind / Rolling high and mighty traps” “across your face” double crossing your Jewish race “You could make me cry if you don’t know” you could make me get circumcised again if you don’t know you are a Jew and are supposed to marry another Jew “Can’t remember what I was thinkin’ of” sarcastic; Dylan is a racist so he knows what he is thinking about “You might be spoilin’ me too much, love” you be might polluting the Jewish race with your sexual desires. Boots of Spanish Leather to Suzie Rotelo, “Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled / From
V1-556 across that lonesome ocean” “Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go” race traitor!
“Purple” as college; a purple tassel is given to college graduates. Tarantula “the time is handled by some crazy cheerleader snob & sticking her tongue out, dropping a purple tostle cap, she mingles with a bus, caresses a bloody crucifix & is praying for her purse to be stolen up gunpowder alley!” Moonlight 2001, “The trailing moss in mystico, the purple blossom soft as snow / My tears keep flowing to the sea / Doctor, lawyer, indian chief” Chronicles, “Across the way a guy in a leather jacket scooped frost off the windshield of a snowpacked black Mercury Montclair. Behind him, a priest in a purple cloak” a radical disguised as an academician “was slipping through the courtyard of the church through an opened gate” was clandestinely entering the inner sanctum of the God that he worshipped through an unlocked gate. (An unlocked gate separated me from Dylan’s garbage) “on his way to perform some sacred duty” on his way to steal my trash; similar to “I noticed at the ceremony” in Idiot Wind 1974. “Nearby, a bareheaded woman in boots” someone who had been exposed as a junkie “tried to manage” to exert control over: managing the news “a laundry bag up the street” a bunch of watered down, cleaned up songs; Tarantula, “jack of spades—vivaldi of the coin laundry—wearing a hipster’s dictionary— we see him brownnosing around the blackbelts” “There were a million stories” there seemed to be a million stories about Weberman “just everyday New York things if you wanted to focus in on them” nothing out of the ordinary, you had to really focus in closely to detect that thousand people around my townhouse “It was always right out in front of you” Weberman was always in my consciousness “blended together” merged with my poetry “but you’d have to pull it apart to make any sense of it” Weberman would have to tear it apart, destroy it in order to translate it. “St. Valentine’s Day, lovers’ day, had come and gone and I hadn’t noticed.” I never arranged a mini-Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre for the boy “I had no time for romance” I had no time for something adventurous, heroic.
“Clover” as in clover, living a life of ease, Can’t Escape From You 2008, “The primrose” the primrose path; earthly delights that come to an end “and the clover” and the self-indulgent life “Your ever changing face” your race mixing “Can’t help looking at you / You made love with god-knows-who / Never found a girl to match you” you never married a Jewish woman “I can’t escape from you” sarcastic, the meaning of my poetry has escaped you for decades.
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Flowers on the hillside, bloomin’ crazy Crickets talkin’ back and forth in rhyme Blue river runnin’ slow and lazy, I could stay with you forever And never realize the time.
“Flowers on the hillside, exemplary recordings such as Folkway Records Dylan v. Weberman LP “bloomin’ crazy” that were bloomin’ mad are coming into fruition “Crickets” creatures of the night, Weberman and Dylan “talkin’ back and forth in rhyme” discussing the various words in Dylan’s poems “Blue river” a large volume of Yankee ideas, a large number of dirty words “runnin’ slow” not having intellectual and mental quickness “and lazy” and slow-moving; sluggish “I could stay with you forever” you could memorize all of my poetry forever “And never realize the time” and never realize the time I wish I lived in, the Antebellum South.
Situations have ended sad Relationships have all been bad. Mine’ve been like Verlaine’s and Rimbaud. But there’s no way I can compare All those scenes to this affair Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
“Situations” a critical, and problematical striking set of circumstances forced me into associating with Weberman “have ended sad” and have ended sadly for me as he got one over on me with his shenanigans “Relationships have all been bad” I should not have associated with Weberman in the first place “Mine’ve been like Verlaine’s and Rimbaud” my relationship with Weberman can best be described as being similar to that of French poet Arthur Rimbaud who became disenchanted with his relationship with his critic Paul Verlaine. During a drunken argument in Brussels, Verlaine shot at Rimbaud, hitting him once in the wrist “But there’s no way I can compare / All those scenes to this affair” but I can’t compare all that literary drama to the Dylan / Weberman affair since Verlaine never went through Rimbaud’s trash, he never brought a thousand Rimbaud fans to Rimbaud’s crib for Rimbaud’s 30th Birthday Party, etc. “Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.”
Yer gonna make me wonder what I’m doin’ Stayin’ far behind without you. Yer gonna make me wonder what I’m sayin’ Yer gonna make me give myself a good talkin’ to.
“Yer gonna make me wonder what I’m doin’” sarcastic; you are going to make me be filled with doubt” about “Stayin’ far behind without you”
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sarcastic; about being below the standard level, in an inferior position without your translations of my work “Yer gonna make me wonder what I’m sayin’” sarcastic; you are going to make me be filled with doubt about the meaning of my own poetry “Yer gonna make me give myself a good talkin’ to” more sarcasm; you’re going to make me feel guilty about the beliefs expressed therein.
I’ll look for you in old Honolulu San Francisco, Ashtabula Yer gonna have to leave me now, I know. But I’ll see you in the sky above In the tall grass, in the ones I love Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
“I’ll look for you in old Honolulu, San Francisco, Ashtabula” I will track you down and destroy you just the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor, just as the earthquake did that devastated San Francisco and just as the National Guard did when it shot students at Kent State which is located in Ashtabula, Ohio “Yer gonna have to leave me now, I know” you are finally going to have to depart for that happy garbology hunting ground “But I’ll see you in the sky above” but I will see you in something that is of the highest level and degree “In the tall” in the impressively great, difficult to understand and having a long duration “grass” grass roots people in America “in the ones I love” and also in the poems I love; Idiot Wind, “You hurt the ones that I love best / And cover up the truth with lies” “Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go” boy am I gonna miss Weberman!
All this murder talk was just that, talk; Dylan never acted on any of it because he did not want the Mafia blackmailing him for the rest of his life, but he sure thought about it a lot. After told Dylan that I was having Free Bob Dylan buttons printed up he assured me, “You’ll live through it, I’m sure you will live through all of it” I told him “Oh man I hope so man.” “You will it won’t do nothing, it will be good for you man it will be good for you. “What will be good for me?” “Having your picture with pig written on it, you know” “I fight pigs man” “Come on don’t give me that. You only fight to go through my garbage man.”
ISIS 1975
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I married Isis on the fifth day of May But I could not hold on to her very long. So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong. I came to a high place of darkness and light. The dividing line ran through the center of town. I hitched up my pony to a post on the right Went in to a laundry to wash my clothes down.
“I married Isis on the fifth day of May” I got married to Communist ideology early on in life when I was posing as a revolutionary. Cinco de Mayo: Mexican holiday commemorating revolution “But I could not hold on to her very long” but I could not keep in my mind, nor convey as a judgment, conviction, and point of view, this repulsive Communist ideology for very long “So I cut off” separated from others “my hair” my courage, strength “and I rode straight away” and immediately left “For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong” for the freedom of frontier American values, a time in our history when everything was on the Right politically “I came to a high place” I came to a place of great importance “of darkness and light” of Black people versus White people “The dividing line” the discussion about segregation “ran through the center” was centermost “of town” in New York City.
“I hitched up my pony” I married my poetry, which was basically a cheat sheet “to a post” to a position “on the right” on the Rightwing “Went in to a laundry” then tried to clean up my act “to wash” to rid myself of corruption and guilt; cleanse and purify myself “my clothes down” of my previous words praising Communism and race-mixing. But what happened next?
A man in the corner approached me for a match. I knew right away he was not ordinary. He said, “Are you lookin’ for somethin’ easy to catch?” I said, “I got no money.” He said, “That ain’t necessary.”
“A man in the corner” a man from a remote part of the political spectrum “approached me” began to work on me “for a match” to equally believe in the destructive ideology of Communism as he did “I knew right away he was not ordinary” from my position on the Right I immediately knew that he would not bring about the usual normal condition and course of events “He said, “Are you lookin’ for somethin’ easy to catch?” he said are you looking for an ideology that is easily understood? Like Communism? Are you looking to become infected with a virus? “I said, ‘I got no money’” sarcastic, I said I no longer have an imagination that works in that direction “He said, “That
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We set out that night for the cold in the North. I gave him my blanket, he gave me his word. I said, Where are we goin’? He said we’d be back by the fourth. I said, That’s the best news that I’ve ever heard.
“We set out” we set out ideas “that night for” about the current “the cold” murderous repression “in the North” in the Soviet Union; Seven Days, “My beautiful comrade from the north” “I gave him my blanket” I gave him the option to inhibit, suppress, and extinguish his views “he gave me his word” Tell Me That It Isn’t True 1969, “All I want is your word” Al gave me his idiotic interpretations of my poems “I said, ‘Where are we goin’?’” I said this relationship isn’t going anywhere “He said we’d be back by the fourth” he said the whole thing will be over by May 24, when I have a birthday party for you “I said, ‘That’s the best news that I’ve ever heard” overstatement, that is the worst news I ever heard.
FROM I MARRIED ISIS: “I was thinkin' about turquoise” I was thinking about a gemstone that is produced in South Africa “I was thinkin' about gold” I was thinking about South Africa, the largest producer of gold “I was thinkin' about diamonds” I was thinking about DeBeers diamonds, Dylan’s symbol for South Africa and apartheid “and the world's biggest necklace” and the South African blacks who put burning tires around the necks of informants working against the African National Congress The first victim of necklacing, according to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, was a young woman, Maki Skosana, on 20 July 1985. This poem was written in 1975! “As we rode” as we were sustained and supported “through the canyons” by the crater, the
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emptiness of Al’s mind “through the Devilish cold” through the fact that he had not gotten a clue to my views of race and twisted my thoughts around to support race mixing “cold” as informal (of a seeker) far from the object of a search “I was thinkin' about Isis, how she thought I was so reckless” I was thinking about the Left and how it would have labeled me the same way it did Barry Goldwater. Goldwater was characterized as being reckless in regard to United States – Soviet relations. Dylan would be labeled as being “reckless” when it came to race relations.
How she told me that one day we would meet up again And things would be different the next time we wed If I only could hang on and just be her friend. I still can’t remember all the best things she said.
“How she told me that one day we would meet up again” how she told me that one day we will fight the forces of reaction together again as we did in WWII “And things would be different the next time we wed” and the outcome would be different the next time we caused nations to adhere devotedly to Communism or Capitalism “If I only could hang on” if the US would just keep a telephone connection open, a hot line between Washington and Moscow “and just be her friend” and be an ally “I still can’t remember all the best things she said” I still can’t remember the best offers the Soviets made during disarmament negotiations with the United States since they were all inconsequential.
We came to the pyramids all embedded in ice. He said, “There’s a body I’m tryin’ to find. If I carry it out it’ll bring a good price.” ‘Twas then that I knew what he had on his mind
“We came to the pyramids” we came to Marxist economics, a few at the top and many on the bottom “all embedded” fixed firmly in a surrounding “in ice” of death “He said, ‘There’s a body I’m tryin’ to find’” Weberman told me that there’s a body of meaning in my poetry that he was trying to find, to uncover “If I carry it out it’ll bring a good price” and if I extract this meaning I can get a big advance from a liberal publisher “‘Twas then that I knew what he had on his mind” it then that I knew that I knew he was just another greedy Capitalist bastard with money on his mind and a phony- assed Communist.
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The wind it was howlin’ and the snow was outrageous. We chopped through the night and we chopped through the dawn. When he died I was hopin’ that it wasn’t contagious But I made up my mind that I had to go on.
“The wind it was howlin’” the destructive force was a howlin’ down the thoughts of other rock critics. Also that imbecile Weberman was a howl because he thought the line from All Along the Watchtower 1968 “two riders were approaching the wind began to howl” was “two writers were approaching the wind began to howl” and interpreted it as Dylan, author of Blowin In The Wind and Allen Ginsberg, author of Howl were coming together at least poetically. Dylan told Jann Wenner Weberman had ‘Ginsberg mixed up in there and he couldn’t even hear the words right’ “and the snow was outrageous” the references to heroin were well beyond the bounds of good taste, off the wall “We chopped through the night” Weberman cut my present poetry into small pieces, tore it to bits “and we chopped through the dawn” and he destroyed, tore to pieces, the quality; class, ‘first chop of my earlier work’ “dawn” first appearance; a beginning “When he died I was hopin’ that it wasn’t contagious” when he died out in popularity I was praying that his ideas would not spread to others as stupidity is contagious “But I made up my mind that I had to go on” but I made up my mind that I had to continue meeting with this idiot.
I broke into the tomb, but the casket was empty. There was no jewels, no nothin’, I felt I’d been had. When I saw that my partner was just bein’ friendly When I took up his offer I must-a been mad.
“I broke into the tomb” I broke into the prison song writing business like Johnny Cash did with Folsom Prison by writing a song about George Jackson. “but the casket was empty” but the person I was writing about was of no value “There was no jewels” there was no jewels of wisdom that deserved esteem “no nothin’” no one of consequence, significance, and interest “I felt I’d been had” I felt that I had been conned into writing George Jackson “When I saw that my partner” when I realized that my partner in crime in writing this song, George Jackson “was just bein’ friendly” was just being friendly when he killed at least six people and was capable of much worse “When I took up his offer I must-a been mad” when I wrote George Jackson 1971 at Weberman’s request I must have been mad!
“Partner” as partner in crime; Hurricane 1975 “Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops” Tarantula, “& pay for your partner & botheration—the shadow of your boss, it is your felony.”
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I picked up his body and I dragged him inside Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover. I said a quick prayer and I felt satisfied. Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her.
“I picked up” took into my mind and understood with speed “his body” the general thrust of the body of Al’s thought about George Jackson “and I dragged him inside” and I laboriously expressed it as if it was what was inside my mind “Threw him down in the hole” wrote about him in solitary confinement in prison “and I put back the cover” and I covered his plight as a journalist would “I said a quick prayer” I had filed a brief request of a complainant, I had written a protest song “and I felt satisfied” and any judgment made against me had been satisfied “Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her” sarcastic; then I tried to make peace with the Communists.
She was there in the meadow where the creek used to rise. Blinded by sleep and in need of a bed I came in from the East with the sun in my eyes. I cursed her one time then I rode on ahead.
“She was there in the meadow” she was still in America “where the creek used to rise” where the Native American people formerly inhabiting eastern Alabama, southwest Georgia, and northwest Florida known as the Creek fought losing battles “Blinded” unable and unwilling to perceive and understand “by sleep” by the people she had put in a period of inactivity “and in need of a bed” and in need of a sound foundation, like a constitution “I came in from the East” I back on the scene as a Communist, from the East, the former Communist bloc of countries in Asia and especially in Eastern Europe “with the sun in my eyes” with a person whose actions and opinions strongly influenced the course of events, George Jackson, in my thoughts “I cursed her onetime” I became a source of evil with this record “then I rode on ahead” then I continued in my normal path on horse.
“East” and “West” as Communist and Free World; Red River Shore 1997, “Well I been to the east and I been to the west / And I been out where the black winds roar” where the destructive Blacks are in a rage “Somehow though I never did get that far” understatement “With the girl from the red river shore” with the girl from the land where Communism is abundant. I Shall Be Released 1967, “I see my light come shining” I see my enlightenment making itself eminent, distinguishing itself “from the West” from the political thought of the Capitalist, Western Bloc NATO countries “to the East” to political propaganda of the Eastern Bloc Warsaw Pact nations led
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She said, Where ya been? I said, No place special. She said, You look different. I said, Well, not quite. She said, You been gone. I said, That’s only natural. She said, You gonna stay? I said, Yeah, I jes might.
“She said, ‘Where ya been?’ I said, ‘No place special’” I said no place where someone who holds my beliefs should not be “She said, ‘You look different’ I said, ‘Well, not quite’” I was always this way but you didn’t catch on “She said, ‘You been gone.’ I said, ‘That’s only natural’” of course having a particular character by nature I must oppose Socialism “She said, ‘You gonna stay?’ are you going to stay with the Left? “I said, ‘Yeah, I jes might’” this was very unlikely judging from the rural inflection of this last line.
Isis, oh, Isis, you mystical child What drives me to you is what drives me insane. I still can remember the way that you smiled On the fifth day of May in the drizzlin’ rain.
“Isis oh Isis you mystical child” Isis oh Isis you are confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle “What drives me to you” what forces me into a particular act such as posing as a Leftist “is what drives me insane” is what almost drove me to suicide, is what made me immoderate and wild “I still can remember the way that you smiled” although many years have passed I can still remember the way that you approved of me “On the fifth day of May in the drizzlin’ rain” when I was posing as a Leftist and hated you from the get go.
WHERE ARE YOU TONIGHT? (JOURNEY THROUGH DARK HEAT) 1978
There’s a long distance train rolling through the rain, Tears on the letter I write There’s a woman I long to touch and I miss her so much But she’s drifting like a satellite
There’s a long distance there is a difference or disagreement: The candidates could not be at a greater distance on this issue. train A staff of people following in attendance; a retinue rolling through the rain, the Dylan Liberation Front building momentum through the war tearing up To pull
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apart or into pieces by force; rend. The letters I write – my poetry There’s a woman I long to touch To lay hands on in violence: I never touched him! But I miss her so much To fail to hit, reach, catch, or otherwise make contact with but she’s drifting A general trend or tendency, as of opinion. Like a satellite. A subservient follower; a sycophant.
DYLAN ON WEBERMAN
Jann Wenner: There's a cat named Alan Weberman who writes in the East Village Other. He calls himself the world's leading Dylanologist. You know him?
Bob Dylan: No oh yes, I did. Is this the guy who tears up all my songs? Well, he oughta take a rest. He's way off. I saw something he wrote about All Along the Watchtower, and boy, let me tell you this boy is off. Not only did he create some kind of fantasy he had Allen Ginsberg in there – he couldn't even hear the words to the song right. Can you believe that? I mean this fellow couldn't even hear the words ...or something. I bet that he's a hard working fellow, though. I bet he really does a good job if he could find something to do, but it's too bad it's just my songs, cause I don't know if there's enough material in my songs
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to sustain someone who is really out to do a big job. You understand what I mean? I mean a fellow like that would be better off writing about Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky or FreudB ...doing a really big analysis of somebody who has countless volumes of writings. ut here's me, just a few records out. Somebody devoting so much time to those records, when there's such a wealth of material that hasn't even been heard or read...that escapes me. Does it escape you? I understand putting time into it, but I read this, in this East Village Other: I read it . . . and it was clever. And I got a kick out of reading it on some level, but I don't want to think anybody was taking it too seriously. You follow me?"
EARLIER ERRONEOUS TRANSLATION
“There’s a long-distance” a long standing difference and disagreement “train” about Civil Rights “rolling through the rain” gaining momentum in the hatred of the present time. This line is a rephrasing of one from Iron Train a- Traveling 1962, a poem about the Klan “there’s an iron train a-travelin’ it’s been rolling through the years with a fire box of hatred and a furnace full of fears” there’s an ironclad movement working and increasing through the years motivated by prejudice and fear “tears on the letter I write” and I get emotional when I write a poem about race “There’s a woman I long to touch” the are White people I wish to affect with my poems “and I miss her so much” but they miss what I am saying “but she’s drifting” but the guy that can translate it to plain English is catching the drift of my poetry “like a satellite” like someone under the influence of Soviet Communism. “Long- distance” as someone I have a major difference of opinion with; Long Distance Operator 1962, “Long-distance operator” owner or manager who is wrong to ignore my talent “Please, place this call” please find a slot in your organization for this song “you know it’s not for fun” you know I am dead serious “I gotta get a message to my baby” I gotta get a message to White folk “You know, she’s not just anyone” just because White comprise a majority of the population does not mean they should be forgotten. Chronicles “On the corner” when I was an unknown “I put the dime in the slot” I put my money, my imagination in the leftwing slot “and dialed the operator for long distance” and I auditioned in front of John Hammond, a liberal who’s views I opposed, in order to cut a record “called collect and the call went right through” a got a contract with Columbia Records quickly “I wanted everyone to know I was all right” sarcastic: I wanted everyone to know I was a rightist however that would have destroyed my career.
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There’s a neon light ablaze in the green smoky haze, And laughter down on Elizabeth Street And a lonesome bell tone in that valley of stone Where she bathed in a stream of pure heat
“There’s a neon light” there’s a superstar, Tell Me 1983, “Tell me, do those neon lights blind your eyes?” does stardom deprive your thoughts of perception and insight? “ablaze” emotionally aroused; ‘ablaze with anger’ “in this green” in this new to me but productive “smoky” really quick “smoke” to go and proceed at high speed, to smoke Weberman out “haze” hazing; beating “laughter” ridicule of the great revolutionary A. J. Weberman “down on Elizabeth Street” Dylan attacked me on Elizabeth Street between Bleecker and Houston “And a lonesome bell tone” the death bell tolled for A. J. Weberman and the Dylan Liberation Front as he faced the music; Can’t Escape From You 2008, “The dead bells are ringing” “in that valley of stone” in the city street surrounded by brick buildings that became the area where Weberman would finally be punished, “stoned” “where she bathed in a stream of pure heat” where that maggot bathed in a steady flow and succession of punches for a change rather than bathing in the spotlight. Also “pure” as racially pure; ‘pure White heat’.
Her father would emphasize you got to be more than street-wise but he practiced what he preached from the heart
A full-blooded Cherokee, he predicted it to me the time and the place it would start.
“Her father” “father” a clergyman; One Legged Terry, a religious Jew “would emphasize you got to be more than street-wise” you have to be religious not just secular “but he practiced what he preached from the heart” but unlike Weberman he was no hypocrite as he had no doubts about his belief in Judaism because they came from his heart, not his mind “A full-blooded Cherokee” an Orthodox Jew of unmixed ancestry “he predicted to me the time and the place that the trouble would start” he told me Weberman could not stay away from my trash.
There’s a babe in the arms of a woman in a rage And a longtime golden-haired stripper on stage And she winds back the clock and she turns back the page Of a book that nobody write Oh, where are you tonight?
“There’s a babe” a really good looking reporter, a Southern Belle “in the arms of a woman in a rage” being beaten up by Sarah Dylan, feeling Sarah
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Dylan’s powers “And a longtime golden-haired” and an old style, about to retire “stripper” photographer, as in strip of film “on stage” acting out some kind of drama “And she winds back the clock” and Sarah winds back and clocks the reporter “and she turns back” changes the direction of, the speed of, slows down, or stops entirely the efforts of “the page” the communist pageboy “of a book that no one can write” who is writing a book translating my poetry that is impossible for an idiot like Al to write “Oh, where are you tonight?
The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure, To live it you have to explode In the last hour of need, we entirely agreed, Sacrifice was the code of the road
“The truth” the truth of what was being said in my poetry “was obscure” was gleaned from an undistinguished and humble in station person, Ray Gooch “too profound” and it required great knowledge of Roman and Greek civilization to understand it; ‘Gooch had a profound knowledge of classic literature’ “and too pure” and Gooch’s thought was dependent on racial purity “to live it” to understand it “you have to explode” you have to show conventional thinking to be false and unreliable; ‘explode the hypothesis that racism is evil’ “In that last hour of need” at a time when someone really needs something, almost a last chance, such as the Blacks needing civil rights legislation “we entirely agreed” Gooch and I reached the same conclusion “sacrifice” human sacrifice by a bunch of uncivilized primitive African-American savages “was the code” was the law and the genetic code “of the road” of the course that their inferior lives took.
I left town at dawn, with Marcel and St. John, Strong men belittled by doubt I couldn’t tell her what my private thoughts were But she had some way of finding them out
“I left town” I left the New York City way of thinking “at dawn” when it dawned on me that President Kennedy was dangerous to America’s national interests and sided “with Marcel” Carlos Marcello, mafia boss involved in the coup “and St. John” pen name of E. Howard Hunt “strong men” mafia and CIA types “belittled by doubt” named by you as suspects in the Kennedy assassination “I couldn’t tell her what my private thoughts were” I couldn’t tell A. J. Weberman what I thought about the Kennedy assassination “but she had some way of finding them out” but I told his co-author Michael Canfield.
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He took dead-center aim but he missed just the same, She was waiting putting flowers on the shelf She could feel my despair as I climbed up her hair And discovered her invisible self
“He took dead-center aim” Kennedy attempted to take a hard line against Soviet Russia “but he missed just the same” but when it came to Cuba he was way off base “She was waiting” the Soviets were waiting to export Communism to the United States by “putting flowers on the shelf” putting what they believed to be the best examples of Communism on the North American continental shelf, namely Cuba “She could feel my despair” I was overcome by a sense of futility and defeat “as I climbed” rose to a higher point and intensity “up her hair” because of Kennedy’s lack of strength and courage during the Bay of Pigs invasion “And discovered her invisible self” and discovered Kennedy’s actions were what caused the invisible government to terminate him with extreme prejudice.
There’s a lion in the road, there’s a demon escaped There’s a million dreams gone, there’s a landscape being raped As her beauty fades and I watch her undrape I won’t but then again, maybe I might Oh, if I could just find you tonight.
“There’s a lion” a fierce bestial human being “in the road” who has injected himself into the course people take in their lives “there’s a demon escaped” the demon, the godless ideology of Communism is taking over the world “There’s a million dreams gone” millions of people’s ideals of freedom and liberty have been destroyed by totalitarianism “there’s a landscape being raped” and the Soviets have a favorable balance of trade with their Soviet satellite enslaved nations “As her beauty fades” as I watch John Kennedy grow uglier and uglier in my mind “and I watch her undrape” and I watch the flag removed from his coffin “I won’t, but then again, maybe I might” I won’t say I was happy that he was assassinated, but then again, heck why not, I just might. “Oh, if I could just find you tonight” sarcastic; Dylan doesn’t care who killed Kennedy because he was happy to see him go.
I fought with my twin, that enemy within, ‘til both of us fell by the way Horseplay and disease is killing me by degrees While the law looks the other way
“I fought with my twin that enemy within” I fought with something that I had been paired together with, my heroin addiction “‘til both of us fell by the way” till we both ‘fell by the wayside’ the addiction was no longer active and
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I was a Christian, Mathew 13 “and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side” “Horseplay” playing around with heroin “and disease” and addiction “is killing me by degrees” could kill me if I overdose; “degree” relative intensity of a bag of heroin “while the law” while a certain procedure used to inject heroin into the bloodstream “looks the other way” looks like it is safe when it is really not.
Your partners in crime hit me up for nickels and dimes, The man you were loving couldn’t never get clean It felt outa place, my foot in his face, But he should-a stayed where his money was green
“Your partners in crime” John Lennon and Yoko Ono, a married couple who were financing your criminal activities such as starting riots at the Republican Convention in Miami “hit me up for nickels and dimes” hit me up for nickel and dime bags of scag “the man you were loving couldn’t never get clean” even your good buddy John Lennon who you were seeing regularly was an addict who tried unsuccessfully to go cold turkey. I was singled out for punishment for using smack! “It felt outa place my foot in his face” it felt like I was violating a Jewish Defense League rule not to attack another Jew by beating Weberman up “but he should-a stayed where his money was green” but he should have used his imagination for something more productive than persecuting me for my political beliefs and for my having a substance abuse problem.
I bit into the root of forbidden fruit With the juice running down my leg Then I dealt with your boss, who’d never known about loss And who always was too proud to beg
“I bit into” took and swallowed the bait “the root” the progenitor or ancestor from which an ideology is descended, Karl Marx “of forbidden fruit” of Communism “With the juice” slang; the influence “running down” destroying “my leg” my justifiable and logical basis for defense; support for having done this “Then I dealt with your boss” then I dealt with Communist Party “who’d never known about loss” who never lost an election in the Soviet Union “And who always was too proud to beg” and who never had to electioneer, campaign for public office.
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There’s a white diamond gloom on the dark side of this room And a pathway that leads up to the stars If you don’t believe there’s a price for this sweet paradise, Just remind me to show you the scars.
“There’s a white diamond gloom” there is an all encompassing theme about my unhappiness with the oppression of the White race “on the dark of this room” perpetrated by the darkies who live violent, wasted lives “And a pathway” and a well trodden path “that leads up to the stars” that leads to death if you make the mistakes of the past “If you don’t believe there’s a price for this sweet paradise” if you don’t believe that you will pay a price for what you consider to be a moral America, “paradise” as the Garden of Eden “Just remind me to show you the scars” just remind me to show you that the African-Americans are a lingering sign of the damage caused over the issue of slavery during the Civil War.
There’s a new day at dawn and I’ve finally arrived If I’m there in the morning, baby, you’ll know I’ve survived I can’t believe it, I can’t believe I’m alive But without you it just doesn’t seem right Oh, where are you tonight?
“There’s a new day” there’s a new period of influence coming into my life; Christianity. In Fort Worth, November 24, 1978 Dylan was seen wearing a large metallic cross on stage. Two days later in Houston he altered four lines of Tangled Up In Blue, “She opened up the Bible / And she started in quoting it to me / Gospel according to Matthew / Verse 3, Chapter 33” “at dawn” when the truth finally dawned upon me about where I was at in life when it came to my religious beliefs “and I’ve finally arrived” and I have finally arrived at the truth “If I’m there in the morning” if I begin this new period “baby, you’ll know I’ve survived” you know that I have survived the perilous road of addiction “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe I’m alive” I can’t believe that I lived through it, with all its pitfalls, air bubbles in the bloodstream, overdosing, hepatitis etc “But without you it just doesn’t seem right” sarcastic; but without A. J. Weberman not having convinced me to stop using dope, rather than Jesus, there is something wrong with my moral reformation “Oh, where are you tonight?” Sweet Jesus, come to me!
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DURING HIS SPEECH AT THE MUSICARE AWARDS DYLAN MAKES REFERENCE TO THE TIME HE PINNED ME DOWN TO THE GROUND
All these songs are connected. Don't be fooled. I just opened up a different door in a different kind of way. It's just different, saying the same thing. I didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary.
Dylan was writing songs with racist subcontent from the get go including the all time favorite Blowin’ in the Wind. Of course I don’t expect you to believe this but it is true nonetheless. When he switched to rock and roll the same subcontent was embedded.
Well you know, I just thought I was doing something natural, but right from the start, my songs were divisive for some reason. They divided people. I never knew why. Some got angered, others loved them. Didn't know why my songs had detractors and supporters. A strange environment to have to throw your songs into, but I did it anyway.
They were divisive okay in that they favored dividing people – the Whites on one Side and the Blacks on the other. Just as we have today because integration in America did not pan out. Some rock poets who were aware of Dylan’s racist subcontent were angry that their role model turned out to be Jewish cracker; others were happy about it. He knew why, because of the issue of race, his songs had detractors and supporters it was a hot button issue and still is. The world of other rock poets, who tended to be liberal or radical like John Lennon was a strange environment to preach racism in, but he did it anyway but throwing his songs in with the others. Fact is most
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ordinary folk didn’t have a clue to what Dylan was singing about nor did I until one day I finally figured it out from the line in Please Crawl Out Your Window “he looks so righteous but your face (race) is so changed.” I knew face was race from When the Ship Comes In – “the sun will respect every face on the deck” blah blah.
Last thing I thought of was who cared about what song I was writing. I was just writing them. I didn't think I was doing anything different. I thought I was just extending the line.
The last thing I thought of was that an AJ Weberman would come along and claim to care about the apolitical overt content of the songs I was writing. I thought I was just doing the same racist schtick I had always done.
Maybe a little bit unruly, but I was just elaborating on situations. Maybe hard to pin down, but so what? A lot of people are hard to pin down and you’ve just got to bear it. In a sense everything evened itself out.
When Dylan jumped me perhaps he was a bit unruly but he was just reacting to my having had a run in with his wife earlier that day. Maybe I would be hard to pin down to the ground but he had to take that chance. True Weberman might have been hard to pin down but I could no longer bear it. I got even with him that day for all of his shenanigans.
SLOW TRAIN 1979
I had a woman down in Alabama, She was a backwoods girl, but she sure was realistic, She said, “Boy, without a doubt, have to quit your mess and straighten out, You could die down here, be just another accident statistic.” There’s a slow, slow train comin’ up around the bend.
“I had a woman down in Alabama” I knew someone when I was enslaved by drugs “She was a backwoods girl” she got my poetry backwards, making me into a Leftist when in reality I was far to the Right, she played my poetry backwards “but she sure was realistic” but despite Weberman’s inability to understand my poetry he was right on about certain things “She said, ‘Boy, without a doubt, have to quit your messin’ and straighten out’” say boy, you gots to quit messin’ with dope, get yourself straight son! “You could die down here, be just another accident statistic” you could OD and become another dead rock star “There’s a slow, slow train comin’ up around the bend” there’s an idea that took a long time to take hold “around the bend” coming to cure my insanity. When someone is “around the bend” they are nuts.
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“Backwards” as backward masking; I played “Oh winds which rush my tail to thee so it may flow and be” from If Dogs Run Free 1970 backwards and came up with “If Mars invades us” and I played “Ain’t no reason to go into town” from Time Passes Slowly 1970 backwards and came up with ‘Don’t expose me.’
I asked Dylan about this during the Weberman / Dylan Telephone Conversation and he said, “I never said don’t expose me in New Morning what’s that?” I told him “You play a part of it backwards…” and he responded, “And it says don’t expose me? Oh fuck man Jesus why don’t you play an Andy Williams record backwards?” A. J.: “You know that it is there as well as I do because you put it there!” Dylan sighed twice. I sent news of this to Jann Wenner and it was covered by Rolling Stone. It was the first reported instance of backward masking.
MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS 1979
He saw an animal leavin’ a muddy trail Real dirty face and a curly tail. He wasn’t too small and he wasn’t too big. “Ah, think I’ll call it a pig.”
“He saw an animal” a human considered with respect to his physical, as opposed to spiritual, nature “leavin’ a muddy trail” leaving a muddy confused, as if turbid with mud; cloudy in mind, dull, stupid trailing of articles and activities “Real dirty face” a real dirty Jew “and a curly tail” who told a contemptuous tale. Also from an Orthodox background, ‘curly tail’ as in side locks. “He wasn’t too small” he could not be ignored; Went to See the Gypsy 1970 “I went down to the lobby / To make a small call out” “and he wasn’t too big” and he met with considerable success “Ah, think I’ll call it a pig.”
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“Pig” as journalist, critic A. J. Weberman; during a tape-recorded telephone conversation between Dylan and me, Dylan jokingly stated that he was going to write a song about me, and many a true word is said in jest. “Awww, you don’t stand behind anything you say, man.” “Sure I do.” “You don’t stand behind your old songs, man, that’s for sure.” “Man, I’m gonna do an article on you. I think I want to write a song about you, too.” “Well, I could use the publicity.” “Yeah, well, that’s one reason why I am not, but I got a good song if I ever want to do one.” “What’s it called?” “It’s called Pig.” “I’m a pig, eh?” “Yeah” “Ah, bullshit I’m a pig, man.” “Yeah, man.” “You’re the one who’s a pig.” “Oh no, not at all, not at all, I don’t think I want to write it, just because of that publicity thing, I don’t dig that at all, but I got the song, man, I’ll sing it for you. Well, I don’t have it finished actually, but ah…”
Also pig as someone who goes through garbage and pig as a cop.
By 1980 I had left Youth International Party and hooked up with the Jewish Defense Organization. I began to participate in the fight against racism, which was what drew me to the Left in the first place, having been born a Jew in 1945. The Jewish Defense Organization is based on the principles of Zev Jabotinsky, who Dylan made reference to in Tough Mama 1973. Dylan and I came closest to accord on this issue, however, as was to be expected, Dylan’s commitment to Israel “was over pretty fast.” One would think that almost fifteen years after the fact Dylan would have forgotten about A. J. Weberman?
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WHEN THE NIGHT COMES FALLING FROM THE SKY 1985***
Look out across the fields, see me returning, Smoke is in your eye, you draw a smile. From the fireplace where my letters to you are burning, You’ll have time to think about it for a while.
“Look out across the fields” look out across the battlefield, look out across your pot fields, your field of pot dealing “see me returning” and see me returning to haunt you “Smoke is in your eye” marijuana is on your brain “you draw” attract “a smile” approval from your customers “From the fireplace where my letters to you are burning” from the urgent messages I have been sending, from the place where I destroy earlier drafts of my work so you cannot retrieve them in my garbage “You’ll have time to think about it for a while” you’ll have plenty of prison time to think about my warnings because you are going to be there for quite a while.
Well, I’ve walked two hundred miles, now look me over, It’s the end of the chase and the moon is high. It won’t matter who loves who, You’ll love me or I’ll love you When the night comes falling from the sky.
“Well, I’ve walked two hundred miles” I have never gotten busted for years “now look me over” now you have to admit this “It’s the end of the chase” the Feds are after you “and the moon is high” and the bootlegging continues, the moonshine is getting sold “It won’t matter who loves who” it won’t matter if you love someone or not in prison “You’ll love me or I’ll love you” because you will be raped “When the night comes falling sky” when the authorities of the highest order come apprehend you.
I can see through your walls and I know you’re hurting, Sorrow covers you up like a cape. Only yesterday I know that you’ve been flirting With disaster that you managed to escape.
“I can see through your walls” I can penetrate your security “and I know you’re hurting” I realize you are still hurting from the horror of the Holocaust “Sorrow covers Europe like a cape” the Nazis had turned Europe into a homogenous tract of land protruding in water “Only yesterday I know that you’ve been flirting” only recently I heard that you have been behaving carelessly “With disaster” with ruin and misfortune, a federal indictment
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“that you managed” made submissive to your persuasion, kept things in check “to escape” to avoid.
I can’t provide for you no easy answers, Who are you that I should have to lie? You’ll know all about it, love It’ll fit you like a glove When the night comes falling from the sky.
“I can’t provide for you no easy answers” I can’t make possible the easy answers you want to hear about racism, I can only give you answers that will put you ill at ease “provide” make possible: a bill providing for stiffer penalties for racial discrimination “Who are you that I should have to lie?” you are White, you are a fellow Jew, you are not a African-American why can’t you accept a racist theory that puts you on top, like one formulated by William Shockley? “You’ll know all about it, love” you learn about violence against Jews by Blacks, about racists “It’ll fit you like a glove” and you will learn that you fall into the category of people who deserve to be subject to it, it will fit you like an anal cavity search, like a big black dick up your ass “When the night comes falling from the sky” after the FBI finally catches up with you.
I can hear your trembling heart beat like a river You must have been protecting someone last time I called. I’ve never asked you for nothing you couldn’t deliver I’ve never asked you to set yourself up for a fall.
“I can hear your” A. J. Weberman’s “trembling” full of fear and anxiety “heart” most important and essential part “beat” beat the drum for freedom “like a river” in great abundance “You must have been protecting someone” you must have been acting as your own lawyer “last time I called” the last time I called to order marijuana or while a mutual friend, perhaps Lord Oliver Foot, called in while I listened in “I’ve never asked you for nothing you couldn’t deliver” all I asked you for was some weed which you could easily deliver wherein you asked me for something I could not deliver, as one delivers a performance, you asked me to deliver revolutionary songs when I did not believe in them “I’ve never asked you to set yourself up for a fall” and I never asked you to deliberately get yourself busted however this is what you were asking me to do when you wanted me to be part of the anti-war movement while I was addicted to heroin and subject to arrest.
“Protection” as an attorney “I Shall Be Released 1967, “They say every man needs protection / They say that every man must fall” take a fall, slang for
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being busted “But I swear I see my reflection” but I swear I see my connection “somewhere so high above this wall” on the street and wasted.
I saw thousands who could have overcome the darkness For the love of a lousy buck, I’ve watched them die. Stick around, baby, we’re not through Don’t look for me, I’ll see you When the night comes falling from the sky.
“I saw thousands who could have overcome the darkness” I saw thousands who could have gained insight into the true nature of the American Buck Negro “For the love of a lousy buck” but because the one who translated the poetry was a African-American lover “I’ve watched them die” these thoughts have died out in America “Stick around, baby, we’re not through” keep making a stab at understanding my poetry, don’t get stuck, stabbed with an improvised knife, a shiv, good buddy “Don’t look for me” don’t expect me to be there “I’ll see you” but you will be “When the night comes falling from the sky.”
In your teardrops, I can see my own reflection It was on the northern border of Texas where I crossed the line. I don’t want to be a fool starving for affection I don’t want to drown in someone else’s wine.
“In your teardrops, I can see my own reflection” in your sorrowful emotional thoughts about the Holocaust I can see some ideas that I reflected upon when I was in the Jewish Defense League and wanted to join the squad that beat up Nazis, ideas that we have in common “It was on the northern border of Texas where I crossed the line” it was the Holocaust in Germany that brought me into contact with the violence prone Jewish Defense League “I don’t want to be a fool starving for affection” I don’t want to be an obsequious Jewish politician begging the gentiles for their affection “I don’t want to drown” I don’t want to be killed as the Egyptians were “in someone else’s” in the Jewish establishment’s “wine” whine, childish protest, I do not want to fall victim to a Jewish leadership similar to that of the European Jews during the Holocaust.
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For all eternity I think I will remember That icy wind that’s howling in your eye. You will seek me and you’ll find me In the wasteland of your mind When the night comes falling from the sky.
For all eternity I think I will remember” contradictory sentence construction “for all eternity” and “I think I will” Dylan will forget about “That icy” murderous “ice” slang, to kill; murder “wind” that which disrupts and destroys “that’s howling” drowning out other thoughts “in your eye” in your mind; that deathly destructive force that shifted against the Jews; what happened to the Jews at the hands of Hitler “You will seek me” if you continue to investigate my poetry “and you’ll find me” you will discover “In the wasteland of your mind” that I am not that much different than T.S. Eliot in my evaluation of the Jews “When the night comes falling from the sky” when it finally dawns upon you what my poetry is about.
“Neptune” as the Navy; Tarantula, “& into the march now” into the truth about the Freedom Now! Civil Rights Movement “where poverty” inferior quality and inadequacy “a perfection of neptune’s unused clients” perfected by those Blacks who have not enlisted and are on welfare “client” a person using the services of a social services agency “plays hide & seek” gets involved in mugging “& escaping into the who goes there?” and escapes into ‘Who goes there?’” who goes there friend or foe?’ Blacks living in the ghetto make distinctions between Black (friend) and White (foe). They consider the police their foes and will not rat on a brother especially if the crime he committed was against the Whiteman. They are tribalistic and uncivilized. Jakob Dylan; Invisible City, “invisible city where no one sees nothin’.”
This invisible city Where no one sees nothing We're touching faces in the dark Feelin' pretty is so hard
“This invisible city” this city within a city, this inner city “Where no one sees nothing” where crime goes unreported “We're touching faces in the dark” we are talking about a race of darkies “Feelin' pretty is so hard’ feeling good about them being here is so hard.
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The imitation of good faith Is how you stumble upon hate It may have been the first of mistakes When we held on too loosely Then opened the gates
“The imitation of good faith” you try to keep an open mind or at least pretend to do so “Is how you stumble upon hate” is how you come across Black racism. “It may have been the first of mistakes” it might have been one of a number of errors “When we held on too loosely” when he let the reigns slip “Then opened the gates” then let the Blacks out of the ghetto.
Dylan had this to say about Pound and Eliot in Chronicles, “In [Archibald MacLeish’s] letter, he made mention of some lines in a song of mine that places T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound symbolically fighting in a captain’s tower. “Pound and Eliot were too scholastic, weren’t they?” he says. What I know about Pound is that he was a Nazi sympathizer in World War II and did anti- American broadcasts from Italy. I never did read him. I liked T. S. Eliot. He was worth reading. Archie says, ‘I knew them both. Hard men. We have to go through them. But I know what you mean when you say they are fighting in a captain’s tower.’” Tarantula, “a blond that looks like ezra pound.” When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky continues,
Well, I sent you my feelings in a letter But you were gambling for support. This time tomorrow I’ll know you better When my memory is not so short.
“Well, I sent you my feelings in a letter” I told you exactly what I believe in a message embedded in my poetry “But you were gambling for support” but you were engaging in reckless and hazardous behavior to support your cause “This time tomorrow I’ll know you better” in the distant future I might understand what you are really about “When my memory is not so short” after the bad taste in my mouth left as a result of my experiences with you disappears.
This time I’m asking for freedom Freedom from a world which you deny. And you’ll give it to me now I’ll take it anyhow
“This time I’m asking for freedom” this time I, instead of the African- Americans, I am asking for liberation from oppression “Freedom from a world that you deny” freedom to take the heroin that you deny yourself; I
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Threw It All Away 1969, “Love is all there is” junk is all there is “Love and any only love it can’t be denied” “And you’ll give it to me now” and just like the Blacks, I want FREEDOM to get high NOW! “I’ll take it anyhow” and just like Blacks if you refuse I will take it by any means necessary “When the night comes falling from the sky” while you languish in prison.
In order to prevent that night from fallin’ from the sky in October 1985 I went into exile in Israel where I was granted citizenship under the Law of Return. A FBI and IRS informer had lied and told his handlers I was putting out contracts on Nazi war criminals living in America. On August 15, 1985, a neighbor alerted the Nazi war criminal Tscherim Soobzokov his car was on fire outside his home. When he opened his door, a pipe bomb exploded, ripping into the 60-year-old’s lower right leg. He died two weeks later. The JDO had been demonstrating outside his home prior to the event. A month later, a similar bombing occurred in front of the Long Island home of Elmars Sprogis. The JDO had demonstrated there too! Sprogis wasn’t hit, but a rock musician who warned him lost his leg. Springsteen later did a benefit for this musician. A bombing against an Arab-American center in California followed where Alex Odeh was martyred. All the bombs were of the same materials, federal records say. Although I had no prior knowledge of these events I was the subject of an investigation by the Narco-Terrorism Committee of the House of Representatives, the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS and a special 20-agent task force of the FBI. It was not long before these investigative agencies realized that I never gave anyone any money to rid America of genocidal scum, not to that degree anyway. During its investigation, the IRS discovered that I did not file taxes during the Vietnam War years. That however, was resolved after an associate of mine agreed to testify against Lyndon LaRouche and I agreed to pay back taxes. I returned to the United States around September 1986 and the actor, Steven Segal, helped me get my business back.
Dylan knew every detail of my travail via his spy, the late Lord Oliver Foot, the nephew of Michael Foot, the former head of the British Labor Party. Oliver was born in 1946, in Kingston, Jamaica, the son of Sir Hugh Foot, later Lord Caradon. He was a cowboy in Wyoming, the director of a hippy theatre company in Cornwall that dramatized Cornish legends with the aid of giant puppets, and a lobbyist for the International Union for Ladies’ Garment Makers in New York. In 1975 after a conversion to evangelical Christianity he joined L’Abri Fellowship, an international Christian group. He often preached in his local churches in Cornwall and Jamaica. I met Oliver through the late James Wilde, a war correspondent for Time Magazine. Oliver ran Project Orbis, a group that trained doctors to cure blindness in Third World Countries. Orbis has treated more than 4.4 million blind people and trained more than 154,000 eye-care professionals in more than 85 countries
V1-582 worldwide, and Foot helped to raise more than $200 million for the charity. Both Dylan and I were contributors to Project Orbis. The Times of London reported, “He had a wide circle of close but socially disparate friends.” Oliver loved to get high and bought pot from me.
Unfortunately he had purchased marijuana from me using personal checks and when the IRS retrieved all my bank records Oliver was interviewed by the Bureau. He told them he had purchased books from me, however, they did not believe him and told him to come into FBI Headquarters for questioning. He took the Fifth and the FBI let him go, praising the work that he did. It was not until 2006 that Oliver told me he was close friends with Dylan. The last time I talked to Oliver he wanted to cop amphetamine as he had a lot of work to do that involved staying up for long hours. I told him that amphetamine was a dangerous drug and I was opposed to its distribution. On February 6, 2008 Oliver died of an overdose of crack cocaine.
CONGRATULATIONS OCTOBER 1988
Congratulations for breaking my heart Congratulations for tearing it all apart Congratulations you finally did succeed Congratulations for leaving me in need
“Congratulations for breaking my heart” mazeltov for “breaking” destroying rather than finding the solution and key to; ‘breaking the code’ of my poetry “Congratulations for tearing it all apart” sarcastic; congratulations for separating the words in my poetry in your quest to understand their meaning and in the process destroying the poems “Tear” is a recurrent word when Dylan makes reference to my work, but he fails to provide me with an alternative. “Congratulations you finally did succeed” sarcastic congratulations you failed “Congratulations for leaving me in need” congratulations for leaving me in need of someone who can actually do this.
This morning I looked out my window and found A bluebird singing but there was no one around At night I lay alone in my bed With an image of you goin’ around in my head
“This morning I looked out my window and found” recently I looked into the window into your life a mutual friend provides me with and I discovered “A bluebird singing” a performer who was happy was singing “but there was no one around” because Weberman was no longer around! “At night I lay alone in my bed” when I get high, Lay Lady Lay 1969, “Lay Lady Lay, lay across
V1-583 my big brass bed, stay lady stay, stay while the night is still a head” “With an image of you” with a mental picture of something not real or present, like you “goin’ around in my head” making me happy along with the drug.
“Bluebird” as bluebird of happiness; to the Left in Up To Me 1974, “Everything went from bad to worse, money never changed a thing, Death kept followin’, trackin’ us down, at least I heard your bluebird sing.”
Congratulations for bringing me down Congratulations now I’m sorrow bound Congratulations you got a good deal Congratulations how good you must feel
“Congratulations for bringing me down” thanks for being a total buzz kill and returning to the United States “Congratulations now I’m sorrow bound” you are homeward bound and I am sorrow bound
“Congratulations you got a good deal” US Attorney and Criminal Division head William Weld gave you a good deal “Congratulations how good you must feel” how good you must feel not to have to go a federal prison.
I guess that I must have loved you more than I ever knew My world is empty now cause it don’t have you And if I had just one more chance to win your heart again I would do things differently but what’s the use to pretend
“I guess that I must have loved you more than I ever knew” sarcastic; I guess I must have hated you more than I first realized since I wanted to see you get locked up. “My world is empty now cause it don’t have you” sarcastic; my poetry lacks substance, meaning and purpose since you are no longer on the scene “And if I had just one more chance to win your heart again” and if I had another chance to put a bullet in your heart again “I would do things differently” I would go through with it this time “but what’s the use to pretend” but what’s the use to fantasize.
Congratulations for making me wait Congratulations now it’s too late Congratulations you came out on top Congratulations you never did know when to stop
“Congratulations for making me wait” Mazeltov for taming “the lion in my cage” and making me postpone your demise “Congratulations now it’s too late” it’s all water under the bridge by now and nothing can change the past,
V1-584 even your death “Congratulations you came out on top” Congratulations you came out in a successful position “Congratulations you never did know when to stop” you never knew when to stop dealing reefer, stop fighting Nazis, stop being an extremist.
TWEETER & THE MONKEY MAN 1988
Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man
“Tweeter” Dylan the folksinger without a bass line “tweeter” a loudspeaker that reproduces higher audio frequency sounds “and the Monkey Man” and the Bob Dylan that the Communists made a monkey out of “were hard up for cash” needed something timely to exploit, to cash in on; Foot of Pride 1983, “There’s a retired businessman named Red” the Communists “cast down from heaven and he’s out of his head / He feeds off of everyone that he can touch” he preys on everyone he can affect emotionally with his rhetoric, hit up for dues “He said he only deals in cash…” and he claims that he only deals in preventing exploitation “They stayed up all night” they were the feature act “selling cocaine” selling songs like Cocaine Blues “and hash” and reworkings and restatements of already familiar material “To an undercover cop” to an undercover pig named A. J. Weberman who bought it hook line and sinker “who had a sister named Jan” “sister” a African-American woman or girl, the struggle for racial equality “For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man” sarcastic; it was easily explained, Dylan wrote songs like Blowin’ In The Wind 1963.
Tweeter was a boy scout before she went to Vietnam And found out the hard way nobody gives a damn They knew that they found freedom just across the Jersey Line So they hopped into a stolen car took Highway 99
“Tweeter” Dylan the folksinger “was a boy scout” was naïve Tarantula “he’ll be teaching a boy scout the Ten Commandments” “before she went to Vietnam” before he visited the ghetto “And found out the hard way” and learned through his own experience “nobody gives a damn” that no one gave a damn if someone robs you or attacks you if you are White “They knew that they found freedom” Tweeter and the Monkey Man; Dylan the communist cow-tower and his folk singing counterpart knew that they had found something to exploit that would make them famous, the desire of the Blacks for freedom “just across the Jersey Line” and that the best place to
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do this was New York City “So they hopped” jumped on the bandwagon “into a stolen car took Highway 99” and publically hooked up with the Communists.
“Vietnam” as the ghetto; Liner Notes to Highway 61 Revisited 1966, “then he rips off his blanket an’ suddenly becomes a middle-aged druggist up for district attorney he starts screaming at me you’re the one. you’re the one that’s been causing all them riots over in vietnam. immediately turns t’ a bunch of people an’ says if elected, he’ll have me electrocuted publicly on the next fourth of july.”
“Jersey Line” as New York City; Liner Notes To Desire 1976, “like a dancing bullet thru the secret streets of a hot New Jersey night filled with venom and wonder” like a militant folksinger in the mythical streets of a hot New York entertainment scene filled with hatred for Bob Dylan then wonder.
“Car thieves” as Communist revolutionaries, Tarantula; “cant you figure out all this commie business for yourself? you know, like how long can car thieves terrify the nation?” Tarantula, “the hopped up table of worldly wiggies & unpatriotics & the slut madonna with her squatter’s rights & everybody sexy” crazy “& picking on the car thieves.”
The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man Even back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can Jan got married at fourteen to a racketeer named Bill She made secret calls to the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill
“The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man” A. J. Weberman, the pig, never trusted Dylan even when he was a Communist stooge “Even back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can” and if he could have, he would have gone through Bobby Zimmerman’s trash in Hibbing, Minnesota, and literally “seen him in the can” “Jan got married at fourteen” the Leftwing Civil Rights Movement became closely associated with the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution that provides a broad definition of citizenship, overruling Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) which had excluded slaves, and their descendants, from possessing Constitutional rights. The 14th Amendment was used in the mid-20th century to dismantle racial segregation in the United States, as in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) “to a racketeer named Bill” to the Democratic Party that pushed the civil rights bill “She made secret calls” she made secret claims on a person’s time and life; ‘The call of duty’ “to the Monkey Man” to Dylan the stooge “from a mansion on the hill” and told him to come to Washington D.C. to sing at the August 1963 historical civil rights gathering at the Lincoln Memorial adjoining Capitol Hill.
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It was out on thunder road—Tweeter at the wheel They crashed into paradise—they could hear them tires squeal The undercover cop pulled up and said “Everyone of you’s a liar If you don’t surrender now it’s gonna go down to the wire
“It was out on thunder road” it was heading for a big disaster “Tweeter at the wheel” Dylan the folksinger making the records “They crashed into paradise” they entered uninvited into Socialist thinking as in ‘workers paradise’ “they could hear them tires” records “squeal” betray this “The undercover cop pulled up and said ‘Everyone of you’s a liar’” Weberman came on the scene and in a Brooklyn accent said you didn’t really believe in what youse was singing cause youse is a liar “If you don’t surrender now” and if you don’t give over and resign yourself to something, as pertains to your politics “it’s gonna go down to the wire” I am going to give derogatory information on you to the wire services like the Associated Press.
An ambulance rolled up—a state trooper close behind Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind The undercover cop was left tied up to a tree Near the souvenir stand by the old abandoned factory
“An ambulance” a slave to the Soviet Union “rolled up” rolled up his operation “a state trooper close behind” a member of the Socialist State musical troop like Pete Seeger on his case “Tweeter took his gun away” Dylan the folksinger took his acoustic guitar away “and messed up his mind” and angered the Communist Commissars “The undercover cop was Left tied up” Weberman the Leftist was kept occupied and engaged “to a tree” some poetry, to his punishment “Near the souvenir stand” near Dylan’s old relics and keepsakes, his protest songs, where he took a Leftwing political stand “by the old abandoned factory” next to where Dylan once mass produced on an assembly line, cranked out, these Old Left classics.
“Ambulance” as slave; Tarantula, “& feeding their summers by conversing with poor people’s shadows & other ambulance drivers” “driver” as in ‘slave driver’ Desolation Row “And the only sound that’s Left” and the only music that is Leftist “After the ambulances go” after the Communist slaves lose their popularity “Is Cinderella sweeping up” is anti-Communist Bob Dylan collecting royalties “On Desolation Row” in the desolate word of folk music. Pledging My Time 1966; “Well, they sent for the ambulance” the Left sent for a slave “And one was sent” and Dylan appeared “Somebody got lucky” the Left was fortunate to have him writing songs for them “But it was an accident” it was an unexpected and undesirable event, one resulting in damage and harm to America but at the same time it made Dylan rich “Now, I’m pledging” I am now guaranteeing by a solemn binding promise; ‘a
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loyalty oath’ Also “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America” “my time to you” my life and work to White people “Hopin’ you’ll come through too” hoping that you will reciprocate.
Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit He was taking the whole thing personal He didn’t care about the loot Jan had told him many times it was you to me who taught In Jersey anything’s legal as long as you don’t get caught
“Next day the undercover cop was hot” soon
A. J. Weberman became aroused with intense interest, excitement and controversy “in pursuit” and engaged in an activity, such as a vocation carried out regularly; namely going through my garbage “He was taking the whole thing personal” he was more interested in my personal effects “He didn’t care about the loot” he didn’t care about the poetry, the politics “Jan had told him many times it was you to me who taught” the militants had reminded Weberman many times that Weberman had himself made this a rule, “In Jersey” in world of revolutionary politics “anything’s legal as long as you don’t get caught” even going through someone’s trash is acceptable behavior as long as you are smart enough to get away with it. “By any means necessary” is a famous Black Panther slogan.
Someplace by Rahway prison they ran out of gas The undercover cop had cornered them said Boy, you didn’t think that this could last Jan jumped out of bed said, there’s someplace I gotta go She took a gun out of the drawer and said it’s best if you don’t know
“Someplace by Rahway prison” because of Black crime, because of African- Americans like George Jackson “they ran out of gas” Tweeter and the Monkey Man were sorry that there seemed to have been a shortage of gas that should have been used in gas chambers to gas the African-Americans “The undercover cop that cornered them” Weberman who cornered the market on anti-Dylan sentiment “said Boy, you didn’t think that this could last” you didn’t think you could go on with this con, singing songs that are diametrically the opposite of what you believe “Jan jumped out of bed” the Civil Rights Movement came to life again and “said there’s someplace I gotta go” I gotta take, and believe me, you don’t want to go there “She took a gun out of the drawer” she wanted to disarm a group of people with some qualities in common, the Israelis “and said it’s best if you don’t know” it is best if Weberman, a Jews doesn’t know that the African-Americans are also not too fond of the blood-sucking Jews.
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“Drawer” as category; Chronicles, “Later that night back at the house I started writing the song What Good Am I I put this song away in the same drawer with Political World I wondered what they’d have to say to each other.”
“Gas” as gas used in gas chambers; Tarantula, “proper hitchhiking” catching a ride to success “with the gas mask on” while being close to being gassed and dead forever “& thumbing the queens” and catching a ride with Joan Baez who has eminence in the domain of folk music. Dylan describes the liberals in Tarantula, “those that would gas the memory” those who would exterminate the past rather than conserve it “& shut out the might of right” and shut out the truth of social Darwinism “the sight of those defending & offending the blossom girls of the dark” and shut out the vision of those defending against and speaking against the progenitors of the mulatto “pregnant permanent” a stain upon the race “& pale outlaw” and upon the White vigilantes who are supposed to prevent this kind of thing. Tarantula, “keep the stove” oven, crematorium “clean & watch the gas tank” and keep an eye on the gas chamber.
The undercover cop was found face down in a field The monkey man was on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield Jan said to the Monkey Man “I’m not fooled by Tweeter’s curl I knew him long before he ever became a Jersey girl”
“The undercover cop was found face down in a field” Weberman was killed because he was a Jew “The monkey man was on the river bridge” Dylan the Communist stooge was with his connection to abundant heroin “using Tweeter as a shield” and was still and Left and Liberal icon “Jan said to the Monkey Man” the Blacks told Dylan the Commie stooge “I’m not fooled by Tweeter’s curl” I am not fooled by contempt for racism “I knew him long before he ever became a Jersey girl” I knew him when he was still a dirty Jew living in Hibbing, Minnesota, before he came to New York City.
Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again I’m sitting in a gambling club called the Lion’s Den The TV set been blown up, every bit of it is gone Ever since the nightly news show that the Monkey Man was on
“Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again” now New York City is peaceful once again “I’m sitting in a gambling club” I am still living on MacDougal Street, a place that has become highly problematical “called the Lion’s Den” the home of a celebrity who is being stalked by his fans Chronicles, “I wanted to tell him that life itself has turned into a prowling
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lion.” A. J. Weberman “The TV set” the topical songs taken from the media had “been blown up” were all blown up out of proportion “every bit of it is gone” every short scene or episode in that theatrical performance is over, the bit part I played as a Communist is gone “Ever since the nightly news show that the Monkey Man was on” ever since I stopped writing those topical songs on behalf of the commies that I did not believe in one iota.
I guess I’ll go to Florida and get myself some sun There ain’t no more opportunity here, everything’s been done Sometime I think of Tweeter, sometime I think of Jan Sometime I don’t think about nothing but the Monkey Man
“I guess I’ll go to Florida” I think I will espouse conservative politics out in California; Poor Boy 2001, “Time and love has branded me with its claws / Had to go to Florida, dodgin’ them Georgia laws” “and get myself some sun” make myself into a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events “There ain’t no more opportunity here” there is no more chance for progress in dealing with Weberman “everything’s been done” he’s messed me over all he can “Sometimes I think of Tweeter” sometimes I think of Dylan the folksinger “sometimes I think of Jan” sometimes of that whole Civil Rights episode “Sometimes I don’t think about nothing but the Monkey Man” but the person I have blotted out of my mind is Weberman, the undercover cop.
Not only could Bob Dylan write allegorical poems about a mythological character who forced his way into his life, but he could find traditional folk songs that mirrored the Dylan / Weberman literary relationship that, with just a few very minor lyrical changes, fit into the system of symbols he previously created. When you have the ability to memorize a song after hearing it only once like Bob Dylan you are able to amass the most extensive repertoire of any living performer and chose a song that it appropriate to a situation it was not written for.
DIAMOND JOE 1992
Now there’s a man you’ll hear about Most anywhere you go And his holdings are in Texas And his name is Diamond Joe.
“Now there’s a man you’ll hear about” now there’s a man who still gets publicity “Most anywhere you go” throughout the world “And his holdings are in Texas” and the beliefs he holds are a result of the Holocaust in Europe “And his name is Diamond Joe” his name is A. J. Weberman, some average
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Joe as in “Joe the plumber” who thinks he has an all encompassing knowledge of my poetry!
And he carries all his money In a diamond-studded jar. He never took much trouble With the process of the law.
“And he carries” and he places before the public in print and in broadcast “all his money” all of his imagination “In a diamond-studded jar” in an ostentatious way he hopes will jar people’s thinking. Chronicles, “His voice could jar a corpse, always leave you muttering to yourself something like, ‘Man, I don’t believe it.’” “He never took much trouble / With the process of the law” he never took much trouble with a summons or writ ordering a defendant to appear in court. Weberman was not afraid of being sued.
I hired out to Diamond Joe, boys, Did offer him my hand, He gave a string of horses So old they could not stand.
“I hired out to Diamond Joe, boys” I once sold Al some of my records “Did offer him my hand” and I offered him my style of writing “He gave me a string of horses” but he gave me a string of candidates for interpretation “So old they could not stand” that were based on the Dylan he believed was an Old Leftist and could not stand up after logical examination, they could not endure.
And I nearly starved to death, boys, He did mistreat me so, And I never saved a dollar In the pay of Diamond Joe.
“And I nearly starved to death, boys” and he nearly forced me into a state of death by starving me for the truth “He did mistreat me so” he did abuse my poetry in his prose “treat” to deal with in writing “And I never saved a dollar” and I never sounded like an American. Tarantula, “the united states is Not soundproof—you might think that nothing can reach those tens of thousands living behind the wall of dollar” “In the pay of Diamond Joe” in the payback of A. J. Weberman.
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Now his bread it was corn dodger And his meat you couldn’t chaw, Nearly drove me crazy With the waggin’ of his jaw.
“Now his bread” now his bread and butter “it was corn” corny, dated “dodger” small Leftist printed handbills, underground newspapers “And his meat” the essence, substance, and gist of his translations “you couldn’t chaw” you couldn’t even meditate on, ponder on, what he was saying was that far out “Nearly drove me crazy” he nearly made me lose my sense of moderation and made me want to kill him “With the waggin’ of his jaw” with his jabbering about the Third World.
“Jaw” appears in the ghostwritten Old Jaw Bone performed by The Band in Music from the Big Pink; “Oh, jawbone, why dont’cha go home?” Oh jawbone, why don’t you reach your goal? “Oh, jawbone, where is it you belong?” “belong” to be a member of a group, such as the Communist Party “Boostin’” shootin’ dope; boost, slang to inject a drug “and goin’ out on the lam” and escaping, hiding “Ya know that you’ll steal” present or use my words or ideas as your own “anything that you can” anything that you are capable of understanding “Temptation stands just behind the door” the temptation to say I am a heroin addict rather than I am in my “current bag” is waiting for you to take the opportunity to do so “So what you wanna go and open it for?” so why mess with it in the first place? The song also contains lines like, “Ya keep on runnin’” running with a Leftwing crowd “and hidin’ your face” and hiding your Jewish identity “Spreadin’ your heat all over the place” bringing me to the attention of the authorities all over the place “Oh, jawbone, revenge stays on your mind” revenge for what in your mind is abandoning the Left “Oh, jawbone, you been doin’ too much time” you have listening to The Times They Are A Changin’ too often, you have imprisoned yourself.
In THE HITTER*** an allegorical autobiography of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen wrote, “I fought champion Jack Thompson” I fought the champion of the Left A. J. Weberman “in a field full of mud” in a battlefield, in a field as an area of specialization full of mudslinging “Rain poured” hate was profuse “through the tent” through the revival like atmosphere created by Weberman “and spread to the canvas” and spread to the historical narrative, the background against which events unfold, “and mixed with our blood” and became part of both of our heritages “In the twelfth I slipped my tongue” ultimately I passed the meaning of my poetic language gradually, easily, and imperceptibly “over my broken jaw” over the head of Weberman who spoke with gaps and errors; ‘broken English’ when translating my
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poetry “I stood over him and pounded his bloody body into the floor” Springsteen is recalling the Elizabeth Street Massacre. “Well the bell rang and rang and still I kept on” Dylan won that round but he had to be pulled off me. Again the bell is tolling for Al. Similar to Where Are You Tonight 1978? “that lonesome bell tolled in a valley of stone” “‘Till I felt my glove leather slip ‘tween his skin and bone” until he was administered a sound beating; When The Night Comes Fallin’ From the Sky 1985 “You’ll know all about it love it will fit you like a glove.” Springsteen also used broken jaw in Erie Canal; “I had a friend who once got a song” I had a fan who caught on to the meaning of one song “Now he’s got a broken jaw” and now he can’t stop translating Dylan “‘Cause she let fly” because Dylan put one over on the public “with an iron toe” with a rigid ironclad Rightwing political philosophy combined with a desire for drugs “And kicked him back to Buffalo” and demoted him back to being buffaloed as to the meaning of Dylan’s most significant poems.
And the tellin’ of his story, Mean to let you know That there never was a rounder That could lie like Diamond Joe.
“And the tellin’ of his story” and his translations of my poetry “Mean to let you know” are indicative of the fact “That there never was a rounder” that there never was a dissolute person; a man who is morally unrestrained “That could lie like Diamond Joe” who could make my poetry into something exactly the opposite of what it was by turning it into Leftwing propaganda.
Now, I tried three times to quit him But he did argue so I’m still punchin’ cattle In the pay of Diamond Joe.
“Now, I tried three times to quit him” I often tried to release him from the burden and responsibility of translating my poetry into prose “But he did argue so” but he continued to believe I was a Leftist. Dear Landlord 1968, “I am not about to argue I am not about to move to no other place” “I’m still punchin’” punching out verse “cattle” which he turns into bull, bullshit “In the pay of Diamond Joe” when I have to bear the cost and penalty of having an A. J. Weberman translate it.
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And when I’m called up yonder And it’s my time to go, Give my blankets to my buddies Give the fleas to Diamond Joe.
“And when I’m called up yonder” and when my poetry is finally translated “And it’s my time to go” sarcastic; and I have become redundant “Give my blankets” the generalizations I have made about race “to my buddies” to the White Americans “Give the fleas to Diamond Joe” and give the parasites that I write about, the African-Americans, to A. J. Weberman.
The last time I saw “Cracker Boy” was at Terry’s apartment. Dylan was sitting on the bed playing shesh pesh (backgammon) with the one-legged man. When he saw me he dashed to the doorway to attack me, without saying a word, however, Terry held the door shut so he couldn’t leave apartment and shouted run! run! run! I called Terry from a nearby bar where I had gone to use the Men’s Room. I told him that dude was dangerous!
STANDING IN THE DOORWAY 1997
I’m walking through the summer nights Jukebox playing low Yesterday everything was going too fast Today, it’s moving too slow I got no place left to turn I got nothing left to burn
“I’m walking” I’m following a path in life that leads me “through the summer nights” through my youth, Ballad in Plain D 1964, “Through a young summer’s breeze, I stole her away” Summer Days 2001, “Summer days and summer nights are gone / I know a place where there’s still somethin’ going on” “Jukebox playing low” singing Woody Guthrie songs “Yesterday everything was going too fast” in the past I was really enjoying life and wished I could live forever “Today, it’s moving too slow” but today it has turned sour and I want to get it over with already “I got no place left to turn” there is nothing I can turn to which will cure me “I got nothing left to burn” I have burned all my bridges behind me and there is no going back.
“Jukebox” as a Woody Guthrie imitator; Chronicles, “I knew them all! I was like a Woody Guthrie jukebox.” Tarantula, “Aretha” Bob Dylan “crystal” an electronic device using a crystal microphone that is attached to an acoustic guitar, also crystal as in crystal meth “jukebox” Woody Guthrie clone “queen” having eminence and supremacy in a given domain “of hymn” of politics, political songs “& him” Dylan “diffused” immersed “in drunk” intoxicated “transfusion wound” the disease of addiction; also the transfer of
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whole blood in an eye dropper after it has been mixed with heroin through a wound, an injury in which the skin is pierced or otherwise broken.
Silent Weekend 1973, “She’s in the groove” Dylan is in the spiral track cut into a phonograph record for the stylus to follow “she’s strolling” he’s traveling from place to place seeking work and gain, often used in connection with prostitution “the stroll” is an area where prostitutes solicit customers “Over to the jukebox” over to the Woody Guthrie human jukebox “playin’ deaf and dumb” pretending to ignore the evil of Communism.
Don’t know if I saw you, if I would kiss you or kill you It probably wouldn’t matter to you anyhow You left me standing in the doorway, crying I got nothing to go back to now
“Don’t know if I saw you, if I would kiss you or kill you” Al, if we ran into each other again I would have to admit that I have mixed feelings about you. On the one hand you went through my garbage, brought all those people around my house and made it difficult for me to shoot up. But on the other hand it was my addictive personality that caused me to contract the HIV virus so in retrospect who knows? “It probably wouldn’t matter to you anyhow” anyway, you wouldn’t care if I punched you or showed affection to you; when Dylan waylaid me during Elizabeth Street Massacre I turned around and realized it was Bob Dylan that had grabbed me in a choke hold from behind! Cool. I was happy to see him under ANY circumstances and asked him, ‘How you doin’ man?’ “You left me standing in the doorway, crying” you left me in a continuing state where I was predisposed to addiction that would be a gateway to HIV “I got nothing to go back to now” there is no way I can reverse things. Additionally, as stated, the last time I saw Dylan he was standing in the doorway of One Legged Terry’s apartment.
The light in this place is so bad Making me sick in the head All the laughter is just making me sad The stars have turned cherry red
“The light” a prominent and distinguished person, a luminary; ‘one of the leading lights of medicine’ “in this place” in this particular situation and circumstance I find myself in; ‘put yourself in my place’ “is so bad” has not reached an advanced state of the art “Making me sick in the head” making me suffer from the side effects of my medication, making me go insane.”
On Thursday July 23, 2009 Patrolwoman Kristie Buble responded to a 5 p.m. call at Franklin Avenue and Third Avenue in Longbranch, New Jersey where
V1-595 she found a shabbily dressed man looking into a house in the midst of a pouring rain. “We got a call for a suspicious person. I said what are you doing in the neighborhood, he said he was looking at a house for sale. I asked him who he was and he said ‘I’m Bob Dylan.’ He was wearing black sweatpants tucked into black rain boots, and two raincoats with the hood pulled down over his head.” Dylan had wandered three miles away from The Ocean Beach Resort and Spa into the yard of a home that had a “For Sale” sign on it. The home’s occupants became spooked by his appearance and called police with a report of an “eccentric-looking old man” in their yard. One of the occupants followed Dylan as he continued on down the street. “We see a lot of people on our beat, and I wasn’t sure if he came from one of our hospitals or something?” Patrolwoman Buble called for backup and asked for identification, but Dylan had none. “He was acting very suspicious,” Buble said “Not delusional, just suspicious. You know, it was pouring rain and everything. He asked me if I could drive him back to the neighborhood after I verified who he was, which made me even more suspicious.” Psychosis can be induced by Decreased CD4+ T Cell and High Viral Load in an HIV Infection. Anti-retroviral drugs can induce temporary psychosis. Could Dylan have thought he was in Crown Heights on Franklin Avenue and was looking for a shul to daven mincha in? This was not the first time Dylan was mistaken for a homeless person. New York Magazine reported that while he was recording Time Out Of Mind, taped in January 1997 and released on September 30, 1997, he was almost barred from a posh hotel due his disheveled appearance.
“All the laughter” all the feeling and expression of derision and contempt; ‘The doctors mock my complaints’ “is just making me sad” is deplorable, sorry; ‘a sad state of affairs’ “The stars” outstanding and famous, especially in performing something; ‘a star medical researcher’ “have turned cherry red” are all embarrassed about the lack of progress in finding a vaccine or a cure for AIDS.
I’m strumming on my gay guitar Smoking a cheap cigar The ghost of our old love has not gone away Don’t look like it will anytime soon You left me standing in the doorway crying Under the midnight moon
“I’m strumming” I am playing; Chronicles, “Next song we tried was Most of the Time. It didn’t have a melody so I would just have to strum it ‘til I found one.” “on my gay” faggy, about AIDS “guitar” music; Blowin’ in the Wind 1963 “Yer life’s gotta run the music / You can’t afford t let yer guitar own yer mind.” “Smoking a cheap cigar” doing something unreal that is achieved
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with little effort; The Levee Gonna Break 2006, “Plenty of cheap stuff out there and still around that you take.”
“Gay” faggy; Tarantula, “from entire Mexico & gay innocence once comes Satan of Autumn” Not Dark Yet 1997, “Go over to London / Maybe gay Paree” French men are often characterized as being effeminate.
“The ghost” the faint image “of our old love” of our apparent belief in the Old Left “has not gone away” is still lodged in your brain “Don’t look like it will anytime soon” and it doesn’t look like you will purge yourself of the idea that I was a disillusioned Leftist “You left me standing in the doorway crying” you Left me characterized as someone who supported the Civil Rights Movement; The Times They Are A-Changin’ 1964, “Don’t stand in the doorway don’t block up the hall” don’t vote against or filibuster the Civil Rights Bill now in the Halls of Congress “Under the midnight moon” when I was secretly longing to attend a cross burning.
“Midnight moon” as a cross burning; Dark Eyes 1985, “Oh, the gentlemen are talking” Southern gentlemen with high standards of proper behavior are expressing their views “and the midnight moon is on the riverside” and there is plenty of Klan activity “They’re drinking up” they are drinking in knowledge about what is happening in America “and walking” are going to take action “and it is time for me to slide” and ironically enough I must let the matter of African-Americans slide “I live in another world” I have the mentality of someone from the Old South “where life and death are memorized” where people live by a code of morality “Where the earth” the salt of the earth “is strung with lover’s pearls” is filled with pearls of wisdom and truth “and all I see are dark eyes” and all I see are people with African- American lovin’ thoughts in their brains.
Maybe they’ll get me and maybe they won’t But not tonight and it won’t be here There are things I could say but I don’t I know the mercy of God must be near
“Maybe they’ll get me and maybe they won’t” maybe my affliction will someday be made public “But not tonight and it won’t be here” but not immediately and not in my songs “There are things I could say but I don’t” I could be a spokesperson warning kids about HIV like Magic Johnson “I know the mercy of God must be near” but I know God will forgive me for not doing this after I die.
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I’ve been riding the midnight train Got ice water in my veins I would be crazy if I took you back It would go up against every rule You left me standing in the doorway, crying Suffering like a fool
“I’ve been riding the midnight train” I have been experiencing a whole train of illnesses “Got ice water in my veins” got death in my blood “ice” slang to kill; murder “I would be crazy if I took you back” it would hurt my career if I associated with you again as it would imply that what you write is correct “It would go up against every rule” it would give what you write credibility and would invalidate my threat that if you threw the Birthday Bash I would never speak with you again “You left me standing in the doorway, crying” you left me remaining immobile, fixed in a situation that would lead to my “Suffering” becoming worse in quality; deteriorating “like a fool” like a person with a talent and enthusiasm for sexual activity.
When the last rays of daylight go down Buddy, you’ll roll no more I can hear the church bells ringing in the yard I wonder who they’re ringing for I know I can’t win But my heart just won’t give in
“When the last rays” when the final slight indication; Don’t Fall Apart On Me Tonight 1983, “You know, the streets are filled with vipers / Who’ve lost all ray of hope” “of daylight go down” of insight into my life go down in history “Buddy” A. J. “you’ll roll no more” you will not get rolled by Bob Dylan, as the other bums thought you had “I can hear the church bells ringing in the yard” I can still hear those bells tolling for Weberman; Journey Through White Heat 1978 “That lonesome bell tone in that valley of stone as he bathed in my pure heat” “I wonder who they’re ringing for” in retrospect they might have been ringing for me—not you—as you were trying to warn me about an aspect of my personality I refused to deal with “I know I can’t win” and now I have an incurable disease “But my heart just won’t give in” but my soul won’t let me surrender.
Last night I danced with a stranger But she just reminded me you were the one You left me standing in the doorway crying In the dark land of the sun
“Last night I danced” last night I shot dope; Mr. Tambourine Man 1964, “Cast your dancin’ spell my way I promise to go under it” “with a stranger” sarcastic; and it was something new to me “But she just reminded me you
V1-598 were the one” but all it did was remind me that you were the one who warned me against doing it “You left me standing in the doorway crying” you left me at the gates of hell protesting “In the dark land” in a state where I exhibited evil and sinister characteristics and forces “of the sun” of a person whose actions and opinions strongly influenced others.
I’ll eat when I’m hungry, drink when I’m dry And live my life on the square And even if the flesh falls off of my face I know someone will be there to care
“I will eat” I will write, “when I’m hungry” when I am desperate “drink” take in knowledge “when I’m dry” when I am unproductive of the expected results; ‘a mind dry of new ideas’ “And live my life on the square” and live my life in a more conventional fashion “And even if the flesh falls off of my face” and even if I am the leper of this age, even if my body parts simply fell off, even if I became a African-American “I know someone will be there to care” Al will still stick with me.
“Eat” as read, Tarantula, “jack hasn’t eaten all day. his mouth tastes funny— he has his unpublished novel in his hand” Tarantula, “you seeking goats in the midst of novelists who eat shot glasses write books about other people’s masters”
“Hungry” as desperate; Fourth Time Around 1966, “And he’s hungry, like a man in drag” Changing of the Guards 1978, “Merchants and thieves, hungry for power.”
It always means so much Even the softest touch I see nothing to be gained by any explanation There are no words that need to be said You left me standing in the doorway crying Blues wrapped around my head
“It always means so much” it always means a lot to a poet “Even the softest touch” even a feeble attempt to understand what I am saying, one that is not brilliant but attempts to match my poetry in quality, to equal it; Dear Landlord, “anyone can fill his life up with things he can see but he just cannot touch” “I see nothing to be gained by any explanation” I see nothing that can be gained by a detailed account and description of the embedded meaning of my poetry “There are no words that need to be said” it is all there in my poetry waiting to be discovered “You left me standing in the doorway crying / Blues wrapped” sadness from being a inveterate doper wrapped like a belt “around my head” around my head on smack. Similar to
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Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat 1966, “with my belt wrapped around my head.” Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat 1966 also contains the lines, “honey can I jump on it sometime / I just want to see whether it’s the expensive kind.”
HIGHLANDS 1997
I’m crossing the street to get away from a mangy dog Talking to myself in a monologue I think what I need might be a full length leather coat Somebody just asked me If I registered to vote
“I’m crossing the street to get away from a mangy dog” I am leaving Greenwich Village to get away from a mean, contemptible person. From the Weberman Dylan Telephone Conversation, “Shit if I were a kid growin’ up I would have to look out for you, I would keep my eyes open for you, if I was a kid growin’ up I would make sure whatever street I went down I would have to go to the other side of the street when you came down man.” “Talking to myself” driven insane “in a monologue” by a long speech by one person which prevents other people talking and expressing their views “I think what I need might be a full-length leather coat” what I need might be someone in a Nazi uniform to kill or give this Jew a good leathering “Somebody just asked me” Al just asked me “If I registered” Congress required in the McCarran Act that all Communist organizations register with the attorney general “to vote” for Communist candidates.
In June 2000 the FBI had nothing better to do than close out old marijuana cases as the Sovs were no longer considered a threat while the Islamists were tolerated because they had helped defeat the Evil Empire. So the Feds squeezed an associate of mine who I had known for 30 years and who worked with me at the underground newspapers The East Village Other and The New York Ace. This dude was doing a five year bid for pot smuggling, and he turned in about 40 pot dealers in order to prevent the Justice Department from filing superseding indictments against him. He was told by AUSA Charles McKenna that if he did not cooperate he would “never get out.” I was one of the people he ratted down on. I had told him that when I thought I could never return to the United States I had opened a bank account in Luxemburg. He told the FBI about it and informed it that I had been in the pot business for many years. I was arrested for sale of over a ton of marijuana an offense that carried a life sentence and for money laundering, a mere 20 years.
Before I went to the joint journalist Anthony Hayden-Guest contacted me and said he wished to interview me as he was doing a book on “weird
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people.” Hayden-Guest had interviewed me in my loft at 6 Bleecker Street and had insisted that we recreate the Elizabeth Street Massacre. He ended up on top of me on the street sticking his groin into my face. He denies this ever happened but I know it was him because in April 1994 I remember reading about him almost getting killed when he invited a 245-pound African-American bicycle messenger to his Upper East Side apartment. The man stabbed Hayden-Guest 14 times in the back and shoulders and cut his girlfriends face so badly she required plastic surgery. Hayden-Guest testified he refused the man sloppy seconds. When I read this the groin-in-the-face thing made sense.
I met Hayden-Guest at a coffee shop on the Upper East Side where he interviewed me about my predicament. I explained what happened, and how, for the four years of his incarceration, I had helped out and supported the family of the man who was coerced into informing on me. I told him how I gave AIDS patients free reefer, and I let his having gotten one over on me years ago slide. At the end of the interview he turned off the tape recorder and offered to give me Bob Dylan and Yoko Ono’s phone number if I needed help. I told him that there was nothing either of them could do for me as they didn’t work for the Bureau of Prisons. I am of the opinion Hayden-Guest was conducting this interview on behalf of Dylan.
Interestingly enough, Hayden-Guest was the first person to call me hours after former 1960’s hippy Oliver Seabrook released me from the half way house in the Bronx that I had been furloughed to. Hayden-Guest wanted to know how I fared in a federal prison. I told him that locking up a writer was useless as there were a million stories in these houses of death, then I told him I would take him up on his offer to give me Dylan’s home phone number. He denied ever having made such an offer because I believe he was recording the call to play back to Dylan. Hayden-Guest “I have been refreshing my memory by rereading a transcript of my interview with you (the tape recorder was on the table in full view of both of us). This took place the week before you went away. I was writing a Talk of the Town piece for the New Yorker about the pot delivery business, and you were helpful. I never planned a book on ‘weird people.’” Hayden-Guest offered to give me the phone numbers after he turned the tape recorder off, as I had rolled him over. Hayden-Guest did say that he planned to write such a book and called Aron Kay about interviewing him it. Additionally the only article I can find that he did about pot delivery services for the New Yorker was in 1994. During another telephone conversation Hayden-Guest said the book was held up because of a writer-editor-publisher thing so he had changed his story at least twice. In any event Hayden-Guest is a world class journalist who risked his life in Lebanon to aid American hostages.
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He did this on behalf of the CIA who failed to inform the FBI so he was almost indicted when he returned stateside. The dude is a real adventurer! I was not, however, happy with the song that came out of this interview.
SUGAR BABY 2001
I got my back to the sun ‘cause the light is too intense I can see what everybody in the world is up against You can’t turn back you can’t come back, sometimes we push too far One day you’ll open up your eyes and you’ll see where we are
“I got my back to the sun” I am unhappy, depressed “‘cause the light” because what I know about my condition “is too intense” is too extreme in degree, strength, and size “I can see” I am experiencing “what everybody in the world is up against” what other HIV positive people are up against “You can’t turn back” you can’t turn back the clock and do things differently “you can’t come back” return to a normal state, as it was before contracting HIV. Mississippi 1997 “Well, the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay / You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way” “sometimes we push too far” sometime your luck runs out pushing your dick into a nice moist pussy, or pushing reefer, “push” to sell an illegal drug “One day you’ll open up your eyes” wake up “and you’ll see where we are” you’ll see that we both messed up our lives.
“Back to the sun” as depressed, James Taylor in Fire and Rain, “Been walkin’ my mind to an easy time” I am shooting dope “My back turned towards the sun” because of depression “Lord knows when that cold wind blows” Lord know when those suicidal, destructive thoughts spread in your brain “It’ll turn your head around” a little bit a dugi will cheer you right up! Taylor used a lot of Dylan’s symbolism in his poetry and also used a lot of dugi according to his ex-wife Carly Simon.
Sugar Baby get on down the road You ain’t got no brains, no how You went years without me Might as well keep going now
“Sugar Baby” childish money launderer “get on down the road” get on with your path in life, your future “You ain’t got no brains, no how” you’re a freaking moron, you don’t live up to my expectations “You went years without me / Might as well keep going now” I am not going to help you out even though you are in trouble.
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“Sugar” as money; Tarantula, “his visions of sugar plums” “plum” an especially desirable reward. Trying To Get To Heaven 1997, “I’ve been to sugar town” New York City “I shook the sugar down” I was a self-made man who started with nothing and ended up with hundreds of millions of dollars.
Some of these bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff Plenty of places to hide things here if you wanna hide ‘em bad enough I’m staying with Aunt Sally, but you know, she’s not really my aunt Some of these memories you can learn to live with and some of them you can’t
“Some of these bootleggers” “bootleg” a product that is illicitly produced, distributed, or sold “they make pretty good stuff” “stuff” slang for money, cash. “Plenty of places to hide things here if you wanna hide ‘em bad enough” plenty of ways to launder money in the United States if you are in a desperate situation; when I thought I was subject to a federal indictment I transported the money I had earned in the pot business to a Bank in Luxemburg “I’m staying with Aunt Sally” I am now locked in a small controlled port with two doors in a prison “but you know, she’s not really my aunt” she is a prison door “Some of these memories you can learn to live with” some of what happened in prison you can reconcile yourself to “and some of them you can’t” and some, like homosexual rape, you can’t.
Before I left the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn my boss in the kitchen, Mr. Tacconni, told me, “Don’t say it was a lot of laughs, tell ‘em crime doesn’t pay.” C.O. Victor Alvarez told me that if he caught his daughter smoking pot he was going to drive around Greenwich Village until he found me! Warden Hasty kept asking “How does one end up devoting one’s life to interpreting poetry?” Hey, for decades I was worried about getting busted and thrown in prison so once I was in prison I no longer had that to worry about, all I had to worry about was getting out.
The ladies down in Darktown, they’re doing the Darktown Strut You always got to be prepared but you never know for what There ain’t no limit to the amount of trouble women bring Love is pleasing, love is teasing, love’s not an evil thing
“The ladies down in Darktown” those “bitches” locked up in a dismal prison with a bunch of African-Americans “they’re doing the Darktown Strut” they are ratting each other out just like the African-Americans do, they are displaying something in order to impress others, cooperating with authorities in order to get out of prison “You always got to be prepared but you never know for what” when someone is sentenced to a long prison term or gets hit
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with superseding indictments count on them cooperating “There ain’t no limit to the amount of trouble women bring” the Justice Department can lock you up for as many years as it wishes “Love is pleasing” marijuana is euphoric “love is teasing” Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 Liner Notes 1962, “When it’s really jus’ a magic wand / That waves an’ teases at my mind” pot will arouse the desire for drugs without satisfying it “love’s not an evil thing” there is nothing wrong with pot.
Every moment of existence seems like some dirty trick Happiness can come suddenly and leave just as quick Any minute of the day the bubble could burst
Try to make things better for someone, sometimes, you just end up making it a thousand times worse
“Every moment” every second, not just everyday “of existence” of a poor and hungry way of life behind bars “seems like some dirty trick” some political dirty trick Dirty tricks are unethical, duplicitous, slanderous or illegal tactics employed to destroy or diminish the effectiveness of political opponent “Happiness can come suddenly” wealth from dealing pot can come quickly and unexpectedly “and leave just as quick / Any minute of the day the bubble” a speculative scheme “could burst” leave you penniless “Try to make things better for someone, sometimes” try to help the family of a friend while he was doing time “you just end up making it a thousand times worse” and the double-cross becomes personal…
Your charms have broken many a heart and mine is surely one You got a way of tearing a world apart, love, see what you done Just as sure as we’re living, just as sure as you’re born Look up, look up—seek your Maker—’fore Gabriel blows his horn
“Your charms” the evil spell you have cast on my poetry “have broken many a heart” have disappointed the public, journalists “and mine is surely one” along with myself “You got a way of tearing a world apart” taking apart; disassembling my poetry “Tear” is a recurrent word in relation to my work “love, see what you done” and distorting its meaning “Just as sure as we’re living” just as sure as we are both living now “just as sure as you’re born” just as sure as you were born after me “Look up, look up—seek your Maker” look up each word in my poetry and be equal to the man who made all this poetry “‘fore Gabriel” before an angel of heaven who appears to the prophet Daniel to interpret a vision “blows his horn” loses his ability to be heard by many.
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SUGAR BABY 2001 ALTERNATE
I got my back to the sun 'cause the light is too intense I can see what everybody in the world is up against You can't turn back - you can't come back, sometimes we push too far One day you'll open up your eyes and you'll see where we are
“I got my back to the sun” I am unhappy, depressed “'cause the light” because what I know about my condition “is too intense” is too extreme in degree, strength, and size “I can see” I am experiencing “what everybody in the world is up against” what other HIV positive people are up against “You can't turn back” you can’t turn back the clock and do things differently “you can't come back” you can’t return to a normal state, as it was before contracting HIV. Mississippi 1997 “Well, the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay / You can always come back, but you can't come back all the way” “sometimes we push too far” sometimes your luck runs out pushing your dick into a nice moist pussy, or pushing reefer, “push” to sell an illegal drug “One day you'll open up your eyes” one day you'll wake up “and you'll see where we are” and you’ll see that we both messed up our lives.
“Back to the sun” as depressed, James Taylor in Fire and Rain,
Been walking my mind to an easy time, my back turned towards the sun.
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around.
“Been walkin' my mind to an easy time” I am shooting dope “My back turned towards the sun” because of depression “Lord knows when that cold wind blows” Lord know when those suicidal, destructive thoughts spread in your brain “It’ll turn your head around” a little bit a dugi will cheer you right back up! Taylor used a lot of Dylan’s symbolism in his poetry and also used a lot of dugi according to his ex-wife Carly Simon.
Sugar Baby get on down the road You ain't got no brains, no how You went years without me Might as well keep going now
“Sugar Baby” childish money launderer “get on down the road” get on with your path in life, your future “You ain't got no brains, no how” you’re a freaking moron, you don’t live up to my expectations “You went years without me / Might as well keep going now” I am not going to help you out even though you are in trouble.
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“Sugar” as money; “Sugar Daddy” is a man who supports a woman in return for sexual relations. Tarantula, “his visions of sugar plums” “plum” an especially desirable reward. Trying To Get To Heaven 1997, “I've been to sugar town” New York City “I shook the sugar down” I was a self-made man who started with nothing and ended up with hundreds of millions of dollars.
Some of these bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff Plenty of places to hide things here if you wanna hide 'em bad enough I'm staying with Aunt Sally, but you know, she's not really my aunt Some of these memories you can learn to live with and some of them you can't
“Some of these bootleggers” some of these pot dealers “bootleg” a product that is illicitly produced, distributed, or sold “they make pretty good stuff” “stuff” slang for money, cash. “Plenty of places to hide things here if you wanna hide 'em bad enough” there are plenty of ways to launder money in the United States if you are in a desperate situation; when I thought I was subject to a federal indictment I transported the money I had earned in the pot business to a Bank in Luxemburg “I'm staying” “stay” a suspension or postponement of a legal action or an execution: granted a stay to the prisoner's execution “with Aunt Sally” and I am not locked behind a controlled port with two doors in a prison “but you know, she's not really my aunt” but you know she's really is a prison door “Some of these memories you can learn to live with” some of what happened in prison you can reconcile yourself to “and some of them you can't” and some, like homosexual rape, you can’t.
Before I left the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn my boss in the Correction Officer’s and Staff kitchen, Mr. Tacconni, told me, “Don’t say it
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was a lot of laughs, tell ‘em crime doesn’t pay.” C.O. Victor Alvarez took me aside and said that if he caught his daughter smoking pot he was going to drive around Greenwich Village until he found me! Warden Hasty kept asking “How does one end up devoting one’s life to interpreting poetry?” Hey, for decades I was worried about getting busted and thrown in prison so once I was in prison I no longer had that to worry about, all I had to worry about was getting out.
The ladies down in Darktown, they're doing the Darktown Strut You always got to be prepared but you never know for what There ain't no limit to the amount of trouble women bring Love is pleasing, love is teasing, love's not an evil thing
“The ladies down in Darktown” those “bitches” locked up in a dismal prison with a bunch of violent Black criminals “they're doing the Darktown Strut” they are ratting each other out just like the Blacks do, they are displaying something in order to impress others, cooperating with authorities in order to get out of prison “You always got to be prepared but you never know for what” when someone is sentenced to a long prison term or gets hit with superseding indictments count on them cooperating “There ain't no limit to the amount of trouble women bring” the Justice Department can lock you up for as many years as it wishes “Love is pleasing” marijuana is euphoric “love is teasing” pot will arouse the desire for drugs without satisfying it “love's not an evil thing” but pot is not an evil thing.
Every moment of existence seems like some dirty trick Happiness can come suddenly and leave just as quick Any minute of the day the bubble could burst Try to make things better for someone, sometimes, you just end up making it a thousand times worse
“Every moment” every second, not just everyday “of existence” of a poor and hungry way of life behind bars “seems like some dirty trick” seems like some political dirty trick: dirty tricks are unethical, duplicitous, slanderous or illegal tactics employed to destroy or diminish the effectiveness of political opponent “Happiness can come suddenly” wealth from dealing pot can come quickly and unexpectedly “and leave just as quick / Any minute of the day the bubble” at any time at all a speculative scheme “could burst” could leave you penniless, also you can get popped slang for being arrested “Try to make things better for someone, sometimes” try to help the family of a friend while he was doing time “you just end up making it a thousand times worse” and the double-cross becomes much more personal…
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Your charms have broken many a heart and mine is surely one You got a way of tearing a world apart, love, see what you done Just as sure as we're living, just as sure as you're born Look up, look up - seek your Maker - 'fore Gabriel blows his horn
“Your charms” the evil spell you have cast on my poetry “have broken many a heart” has disappointed the public, journalists “and mine is surely one” along with myself “You got a way of tearing a world apart” you have a way of destroying the beauty of my poetry by examining it word by word - taking it apart; disassembling my poetry. As stated “tear” is a recurrent theme in relation to my work “love, see what you done” see the consequences of how you have distorted the truth “Just as sure as we're living” just as sure as we are both living now “just as sure as you're born” just as sure as you were born a Jew “Look up, look up” pray to God as in Blowin In the Wind 1962, “How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?” “seek your Maker” and find Him “'fore Gabriel” before a heavenly angel “blows his horn” sounds the final call for A. J. Weberman.
NETTIE MOORE 2006
Lost John sittin’ on a railroad track Something’s out of whack Blues this morning falling down like hail Gonna leave a greasy trail
“Lost” beyond reach, communication, and influence “John” Bob Dylan “sittin’ on a railroad track” furthering the passage of Civil Rights Legislation by recording tracks on a record “Something’s out of whack” something is radically wrong because this is diametrically opposite to the way he thinks “Blues” the Union troops “this morning” starting at an early time “falling down” undergoing conquest then capture, especially as the result of an armed attack “like hail” in a hail of deadly bullets “Gonna leave a greasy trail” gonna express my pro-Confederate views in a slippery fashion.
Gonna travel the world is what I’m gonna do Then come back and see you All I ever do is struggle and strive If I don’t do anybody any harm, I might make it back home alive
“Gonna travel the world is what I’m gonna do” gonna become a fellow traveler of the Communists “Then come back and see you” then write a song that would appeal to you “All I ever do is struggle” all I ever do is write songs about the Movement “struggle” the concerted opposition to apartheid “and strive” and fight against injustice “If I don’t do anybody any harm” if I
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don’t actually help the Communists “I might make it back home alive” I might get these suicidal thoughts out of my head.
“Struggle” as the concerted opposition to apartheid; Tarantula, “& struggle— struggle & your weapons of curls” scorn, contempt “blowing” spreading Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence 1970 “Well I struggled through barbed” I became part of the struggle and composed songs with cutting remarks “wire” that were message songs, “wire” a Western Union telegraphic message “felt the hail fall from above” I was greeted and acclaimed.
I’m the oldest son of a crazy man I’m in a cowboy band Got a pile of sins to pay for and I ain’t got time to hide I’d walk through a blazing fire, baby, if I knew you was on the other side.
“I’m the oldest” I am the Leftist, My Back Pages 1964, “I was so much older then” “son of a crazy man” descendant of Woody Guthrie. Woody was placed in a mental hospital due to a degenerative nervous condition “I’m in a cowboy band” I am in a group of people who consider themselves heroic “Got a pile of sins to pay for” my support for them was a grave error as it aided the nuclear armed Soviets; “pile” as in atomic pile “and I ain’t got time to hide” and hiding under a desk would not have remedied this situation. Chronicles, “When the drill sirens went off, you had to lay under your desk facedown, not a muscle quivering and not make any noise. As if this could save you from the bombs dropping. The threat of annihilation was a scary thing.” “I’d walk through a blazing fire baby” I would walk through blazing gun fire to get you Weberman “if I knew you was on the other side” if I really believed you were a Communist and not the bizzaro, pot-head, bum, cheap knock-off Yippie version of one!
The world of research has gone berserk Too much paperwork Albert’s in the grave-yard, Frankie’s raising hell I’m beginning to believe what the scriptures tell
“The world of research” my research into the meaning of Dylan’s poetry “has gone berserk” has become unrestrained, as with enthusiasm and appetite; wild “Too much paperwork” the Dylan to English Dictionary was 700 pages long “Albert’s in the grave-yard” Dylan the protest singer is dead and buried “Frankie’s raising hell” Frankie Lee from the Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest 1968, Dylan the folk rocker is causing a ruckus at his concerts “I’m beginning to believe what the scriptures tell” scripture; a statement regarded as authoritative. A. J. is getting closer to translating my poetry.
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“Albert” as Dylan the protest singer and “Frankie” as Dylan the rock and roller; Ballad of Frankie and Albert 1992; “Albert said I’m leaving you” Dylan the folkie told his old fans that he was leaving them “Won’t be gone for long” sarcastic, it will be forever “Don’t wait up for me” don’t go back to your virtual sleep, I am leaving you far behind “A-worry about me when I’m gone” or worry about my politics when I am gone “Frankie pulled out a pistol / Pulled out a forty-four” Dylan the rocker pulled out an electric guitar from his bag of tricks, variation of gun / guitar metaphor “Gun went off a-rootie- toottoot” Dylan started playing rock and roll on his guitar “And Albert fell on the floor” Dylan the folknick became th subject of political debate “He was her man but he done her wrong” Dylan was the “man” of the Left but he double crossed them.
I’m going where the Southern crosses the yellow dog Get away from all these demagogues And these bad luck women stick like glue It’s either one or the other or neither of the two
“I’m going where the Southern crosses the yellow dog” I am going to a place in the Deep South; the Southern and the Yellow dog were railroads that intersected in Mississippi. Also “yellow dog Democrats” die-hard racists who would rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican as the Republicans were the party of Abe Lincoln. “Get away from all these demagogues” get away from the leaders of the African-Americans such as the Democrats “And these bad luck women” all these Depression Era Democratic retreads, Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “bad luck run’s all in fun / it’s your choice. your voice / you choose / you lose” “stick” remain firm, determined, or resolute “like glue” like an adhesive force or factor, or something that is preventing the country from advancing “It’s either one or the other” it’s either I don’t like the Presidential candidate or the Vice Presidential candidate “or neither of the two” or I don’t like either of them.
She says, look out daddy, don’t want you to tear your pants. You can get wrecked in this dance. They say whiskey will kill ya, but I don’t think it will I’m riding with you to the top of the hill
“She says look out daddy” look out Bob Dylan “don’t want you to tear your pants” you don’t want to embarrass yourself “You can get wrecked in this dance” you can become a person who is physically broken down and worn out from using drugs “They say whiskey will kill ya, but I don’t think it will” you wrote that I was going to die from an intoxicant, from a heroin overdose and you were wrong about that as you were wrong about so many other
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things “I’m riding with you to the top of the hill” I still am alive as you are until I get to boot hill.
Oh, I miss you Nettie Moore And my happiness is o’er Winter’s gone, the river’s on the rise I loved you then and ever shall But there’s no one here that’s left to tell The world has gone black before my eyes
“O! I miss you Nettie Moore” I miss the past, I miss the days of Gentle Nettie Moore or The Little White Cottage, the Old South “And my happiness is o’er” and I am happy no more “Winter’s gone” a period of time characterized by barrenness of thought has passed into a new phase “the river’s on the rise” and the abundance of people who do not think like me is increasing “I loved you then and ever shall” I was loyal to the confederacy then and ever shall be “But there’s no one here that’s Left to tell” sarcastic; but the only one who can throw light on the events of my life is a African- American-loving Leftist, who will never catch on “The world has gone black before my eyes” the world will never know my thoughts about Blacks.
Don’t know why my baby never looked so good before I don’t have to wonder no more She been cooking all day and it’s gonna take me all night I can’t eat all that stuff in a single bite
“Don’t know why my baby never looked so good before” sarcastic; for the life of me I can’t figure out why my poetry is more beautiful than ever after Al attempts to translate it into prose on his website Dylanology.org “I don’t have to wonder no more” sarcastic; I don’t have to be filled with curiosity and doubt about its meaning any longer. “She been cooking” Weberman’s been cooking up lies “all day” and having a heyday “and it’s gonna take me all night” currently it is gonna take me all night to read through all of these translations “I can’t eat” I can’t read “all that stuff” all those worthless translations “in a single” one in number “bite” byte; a basic unit of measurement of information storage in computer science.
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NETTIE MOORE 2006 ALTERNATE
The Judge is coming in, everybody rise Lift up your eyes You can do what you please, you don't need my advice Before you call me any dirty names you better think twice
Nettie Moore concerns the Dylan-Weberman literary relationship. In this verse Dylan offers me religious advice: “The Judge” biblical, to govern, rule, used of ancient Israelite leaders - the Messiah, “is coming in” will be here soon “everybody rise” everyone should rise to the occasion, pray, Jews pray standing up “Lift up” raise the quality of “your eyes” your thoughts “You can do what you please” you can continue doing what you are doing and support the State of Israel “you don't need my advice” sarcastic; you don’t need any cautionary advice about something imminent like the coming of the Messiah “Before you call me any dirty names you better think twice” but before you call me a self-hating Jew, a traitor to his people and to his culture who does not believe that the State of Israel should exist, you better think twice about your afterlife in the post-Messianic era; Sugar Baby 2001, “Look up, look up, seek your Maker, 'fore Gabriel blows his horn.”
Getting light outside, the temperature dropped I think the rain has stopped I'm going to make you come to grips with fate When I'm through with you, you'll learn to keep your business straight
“Getting light outside” I am obtaining spiritual awareness, illumination, from a particular group or organization that is not part of, is outside of, mainstream Judaism “the temperature dropped” and I am doing this because the strength of feeling of religiosity among certain segments of the orthodox Jewish Community has fallen and sunk into a state of exhaustion and death “I think the rain has stopped” I believe the reason for this is because the punishment coming from God, such as the Great Flood, has ceased and the Jews have gone amiss “I'm going to make you come to grips” I am going to make you gain an intellectual hold; an understanding “with fate” with your God given destiny; according to some ultra-orthodox thinking everything is bashert, the Yiddish word for destined, fated, meant to be “When I'm through with you” after you learn you are doomed to death “you'll learn to keep your business straight” you will remember, from the fact that you are circumcised, that you are a Jew. The line “keep your business straight” is similar to “you fixed your business straight” in Mick Jagger’s Memo to Turner 1970, written to Dylan,
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Aw, you drowned that Jew in Rampton As he washed his sleeveless shirt, You know, that Spanish-speaking gentlemen, The one that we all called "Kurt." Come now, gentleman, I know there's some mistake. How forgetful I'm becoming, now you fixed your business straight.
“Aw, you drowned that Jew in Rampton” you murdered the Jew in you and became a Fascist like the British poet T. S. Eliot who wrote this about drowned Jews in
The Wasteland:
Full fathom five your Bleistein lies Under the flatfish and the squids Graves' Disease in a dead Jew's eyes! Where the crabs have eat the lids
“as he washed” as you removed, whitewashed, obliterated “his sleeveless shirt” something that would become apparent if you were wearing a short sleeved shirt like a number tattooed on someone’s arm, you removed any memory of the death camps of World War II “You know?” you remember World War II Zimmerman and you remember “that Spanish-speaking gentlemen” sarcastic, that German speaking madman “the one we all called Kurt" the one as known as Adolf Hitler “Come now, gentleman, I know there's some mistake” come now you non-Jewish Nazis, I know there has been a colossal mistake admitting a Jew into your ranks “How forgetful I'm becoming now” oh man I just remembered “you fixed your business straight” you had your foreskin grafted back on and are no longer Jewish. Dylan had this to say about Memo to Turner, “Oh it just a bunch of faggot bullshit all wrapped up in about two or three lines and dumped out.” I told him, “You’re the one he calls a faggot in there man.” “What?” “He sings a faggy little leather boy with a smaller piece of stick.” “He’s talkin’ about himself man.” “No man, he’s talkin’ about you man.” “Oh get outta here.” Nettie Moore continues:
The bright spark of the steady lights Has dimmed my sights When you're around all my grief gives 'way A lifetime with you is like some heavenly day
“The bright” the full of promise and hope “spark” vital, animating factor “of the steady” of the free from change, variation, and fluctuation - the Torah is copied with no variation by scribes “lights” Torah scholars, luminaries, like
V1-613 the former Neturei Karta Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, “Has dimmed my sights” has made feel unfavorable, negatively to Israel “When you're around all my grief gives way” as long as the State of Israel exists the Jews will be subject to outpourings of grief because it is an abomination in the eyes of God “A lifetime with you” a period of time during which the State of Israel exists or functions “is like some heavenly day” is only like some heavenly day, but not the actual “heavenly day.” In fact the very existence of the State of Israel is forestalling that true “heavenly day” when the Messiah finally arrives and the world becomes a paradise.
Everything I've ever known to be right has proven wrong I'll be drifting along The woman I'm lovin', she rules my heart No knife could ever cut our love apart
“Everything I've ever known to be Right” the rightwing view on Israel, wherein its existence is affirmed and supported “has proven wrong” is not only bogus but downright evil “I'll be drifting along” I will be making a gradual deviation from an original course of modern Judaic thought into that of Neturei Karta “The woman I'm lovin'” the only thing I love is the Torah, the word of God, the truth “she rules my heart” and the Torah makes the laws for my innermost being “No knife could ever cut our love apart” no other form of Judaism could separate me from the true Neturei Karta way of thinking. “Knife” as Judaism Tarantula, “cut him with a fish knife blam de lam!”
Today I'll stand in faith and raise The voice of praise The sun is strong, I'm standing in the light I wish to God that it were night
“Today I'll stand” today I will assume the normal position for a Jew to pray, I will take my religious stand “in faith” with the body of truth of a religion “and raise” and increase the intensity, degree and strength of “The voice” of my expression “of praise” of the extolling or exaltation of God “The sun” the person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events such as the Rabbi Teitelbaum “is strong” is supported by evidence; convincing “I'm standing in the light” Rabbi Yehudah Liva wrote: “The Torah is light. The Torah, which contains all of the individual commandments, is a single unified light. The flames unite to form one great light, for the Torah is a single unit...” “I wish to God that it were night” I wish to Ha’shem that the Messiah would arrive.
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SPIRIT ON THE WATER 2006
Spirit on the water Darkness on the face of the deep I keep thinking about you baby I can’t hardly sleep
“Spirit” the essential nature of a group “on the water” still suffering “darkness” the love of darkies “on the face” on the race “of the deep” of those who have plumbed the depths of the racial issue, the Jews “I keep thinking about you baby / I can’t hardly sleep” I keep thinking about how stupid you are and I can’t find any compatibility of thought between us. This is from the first page of Genesis. It is also a reference to the Progressive Bible Readers, a beatnik act that I told Cracker Boy about in which I read from Genesis to the accompaniment of bongo drums in cafes, “In the beginning (tap, tap, tap) God created heaven and earth (tap etc) and the earth was void and without form (tap etc) and darkness was on the face of the deep.” Man Gave Names to All the Animals 1979 is similar “Man gave names to all the animals (tap tap tap on the bongos) in the beginning, in the beginning.” So when Dylan made this reference to “darkness on the face of the deep” I immediately knew it was about the Dylan Weberman literary relationship.
I’m traveling by land Traveling through the dawn of day You’re always on my mind I can’t stay away
“I’m traveling by land” I was never on the ship of revolution “Traveling through the dawn of day” and this has been the case from the very beginning of my literary career “You’re always on my mind” the true meaning of my poetry is of paramount importance to me “I can’t stay away” I am interested in your progress.
I’d forgotten about you Then you turned up again I always knew That we were meant to be more than friends
“I’d forgotten about you” I figured Dylanology had run its course “Then you turned up again” then you turned up again like a bad penny with your Dylan To English Dictionary “I always knew / That we were meant to be more than friends” I always knew that there was more to the Dylan Weberman
V1-615 relationship than you being just a fan of my music; Dear Landlord 1968, “Each of us has his own special gift and you know this was meant to be true.”
When you are near It’s just as plain as it can be I’m wild about you, gal You ought to be a fool about me
“When you are near” when you are present “It’s just as plain as it can be” my poetry is lacking stylistic embellishment; ‘a literal description’; ‘plain prose’ “I’m wild about you, gal” sarcastic; I am highly enthusiastic; ‘just wild about Weberman’ “You ought to be a fool about me” you should be a leader in defining the meaning of my Rightwing poems.
Can’t explain The sources of this hidden pain You burned your way into my heart You got the key to my brain
“Can’t explain” I can’t reveal “the sources” the origin; Liner Notes to John Wesley Harding 1968 “Getting down to the source of things, he proudly boasted” “of this hidden pain” of this concealed illness “You burned your way into my heart” you knew what my contracting Histoplasmosis signified “You got the key to my brain” and you know a lot of what I write has to do with my being HIV positive.
I’ve been trampling through mud Praying to the powers above I’m sweating blood You got a face that begs for love “I’ve been trampling through mud” I have been fighting a war. Dylan, “I pity the poor immigrant who tramples through the mud” “Praying to the powers above” praying to God to save me “I’m sweating” worried, ‘sweating it out’ full of fear “blood” about my T-Cell count “You got a face that begs for love” you’re part of a race that makes an urgent plea for truth, even about this.
Life without you Doesn’t mean a thing to me If I can’t have you, I’ll throw my love into the deep blue sea
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“Life without you” the appreciation of my poetry without A. J. Weberman “Doesn’t mean a thing to me” doesn’t mean a thing to him because Dylan once told me, “Al, I know what my poetry is about” but it does mean something to the multitudes of Dylan fans who do not understand its meaning “If I can’t have you” if not for you “I’ll throw my love” I might as well throw the inherent truth of my poetry, the wisdom, the meaning I intentionally embedded “into the deep blue sea” into the depths of the Yankee, Northern Atlantic sea where it would be irretrievably lost to America.
Sometimes I wonder Why you can’t treat me right You do good all day Then you do wrong all night “Sometimes I wonder” understatement, it bothers me constantly “Why you can’t treat” “treat,” deal with verbally or in some form of artistic expression “me Right” as a Right-winger “You do good all day” you get some songs right “Then you do wrong all night” but you negate this with mistranslations, “wrong” as opposed to Right.
When you’re with me I’m a thousand times happier than I could ever say What does it matter What price I pay
“When you’re with me” when you are at least giving a sliver of insight into my work “I’m a thousand times happier than I could ever say” I dig it but will never say so publically “What does it matter” I guess it is worth it “What price I pay?” even if I had to put up with garbology, demonstrations, ridicule, threats, having my home address revealed etc.
They brag about your sugar Brag about it all over town Put some sugar in my bowl I feel like laying down
“They brag about your sugar” the media wrote about your money “Brag about it all over town” all over New York City as the fact that the Feds seized 1.2 million from my bank account in Luxembourg was in the New York Daily News “Put some sugar in my bowl” put some of that money in the bowl I used to pass around when I worked at the Café Wha? Tarantula, “she tries to outstare a bowl of money” “I feel like laying down” I feel like laying down on the job, retiring, but I cannot.
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I’m pale as a ghost Holding a blossom on a stem You ever seen a ghost? No But you have heard of them
“I’m pale as a ghost” my poetry is as White as any Klansman “Holding” maintaining “a blossom” a period or condition of maximum development, a pure White person “to a stem” to be the main line of descent of the family of man and not the apelike African-American “You ever seen a ghost?” did you ever see a Klansman in New York City? “No but you have heard of them” no, but your work with the Jewish Defense Organization and ironically enough with Dylanology brings them to your attention.
I see you there I’m blinded by the colors I see I take good care Of what belongs to me
“I see you there” I have read the Dylan to English Dictionary “I’m blinded” deprived of perception and insight “by the colors I see” by the way you mischaracterize me, misrepresent me, especially by making me into a Red “I take good care / Of what belongs to me” when in reality my politics are free market and reflect my self-interest. Also in the title She Belongs to Me, she has allegiance to me; I don’t belong to the Communist Party. Red River Shore, “Well I knew when I first laid eyes on her” I knew when I first laid my thoughts on her “I could never be free” I knew I could never be allowed to express my ideas about the superiority of the Free World to that of the Communist Bloc. “One look at her and I knew right away” as a rightist I realized instantly “She should always be with me” she should always be with me but I would not always be with her.
I hear your name Ringing up and down the line I’m saying it plain These ties are strong enough to bind
“I hear your name” A. J. Weberman, your reputation “Ringing up and down the line” reverberating within the sentences of new reports “I’m saying it plain” I am saying something in plain prose for a change “These ties are strong enough to bind” your contribution to translating and understanding my poetry is significant enough to link us historically.
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Your sweet voice Calls out from some old familiar shrine I got no choice Can’t believe these things would ever fade from your mind
“Your sweet voice” sarcastic: your immoral, displeasing expression “Calls out” calls me out, curses me “from some old familiar shrine” the first person to order the Dylan to English Dictionary asked me to make it out to ‘The Bob Dylan Shrine’ “I got no choice” I had to buy it “Can’t believe these things” can’t believe my poems “would ever fade from your mind” would ever not be your obsession.
I could live forever With you perfectly You don’t ever Have to make a fuss over me
“I could live forever” my thoughts could live on forever “With you perfectly” with one very minor proviso you must accurately reproduce the original thinking “You don’t ever / Have to make a fuss over me” sarcastic; you don’t ever have to make me into a protest singer.
“Fuss” as show concern; Working Man’s Blues#2 2006, “Now they worry” they claim they are concerned about me “and they hurry” and they act with undue haste “and they fuss” protest for no good reason “and they fret” and they play their folk music “They waste your nights and days.” Let’s Keep it Between Us 1982, “Backseat drivers don’t know the feel of the wheel but they sure know how to make a fuss.”
From East to West Ever since the world began I only mean it for the best I want to be with you any way I can
“From East to West” I went from the Eastern Communist bloc to the Western nations, from being an ostensible Communist to being a believer in Capitalism and freedom. “Ever since the world began” ever since my world of poetry began “I only mean it for the best” the poems are aimed at the most intelligent, the best and the brightest “I want to be with you any way I can” however, I will make an exception in your case.
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I been in a brawl Now I’m feeling the wall I’m going away baby I won’t be back ‘til fall
“I been in a brawl” I have fought a battle with the HIV virus “Now I’m feeling the wall” now I am up against the wall “I’m going away baby” I am going to die soon “I won’t be back ‘til fall” and I will finally surrender to death.
High on the hill You can carry all my thoughts with you You’ve numbed my will This love could tear me in two
“High on the hill” to those high up in the American Government “You can carry” you can transmit and convey a voice that carries well “all my thoughts with you” the meaning of my poems with you “You’ve numbed my will” you have made my legacy impotent “This love could tear me in two” this dissection of my poetry could destroy it if it if you continue with the idea that I am a Leftwing sellout. “Tear” recurrent word in reference to my work. Sugar Baby 2001, “You got a way of tearing a world apart, love, see what you done.”
I wanna be with you in paradise And it seems so unfair I can’t go back to paradise no more I killed a man back there
“I wanna be with you in paradise” I want to be with you in your version of socialist heaven “And it seems so unfair” sarcastic; Capitalism seems inequitable, an economy where the wealth is unequally distributed “I can’t go back to paradise no more / I killed a man back there” I can’t return to your version of paradise because I killed that kind of thought long ago.
You think I’m over the hill You think I’m past my prime Let me see what you got We can have a whoppin’ good time
“You think I’m over the hill” you think I am over trying to influence legislation on Capitol Hill “You think I’m past my prime” you believe I am past the time of maturity when power and vigor are greatest “Let me see what you got” let me see if you have perfected your art “We can have a whoppin’ good time” and if you have, I’ll have a good time watching you beat up on the Blacks in my behalf! On April 28, 2009 Dylan released
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Together Through Life, a CD about repetitive themes in Dylan’s life including Communism, heroin, HIV, Joan Baez and A. J. Weberman.
SHAKE MAMA SHAKE 2009
I got the blues for you baby when I look up at the sun Come back here, we can have some real fun
“I got the blues for you baby” I miss you baby “when I look up at the sun” when I look at a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events in defining my poetry such as Ricks. “Come back here” keep coming back to my poetry “we can have some real fun” you can have some real fun expressing my thoughts about African-Americans! Same as Nettie Moore 2006, “We can have a whoppin’ good time.”
“Blues” as missing something or someone; Living the Blues 1970, “Since you been gone” since I stopped using dope “I been walking around with my head” with my desire to get a head on smack “bowed down to my shoes” subservient to my career “I been living the blues every night without you.”
Well it’s early in the evening and everything is still One more time I’m walking up around on top of the big hill
“Well it’s early in the evening” it is the beginning of a later concluding time period “and everything is still” and my medication is still working, my T-Cell count remains stable “One more time I’m walking around on top of the big hill” once again I am on top of a problem that although big, having exercised considerable control and influence, proved not to be mountainous and insurmountable.
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Shake shake Mama like a ship going out to sea You took all my money and you gave it to rigidly
“Shake shake Mama” remove and dislodge by jerky movements, shake lose the meaning of my poetry “like a ship” like a revolutionary “going out to sea” preaching to the people of America “You took all my money” you took all my imagination “and you gave it too rigidly” and you made it into doctrinaire Leftwing propaganda and gave it out in a rigid, distorted form.
Down by the river judge Simpson’s walking around Nothing shocks me more than that old clown
“Down by the river” down by the Jordan River, on the West Bank where there is an abundance of Jews “judge” Bible; to govern, rule. Used of an ancient Israelite leaders “Simpson” a cold blooded murderer who now puts himself in a position to judge others, an Israeli settler; Athlete O.J. Simpson murdered his ex-wife and her friend “is walking around” is living, making his home there “Nothing shocks me” nothing is more outrageous; Tarantula, “jack, shocked, takes a second look, raises his hand in a nazi salute” “more than that old clown” more than that antiquated bearded para-militarist whose presence in the West Bank is an obstacle to the formation of a Palestinian State.
Some of you women you really know your stuff Some of you women you really doll your stuff But your clothes are all torn and your language is a little too rough
“Some of you women you really know your stuff” some of your translations are correct “Some of you women you really doll your stuff” and some of your translations add embellishing details in order to make the poetry much more attractive “But your clothes” but your words, sounds like “prose” when Dylan sings it “are all torn” are all cut and pasted from an online dictionary, also the repetitive theme of “tear” tearing Dylan’s poetry apart and destroying it “and your language” your rhetoric and profane language “is a little too rough” too rough on me or is rough around the edges, unrefined but shows promise.
“Language” as rhetoric; The Girl from the Red River Shore 2008, “Now I’ve heard about a guy who lived a long time ago” now I heard about a guy who was popular many years ago “A man full of sorrow and strife” a man who felt sorry for the people of the Third World and was willing to fight for them “That if someone around him died” that if the old Bob Dylan had died “and was dead” and was no longer viable “He knew how to bring him on back to life” he knew how to resurrect him by attributing Leftwing message to his
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rightwing poetry “Well I don’t know what kind of language he might-a used” sarcastic, I know that he used Marxist rhetoric; Tarantula, “& green maggie pushing you into hotrod driver’s eyes & he’s lisping & he has no money to pay for his language” “Or if they do that kind of thing anymore” of any does that kind of thing after the fall of the Soviet Union “Sometimes I think nobody ever saw me here at all” sometimes I think no-one ever knew where I was at “‘Cept the girl from the red river shore” except the girl who thought in a similar fashion to the way people think in a country where Communism was in abundance, the Soviet Union.
Shake shake Mama shake until the break of day I’m right here baby I’m not that far away
“Shake shake Mama shake” keep trying to shake lose the meaning of my poetry “until the break of day” until you make a breakthrough “I’m Right here baby” I express Rightwing views in my poetry “I’m not that far away” sarcastic; I am on the other end of the political spectrum.
IT’S ALL GOOD 2009
Talk about me babe, if you must Throw on the dirt, pile on the dust I’d do the same thing if I could You know what they say They say it’s all good
“Talk about me babe, if you must” “talk” spread rumors; gossip about me as in the Newsweek Magazine article made reference to in Restless Farewell 1964 “Throw on the dirt” put me suddenly and forcefully into a given condition, position in my grave and shovel on the dirt, the lies, the slander “pile on the dust” slang, ‘Pile the shit on thick’ invent a pile of shit about me! Restless Farewell 1964 “If the arrow is straight and the point is slick it can piece through dust no matter how thick” “I’d do the same thing if I could” if I were in your position I would have done the same to you to sell magazines “You know what they say / They say it’s all good” sarcastic; the liberal media tried to destroy me!
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Big politicians telling lies Restaurant kitchen, all full of flies Don’t make a bit of difference Don‘t see why it should But it’s all right cos’ it’s all good, it’s all good, it’s all good
“Big politicians” Communist politicians with grandiose ideas “telling lies” lying to the public about the true nature of Communism “Restaurant kitchens” commercial recording studios, kitchen, as place where something is prepared “all full of flies” all full of Communist performers “Don’t make a bit of difference” sarcastic, Dylan would not be bringing this up if he was indifferent to it “Don‘t see why it should” more sarcasm “But it’s all Right cos’ it’s all good.”
“Kitchen” as recording studio; Liner Notes to the Freewheeling Bob Dylan 1963 “After that I thumbed my way to Galveston, in four days tryin’ to find an ol’ friend whose ma met me at the screen door and said he’s in the Army. By the time the kitchen door closed I was passin’ California” In Chronicles Dylan wrote that he hitchhiked to Texas to hook up with a friend who had a band but was rejected, screened out, and never made it to the recording studio.
“Flies” as Communist performers, Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964; “johnny (little johnny)” Senator Joseph McCarthy “with his father’s hammer” with Congressional legislation “nailed five flies t’ the kitchen window…” caught Communist Party members who had recording contracts such as Paul Robeson “named all the girls” named other Communists “that did it” who were in the Party “he did / an’ never knew a one that didn’t” belong to the CPUSA.
Wives are leaving their husbands, they’re beginning to roam They leave the party, and they never get home I wouldn’t change it, even if I could You know what they say man It’s all good, it’s all good, all good
“Wives are leaving their husbands” Communist Party members are no longer wed to the strict party line “they’re beginning to roam” they are becoming deviationists; Marxist term for someone who does not follow the Party line “roam” as in drift, a gradual deviation from an original course, model, method, and intention “They leave the party” they quit the Communist Party “and they never go home” and they never fully realize what sort of regime they supported; “home” a place of origin or headquarters, the Kremlin, the
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Soviet Union “I wouldn’t change it, even if I could” I would have liked to have deported them and forced them to witness the totalitarian society that they supported but “You know what they say man / It’s all good, it’s all good, all good.”
Brick by brick they tear you down A teacup of water is enough to drown You oughta know if they could they would Whatever’s going down It’s all good All good, it’s all good
“Brick by brick” one by one the reliable sources that you depend on for the information that you predicate your worldview on “they tear you down” are denigrated, replaced by Marxist thinkers “A teacup of water” the smallest amount of sorrow for others “is enough to drown” is enough to make you want to ‘drown in sorrow’ and join the Left instead of thinking about your own self interest “You oughta know, if they could” you should realize that if they had it in them to take individual responsibility for their lives instead of blaming everything on economics “they would” they would do just that but they cannot, because they are an inferior lot “Whatever going down” even if it’s a world class fraud called socialism being perpetrated on Americans “It’s all good, All good, it’s all good.”
People in the country, people on the land Some of ‘em so sick, they can hardly stand Everybody would move away, if they could It’s hard to believe, but it’s all good
“People in the country” dissidents deported to gulags “people on the land” people in the motherland of the Soviet Union “Some of ‘em so sick, they can hardly stand” some of them worked to death by their Communist slave masters in Siberia to the point that they are almost dead, they can no longer endure the torture “Everybody would move away, if they could” everyone would leave that worker’s paradise, that shithole called the USSR if they could get an exit visa, which they cannot “It’s hard to believe” it is hard to believe that a country can keep so many people virtual prisoners, “but it’s all good Yeaaaa!” but that’s cool, hey it must be fun to be in a Soviet political prison or mental hospital to which dissidents, many who were Jewish, were committed.
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The widows cry, the orphans bleed Everywhere you look there’s more misery Come away with me babe, I wish you would You know what I’m saying It’s all good, all good
“The widows cry” the widows of the Cubans killed in the Bay of Pigs invasion mourn “the orphans bleed” the “orphans” as in It’s All Over Now Baby Blue 1965, “yonder stands your orphan with his gun” the Cuban exiles are mortally wounded during the aborted Bay of Pigs invasion “Everywhere you look there’s more misery” in the United States and in Cuban people have fallen under evil leaders, Kennedy and Castro “Come away with me babe, I wish you would” come fly away to heaven with me, I wish John F. Kennedy would “It’s all good, all good, I said it’s all good, all good.”
There’s a cold blooded killer stalking the town Cop cars blinkin’, something bad going down Buildings are crumbling in the neighborhood But it’s nothing to worry about, cause it’s all good It’s all good
“There’s a cold blooded” there’s a backstabbing Communist snake in the grass “killer” having an impressive and effective power and impact; a formidable enemy “stalking” following and observing a person persistently, especially out of obsession and derangement “the town” New York City “Cop cars blinkin,’” police are wavering and backing down, as in a contest of wills “something bad going down” Dylan’s 30th Birthday Party Sunday May 24, 1972 “Buildings are crumbling in the neighborhood” Dylan’s townhouse is falling into decay and ruin, and he has to move; Idiot Wind “The priest wore black on the seventh Day and sat stone faced while the building burned” I “burned down his crib” drug slang; made it useless by bringing the heat or the rips around “but it’s nothing to worry about, cause it’s all good!”
I’m gonna pluck off your beard and blow it in your face This time tomorrow I’ll be roaming in your place I wouldn’t change a thing, even if I could You know what they say They say it’s all good, it’s all good O yeah
“I’m gonna pluck off” I am going to rapidly remove; Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 Liner Notes 1962, “Ha ha how it must laugh / At crippled ones like me who try T’ pick apart the sounds a streams / An’ pluck apart the rage ‘f waves” Shakespeare, “Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck; And yet
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methinks I have astronomy” “your beard” your professorship “blow it in your face” and remind you that even though you are a member of the White race you blew it “This time tomorrow” in the distant future; When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky 1985; “This time tomorrow I’ll know you better / When my memory is not so short” “I’ll be roaming” my poetry will be moving about without purpose nor plan; wandering, losing clarity and coherence of thought and expression “in your place” in your social station in Academia; Positively Fourth Street 1965, “and though I know you are dissatisfied with your position and your place don’t you understand that’s not my problem” “I wouldn’t change a thing, even if I could” I wouldn’t change my having a college professor, Ricks, write what was believed to be the definitive book about my poetry “You know what they say / They say it’s all good, it’s all good / O yeah.”
I FEEL A CHANGE COMIN’ ON 2009
Well I’m looking the world over Looking far off into the east And I see my baby coming She’s walking with the village priest I feel a change coming on And the last part of the day is already gone.
“Well I’m looking the world over” I am evaluating the entire political spectrum “Looking far off into the east” studying the far Left. “And I see my baby coming” and what does Dylan see despite the fact he hates Communism? He sees his love, his truth, become public and “She’s walking with the village priest” and she is accompanied by a freakin’ Communist hippie. Idiot Wind 1975 in relation to Dylan’s 30th Birthday Party Sunday May 24, 1972 “The priest wore black on the seventh day and sat stoned faced while the building burned.”
We’ve got so much in common We strive for the same old ends And I just can’t wait Wait for us to become friends I feel a change coming on And the fourth part of the day is already gone.
“We’ve got so much in common” sarcastic, we have nothing in common “We strive for the same old ends” sarcastic; I am part of a struggle wherein the means justifies the ends such as Old Left Communism and Dylan was not “And I just can’t wait” more sarcasm “Wait for us to become friends” wait to have to hang out with this repulsive individual “I feel a change coming on”
V1-627 someone is putting me through “changes” slang for making him paranoid and upset “And the fourth part of the day” and the end of a period of opportunity and prominence that I should have used to arrange for Weberman’s demise “is already gone” is no longer viable.
Well life is for love And they say that love is blind If you want to live easy Baby pack your clothes with mine
“Well life is for love” life is meant to be a search for truth “And they say that love is blind” but you are unable to understand the truth in my poetry “If you want to live easy” if you want to live the easy life and make money—this is what Weberman is really thinking about “Baby pack” press together, compact firmly “your clothes” Al’s prose, Al’s words “with mine” with my poetry. In Isis he described my reasoning as “if I carry it out” if I translate Dylan’s poetry “it will “bring a good price / It was then that I knew what he had on his mind” it was then that I realized he had money on his mind in this venture.
Well now what’s the use in dreaming? You got better things to do Dreams never did work for me anyway Even when they did come true
“Well now what’s the use in dreaming?” what is the use of projecting your ideals on my poetry “You got better things to do” you have better things to do than trying to translate my poetry, things you can do better “Dreams never did work for me anyway” idealism never did solve a problem by calculation and reasoning for me “Even when they did come true” even when what were thought to be my ideals were realized as in the passage of the Civil Rights Bill in 1964.
“You got better things to do” Dylan: “I think you should expand your thing man. If you took some of that energy and spread it out a little bit you could get involved in a whole new thing. I don’t know if there is going to be enough there [in Dylanology] to be honest with you, I mean there is but after you get yer oh man you know I aint trying to tell you what to do.” I told Dylan that even if I study other rock artists it all comes back to him. “You know why it all comes back to me man because like they’re not doing what I am doing.”
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You are as whorish as ever Baby you can start a fire I must be losing my mind You’re the object of my desire
“You are as whorish as ever” you as radical as ever “Baby you can start a fire” you can level intense, repeated attacks and criticism “I must be losing my mind” I must be becoming reckless “You’re the object” philosophy; something intelligible and perceptible by the mind “of my desire” of my longing; ‘my greatest desire is to have my poetry appreciated and understood.’
I’m listening to Billie Joe Shaver And I’m reading James Joyce Some people they tell me I’ve got the blood of the lamb in my voice
“I’m listening to Billie Joe Shaver” I am following simple Christian principles as put forth by men like Michael Canfield “And I’m reading” at the same time as I am able comprehend complex literature “Some people they tell me” and your buddy Canfield tells me and others at the Christian Vineyard Fellowship tell me “I’ve got the blood of the lamb in my voice” I should sing about Jesus Christ while other say that I am sacrificing my career for Jesus.
Everybody got all the money Everybody got all the beautiful clothes Everybody got all the flowers I don’t have one single rose
“Everybody” sarcastic, nobody “got all the money” picked up on the full breath of my imagination “Everybody got all the beautiful clothes” nobody caught on to all the stunning way I used words “Everybody got all the flowers” nobody caught on to the fact that what I created was an exemplar of its type “I don’t have one single rose” and this is why I still don’t have a bed of roses; a situation of comfort and ease, wherein my poetry is universally appreciated as it would be if Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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IF YOU EVER GO TO HOUSTON 2009
If you ever go to Houston Better walk right Keep your hands in your pockets And your gun-belt tight You’ll be asking for trouble If you’re lookin’ for a fight
If you ever go to Houston Boy, you better walk right
“If you ever go to Houston you better walk right” A. J. if you are living close by me on Houston Street in Manhattan you better cut out all this Leftist nonsense and live Right “Keep your hands in your pockets” keep your hands out of my garbage, stay in your isolated area “and your gun” a device used to force something under pressure “belts tied” and don’t bug me about having tied a belt around my arm and shot up “If you’re asking for drama, if you’re looking for a fight / If you ever go to Houston, buddy you’d / better walk right.” Dylan attacked on me Elizabeth Street between Bleecker Street and Houston Street.
If you’re ever down there On Bagby and Lamar You better watch out for The man with the shining star Better know where you’re going Or stay where you are If you’re ever down there On Bagby and Lamar
“If you’re ever down there / On Bagby and Lamar” if you are living in a rundown section of town “You better watch out for / The man with the shining star” you better watch out for the preeminent superstar Bob Dylan “Better know where you’re going” you better know you are going to get a beating “Or stay where you are” or don’t leave your loft “If you’re ever down there” if you are ever down on the pavement “On Bagby and Lamar.”
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I know these streets I’ve been here before I nearly got killed here During the Mexican war Something always Keeps me coming back for more I know these streets I’ve been here before
“I know these streets” I know the mean streets of the Bowery “I’ve been here before” I am familiar with the area “I nearly got killed here / During the Mexican war” I nearly got killed trying to cop dugi “Something always / Keeps me coming back for more” when I was a strung out addict “I know these streets / I’ve been here before” I know this crime ridden side of town, I been here long before you.
If you ever go to Dallas Say hello to Mary Anne Say I’m still pullin’ on the trigger Hangin’ on the best that I can If you see her sister Lucy Say I’m sorry I’m not there Tell her other sister Betsy To pray the sinner’s prayer
“If you ever go to Dallas” if you ever study the Kennedy assassination “Say hello to Mary Anne” give my regards to the assassins “Say I’m still pullin’ on the trigger” say I am still happy that Kennedy was shot “Hangin’ on” paying strict attention to what happened “the best that I can” the best I can having hated Kennedy “If you see her sister Lucy” if you see someone married to a Cuban; Chronicles, “There wasn’t much to watch…Lucy and her Cuban bandleader husband, Desi” “Say I’m sorry I’m not there” say I would have been liked to be part of the crew “Tell her other sister Betsy” tell the other patriotic Americans; Tarantula, “son of the vampire with his arm around betsy ross” “to pray the sinner’s prayer” to file a request of a complainant, as stated in a complaint or in equity, that the court, in this case former Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren grant the aid or relief solicited as he was head of the Warren Commission that investigated the Kennedy assassination.
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I got a restless fever Burnin’ in my brain Got to keep ridin’ forward Can’t spoil the game The same way I leave here Will be the way that I came Got a restless fever Burnin’ in my brain
“I got a restless fever / Burnin’ in my brain” I have the HIV virus throughout my body and it might turn into the AIDS virus at any time “Got to keep ridin’ forward” got keep on pretending I am healthy “Can’t spoil the game” don’t wanna ruin the con “The same way I leave here / Will be the way that I came” when I die no one will know I had that restless fever burnin’ in my brain.
Mr. Policeman Can you help me find my gal Last time I saw her Was at the Magnolia Hotel If you help me find her You can be my pal Mr. Policeman Can you help me find my gal
“Mr. Policeman” A. J. you pig critic man “Can you help me find my gal” can you help me find the meaning of my own poetry? “Last time I saw her” the last time I looked “Was at the Magnolia Hotel” I was a supporter of the way things were in the Old South “If you help me find her” if you help me find the meaning of my own poetry “You can be my pal” Paul Simon, Me and Julia Down In The School Yard, “If you be my bodyguard I will be your long lost pal” “Mr. Policeman / Can you help me find my gal?”
If you ever go to Austin Fort Worth or San Antone Find the bar rooms I got lost in And send my memories home Put my tears in a bottle Screw the top on tight If you ever go to Houston You better walk right
“If you ever go to Austin Fort Worth or San Antone” if you ever become a heroin addict; Lo and Behold 1968, “I pulled out for San Anton’, I never felt so good” “Find the bar rooms I got lost in” find the life of intoxication I got lost in “And send my memories home” and send my experiences back to my fans in prose “Put my tears in a bottle” deal with my sorrow that stemmed
V1-632 from using intoxicants “bottle” as in ‘hit the bottle’ “Screw the top on tight” tell others not to use dope “If you ever go to Houston / You better walk right.”
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PAY IN BLOOD 2012
Well I'm grinding my life out steady and sure Nothing more wretched than what I must endure I'm drenched in the light that shines from the sun I could stone you to death for the wrongs that you've done But sooner or later you'll make a mistake I'll put you in a chain that you never will break Legs and arms and body and bone I'll pay in blood but not my own.
Well I'm grinding “grind” as Informal performing a laborious task or routine: the daily grind of touring my life out to my very last breath steady and sure “steady” continuously as in a steady gig. “Sure” physically
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secure or dependable a sure footing. Bob Dylan goes on tour, plays his music, writes his poetry, records his CDs – and he pays his taxes with regularity. Even I can’t call him a bum. Nothing more wretched than what I must endure and as such he finds that there is nothing more inferior in quality, nothing worse short of hell, than having a “socialist parasite” like Obama in the White House who wants to tax the top 2% which of course Bob Dylan is a part of I'm drenched: I am soaked “soak” Slang to overcharge a person in the light that shines from the sun by a person or thing considered as a source of radiant glory like Obama I could stone you to death I could kill you employing your own favored method of execution because I know you are really a Muslim mole. Stoning people to death is mandated by Shar’ia law for the wrongs that you've done for your welfare state policies But sooner or later you'll make a mistake but eventually you will screw up and everyone will know you are a thieving African-American I'll put you in a chain that you never will break and when this finally happens I will do to you what you have done to me with the IRS only literally. I will see that you return to your rightful role, that of a servant or slave “chain” as captivity bondage: threw off the chains of slavery and you will never escape into civilized society again. I will limit your Legs “legs” the ability to last or sustain success, especially by appealing to an audience: a presidency that has legs and arms “arms” power or authority: the long arm of the federal law and body “body” as in legislative body such as the U.S. Congress and bone “bones” as the fundamental plan or design, as of the platform of Democratic party I'll pay in blood but not my own. In Dylan’s symbolism “blood” is death. This is from Dylan’s Long Ago Far Away: “The war guns they went off wild the whole world bled its blood. Men's bodies floated on the edge of oceans made of mud.” If the poem is about Obama and Dylan will pay - get revenge on; requite in blood (or death) “but not my own” then I can only conclude this is a threat on the President’s life couched in poetry.
Night after night, day after day They strip your useless hopes away The more I take, the more I'll give The more I die, the more I'll live I've got something in my pocket make your eyeballs swim I've got dogs could tear you limb from limb I'm simpering around the southern zone I'll pay in blood but not my own.
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Night after night, day after day that is continuously, unrelentingly, monotonously they strip they rob you of wealth or property your useless futile hopes away hope: something that is hoped for or desired such as wealth. Additionally HOPE was an Obama campaign slogan. The more I take, the more I'll give the more money I take in from my occupation the more taxes I have to pay due to the progressive income tax. The more I die the sicker I get “die” as in to cease existing, especially by degrees the more I live the more I will live on at tax payers’ expense under Obamacare. Dylan believes it is a shame that there is no more social Darwinism where those who can afford medical insurance live and those who cannot can use Emergency Room care or die. I've got something in my pocket I have got financial means, I have a money supply as in The cost of the trip must come out of your own pocket make your eyeballs “eyeball” as in the eyeball on American currency so it becomes make your currency swim “float” Economics: to find a level in relationship to other currencies solely in response to the law of supply and demand: Obama allowed the dollar to float to new lows against the Euro. Also make you roll your eyes back in your head like a Minstrel Show character which is really what you are Obama!
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I've got dogs could tear you limb from limb if necessary I will return to days of Jim Crow where vicious dogs were set on Negros (as Blacks were called back then even in the liberal media) to prevent them from polluting the White race with their inherently inferior genetic makeup by allowing them near White girls I'm simpering I am a simpering wimp “wimp” Slang: a timid person: around the southern zone and I am afraid to state in plain terms that I favor the Confederacy, slavery, Jim Crow, segregation. Also “zone” as a section of an area or territory established for a specific purpose, as a section of a city restricted to a particular type of race.
In the latest Rolling Stone interview Dylan said slavery screwed up America and there were better ways to end it than the Civil War. The crypto-Nazi Ron Paul said the same thing because both of these neo-Confederates were on the side of the South. I'll pay in blood but not my own (in your dreams you will).
Low cards I would have got But I'll play this hand whether I like it or not I've sworn to uphold the laws of God You can put me out in front of a firing squad I've been out and around with the riding men Just like you my handsome friend My head is so hard it must be made of stone I'll pay in blood but not my own.
Low humble in status or character; lowly: of low birth cards something, such as an advantageous circumstance I would have got I would have got had I been born a Black man but I'll play this hand whether I like it or not but I am not going to spend my life bitching about the raw deal I got from racist America, I will do what I can to succeed with whatever I have even if I don’t like doing it I've sworn to uphold the laws of God and Dylan believes there is
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justification for this in the Bible “man must work by the sweat of his brow.” You can put me out in front of a firing squad you might think the following is treasonous I've been out and around with the riding men I have come out of the closet and hooked up with the Knight Riders of the Klu Klux Klan and joined them in their crusade and African-Americans. This makes little sense considering Dylan (Zimmerman) is Jewish Just like you my handsome friend just as you have my handsome, liberal fan who has enough money to live in White neighborhoods and send their kids to private schools etc. but wants the children of the poor Whites to bear the brunt of having to attend school with young blacks who think Cryptology is the study of the Crypts. My head is so hard my brain is hard-headed stubborn; willful it must be made of stone these ideas about race must be set in stone I'll pay in blood but not my own blah blah blah
Another politician pumping out the piss Another ragged beggar blowin’ you a kiss You've got the same eyes that your mother does If only you could prove who your father was
Another politician pumping out the piss another politician named Obama pumping money into the economy, and pissing taxpayer money away when no matter how much money you throw at the problem you cannot solve it because it is genetic and cultural.
In Subterranean Homesick Blues Dylan wrote,
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Look out kid They keep it all hid Better jump down a manhole Light yourself a candle Don't wear sandals Try to avoid the scandals Don't wanna be a bum You better chew gum The pump don't work 'Cause the vandals took the handles.
“Look out kid / They keep it all hid” hey naive White boy, hey son, be on your guard against the liberal Democratic government because they have a hidden agenda “Better jump down a manhole” you all better gain access to an underground structure like the Klan or the White Citizens Council “Light yourself a candle” get yourself some hope! Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961, “Where do you look for this candle that's glowin' / where do you look for this hope that you know is there.” “Don't wear sandals” don’t make yourself into a martyr like Jesus Christ who wore sandals “Try to avoid the scandals” don’t marry a colored and do damage to your reputation and character by public disclosure of immoral behavior; miscegenation which was a crime for hundreds of years in many U.S. States! “Don't wanna be a bum” don’t wanna be a lazy and shiftless person, especially one who seeks to live solely by the support of others, like a welfare African-American “You better chew” you better meditate on, ponder; ‘chew a problem over’ “gum” sticking together with other Whites like gum, like glue “The pump don't work” pumping welfare money into the Black community doesn’t work “Cause the vandals” because the liberals who purposely damage and destroy public institutions such as Congress, the Supreme Court “took the handles” have taken the means of enforcement used to keep this uncivilized race in line - the ax handles have been taken away from the Southern racists, like restaurant owner Lester Maddox, who distributed ax handles to all his costumers to be used to keep the African-Americans in their place. Lester Maddox subsequently became Governor of Georgia. In Only a Pawn in Their Game describing the racist who kept the Blacks in line by shooting Medgar Evers, one of their leaders, Dylan wrote that “a handle hid out in the dark.”
Another politician pumping out the piss / Another ragged beggar another politician named Obama pumping money into the economy, and pissing taxpayer money away along with his counterpart, another imperfect, indigent collector of food stamps, disability, Obamacare etc. rather than a productive individual blowin’ you a kiss who is repaying you, kissing your Black ass and voting for you.
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Dylan was asking if there is a flaw in America democracy. Did the 2012 Presidential Election results prove him right? People in the states with high populations of Blacks most getting Government benefits voted 97% for Obama. The Hispanics didn’t give a rat’s ass about abortion, gay marriage and other precepts of the Roman Catholic Church and also went overwhelmingly for Obama so they could get their benefits. In 2008, about 28.2 million people used food stamps compared to about 33.5 million in 2009 and 40.3 million in 2010. The population of the United States is around 311,907,122, meaning that almost 15 percent of U.S. residents use food stamps.
Mitt Romney agreed with Dylan and told attendees of a $50,000-a-plate dinner that 47% of Americans - those who back President Obama - are "victims" who are "dependent upon government" and "pay no income tax." He noted: "My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." Romney reiterated this belief after the election: "What the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote, and that strategy worked." Romney's campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, listed a few specifics: "Whether it was free contraceptives for 18 to 29 year-old women, DREAM Act waivers, student loan interest rate cuts for college students, and other initiatives geared toward energizing their coalition. They succeeded." Romney: "It's a proven political strategy, which is give a bunch of money to a group and, guess what, they'll vote for you. ...Immigration we can solve, but the giving away free stuff is a hard thing to compete with."
Many Blacks and Hispanics would have voted Democratic even if there was no Food Stamp Program, however they would not have turned out in the numbers they did. According to Tea Party favorite Rep. Paul Ryan “The surprise was some of the turnout, some of the turnout especially in urban areas, which gave President Obama the big margin to win this race. When we watched Virginia and Ohio coming in, and those ones coming in as tight as they were, and looking like we were going to lose them, that’s when it became clear we weren’t going to win.”
If Dylan had one drop of honesty in him he would have campaigned for Romney just as Springsteen did for President Obama. Instead he accepted a prize from Obama.
You've got the same eyes that your mother does “mother” A creative source; an origin. You have the same genetic inheritance as the source from which you sprang, that is a given If only you could prove who your father
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was there is no disputing that however the question arises who your father was and where were you born as you do not have a valid birth certificate and instead have a forgery. “Prove” Law to establish the authenticity of for example a birth certificate.
So whadya know? Dylan is a Birther and believes that Obama was not native born so according to the Constitution is disqualified for holding the office of the Presidency of the United States. I suppose you can forge a single birth certificate. But how do you forge a birth announcement and get it in newspapers found in hundreds of libraries across the country including the Library of Congress? Did Obama’s parents know this would become a matter of contention when their Black son would run for the office of President of the United States decades later so they gave the newspaper false information? Dylan being a Birther proves beyond a reasonable that Bob Dylan is a moron who probably believes in other idiotic conspiracy theories such as 9/11 was an inside job etc.
Another possibility here is that this line refers to a theory put forth by Joel Gilbert, a DVD producer and leader of Highway 61 Revisited, a Dylan tribute band. Gilbert is also an intellectual and did the research for the definitive biography of Zev Jabotinsky, The Lone Wolfe. Dylan made a reference to the Lone Wolf as Jabotinsky in Tough Mama. Gilbert produces serious DVD’s such as Farewell Israel, detailing the Iranian nuclear threat, and fanciful ones based on the myth that Paul McCartney is dead. When Joel did a DVD
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entitled Inside Bob Dylan’s Jesus Years a reviewer opined: “Only Dylanologist A. J. Weberman mentions, in passing, that Dylan was addicted to heroin in the late 1970s, still reeling from his recent divorce and dislocation. He was, indeed, a lost soul—and Jesus found him.” Joel’s latest creation is Dreams from My Real Father. The New York Times reported:
And a new anti-Obama DVD is dropping into voters’ mailboxes, claiming that the president is the love child of an illicit relationship between his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, and Frank Marshall Davis, a Communist Party loyalist…Mr. Gilbert will not say where he received the money to distribute his movie — he claims to have sent out four million copies. “It’s a private company, so we don’t disclose who’s part of it,” he said. He also blamed the mainstream media for not looking deeper into the story he uncovered, telling The New York Times, “I hope you’re not angry or jealous that I beat you to it and might win the Pulitzer Prize.” I had to purge Joel because he appeared on Nazi Internet shows such as that of Jeff Rense.
So If only you could prove who your father was might be a reference to Joel Gilbert’s widely circulated DVD alleging that Obama’s real father was Frank Marshall Davis, a Black 1950’s Communist. I told Joel he was exploiting the racist belief that “All coons look alike” but Joel is genuinely convinced Frank
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Marshall Davis is Obama’s pops. He is not consciously disseminating “black” propaganda.
Although Joel denies it, the money to distribute millions of Dreams of my Real Father in battleground states may have come from Bob Dylan. I doubt if the Hudson Institute or the Zionist Organization of America would get behind this one because part of Joel’s theory is that Obama’s mama posed for dirty magazines along with Lenny Bruce’s wife, Kitty Bruce. When it was shown to Republican focus groups it was immediately rejected. Once he got Kitty Bruce mixed up in this I knew we were in fantasy land. Ann Dunham or Margret Meade do not fit the “profile” of porn stars.
Someone must have slipped a drug in your wine You gulped it down and you crossed the line Man can't live by bread alone I'll pay in blood but not my own.
Someone must have slipped someone placed or inserted smoothly and quietly a drug something to stupefy or dull with or as if with a medicine in your wine in your taste in entertainment, wine as in wine and dine You gulped it down you swallowed my songs hook line and sinker: “swallow” Slang believe without question and you crossed you encountered in passing: His path crossed mine the line my lyrics Man can't live by bread alone and these lyrics state that man cannot live a Communist atheist materialist way of life and be happy but you haven’t got an inkling of this I'll pay in blood but not my own sure you would.
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How I made it back home nobody knows Or how I survived so many blows I been through hell what good did it do? You bastard I'm supposed to respect you? I'll give you justice - I'll fatten your purse Show me your morals that you reverse Now hear me holler, hear me moan I'll pay in blood but not my own.
How I made it back home nobody knows How I had sex back home nobody knows “made” Slang To have sexual intercourse Or how I survived so many blows Vulgar Slang “blow” to perform fellatio on I been through hell what good did it do? I have been through Hell and have yet to find a cure for my STD You bastard I'm supposed to respect you? And after all I suffered I am supposed to respect you? Dylan disrespected Obama when Dylan came to play at the White House. He didn’t show up for rehearsal or photo ops with the President and was curt when he thanked him for having him. I pointed out on The Call, a conservative website, that the reason Dylan did this was because he was a racist I'll give you justice - I'll fatten your purse sarcastic: I will do the right thing and not give you a campaign contribution, also “purse” as a symbol of homosexuality as in “If you call me a fag again I’ll hit you with my purse!” Show me your morals that you reverse because you support marriage between two perverts reverse turned backward in position, direction, or order. “Pervert” from Old French pervertir, from Latin pervertere to turn the wrong way, from per- (indicating deviation) + vertere to turn Now hear me holler, hear me moan now I can tell you what I really think because we are not meeting in person I'll pay in blood but not my own who wants Dylan’s blood anyway when it’s HIV Positive? This was a result of Dylan’s sex addiction so who is the real degenerate? People who are born gay? Or Bob Dylan who choose to go on a bareback (probably anal) fuck fest. He is the real pervert. Ha! ha! So Dylan should think of other minorities to go down on other than the gays.
You get your lover in the bed Come here I'll break your lousy head Our nation must be saved and freed You've been accused of murder - how do you plead? This is how I'll spend my days I came to bury, not to praise I'll drink my fill and sleep alone I'll pay in blood but not my own.
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You get your lover in the bed this is a reference to the death of Osama Bin Laden who was killed in his bed. Dylan wanted to fly him back to the United States and give him a fair trial. Come here I'll break your lousy head this is a reference to torturing terrorist suspects in order to obtain intelligence information Our nation must be saved and freed / You've been accused of murder - how do you plead? Our country is in the hands of a dictator who can kill at will. This is a reference to the use of drones and the kill list of Americans carrying out terrorist acts from abroad like Anwar Al-Awlaki who inspired the Fort Hood massacre of American soldiers This is how I'll spend my days came to bury, not to praise Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar (Obama), not to praise him.
Dylan sympathizes more with the enemies of America than he does with Americans. Again this sounds like Ron Paul, who like Dylan, opposes the Patriot Act, wants to close Guantanamo and stop the CIA from using advanced interrogation techniques. Dylan had this to say about Obama in the Rolling Stone interview:
So what are we talking about? People changing their minds? Well who are these people that changed their minds? Talk to them. What are they changing their minds for? What’d they vote for him for? They should have voted for somebody else if they didn’t think they were going to like him! Look, I only met him a few times. I mean, what do you want me to say? He loves music. He’s personable. He dresses good. What the fuck do you want me to say?
The president, accompanied by Bruce Springsteen, was in Madison on the same day Dylan performed. When he came back after the encore he said: “Don’t believe the media. I think it’s going to be a landslide.” Previous to that he’s also quoted as having said, “We tried to play good tonight since the president was here today.” The media was predicting an Obama victory. The second remark is grammatically incorrect and sounds like street talk. But all this is pretty freakin’ mild compared to what he wrote in Pay In Blood.
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SOON AFTER MIDNIGHT 2012
I'm searching for phrases To sing your praises I need to tell someone It's soon after midnight And my day has just begun
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I'm searching for phrases I am trying to invent catch phrases, political slogans like FOWARD To sing your praises sarcastic: to sing the praises of Obama I need to tell someone I need to inform America, give evidence It's soon after midnight and my day has just begun it is at a time of extreme darkness in America and my day – a period of opportunity or prominence: Every defendant is entitled to a day in court – has just begun is just starting, I am just starting to expose Obama and the Democratic Party.
A gal named Honey Took my money She was passing bye It's soon after midnight And the moon is in my eye
A gal named Honey someone with sugary or ingratiating words like Obama has Took my money took my tax money She was passing (pauses) to “pass” to be accepted as a member of a group by denying one's own ancestry or background, Obama was passing himself off as a person with the same morals as a Whiteman or possibly passing himself off as a Christian when in reality he was a Muslim bye It's soon after midnight we are in a very “dark” as in a “darkie” period of American history And the moon and something once believed to be unreasonable or unattainable such as having a Blackman in the White House is in my eye is on my mind because it has become a reality, it is in my face.
My heart is cheerful It's never fearful I've been down on the killing floors I'm in no great hurry I'm not afraid of your fury I've faced stronger walls than yours
My heart is cheerful my will is hearty; ungrudging; enthusiastic It's never fearful it is confident it is going to win in the end I've been down on the killing floors I know that someday there will be enough votes on the floors of House and Senate to kill - revoke - Obamacare I'm in no great hurry I will wait until the Right time comes I'm not afraid of your fury I am not afraid of reprisals I've faced stronger walls than yours I have been barred previously because I was mistakenly perceived as a Leftist. Does Dylan think he is going to face reprisals for poetry that no one except me and a few rock poets here and there understand? This guy is in lala land.
Charlotte's a harlot Dresses in scarlet
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Mary dresses in green It's soon after midnight And I've got a date with the fairy queen
Charlotte's a harlot the Democrats, who held their 2012 convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, are political whores who will go against conventional morality in order to get votes Dresses in the Democrats have an outer covering or appearance; guise: an ancient ritual in modern dress scarlet being flagrantly immoral or unchaste: scarlet thoughts. Mary a male homosexual who takes the passive, feminine role dresses in green is easily duped or deceived; gullible It's soon after midnight things are at their worst, their darkest And I've got a date and there is a particular point or period of time at which something is expected to happen as in set a date for a wedding with the fairy queen that is a date for a same sex wedding “Fairy” and “Queen” are two derogatory terms for homosexuals. In Watch the River Flow Dylan wrote, “If I had wings and I could fly” if I was a fairy, a fag “I know where I would go” to Hell.
Dylan wrote this in the liner notes to Another Side of Bob Dylan:
michelangelo would've wept if he saw but once where charlie slept (whoa, charlie, i'm afraid you've stepped beyond the borders of being kept) what price what price what price disgrace for sleepin' on a cherub's face?
Even a homosexual like Michelangelo would have felt sorry for this kid named “charlie” who allowed his dick to get sucked in return for a place to crash. As fate would have it Dylan was a male prostitute in Times Square when he first came to New York City and Charlie was hustling with him.
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They chirp and they chatter What does it matter? They lie and dine in their blood Two timing slim Who's ever heard of him? I'll drag his corpse through the mud
They chirp and they chatter they tweet and they go into chat rooms What does it matter? what does it matter - the outcome is already known – Obama / Biden will get the nomination They lie and dine in their blood they lie about ending the war and thrive on blood of dead soldiers Two timing slim that cheating con man Bill Clinton who spoke at the convention Who's ever heard of him? Sarcastic: Clinton is a former United States president I'll drag his corpse through the mud even after Clinton is dead I will remind people that his name is mud. Informal someone who is disgraced “Clinton’s name is mud for having anal-oral sex with Monica Lewinsky in the White House Oval Office.”
God only knows what kind of kinky sex Dylan engaged in or how many times he engaged in it with how many different women before he contracted HIV. He was into Gomorraey, which is one step beyond Sodomy.
It's now or never More than ever When I met you I didn't think you do It’s soon after midnight And I don't want nobody but you
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It's now or never more than ever this is a reworking of a Nixon campaign slogan NOW MORE THAN EVER, also an Elvis tune, “It’s now or never our love can’t wait kiss me my darling I’m yours tonight.” When I met you I didn't think you would do I never liked Richard Nixon and was a Goldwater supporter as I revealed in Chronicles It’s soon after midnight soon it will be too late and America would have turned completely dark And I don't want nobody but you but now looking back I realize I can’t be picky and choosey and I support Nixon-style Republicans.
Nixon: We're going to [put] more of these little Negro bastards on the welfare rolls at $2,400 a family--let people like Pat Moynihan and Leonard Garment and others believe in all that crap. But I don't believe in it. Work, work--throw 'em off the rolls. That's the key. I have the greatest affection for them [blacks], but I know they're not going to make it for 500 years. They aren't. You know it, too.
SCARLET TOWN 2012
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In Scarlet Town, where I was born There's ivy leaf and silver thorn The streets have names that you can't pronounce Gold is down to a quarter of an ounce The music starts and the people sway Everybody says, "Are you going my way?" Uncle Tom still workin' for Uncle Bill Scarlet Town is under the hill.
In Scarlet Town in a flagrantly immoral or unchaste state of mind: scarlet thoughts Note the similar usage of the word “scarlet” as in the previous poem where I was born where I was destined, or seemingly destined, from birth: a person born to contract a fatal disease There's ivy there is “Ivy” Informal a university in the Ivy League leaf any of the sheets of paper bound in a book, each side of which constitutes a page, there are medical books put together by top notch scientists and silver articulate, easily made known thorn pain “thorn” as something that causes sharp pain The streets have names that you can't pronounce nameless people have been pronounced dead Gold something regarded as having great value or goodness: a cure for AIDS is down to a quarter of an ounce is scarce The music starts you must face the music Informal: to confront the consequences of one's actions and the people sway the other patients move without being stable, as if threatening to fall Everybody says, "Are you going my way?" all the other HIV Positive patients ask are you going to die as I am going to? Uncle Tom Uncle Tom - (ethnic slur) offensive and derogatory name for a man who is abjectly servile and deferential to his master still workin' for Uncle Bill still doing research for money, for the big pharmaceuticals, rather than for humanitarian reasons Scarlet Town is under the hill HIV/AIDS is considered a death sentence.
Scarlet Town in the month of May Sweet William on his deathbed lay Mistress Mary by the side of the bed Kissin' his face heapin’ prayers on his head So brave so true, so gentle is he I'll weep for him as he’d weep for me Little Boy Blue come your blow horn In Scarlet Town, where I was born
Scarlet Town in the month of May Dylan was stricken with disseminated histoplasmosis on May 26, 1997 Sweet William on his deathbed lay and almost died Mistress Mary a woman with ultimate control over something: the mistress of the ward by the side of the bed “bed” accommodations for a single person at a hospital or institution: a contagious
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disease ward with 30 beds Kissin' his face kissing goodbye Informal to be forced to regard as lost, ruined, or hopeless heapin’ prayers on his head and administering the last rites So brave so true, brave, true? Dylan was pissing in his pants when his HIV became AIDS so gentle is he he is fragile, that is lacking physical or emotional strength; delicate I'll weep for him as he’d weep for me I will mourn or grieve: wept for him because it is really me I am referring to, me Bob Dylan the only one in the world I feel sorry for Little Boy Blue come your blow horn Gabriel, blow your horn and take me to my grave. Sugar Baby 2001, “Look up, look up, seek your Maker, 'fore Gabriel blows his horn” In Scarlet Town, where I was born in HIV town where I was reborn into a nightmarish life.
Scarlet Town, in the hot noon hours, There's palm-leaf shadows and scattered flowers Beggars crouching at the gate Help comes, but it comes too late On marble slabs and in fields of stone You make your humble wishes known I touched the garment, but the hem was torn In Scarlet Town, where I was born
Scarlet Town in the hot HIV in hot pursuit of Dylan’s life and his body temperature is high in an attempt to repel an infection noon hours a time of life and death confrontation as in the movie High Noon There's palm-leaf there is a leaf of a palm tree, carried as an emblem of victory or success shadows that are merely faint representations of reality and scattered flowers and the best representatives: the flowers of medicine occur or fall at widely spaced intervals Beggars crouching desperate people bending in a servile or timid fashion; cringing, bowing at the gate at a means of access: the gate to a cure Help comes, but it comes too late now HIV AIDS is a manageable disease but back then it was considered fatal On marble slabs in mortuaries and in fields of stone and in graveyards You make your humble wishes known amid death you make your simple desires for life known I touched the garment, but the hem was torn Touching the Hem of Jesus' Garment (Luke 8:40-48) In this verse we read that a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years touched Jesus' garment and was instantly healed however when Dylan sought a miraculous cure he could not duplicate this, as there was no hem to touch In Scarlet Town, where I was born because HIV/AIDS is still in incurable disease.
In Scarlet Town, the end is near The Seven Wonders of the World are here The evil and the good livin' side by side All human forms seem glorified
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Put your heart on a platter and see who’ll bite See who will hold you and kiss you good night There's walnut groves and Maplewood In Scarlet Town cryin' won't do no good
In Scarlet Town the end is near having HIV/AIDS generates false hope that the end to the suffering it causes is near The Seven Wonders of the World are here because of advances in science The evil and the good livin' side by side the virus and my T-cells living side by side All human forms all documents with blanks for the insertion of details or information: prescription forms seem glorified seem more glorious or excellent than is actually the case Put your heart on a platter put your trust in a medical facility “platter” a meal or course served on a platter such as a hospital meal and see who will bite see who will cut into you with a sharp instrument such as a scalpel See who will hold you see who will help you maintain a given condition, situation, or action: The nurses held the patients’ attention and kiss you good night and monitor your condition There's walnut groves and Maplewood there is plenty of wood for the undertaker to make into coffins In Scarlet Town cryin' won't do no good when you have HIV/AIDS that is demanding or requiring immediate action or remedy: a disease crying out for a cure will have no effect on your situation.
In Scarlet Town, you fight your father's foes Up on the hill, a chilly wind blows You fight 'em on high and you fight 'em down in You fight 'em with whiskey, morphine and gin You've got legs that can drive men mad A lot of things we didn't do that I wish we had In Scarlet Town, the sky is clear You'll wish to God that you stayed right here
In Scarlet Town, you fight your father's foes when you have HIV/AIDS you must fight any disease that you have a tendency to acquire due to genetic pre-disposition Up on the hill, a chilly wind blows from the graveyard where Abraham Zimmerman is buried a death might be in the wind for Robert Allen Zimmerman because you can change your name but you can’t change you genes You fight 'em on high and you fight 'em down in you fight both external and internal threats to your immune system You fight 'em with whiskey, morphine and gin you fight them with pain killers You've got legs you got several contests that must be successfully completed in order to determine the winner of a competition between the virus and your T-cells that can drive men mad and this can be maddening A lot of things we didn't do that I wish we had a lot of anti-viral drugs could have helped however
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when I contracted HIV/AIDS they were unavailable In Scarlet Town the sky in HIV land the future is clear is plain or evident to the mind; unmistakable – a cure You'll wish to God that you stayed right here you’ll wish to God your condition remains stable. “Sky” as future from Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts “The next day was hanging day the sky was overcast and black.”
Set 'em Joe, play "Walkin' the Floor" Play it for my flat-chested junkie whore I'm staying up late, and I'm making amends While we smile, all heaven descends If love is a sin, then beauty is a crime All things are beautiful in their time The black and the white, the yellow and the brown It's all right there in front of ya in Scarlet Town
Set 'em Joe “set” compose music to fit a given text. To write (words) to fit a given melodic line play "Walkin' the Floor" play a plaintive country western song about worry Play it for my flat-chested junkie whore warn those who might contract the disease because of certain risk factors I'm staying up late, and I'm making amends I am working overtime making amends for my previous behavior, sounds like the 12 Step Alcoholics Anonymous program While we smile, all heaven descends while we are complacent and tacitly approve people are going to hell If love is a sin, then beauty is a crime if making love is wrong then being attracted to beautiful woman is something to be regretted as in it is a crime that he died young All things are beautiful in their time all women are beautiful at different ages The black and the white, the yellow and the brown Blacks, Whites, Asian, and Hispanic It's all right there in front of you in Scarlet Town all that sex is coming right back at ya, in Scarlet Town.
Dylan already knew he was HIV positive when he married Carolyn Dennis, an African-American and had a child with her. The first reference to a blood disease that affected his immune system appeared on Empire Burlesque recorded between July 1984 and March 1985. The recording was released on June 8, 1985. So assuming Dylan was referring to HIV / AIDS in I Ain’t Never Gonna Be The Same Again, March 1985 would be the latest date that Dylan could have become aware of his disease although it is likely he became aware of it much earlier. In the poem in question Dylan wrote:
Now you're here beside me, baby You're a living dream [nightmare]. And every time you get this close It makes me want to scream.
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You touched [a slight attack, as of a disease a touch of bronchitis] me and you knew That I was warm [having or causing a sensation of unusually high body heat] for you and then I ain't never gonna be the same again.
You give me something to think about, baby Every time I see ya. Don't worry, baby, I don't mind leaving [dying] I'd just like it to be my idea.
Now, I can't go back to what was, baby I can't un-ring the bell. [I will always have the virus in my bloodstream] You took my reality And cast it to the wind I ain't never gonna be the same again,
So there you have it, Dylan writing about his affliction from the first person.
THE EARLY ROMAN KINGS 2012***
The story here is that Bob Dylan is racist pig scum bag. He focuses his hatred mainly on Black men although he has problems with Black single mothers (like his ex-wife Carolyn Dennis was for a time). I think that I am the only one in the world that openly believes this since many people point to the marriage with Carolyn Dennis as proof just the opposite is true. But remember what we learned in Scarlet Town – Dylan had HIV when he married her and could have infected her with it. So that explains the contradiction and a lot more about the character of Robert Allen Zimmerman. This tune has a typical black blues beat.
All the early Roman kings In their shark skin suits Bow ties and buttons High top boots
All the early all those belonging to an initial stage of development: Africans are an early form of human life Roman “roamin’” wandering aimlessly in search of pleasure kings King, Martin Luther, Jr. 1929-1968 In their shark skin suits in the clothing of the Whiteman Bow ties neckwear like Black supremacist Farrakhan and The Fruits of Islam wear and buttons and a round flat badge that bears a design or printed information and is typically pinned to a garment: an Obama campaign button High top boots “booted” Slang an unceremonious dismissal, as from a job. Last to get hired first to get fired.
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Drivin' the spikes in Blazin' the rails Nailed in their coffins In top hats and tails Fly away over Fly away flap your wings Fly by night Like the early Roman kings
Drivin' forcing to go through or penetrate: drove the needle into his arm the spikes in “spike” Slang for a hypodermic needle. Shooting dope Blazin' shooting rapidly and continuously: Machine guns blazed the rails “rail” to express objections or criticisms in abusive language: African-Americans shooting each other over a perceived diss Nailed Slang To stop and seize; catch: Police nailed the suspect in their coffins finally getting the justice they deserve – death In top hats high hats, symbols of civilization and tails and the posterior part of an animal, especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body. To put it bluntly Dylan believes that the reason some black people’s asses stick out is because there was once a tail attached to it. Fly away over die Fly away flap your wings fly away you little angels Fly by night engage in your illegal scams – as in a fly by night business Like the early Roman kings like a bunch of African- American gangbangers always do.
Coming down the mountain Distributing the corn Speeding through the forest Racing down the track You try to get away They drag you back Tomorrow is Friday We'll see what it brings Everybody's talking Bout the early roman kings
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Coming down the mountain a Black political leader like Al Sharpton "I've Been to the Mountaintop" is the popular name of the last speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. King spoke on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. The next day, King was assassinated Distributing the corn the corn: Slang something considered trite, dated, melodramatic, or unduly sentimental, disseminating rabble rousing speeches about an alleged White on Black crime Speeding through the forest “speed” to further, promote, or expedite a legal action, someone is being railroaded in the “forest” the cites “forest” as a dense area, the inner city, a Black ghetto. Hard Rain “I've stepped in the middle of seven sad [deplorable] forests.” Racing down the track these ideas are spreading throughout the racist black communities that are located on the wrong side of the tracks. “Race” a local geographic population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics. “Tracks” as the boundary, formerly often delineated by train tracks, that separates two neighborhoods of different social class: grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. You try to get away you try to move to a decent community, a gated community in Sanford, Florida for instance They drag you back then your dope-dealing, gangbanging son, who is living with his mama and has been suspended from school visits you and starts to case White people’s pads Tomorrow is Friday and he thinks his future holds nothing but a menial position “Friday” as in “Man Friday.” We'll see what it brings so I am going rip off a crib and see what the stolen items fetch Everybody's talking Bout the early roman kings everybody is talking about that jive gangbanging African-American, Trayvon Martin, and George Zimmerman, the neighborhood patrol volunteer who killed Trayvon in self defense but is going to be lynched by the Black
V1-657 community that is always looking for an excuse to riot and loot, and Zimmerman getting off the hook will provide that excuse.
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, JOEL GILBERT AND BOB DYLAN
Dylan sounded like burn out and like a total space case in the recent Rolling Stone interview but I know that he is not and he was up to something. He talked about being transfigured with another Robert Zimmerman, a Hell’s Angel who died in a motorcycle accident, but you know which Zimmerman he was really transfigured with?
Bob: Yeah, poor Bobby [George Zimmerman]. You know what this is called? It’s called transfiguration. Have you ever heard of it? Well, you’re looking at somebody. [that … has been transfigured?] I’m not like you, am I? I’m not like him, either. I’m not like many others. I’m only like another person who’s been transfigured. How many people like that or like me do you know? Transfiguration: you can go learn about it from the Catholic Church, you can learn about it in some old mystical books, but it’s a real concept. It’s happened throughout the ages. Nobody knows who it’s happened to, or why. But you get real proof of it here and there. It’s not like something you can dream up and think. It’s not like conjuring up a reality or like reincarnation – or like when you might think you’re somebody from the past but have no proof. It’s not anything to do with the past or the future. So when you ask some of your questions, you’re asking them to a person whose long dead. You’re asking them to a person that doesn’t exist. But people make that mistake about me all the time. I’ve lived through a lot. Have you ever heard of a book called No Man Knows My History? It’s about Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. The title could refer to me. Transfiguration is what allows you to crawl out from under the chaos and fly above it. That’s how I can still do what I do and write the songs I sing and just keep on moving.
“So when you ask some of your questions, you’re asking them to a person whose long dead. You’re asking them to a person that doesn’t exist.” What Dylan is saying here is that George Zimmerman is a dead man already because his fate has been sealed by the media and by the African-American community. “Transfiguration is what allows you to crawl out from under the chaos and fly above it.” The key words here are “crawl out” as they trace back to an early single called Please Crawl Out Your Window:
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Why does he look so righteous while your face is so changed Are you frightened of the box you keep him in While his genocide fools and his friends rearrange Their religion of the little ten women That backs up their views but your face is so bruised Come on out the dark is just beginning.
“Why does he look so righteous” why does the Democratic Party and the Federal Government think what it is doing to White people is morally justifiable “while your face” while your race “is so changed” is being changed and polluted by the Civil Rights Movement “Are you frightened of the box you keep him in” are you afraid of the ballot box, are you afraid to vote for Republicans who don’t believe in integration? “While his genocide fools” while the Democratic Party’s race mixing, mix master politicians who plan to dilute, then virtually exterminate, the White race through miscegenation “and his friends” and their friends; the Earl Warren Supreme Court “rearrange” put into a new social order and arrangement “Their religion of the” their “religion” a cause pursued with zeal; such as that of an activist jurist “little ten women” of the Supreme Court of the United States with less (little) than ten justices “That backs up their views” that supports with their legal decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education, the Democrats push for Civil Rights and integration “but your face is so bruised” but it is your race that is being blackened, discolored, African-Americanized, by being forced to associate with a bunch of coons “Come on out” sarcastic; come on out, be part of it “the dark” the race mixing with the darkies “is beginning” has just taking its first steps to fruition.
Joel Gilbert received a grant from Bob Dylan to file a lawsuit and write a book alleging the key witness against George Zimmerman was a liar. He based this on a study of phone records he obtained under the Florida Sunshine Act.
During the trial of Zimmerman, Defendant Jeantel appeared in court and testified for two days. She lied repeatedly on the witness stand by pretending to be "Diamond Eugene" and lied about all events and circumstances regarding Trayvon, her relationship with Trayvon, and the circumstances leading up to his death by falsely claiming she was a phone witness to them, when she was not, in order to incriminate Zimmerman for murder and send him to prison for life as part of a conspiracy with the others named in this action. Defendant Jeantel also falsely claimed she had given the letter to Defendant Fulton and
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that she had signed the letter given to Defendant Fulton as "Diamond Eugene", even though she did neither.
Can you please crawl out your window? Use your arms and legs it won't ruin you How can you say he will haunt you? You can go back to him any time you want to.
“Can you please crawl” can you please crawl” advance slowly, feebly, laboriously “out your window?” and disregard the faith you have in your political party? “Use your arms” use your power, White Power, also use an administrative or functional branch, as of an organization, like the local Republican Club, which is an arm of the Republican Party “and legs” and become active. Also vote in one of several contests that must be completed successfully in order to determine the winner of a competition, vote in a political primary “it won't ruin you” it will not reduce you to poverty or bankruptcy as the Democrats claim it will “How can you say he will haunt you” how can you say the Democrats will continually pervade the American political scene because of their actions during World War II and the
Great Depression “You can go back to him any time you want to” sarcastic; you can go back to the Depression Era Democrats anytime you want to as they have not changed since the 1930’s! Returning to Early Roman Kings:
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They're peddlers and they're meddlers, they buy and they sell They destroyed your city, they'll destroy you as well They're lecherous and treacherous, a hell-bent for leather Each of them bigger than all men put together Sluggers and muggers wearing fancy gold rings All the women going crazy for the early Roman kings. They're peddlers and they're meddlers the darkies are dope peddlers who handle something idly or ignorantly; tamper and destroy people’s lives They buy and they sell they buy and sell dope They destroyed your city they destroyed cities like Camden, New Jersey, Detroit, Michigan They'll destroy you as well and you might be murdered because of their actions They're lecherous and treacherous they cheat on their wives and eventually abandon her and her family A-Hell bent for leather moving recklessly fast Each of 'em bigger than all men put together each one thinks he is going to get away with it despite the power of law enforcement. Sluggers slugger - a boxer noted for an ability to deliver hard punches and muggers mugger - a robber who takes property by threatening or performing violence on the person who is robbed (usually on the street) Wearin fancy gold rings wearing bling flashy, ostentatious jewelry; "the rapper was loaded with bling" All the women going crazy for the early Roman kings all the rap fans going crazy for them gangsta niggas!
I can dress up your wounds with a blood-clotted rag I ain't afraid to make love to a bitch or a hag If you see me coming, and you're standing there Wave your handkerchief in the air I ain't dead yet, my bell still rings I keep my fingers crossed like the early Roman kings.
I can dress up your wounds I can make any injury or slight to your feelings or reputation look better with a blood-clotted rag with a Slang “rag” a newspaper specializing in sensationalism. At one point in his career Dylan would write songs based on newspaper accounts of bloody racist activities against Blacks I ain't afraid to make love to a bitch or a hag I am not afraid to write songs like The Ballad of Hattie Carroll, about a decrepit Black maid, a bitch who had it coming If you see me coming, and you're standing there Wave your handkerchief in the air The Ballad of Hattie Carroll contained the line “Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears / Bury the rag deep in your face / For now's the time for your tears” if you see me coming it would be wise to surrender I ain't dead yet, my bell still rings I am old but I can still write songs and play music. Subterranean Homesick Blues “Ring bell hard to tell if anything is gonna sell” I keep my fingers crossed “finger” to mark (a score) with indications of which fingers are to play the notes – I also play and compose music like the early Roman kings.
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I can strip you of life, strip you of breath Ship you down, to the house of death One day you will ask for me There'll be no one else that you'll wanna see Bring down my fiddle tune up my strings I'm gonna break it wide open like the early roman kings
I can strip you of life, strip you of breath I can send you to the gas chamber were you will choke to death Ship you down to the house of death or send you to prison One day you will ask for me one day you will ask to meet with me, the devil There'll be no one else that you'll wanna to see because you will wish to sell your soul to me Bring down my fiddle, tune up my strings as in The Devil Went Down to Georgia I'm gonna break it wide open I am going to open up the wide open, sinful (as in “open city”) gates of Hell for you like the early Roman kings like you have done for White America.
I was up on Black mountain the day Detroit fell They killed them all off and they sent them to hell Ding-dong daddy, you're coming up short Gonna put you on trial in a Sicilian court I've had my fun, I've had my flings Gonna shake them all down like the early Roman kings.
I was up on Black mountain I seemed to be a fan of Martin Luther King, I was dealing with the mountainous problem of the Negro in America. Blowin In The Wind “How many years can a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?” how many years can the mountainous, insurmountable Black problem exist before they are put on boats and sent on an involuntary one- way trip back to Africa? the day Detroit fell the day when Detroit became a city with a Black majority They killed them all off and they sent them to hell after the African-Americans killed off the White population by turning the city into a living hell Ding-dong daddy, you're coming up short Mayor Ding Dong of Detroit, who can’t keep his ding dong in his pants, you have been caught looting public funds Gonna put you on trial in a Sicilian court going to see that Whites get a chance to convict you then kill you I've had my fun, I've had my flings “fling” a brief sexual relationship Gonna shake them all down going to extort money from companies that want to do business with Detroit City like the early Roman kings just like the corrupt “African-American” politicians do time and time again.
This is what Dylan had to say about Blacks in Rolling Stone.
Do you see any parallels between the 1860s and present-day America?
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Mmm, I don't know how to put it. It's like . . . the United States burned and destroyed itself for the sake of slavery. The USA wouldn't give it up. It had to be grinded out. The whole system had to be ripped out with force. A lot of killing. What, like, 500,000 people? A lot of destruction to end slavery. And that's what it really was all about. This country is just too fucked up about color. It's a distraction. People at each other's throats just because they are of a different color. It's the height of insanity, and it will hold any nation back – or any neighborhood back. Or any anything back. Blacks know that some whites didn't want to give up slavery – that if they had their way, they would still be under the yoke, and they can't pretend they don't know that. If you got a slave master or Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood. It's doubtful that America's ever going to get rid of that stigmatization. It's a country founded on the backs of slaves. You know what I mean? Because it goes way back. It's the root cause. If slavery had been given up in a more peaceful way, America would be far ahead today. Whoever invented the idea "lost cause . . . ." There's nothing heroic about any lost cause. No such thing, though there are people who still believe it.
Mmm, I don't know how to put it. It's like . . . the United States burned and destroyed itself for the sake of slavery. The USA wouldn't give it up. It had to be grinded out. The whole system had to be ripped out with force.
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The Civil War was not worth fighting to free a bunch of Blacks. “The USA” the United States of America wouldn’t give it up and not the Confederacy? Slavery was ingrained in the American system and was as valid as anything else in the culture. You had to rip out the system with force because it was bound to mess up the slave state economy.
A lot of killing. What, like, 500,000 people? A lot of destruction to end slavery. And that's what it really was all about. This country is just too fucked up about color. It's a distraction.
Americans are a bunch of Black lovers and are distracted from the devastation they caused.
People at each other's throats just because they are of a different color. It's the height of insanity, and it will hold any nation back – or any neighborhood back. Or any anything back.
People at each other’s throats over a bunch of colored people is fuckin’ insane and will destroy a nation or destroy a neighborhood with blackteria. What Dylan is saying here is that Blacks are screwing up this country and it is distracting America from its economic and cultural goals. When he says “People are at each other’s throats” he means the Blacks are mugging, assaulting and murdering Whites although most crime is Black on Black. It is true that there are not many White on Black muggings. Black crime and the
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Brothers and Sisters who protect criminals with NO SNITCHING tribalistic behavior not only “holds neighborhoods back” it destroys them.
Blacks know that some whites didn't want to give up slavery – that if they had their way, they would still be under the yoke, and they can't pretend they don't know that. If you got a slave master or Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood.
Some whites didn’t want to give up slavery? Really? Is that why they formed an Army? And there are still a lot of them around. They are called neo- Confederates like Dylan thinks he is. How can a Black sense a slave master or Klan in a white man’s blood unless they are racists themselves? Blacks can “sense” a racist implies they are animals with an enhanced sense of smell due to their being the missing link between homosapien erectus and primates. According to Dylan racism runs in the White man’s blood. Dylan got into a lot of trouble for this last remark about Serbs and Croations. A case against him was brought before the European Court of Justice for racism, when this interview was published in France. The Court failed to indict him.
It's doubtful that America's ever going to get rid of that stigmatization. It's a country founded on the backs of slaves. You know what I mean? Because it goes way back. It's the root cause. If slavery had been given up in a more peaceful way, America would be far ahead today.
Finally we get to see the real Bob Dylan when he says there were better ways to end slavery and the Civil War was morally wrong. This is pure Ron Paul:
Tim Russert: I was intrigued by your comments about Abe Lincoln. "According to Paul, Abe Lincoln should never have gone to war; there were better ways of getting rid of slavery."
Ron Paul: Absolutely. Six hundred thousand Americans died in a senseless civil war. No, he shouldn't have gone to war. He did this just to enhance and get rid of the original intent of the republic. I mean, it was the iron fist…
Russert: We'd still have slavery.
Ron Paul: Oh, come on, Tim. Slavery was phased out in every other country of the world. And the way I'm advising that it should have been done is do like the British Empire did. You buy the slaves and release them. How much would that cost compared to killing 600,000 Americans and where it lingered
V1-665 for 100 years? I mean, the hatred and all that existed. So every other major country in the world got rid of slavery without a civil war. I mean, that doesn't sound too radical to me. That sounds like a pretty reasonable approach.
TIN ANGEL 2012
SIR WILLIAM GOOCH
The only way I could make sense of this poem was to substitute A. J. Weberman for “the boss” boss as the leader of a political organization. Eventually “the boss” gets shot and becomes a “twisted bin.” Dylan is implying that I perverted or twisted garbage by using it as a tool to spy on persons of interest to the public? I invented garbology, the scientific study of garbage. I “twisted his bin” and a lot came out of it. Tin Angel is basically a re-working of Black Jack Davey:
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At night the boss came home Inquiring about his lady The servant spoke before she thought "She's been with Black Jack Davey Rode off with Black Jack Davey".
Tin Angel only has four characters, “the boss” me, the “servant,” the communists “the lady” Dylan, the lady’s lover Ray Gooch. Tin Angel begins:
It was late last night when the boss came home To a deserted mansion and a desolate throne Servant said boss the ladies gone She left this morning just before dawn
It was late it was a long time ago last night in a period of darkness when the boss when a professional politician who controls a party or a political machine: A. J. Weberman, the Chief Cultural Commissar of the Dylan Liberation Front2 came home came home as in something was brought home to him mentally to a deserted mansion to a folksong heaven that Dylan had created then deserted Sweetheart Like You: “They say in your father's house, there's many mansions Each one of them got a fireproof floor. “Fireproof floor” to protect you from the raging fires of Hell. In Lone Pilgrim he sang:
The call of my master compelled me from home No kindred or relative nigh I met the contagion and sank to the tomb My soul flew to mansion on high”
And a desolate throne and an empty throne that Bob Dylan, the King of folk rock once sat on when he wrote the greatest Leftwing songs since Woody Guthrie Servant a Communist as in Maggie’s Farm:
2. At this time I called myself its “Minister of Defense.” However I was removed from that post after Dylan creamed me.
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I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more Well, when she talks to all the servants About man and God and law Everybody says She's the brains behind pa She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
“I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more” I ain’t gonna work for Communism’s mother, creator, Karl Marx no more; “Well, she talks to all the servants” he lectures all his followers “About man” about humanism “and God” and how it will replace God “and law” and how this ties into economic laws “Everybody says / She's the brains behind pa” everyone agrees Marxism is the ideology of the Soviet Union “She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four” Marxism is antiquated and outdated yet pretends to be contemporary. Marx wrote Das Kapital in 1867 and it is not applicable to modern economics.
A Communist said boss the ladies gone said that the old Bob Dylan the Leftist is gone She left this morning just before dawn she left early in life just before something began to be perceived or understood: The realization of the danger of Communism soon dawned on Bob.
You got something to tell me, tell it to me man Come to the point as straight as you can Old Henry Lee chief of the clan Came riding through the woods and took her by the hand
You got something to tell me, tell it to me man if you have something to impart to me make it into a message song and record it! Come to the point make your political point as straight without deviating from what is considered socially normal, usual, or acceptable; conventional on the Left as you can as is possible considering the unconventional dude who is writing these poems. The Communist explained to Weberman that Old Henry Lee Henry Lee III (January 29, 1756 – March 25, 1818) was an early American patriot who served as the ninth Governor of Virginia. Lee was also the father of Confederate general Robert E. Lee “Old Henry Lee” is Ray Gooch. Gooch was this sleaze ball from the West Village who sold meth to Dave Moore a guy who lived next door to me at 146 Sullivan Street. Moore told me “Ray” told him that he was Dylan’s heroin connection. He never mentioned the name Gooch. Gooch was aligned with George Lincoln Rockwell’s American Nazi Party and might have been part of a cell that existed in the West Village during the early 1960’s. Daniel Burroughs, a Jew who passed himself off as a Nazi was in this cell. Dylan crashed at Ray’s pad when Dylan first came to
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New York. Gooch was also a smack dealer and gun dealer with Mafia connections. He worked at a clandestine location in Brooklyn turning opium into heroin. A real piece of work! He hated Jews and his favorite expression, according to Dave Moore, was “Guns for the Arabs, sneakers for the Jews.”
Ray Gooch’s antecedent, Sir William Gooch, like Old Henry Lee was a colonial governor of Virginia chief of the clan and Ray Gooch had been Klansman when he lived in Virginia and was a Confederate in his thinking. So what happened to Dylan’s politics was that this piece of shit, Ray Gooch, this gooch-bag Came riding through the woods came out of the rural South Rural in some remote place in some neck of the woods and took her by the hand took Dylan in hand Figurative took control of someone; assumed the responsibility of guiding someone, took away Dylan’s Jewish faith and turned him into some kind of weird freak, a Jew who admired Nazis and Klansmen. Gooch was Schtick dreck (Yiddish for a piece of filth).
The boss he lay back flat on his bed He cursed the heat and he clutched his head He pondered the future of his fate To wait another day would be far too late
The boss he lay back flat I was level with the ground; horizontally on his bed over my grave, I was digging my own grave with my lifestyle He cursed the heat I cursed the pigs he clutched yet I held on tightly to his head to the drug he had a head on, pot He pondered I reflected deeply on a subject the future of his fate of how to become famous. “fate” as a final result or consequence; an outcome. To wait another day would be far too late and I believed in the Black Panther Party slogan “seize the time.”
Go fetch me my coat and my tie And the cheapest labor that money can buy Saddle me up my buckskin mare If you see me go by put up a prayer
Go fetch me my coat emblem - special design or visual object representing a quality, type, group, etc. Dylan: “Idiot wind blowing through the buttons of our coats” and my tie something that connects or unites; a link And the cheapest labor that money can buy and your students from your class in Dylanology at the Alternate University Saddle me up my buck skin mare get me a black dude to back me up like Eric Williams “buck” offensive a young Black man and “skin” as person's complexion a brown skin. Decades after the fact Eric told me he had visited Dylan after Dylan saw him at the
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Dylanology Field Trip If you see me go by Dylan darted out when he saw the crew in front of his crib put up a prayer join the protest. “prayer” as the request of a complainant, as stated in a complaint that the court grant the aid or relief solicited.
Well, they rode all night, and they rode all day Eastward, long down the broad highway His spirit was tired and his vision was bent His men deserted him and onward he went
Well they rode all night and they rode all day Weberman and presumably the servant (the Communist) both pursued Dylan Eastward about Communism as in Eastern Bloc nations long on the broad highway of which Weberman was tolerant: had broad views regarding Communism His spirit was tired Weberman’s strong loyalty or dedication: team spirit was overused; hackneyed: a tired communist ideology and his vision and his unusual competence in discernment or perception of the future his intelligent foresight: a leader of vision was bent was determined to take a course of action: I was bent on destroying Dylan also bent out of shape distorted His men deserted him and onward he went Jerry Rubin, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and David Peel signed a letter that was published in the Village Voice ordering me to leave Dylan alone.
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He came to a place where the light was dull His forehead pounding in his skull Heavy heart was racked with pain Insomnia raging in his brain
He came to a place where the land was dull he came to Dylan’s studio where, as stated, Dylan would leave the lights off to spook me out His poor head his not adequate in quality; inferior. Also brain filled with folk music:
“Poor” as folksinger; to Dylan’s folk fans who witnessed his concerts being disrupted; Tarantula, “you were also there when they castrated that poor boy in public.” Down The Highway 1961 “So, I'm walkin' down your highway / Just as far my poor eyes can see.” Tonight I Will Be Staying Here With You 1969, “If there's a poor boy on the street” if there is a folksinger in Greenwich Village, street, an area of a city like Wall Street “Then let him have my seat” then let him have my position of prominence “'Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you” because presently I intend to devote my time to getting high.
His poor head pounding in his skull repeating Dylan lyrics over and over that had been pounded into his brain Heavy heart was racked with pain he had sympathy for the Vietnamese due to the Holocaust Insomnia raging in
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his brain and he told me about this after he popped several caffeine citrate pills sometimes called “No-Doze.”
Well he threw down his helmet and his cross handle sword He renounced his faith he denied his lord Crawled on his belly put his ear to the wall One way or another put an end to it all
Well he threw down his helmet Weberman put forth the football helmet he would wear during riots and his cross handle sword and the Crusade he would lead against the war in Vietnam He renounced his faith he denied his lord he renounced Judaism and denied that God existed Crawled on his belly became a snake in the grass put his ear to the wall eavesdropped on me by recording a personal phone call One way or another put an end to it all one way or another he put an end to our relationship, perhaps the strangest in all of literary history.
He leaned down cut the electric wire Stared into the flames and he snorted the fire Peered through the darkness caught a glimpse of the two Hard to tell for certain who was who
He leaned down he relied on for assistance: Lean on me for help cut the electric wire an open telephone connection Stared into the flames Informal “flame” to insult or criticize provokingly, as on a computer network and he snorted a rough, noisy sound made by breathing forcefully through the nostrils, as a pig does the fire some very intense, repeated attacks or criticism: answered the fire from her political critics Peered saw something partially or dimly through the darkness through his ignorance about my poetry caught a glimpse obtained a brief, incomplete view of the two of the man and his art Hard to tell for certain hard to establish beyond a doubt or question; indisputable who was who which was the real Bob Dylan, the left wing superficial meaning of his poems or the rightwing philosophy embedded in them that reflected Bob Dylan the man, the true Bob Dylan. Will the real Bob Dylan please stand up.
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He lowered himself down on a golden chain His nerves were quickening every vein His knuckles were bloody he sucked in the air He ran his fingers through his greasy hair
He lowered himself down Weberman reduced in value, degree, or quality on a golden on a very favorable or advantageous; a golden opportunity chain a series of related or connected facts, events, etc. His nerves his brazen boldness; effrontery: had the nerve to deny it were quickening becoming more rapid in every vein in every particular turn of mind: spoke later in a more serious vein. His knuckles were bloody he would not knuckle under he sucked in sucked in conned the air media hosts for airtime He ran his fingers “finger” Slang to inform on. He told everyone I was using junk Through his greasy through his “greasy” suggestive of grease in slickness or slipperiness, a greasy politician hair politics.
“Hair” as politics: Tarantula, “your hair in chains.” Brownsville Girl 1986, “Ruby was in the backyard hanging clothes she had her red hair tied back.” Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964 “can't see Jericho / the wind is tyin' knots / in my hair.” Tarantula, “gloria talks of the fish in her finger with her hair dyed pink.” To the Left in Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “how many hands have t' be raised / before hair will grow back on the white house head?” Love Henry 1993,
She took him by his long yellow hair, And also by his feet. She plunged him into well water, where It runs both cold and deep.
“She took him” the Left accepted him, conned him “by his long yellow hair” because of his exaggerated journalistically inaccurate politics, “yellow” as in “yellow journalism” “And also by his feet” and also because of his ambition to get his foot in the door of show biz “She plunged him” caused him to risk losses for the possibility of considerable gains “into well water,” into exploiting sorrow “where it runs both cold” Informal (of a seeker) far from the object of a search “and deep” yet still profound in its own right. Tin Angel continues:
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They looked at each other and their glasses clinked One single unit inseparably linked Got a strange premonition there's a man close by Don't worry about him he wouldn't harm a fly
They Gooch and Dylan looked at each other and their glasses clinked they got high together One single unit “unit” medicine the quantity of a drug necessary to produce a specific effect inseparably linked that you can become addicted to Got a strange premonition got an early warning of a future event; forewarning there's a man close by there is somebody watching me shoot up Don't worry about him he wouldn't harm a fly why “harm” instead of “hurt?” Over-statement. Weberman was dangerous.
From behind the curtain the boss crossed the floor He moved his feet and he bolted the door Shadows hiding the lines in his face With all the nobility of an ancient race
From behind the curtain from behind the Iron Curtain. Jokerman “Well, the rifleman” the KGB or MVD, the Soviet intelligence services, “rifle” to search vigorously: ‘rifling through my drawers to find anti-Soviet literature’ “is stalking” is engaged in the act of following stealthily “the sick” those who are sick of Soviet Communism “and the lame” and the weak and ineffectual; unsatisfactory to the Soviet regime, social parasites “Preacher man” American Communists “seeks the same, who’ll get there first is uncertain” who will be the first to bring totalitarianism to the United States, the CPUSA or the KGB is a tossup “Night sticks and water cannons, tear gas” all instruments used to suppress the right to demonstrate against the Soviet regime “padlocks” prisons, gulags “Molotov cocktails” improvised weapons invented by the Soviet Communists now used against their own people “and rocks” and Communist doctrine “rock” as in “upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it (Matthew 16:18).” “behind every curtain” brutal repression in every country behind the Iron Curtain. “False-hearted judges” a rubber stamp judiciary untrue to their innermost feelings who have been instructed to convict dissidents “dying” whose credibility is drawing to an end, declining “in the webs” because of something intricately contrived, especially something that ensnares and entangles such as nonexistent plots against the Soviet State “that they spin” that they provide an interpretation of in a way meant to sway public opinion “Only a matter of time” it is going to be in the foreseeable future “‘til night” until the present push for democracy “comes steppin’ in” intervenes and progressively destroys this evil ideology, and death and rigor mortis sets in.
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From behind his communist perspective the boss the Commissar of Culture crossed Informal to interfere with; thwart or obstruct: Don't cross me the floor a story or level of a building. He moved his feet he satisfied his ambition and he bolted the door and locked himself out of my life Shadows a vestige or inferior form hiding the lines the ancestry or lineage in his face of his race. “Face” as “Race” as in the promise of racial equality after the revolution in The Hour When The Ship Comes In “The will respect every face on the deck / The hour that the ship comes in.” With all the nobility of an ancient race despite the fact he was a full-blooded Jew. In Idiot Wind Dylan wrote:
I noticed at the ceremony, your corrupt ways had finally made you blind I can’t remember your face anymore, your mouth has changed, your eyes don’t look into mine The priest wore black on the seventh day and sat stone-faced while the building burned I waited for you on the running boards, near the cypress trees, while the springtime turned Slowly into Autumn
“I noticed at the ceremony” I noticed at an event performed on a special occasion like my 30th Birthday Party “your corrupt ways” your desire to get publicity “had finally made you blind” had finally made you unable to comprehend, made you blind to the repercussions and consequences of your acts “I can't remember your face anymore” it is hard for me to believe you are of the Jewish race because of what you did to a fellow Jew “your mouth has changed” your particular manner of speaking, filled with slogans that you mouth but really do not understand or believe is no longer like that of a Jew “your eyes” your thoughts “don't look into mine” don’t share any ancestral commonality.
“The priest” is Weberman (In Chronicles Dylan wrote that he resented being labeled, “High Priest of Protest” Planet Waves Liner Notes 1974, “priests in overhauls glassy eyed” radicals who wished to overhaul my career filled with illusory thoughts) “wore black” spoke words that have extremely unfortunate and dire consequences; bringing ruin, praised Blacks “on the seventh day” on Sunday when the Bob Dylan 30th Birthday Party went down “and sat stone-faced while the building burned” and did nothing after someone started a fire in front of my townhouse “I waited for you on the running boards” I got my revenge for this and other travesties when I came after you like a gangster in Chicago doing a drive by from the running board of a Model T only I used a bicycle “near the cypress trees” employing a tactic similar to the punishment of the Old South, also cypress trees are used to adorn tombs “while the springtime turned” while the season of your growth
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turned “Slowly into autumn” slowly into a period of your decline. Returning to Tin Angel:
She turned she was startled with a look of surprise With a hatred that could hit the skies You're a reckless fool I could see it in your eyes To come this way was by no means wise
She turned she turned against him she was startled with a look of surprise she was taken off guard by the immensity of the event With the hatred that could hit the skies with hatred that would last far into the future You're a reckless you are characterized by careless unconcern fool politician Slow Train: “In the home of the brave, Jefferson turning over in his grave / Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan” I could see it in your eyes I could see it in your thoughts when I was with you To come this way was by no means wise to go through with this Birthday Party was by no means wise, to come around my home was foolish.
Get up stand up you greedy lipped wench And cover your face with some other consequence You are making my heart feel sick Put your clothes back on double quick
I told Dylan Get up stand up wake up and take a stand you greedy excessively desirous of food you pig lipped wench you whore who paid lip service to the Left And cover music a cover version your face your Jewishness with some other consequence with some other song extolling the virtues of a Jew hater, as you did with George Jackson You are making my heart feel sick I am sick of this already Put your clothes back on double quick find the words to write such a song just as you did in the past and do it quickly. “Clothes” as words as in Talkin’ Clothes Line “Then they started to take back their clothes / Hang'em on the line.” “Line” a sentence.
Silly boy you think me a saint I’ll listen no more to your words of complaint You've given me nothing but the sweetest lies Now hold your tongue and feed your eyes
Silly boy you think me a saint you idiot Weberman you think I am an icon of your politics I’ll listen no more to your words of complaint I will listen to more to your words of complaint about my current bag Reminiscent of I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine “Arise, arise,” he cried so loud / In a voice
V1-676 without restraint / “Come out, ye gifted kings and queens / And hear my sad complaint / No martyr is among ye now / Whom you can call your own / So go on your way accordingly / But know you’re not alone” You've given me nothing but the sweetest lies you have given me nothing but lies that pleased yourself rather than giving me the meaning of my poems Now hold your tongue and feed your eyes now can your rhetoric and feed you mind, your thoughts.
I’d have given you the stars and the planets too But what good would these things do you? Bow the heart if not the knee Or never again this world you see
I told Dylan that I’d have given you the stars I would have given you one who is highly celebrated in a field or profession and the planets too and followers - a person who accepts the leadership of another But what good would these things do you? Bow the heart if not the knee give in at least partially Or never again this world you see or you will be purged from the world of Leftwing folk music.
Oh please let not your heart be cold This man is dearer to me than gold Oh my dear you must be blind He's a gutless ape with a worthless mind
Oh please let not your heart be cold Weberman, find some sympathy for this Ray Gooch character somewhere This man is dearer to me than gold he means the world to me. In Chronicles Dylan wrote, “Ray wasn't like that. He wasn't somebody who would leave any footprints on the sands of time, but there was something special about him.” Oh my dear you must be blind I told Dylan you must be without forethought or provision; unaware: entered into the scheme blind He's a gutless he is lacking substance; weak or insignificant ape a mimic or imitator of Nazis with a worthless mind with a Nazi political ideology. Also Gooch is everything he labels the blacks as, cowardly, more of an animal than human being with low intelligence.
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You've had your way too long with me Now it’s me who will determine how things will be Tried to escape he cussed and cursed You'll have to try to get passed me first
You've had your way too long with me you have gone through my trash, brought the mob to my crib, told everyone I was using junk now I am going to have my way with you Now it’s me who will determine how things will be I will do so forcefully Tried to escape tried to get away he cussed he uttered obscenities and cursed and he cursed Ecclesiastical to put under a ban or an anathema; excommunicate Just Like A Woman to the folkies “Your long time curse hurts but what’s worse is this pain in here I can’t stay in here ain’t it clear that I just don’t fit” You'll have to try get passed me first but Weberman could not get passed Dylan without being jumped and thrown to the ground, nor could he get past Dylan intellectually.
I dared not let your passion rule You think my heart the heart of a fool And you sir you cannot deny You made a monkey of me what and for why
I dared not let your passion rule if I would have allowed your passion to rule you would have killed me. In Idiot Wind Dylan sang “You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart.” You think my heart the heart of a fool you believe my innermost being is that of a Communist politician And you sir And you Weberman you cannot deny / You made a monkey of me you made a junkie of me, monkey as in “monkey on my back” what and for why for no good reason.
I’ll have no more of this insulting chat The devil can have you I’ll see to that Look sharp or step aside Or in the cradle you'll wish you died
Then out of nowhere Gooch chimes in: I’ll have no more of this insulting chat it is time for less talk and more action The devil can have you I’ll see to that I will send you to hell with the rest of the Jews Look sharp having an edge or point; not rounded or blunt have sharp Aryan features or step aside or get in the line where you are going to be gassed Or in the cradle in a place of origin; a birthplace Israel was the cradle of Judaism you'll wish you died
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I’ll have no more of this insulting chat: This is reminiscent of Arthur McBride which tells the story of Dylan’s interaction with the folk community "Oh no," says the Sergeant, "I'll have no such chat And neither will I take it from snappy young brats / For if you insult me with one other word / I'll cut off your heads in the morning"
The devil can have you I’ll see to that This is also reminiscent of Arthur McBride “And their old rusty rapiers that hung by their sides / We flung them as far as we could in the tide / "Now take them up, devils!" cried Arthur McBride / "And temper their edge in the morning!"
The gun went ‘boom’ and the shot rang clear The first bullet grazed his ear Second ball went right straight in And he bent in the middle like a twisted bin
The gun “gun” as guitar as in John Wesley Harding “John Wesley Harding was a friend to the poor [friend to the folk community as previously defined] he traveled with a gun in every hand” went boom made a deep resonant sound like a bass line and the shot the song rang clear resonated “clearly” as in easily perceptible to the eye or ear; distinct. The first bullet “bullet” printing a heavy dot used to highlight a particular passage found on record popularity charts meaning the song is moving up in sales grazed his ear barely touched his “ear” his responsiveness to the sounds or forms of spoken language: Al had a good ear for poetry Second ball went right straight in second song belonged to the political or intellectual Right and was conventional to an extreme degree And he bent Weberman was rendered submissive; subdued in the middle in the middle of his career like a twisted “twist” an unexpected change in a process or a departure from a pattern, often producing a distortion or perversion bin “bin” also called dust bin rubbish bin a container for litter, rubbish, etc. (I went through Dylan’s trash).
He crawled to the corner and he lowered his head He grabbed the chair and he grabbed the bed It would take more than needle and thread Bleeding from the mouth he's as good as dead
He crawled he moved slowly on the hands and knees or by dragging the body along the ground to the corner to the corner of Bleecker and Elizabeth and he lowered his head and he felt ashamed He grabbed he had obtained unscrupulously grabbed the spotlight the chair a position of prominence and
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he grabbed he took hurriedly the bed a spot in the graveyard It would take more than needle and thread it would take more than exposing the thread that united by poetry - my heroin addiction: From A Buick 6 “I got this junkyard woman….She comes down the thruway ready to sew me up with thread” Bleeding “hemorrhaging” to undergo a rapid and sudden loss from the mouth as a spokesman he's as good as dead he is worthless to the Dylan Liberation Front!
“You shot my husband down, you fiend!” “Husband? What husband? What the hell do you mean? He was a man of strife, a man of sin, I cut him down, and I throw’d him to the wind”
You shot my husband down you fiend you shot Weberman’s theories down and Weberman was a Jew you “fiend!” Gooch was a dope fiend Husband what husband what the hell do you mean? Jew what Jew, he was a poor excuse for one He was man of strife he was a disturber of the peace or of public order a man of sin a communist and race mixer “sin” something regarded as being shameful, deplorable, or utterly wrong. Nettie Moore: “I'm the oldest son of a crazy man” I am the inheritor of the works of someone with a degenerative nervous system disorder – Woody Guthrie “I'm in a cowboy band” Informal “cowboy” a person who is an irresponsible or unscrupulous operator / Got a pile of sins to pay for…” wrote a whole lot of lying communistic songs I cut him down cut down to size to deflate the self- importance of and I throw’d him to the wind Psalm 18:42 “then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.”
Hear this she said with angry breath You too shall meet the lord of death It was I who brought your soul to life And she raised her robe and she drew out a knife
Hear this she said with angry breath “breath” - an indirect suggestion You too shall meet the lord you will also encounter a man of renowned power or authority of death who has the power of termination or extinction of something: the death of imperialism. It was I who brought your soul to life it was I who articulated your most sacred beliefs in the embedded meaning of my poetry. Just like he said in Rolling Stone “And you know in some ways I’ve given them life. They’d be nowhere without me.” And she raised her robe and she drew out a knife and Gooch was going to taste Jewish justice! “Robe” as justice Drifter’s Escape: Well, the judge he cast his robe aside.” “Blade” or “knife” as circumcision One More Cup of Coffee “Your daddy” the
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antecedents of the Jewish people “he's an outlaw” share the guilt for the death of Christ “And a wanderer by trade” and as an equal exchange, a tradeoff, were exiled for two thousand years, the wandering Jews “He'll teach you how to pick and choose” Judaism will teach you how to select with great care, to be convinced you are part of God’s Chosen People “And how to throw the blade” and how to perform circumcision to separate Jews from the goyim, the non-Jews.
His face was hard and caked with sweat His arms ached and his hands were wet You're a murderous queen and bloody wife If you dont mind I’ll have the knife
His face was hard and caked with sweat he had the bearing of an evangelist. Chronicles “Ray Gooch had flowing, wavy, blond hair like Jerry Lee Lewis or Billy Graham, the evangelist-the kind of hair that preachers had. The kind that the early rock-and-roll singers used to imitate and want to look like. The kind that could create a cult. Gooch wasn't a preacher, though, but he knew how to be one and he could be funny. He said if he preached to farmers, he'd tell them about plowing the furrows with seeds of love and then reaping the harvest of salvation. He could preach to businessmen, too. He would say stuff like, ‘Sisters and brothers, there's no profit in trading in sin! Everlasting life is not bought and sold.’ He had a sermon for just about anybody” His arms ached he was aching to use a gun from his collection and his hands were wet and he was into the production of intoxicants You're a murderous queen Jewish Queen Ester had all of Haymen’s men hung and bloody wife Samson’s wife Delilah, was also a Jew If you dont mind I’ll have the knife surrender your Judaism to me.
We're two of a kind and our blood runs hot But we're no way similar in body or thought All husbands are good men is all I knew Then she pierced him to the heart and his blood did flow
We're two of a kind and our blood runs hot we are both violent; raging: a hot battle when it comes to African-Americans But we're no way similar in body but we come from different racial background “body” a number of persons, concepts, or things regarded as a group or thought philosophical or intellectual ideas typical of a particular time or place German thought in the 19th century All husbands all Jews are good men is all I knew Then she pierced him to the heart and his blood did flow “flow” to exhibit a smooth or graceful continuity: The poem's cadence no longer flowed gracefully.
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His knees went limp and he reached for the door His doom was sealed he slipped to the floor He whispered in her ear this is all your fault My fighting days have come to a halt
His knees went limp Gooch preceded haltingly or unsteadily also not firm or stiff like his dick. In Chronicles Dylan told us that Gooch lived with Chloe Kiel, but never had sex with her and he reached for the door and he tried to lay the blame on others - at (someone's) door as a charge that holds someone responsible: Lay the blame at Sarah’s door. His doom his fate, especially a tragic or ruinous one was sealed was kept secret as in a sealed indictment he slipped as he made an error in conduct or thinking; a mistake to the floor and he hit bottom He whispered in her ear he told her in no uncertain terms, Sooner or Later (One of Us Must Know) to his former folk fans after they booed him and called him Judas. “When you whispered in my ear and asked me if I was leaving with you or her / I didn’t realize just what a did hear / I didn’t realize how young you were” this is all your fault my fighting days have come to a halt my fighting days, my struggle, Mein Kampf, Hitler’s autobiography have ended.
She touched his lips and kissed his cheek He tried to speak but his breath was weak You die for me I will die for you She put the blade to her heart and she ran it though
She touched Dylan dealt with, touched on a topic in passing his lips which mirrored Gooch’s insolent talk “lip” and kissed his cheek and appreciated his impertinent boldness: had the cheek to insult blacks. He tried to speak Gooch tried to speak out to talk freely and fearlessly, as about a public issue but his breath was weak however the breath of his knowledge was lacking persuasiveness, unconvincing: a weak argument You die for me you found me highly desirable to die for Informal remarkable or highly desirable I will die for you and I felt the same She put the blade to her heart Dylan thought about the fact that deep down, in his heart of hearts he was a Jew (we already defined “blade” as “Jew”) and she ran it though and he went over the salient points or facts and realized he had acted against his own self interest.
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All three lovers together in a heap Thrown into the grave forever to sleep Funeral torches blazed away Through the towns and the villages all night and all day
All three lovers Dylan, Ray Gooch, Weberman together in a heap garbage heap - an accumulation of refuse and discarded matter Thrown Informal to cause confusion or perplexity in; disconcert or nonplus: We didn't let our worries throw us into the grave into important; crucial grave matters forever to sleep forever to ponder sleep on it Funeral an end or a cessation of existence torches carry a torch for to be in love with, especially unrequitedly blazed away shined or were resplendent with: blazing faggot Through the towns New York town and the villages and Greenwich Village all night and all day
So in this soap opera or epic poem, however you want to look at it, Dylan shoots Weberman and he collapses like someone who distorted the true purpose of garbage? Then Dylan kills the Nazi, presumably within himself and then kills himself. What this tells me is that Weberman and Gooch were major influences in Dylan’s life. Me thinks Dylan is running out of things to write about.
NARROW WAY 2012
In the Introduction to A Listener’s Guide to the Tempest I gave you an idea of what pathological scum I am dealing with here so take this into account when you read the attacks on Israel in the following translation of Narrow Way:
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I'm gonna walk across the desert, 'til I'm in my right mind. I won't even think about, what I left behind Nothing back there anyway, that I can call my own Go back home, leave me alone It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday
I'm gonna walk across the desert I am going to walk across the Negev Desert and leave Israel 'til I'm in my right mind and only then will I return to my rightwing way of thinking I won't even think about, what I left behind I don’t even want to think about this racist, theocratic, repressive socialist, leftist state that I abandoned Nothing back there anyway, that I can call my own despite the fact that I am a Jew there is nothing I can identify with Go back home, leave me alone the Jews should abandon the area and return to Europe so that they will not bring more hatred on the anti-Zionist Jews like me It's a long road, it’s a long road to peace. In Lonesome Day Blues Dylan wrote:
Yeah the road's washed out Weather not fit for man or beast Funny, how the things you have the hardest time parting with Are the things you need the least
“Yeah the road's washed out” the course, the roadmap to peace, is drained of energy and effectiveness; completely exhausted “weather not fit for man or beast” the political climate has become intolerable “Funny, how the things you have the hardest time parting with” it is ironic that the things you have the hardest time returning to the Palestinians like the West Bank and Gaza “Are the things you need the least” are the things that are holding back peace and threatening your continued existence.
It’s a long and narrow way it’s a barely adequate or successful (especially in the phrase a narrow escape) way out of bad situation If I can’t work up to
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you If I can’t make aliyah - Hebrew ascent, from to ascend; (Judaism) immigration of Jews to Israel; students making aliyah you'll surely have to work down to me someday you will surely want to come to America some day.
Ever since the British burned the White House down There's a bleeding wound, in the heart of town I saw you drinking, from an empty cup I saw you buried, and I saw you dug up
Ever since the British burned the White House down The British burned down the White House in 1814. This was the only time a foreign power was able to occupy the American capital. The British also occupied Jerusalem after the Ottoman Turks left so the line becomes ever since you occupied a foreign land There’s a bleeding wound, in the heart of town there is a deadly problem in the heart of the Middle East I saw you drinking from an empty cup I realized the futility of the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel amid all these hostile powers I saw you buried I first bought the Zionist version of things that “buried” covered from sight; hid, covered-up the truth and I saw you dug up then I got the goods on the Zionists “Dig up” to learn or discover by careful research or investigation: dug up the evidence; dug out the real facts. It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday Look down angel, from the skies Help my weary soul to rise I kissed her cheek, I dragged your clown You broke my heart, I was your friend 'til now.
Look down angel from the skies find your way to the earth oh messiah in the near future Help my weary soul to rise let me truly rise up, not in the Zionist’s sense I kissed her cheek I kissed Israel’s ass I dragged your plough I never pressured you into turning your swords into ploughshares You broke my heart I was your friend 'til now but you double crossed me with the intifada and I now am your enemy.
In the courtyard of the golden sun You stand and fight or you break and run You went and lost your lovely head For a drink of wine and a crust of bread It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday
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In the courtyard of the golden sun In Wedding Song, in which Dylan proclaimed his undying allegiance to Israel and Judaism, he wrote:
Ever since you walked right in the circle's been complete I've said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street In the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun I love you more than ever and I haven't yet begun
In Wedding Song Bob used courtyard to mean a sovereign's governing body, including the council of ministers and state advisers and jester to mean the foolish United States. So “in the courtyard of the golden sun” becomes under the influence of the United States You stand and fight or you break and run you fight the issue of a Palestinian state or you break off negotiations with the Palestinians. You went and lost your lovely head Israel you are acting irrationally For a drink of wine and a crust of bread all because of some material gain Israel derives from the settlements in the West Bank.
We looted and we plundered on distant shores Why is my share not equal to yours Your father left you your mother too Even death has washed it's hands of you It's a long road it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday We looted we “looted” Informal took things of value, such as gifts, received on one occasion and we plundered robbed of goods by force, especially in time of war; pillage: plunder a rich American Jew during the Yom Kipper War on distant shores in other countries where Jews lived in the Diaspora Why is my share not equal to yours why is a greater burden placed on American Jews than on Israelis? Your father left you your mother too you inherited plenty of money from your forbearers Even death has washed it's hands of you wash (one's) hands of to refuse to accept responsibility for. Even after Israelis have self immolated to protest their plight you refused to take responsibility for your own economy and military.
This is hard country, to stay alive in Blades are everywhere, and they're breaking my skin I'm armed to the hilt and I'm struggling hard You won't get out of here unscarred. It's a long road it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday
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This is hard country to stay alive in “hard” resistant to blast, heat, or radiation. Used especially of nuclear weapons. Blades are everywhere missiles are everywhere. “Blade” as “missile” in It’s Alright Ma:
Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child's balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying.
“The darkness at the break of noon” The Darkness at the Break of Noon is an anti-Communist book by Arthur Koestler. Additionally “darkness at the break of noon” as an image of that which occurs during a cataclysmic event such as a nuclear bomb being dropped on a city causing a cloud of radioactive dust to block out the sun “shadows” causes a shadow government of exiled leaders to be formed; a shadow cabinet. Also stalks “even the silver spoon” even the Democratic President John F. Kennedy who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth “The handmade blade” the domestically produced weapon, the Russian ICBM which has the tapered outline of a blade “the child's balloon” Sputnik, the round Russian primitive satellite. Also “balloon” as “trial balloon” as in the Cuban Missile Crisis “Eclipses both the sun and moon” are in space or in orbit and this is why they block out the sun and moon “To understand you know too soon” and if you understand the imminent danger “There is no sense in trying” sarcastic; it makes no sense in trying to fight Communism.
Narrow Way continues: and they're breaking my skin they are penetrating my thin borders: skin as a usually thin, closely adhering outer layer I'm armed to the hilt and I'm struggling hard when I visit Israel I have body guards who have combat experience armed struggle You won't get out of here unscarred you won’t get out of this Zionist fantasy without being deeply affected or marked by mental or physical pain or injury.
You got too many lovers, waiting at the wall About a thousand tons, I couldn't count them all Yesterday, I could've thrown them all in the sea Today, even one, may be too much for me It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday
You got too many lovers, waiting at the wall you have too many bombs waiting at the Israeli West Bank Security Barrier About a thousand tons, I
V1-687 couldn't count them all equal to about a thousand tons of dynamite, almost as powerful as an atomic weapon Yesterday, I could've thrown them all in the sea In Let Me Die In My Footsteps Dylan wrote:
If I had riches and rubies and crowns I'd buy the whole world and I'd change things around I'd throw all the tanks and the guns in the sea For they all are mistakes of our past history
Today, even one, may be too much for me but today even one of them can take me out and I fear it, especially if it is an atomic bomb.
Cakewalking baby, you could do no wrong Put your arms around me, where they belong I won't take you on a roller coaster ride Lay my hands all over ya, tie you to my side It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way If I can't work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday.
Cakewalking baby Israel described in Tarantula, the poetic novel I forced Dylan into publishing by bootlegging it and showing him all the money I had made: “she's a phantom” Israel possessed Phantom Fighter Jets at this time “& mouth like an oven” and she utters words about the Holocaust without conviction and understanding “she dances on a cake of islam” she exists on top of earlier Islamic civilizations “cake” layer or deposit of compacted matter, a “tel” as in Tel Aviv.
Long and Narrow Way continues: you could do no wrong sarcastic: you cannot commit an invasion or a violation of another's legal rights. Put your arms use your weapons, especially firearms: troops bearing arms; ICBMs, bombs, and other nuclear arms around me where they belong to protect Jews because that is what their purpose should be rather than to oppress Palestinians I won't take you on a roller coaster I refuse to take you on an event marked by abrupt, extreme changes in circumstance ride take for a ride Slang to deceive or swindle you Lay my hands all over ya send in all kinds of hired hands, Israeli lobbyists tie you to my side make sure you are inextricably tied to my political side.
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I've got a heavy stacked woman, with a smile on her face And she has crowned my soul with grace I’m still hurting from an arrow that pierced my chest I'm gonna have to take my head and bury it between your breasts It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday
I've got a heavy “heavy” Slang of great significance or profundity stacked learned – “stacks” the area of a library in which most of the books are shelved woman religious Marist belief with a smile on her face who is happy about her race “face” as “race” as in The Hour The Hour When The Ship Comes In, “the sun will respect every face on the deck the hour that the ship comes in.” And she has crowned my soul with grace and Mary, the Mother of God, has brought me the words of the King of the universe and brought me to a state of being protected and sanctified by the favor of God I’m still hurting from an arrow I am hurting from a love of Judaism that pierced that penetrated into or through something my chest my wealth I'm gonna have to take my head I am going to have to take a person who leads, rules, or is in charge; a leader, chief, or director: the head of the Roman Catholic Church and bury it embed; sink it to bury a nail in plaster between your breasts between your seats of affection and emotion: "Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast" (Shakespeare). It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way / If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday
Been dark all night but now it's dawn The moving finger is moving on You can guard me while I sleep Piss away, the tears I weep It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday Been dark it has been difficult to understand; obscure all night, but now it's dawn but now it is beginning to be perceived or understood: Realization of the danger of the Jewish State soon dawned on us. The moving finger a degree of participation; a share in supporting Israel is moving on will be no longer. Also a poem by Omar Khayyam:
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it
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You can guard me you can maintain control over, as to prevent indiscretion: guard what you say about Israel while I sleep while I am in a state of inactivity resembling or suggesting sleep; dormancy Piss away the tears I weep and recklessly waste my words of warning like the money I would be pissing away in support of Israel It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday
I love women, and she loves men We've been to the West and we going back again I heard a voice at the dusk of day Saying, "Be gentle brother, be gentle and pray."
I love women, and she loves men I love woman the Israeli army likes men: a group of people willing to obey orders We've been to the West we have been to the West Bank and we going back again and we shall return there again I heard a voice, at the dusk “dusk” poetic “gloom” Saying, "Be gentle brother, be gentle and pray" I heard God saying in a time of gloom, make peace brother make peace and pray It's a long road, it's a long and narrow way If I can’t work up to you, you'll surely have to work down to me someday
MELLENCAMP’S ISRAEL HATING SONG***
John Cougar Mellencamp eloped with his pregnant girlfriend Priscilla Esterline at the age of 18 and became a father in December 1970, six months after he graduated from high school. His daughter Michelle became a mother at age 19, making Mellencamp a grandfather at 37. John began his career in a band called Trash. Mellencamp is conversant with rock poetry and played on the same bill as Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson during the “Cracker Boys” tour. Dylan’s anti-Israel poems, and the fact that he is a diehard Leftist into helping America’s farmers inspired him to write The Bloody Red Eyes of the Rodeo Clown.
Well there's blood on the hands of the rich politicians Red is the color of the sand and the sea Blood on the hands of an arrogant nation Who start all the bleeding Over their policies
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"Well there's blood on the hands of the rich politicians" the American politicians who allowed themselves to be bribed by special interest groups who support Israel and by people like Jack Abramoff are responsible for the bloodshed in the Middle East, "Red" bloody, filled with death "is the color" is the influence "of the sand" of the history of Israel, as in 'the sands of time' also the Negev "and the sea" its people, also the Red Sea. "Blood on the hands" death on the conscience, the responsibility "of an arrogant nation" Jews have been called arrogant time and time again "Who start all the bleeding" who start the bloodshed in the Middle East "over their policies" over their policy of oppression of the Palestinians, apartheid; note the word "their" this is the key to the fact that this poem is about a country OTHER THAN the United States.
So she blamed it all on whispering secrets She blamed it on the moon and the sky She thought she broke the back of the city She thought she thought she knew she had lied
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“So she blamed it all on whispering secrets" Israel did not take responsibility for the righteous hatred it deserved but blamed it on prejudice and covert Jew hatred as in a whisper campaign Jew hatred that was not made openly known, crypto-anti-Semitism, shades of the movie A Gentleman's Agreement about discrimination against the Jews "She blamed it on the moon" Israel blamed Jew hatred on its intellectuals reaching for something unattainable "and the sky" and trying to preserve the future of the humanity "She thought she broke" Israel mistakenly believed it had divided with violence "the back of the city" the Arab part of Jerusalem which is in back of the Old City "She thought" Israel tried to convince itself of this but "she knew she had lied" when the Arabs started rioting during the intifada Israelis realized it was not that easy to break the Palestinian spirit.
She changed direction with the gas fires burning Racing for protection what could she possibly find Children with no legs out on the highways crawling Looking for an angel but they ran out of time
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"She changed direction" Israel changed political direction "with the gas fires burning" as a result of the Holocaust the crematoriums, the gassings "Racing for protection" trying to find a safe haven "what could she possibly find?" why pick Palestine "Children with no legs" a country with no support, on its last legs "out on the highways crawling" whose people were driven out by the Jews to Gaza and the West Bank in Palestinian Diaspora "Looking for an angel" and who looked for a leader to guide them "but they ran out of time" but they were killed and dispersed before they could find one!
She had blood on her face so she had to get even She hemorrhaged and bled all over the land There's blood on the hands of those that keep silent Who won't count the bodies dead in the sand
"She had blood on her face" the Jews suffered so much death that it was embarrassing; 'egg on your face' "so she had to get even" she wanted revenge "She hemorrhaged and bled all over the land" so she took it out on the Palestinians "There's blood on the hands of those that keep silent" there's responsibility on those who don't mention this fact "Who won't count the bodies dead in the sand" and who refuse to count the bodies of dead Palestinians in the entire history of this struggle.
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So you can feast on your stories but it won't stop the bleeding When the truth is found the house will surely fall down There's blood on their mouths of all lies and liars The bloody red eyes of the rodeo clown Well, there's blood in the streets from the lies and liars The bloody red eyes of the rodeo clown
"So you can feast on your stories" so you can control the media in America "but it won't stop the bleeding" but it won't stop the resistance "When the truth is found" when Americans realize they are being manipulated "the houses surely fall down" the House of David, Israel will be destroyed "There's blood on their mouths of all lies and liars" the media, the American Enterprise Institute, AIPAC, the Hudson Institute etc "The bloody red eyes" the bloodthirsty thoughts, the one who guides, is the 'eyes and ears of' "The bloody red eyes of the rodeo clown"
Mellencamp is not the brightest light on the Christmas tree. Although there is plenty wrong with Israel its enemies are much worse and want to destroy the American way of life the John sings the praises of. John would not have the guts to write about Islam, would he?
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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S ANTI-ISRAEL SONG
Rocky Ground is from Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball. It is about Israel and probably was inspired by Bruce’s idol, Bob Dylan. (i’m a soldier!) We’ve been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
“I'm a soldier!” I am a member of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) “We've been traveling” I have been going about in the company of a particular group “over rocky” over steadfast or stubborn; unyielding “ground” an area or a position that is contested in or as if in battle: The soldiers held their ground in Gaza.
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Rise up shepherd, rise up Your flock has roamed far from the hills The stars have faded, the sky is still The angels are shouting “glory hallelujah”
“Rise up” (arise) to come into being; originate: as in Bruce hoped that a new spirit was arising among Israeli youth. Also make Aliyah. Aliyah is a Hebrew word that means "ascent," or "going up." According to Jewish tradition, returning to the Land of Israel is an ascent from exile or the galut (swamp) “shepherd” a commanding officer who presides over, watches over, or guides a group of people under the leadership of one person as a platoon or battalion commander “rise up” revolt “your flock” you armed forces “has roamed far from the hills” has ventured into occupied territory far past the hills of Judea surrounding Jerusalem “The stars have faded” the future of the State of Israel; its destiny (often used with the) has gradually disappeared “the sky is still” the future is without movement; the peace process is standing still. “The angels are shouting "Glory hallelujah" the leaders of Israel are happy about this.
“Angel” as a spirit that guides.
Forty days and nights of rain have washed this land Jesus said the money changers in this temple will not stand Find your flock, get them to higher ground Flood waters rising and we’re Canaan bound
“Forty days and nights of rain have washed” a great catastrophe, the great flood, the Holocaust has allowed you to rid yourself of corruption or guilt; cleanse or purify: wash sins away when it comes to the treatment of the Palestinians “this land” by the land of Israel, “Jesus said the money changers in this temple will not stand” this is the kind of hypocrisy that Jesus Christ objected to when he threw the money changers out of the temple “Find your flock” detect the true nature or character of; expose the fact that those under your command are killers “get them to higher ground” get your soldiers on higher moral ground “The floodwater's” flood in the Bible, the covering of the earth with water that occurred during the time of Noah - another Holocaust “rising, we're Canaan bound” is increasing and coming to an ancient region made up of Palestine or the part of it between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
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Tend to your flock or they will stray We’ll be called for our service come judgment day Before we cross that river wide Blood on our hands will come back on us twice
“Tend to your flock or they will stray” manage the activities your soldiers with great care of they will deviate from a moral, proper or right course; err and commit war crimes. “We'll be called for our service” Americans will be called to account for their government’s support for the armed forces of Israel come judgment day “Before we cross that river wide” before America sends troops over the Atlantic Ocean to fight alongside the Israelis “The blood on our hands will come back on us twice” America better think twice as their will be casualties in the Middle East and casualties from terrorism in the United States (I'm a soldier!)
You use your muscle and your mind and you pray your best That your best is good enough, the lord will do the rest
“You use your muscle” you move or force with strength: they muscled pro- Israeli legislation through Congress “and your mind” a group that embodies certain mental qualities: the Jewish mind “and you pray your best” you make a fervent request or entreaty for military support “That your best is good enough” so that you can maintain military superiority in the region “the Lord will do the rest” sarcastic and as God’s chosen people you will be protected.
You raise your children and you teach them to walk straight and sure You pray that hard times, hard times, come no more You try to sleep, you toss and turn, the bottom’s dropping out Where you once had faith now there’s only doubt You pray for guidance, only silence now meets your prayers The morning breaks, you awake but no one’s there
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“You raise your children and you teach them to walk straight” you bring native born Israelis into the world and teach them the uninterrupted; consecutive traditions of the past “and sure” that have served you well in the past “You pray that hard times, hard times come no more” you hope that history will not repeat itself “You try to sleep” you try to have a peaceful period in Israel – sleep as a state of inactivity resembling or suggesting sleep “you toss” you toss people’s homes, “toss” as in search – the cops tossed the pad “and turn” and turn Palestinians into informants “turn” as in to switch one's loyalty from one side or party to another “the bottom's” the 99% “is dropping out” is withdrawing from participation in the pro-Israel game “Where you once had faith now there's only doubt” where you once could count on the United States backing you up today there is only doubt “You pray for guidance” you hope for advanced weaponry from the United States “guidance” as in any of various processes for guiding the path of a missile, by means of built-in equipment “only silence now meets your prayers” only America refuses “The morning breaks, you awake but no one's there” and new day comes and Israel is on its own “We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground There's a new day coming We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground (I'm a soldier!) We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground.
Springsteen took the leftist pro-Islamist line on Israel instead of thinking things out for himself. This is a shame because I consider him my mureed (follower). When he played on the Jersey Coast, before he got famous Joe Kivak would go to see his show and give him a copy of the East Village Other with my articles about rock poetry in them. That is where my mureed learned to write poetry. He even sings “The backstreet girls are listening to the records in AJ ways” but the lyrics read “the D.J. plays.” Then he wrote Adam Raised a Cain which sounds to me more like “Alan where is the key” and is about someone who spends his time looking into someone else’s purse. There were other references to me in Springsteen’s poetry when he wrote about Bob Dylan, many of them positive for a change. So Springsteen has a lot to thank me for and should not endanger my existence by hoping to destroy the State of Israel. The reality here is that anyone who opposes the existence of the State of Israel, in light of previous history, opposes the existence of the Jews. If you love the Palestinians go to the West Bank and do a concert. You can’t do that in Gaza because under Islamic law secular music is banned. One other thing that Bruce should remember: Israel has nuclear weapons and if its existence is threatened it will use them raising the radiation levels and making the Middle East a ghost town. What would happen to New Jersey if gas were $50 a gallon? So this time asshole, if there is another Holocaust it’s gonna be a whole new ballgame.
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Dylan’s sickness spread to his pudjoe son Jesse Dylan. Look at some of the causes Jesse is into: “BOYCOTT APARTHEID ISRAEL: To bring to wider notice the unpunished crimes of this rogue state Israel is probably the single biggest threat to world peace, and manipulates the USA and Britain to do its dirty work.” “PALESTINIAN REFUGEES RIGHT TO RETURN - AL-AWDA Our mission is to support Palestinian refugees and their right to return to their homes and lands of origin in Palestine.” “SAVE AL-AQSA MOSQUE FROM BEING DEMOLISHED BY ISRAEL To prevent Israel to blow up Al- Aqsa Mosque Al Aqsa Mosque was the second Masjid on earth. It was built 40 years after the Ka’ba in Makkah.” “THE BIG CAMPAIGN - BOYCOTT ISRAELI GOODS Campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions in line with this call from Palestinian civil society until Israel complies with International Law.” Jesse Dylan is tied in with the self-hating Jew George Soros’ Open Society Foundation.
LONG AND WASTED YEARS 2012***
“I kicked a heroin habit in New York City. I got very, very strung out for a while, I mean really, very strung out. And I kicked the habit. I had about a $25-a-day habit and I kicked it.” - Bob Dylan to Robert Shelton.
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No one believed me when I wrote that Dylan was a dope addict but it was true, just as no one believes me when I write other seemingly outrageous stuff about Bob Dylan. No one believed Galileo when he said the earth wasn’t flat. Galileo was even sent to the inquisition for affirming that the earth was a sphere. The truth of the matter was that Galileo was a genius and figured things out others could not because he was way ahead of his time. Now Bob is sorry he messed with dope. The title of this poem refers to drugs: Long involving substantial chance; risky: long odds and wasted Slang showing signs of habitual drug abuse “I am wasted on smack as I write this” years period in my life.
It's been such a long, long time Since we loved each other and our hearts were true One time, for one brief day, I was the man for you
It's been such a long, long time / Since we loved each other and our hearts were true “true” as in reliable; accurate: a true heartbeat. It has been quite awhile since my heart was strong enough for me to shoot dope One time, for one brief day only for a very short time I was the man for you I was in control of you rather than visa-versa “man” Slang a person or group felt to be in a position of power or authority – You the man when it comes to dugi!
Last night I heard you talking in your sleep Saying things you shouldn't say Oh baby, you just might have to go to jail someday Last night I heard you talking in your sleep during a dark period in my life I heard you singing about the virtues of opiates “sleep” as heroin: The Mighty Quinn “Nobody can get no sleep there’s someone on everyone’s toes but when Quinn the Eskimo gets here everybody’s gonna wanna dose.” Saying things you shouldn't say singing the praises of heroin while there was a loose cannon named A. J. Weberman telling the world that you were a heroin addict Oh baby, you just might have to go to jail someday that pig Weberman could have sent me to 100 Center Street for possession of narcotics and my career would have been set back or ruined.
Is there a place we can go? Is there anybody we can see? Maybe, it's the same for you as it is for me
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Is there a place we can go? Is there a rehab center or a hospital like the one the Feds ran in Lexington, Kentucky where I can kick my habit? Is there anybody we can see? Is there a doctor that specializes in addiction Maybe, it's the same for you as it is for me maybe most addicts don’t really want to be addicts? I ain't seen my family in twenty- years That ain't easy to understand They may be dead by now I lost track of them after they lost their land
I ain't seen my family in twenty years I haven’t written a poem about dope in decades That ain't easy to understand that is not easy to grasp the meaning of They may be dead by now these poems may no longer have significance or relevance I lost track of them “track” a distinct selection from a sound recording, such as a phonograph record or compact disk, usually containing an individual work or part and the scars left from dull needles on junkie’s arms after they lost their land after these song lost their “land” an area or realm: drug induced fantasy land.
Shake it up baby twist and shout You know what it's all about What you doing out there in the sun anyway Don't you know the sun can burn your brains right out
Shake it up baby “shake” to upset by or as if by a physical jolt or shock: Dylan was badly shaken up by Weberman twist alter or distort the intended meaning of “Weberman twisted the meaning of my poems” and shout Slang - abuse with coarse language: call me all sorts of names like slimy junkie, doper You know what it's all about because you realized I was writing about heroin What you doing out there in the sun anyway why is Weberman suddenly famous Don't you know the sun can burn don’t you know that all this publicity can get you killed “burn” as to execute or kill with fire: burning heretics at the stake burn your brains right out don’t you know that being famous can cause you to get your brains blown out.
My enemy crashed into the dust Stopped in dead his tracks and he lost his lust He was run down hard and he broke apart He died in shame he had a iron heart
My enemy “enemy” as addiction: Where Are You Tonight (Journey Through Dark Heat) “I fought with my twin, that enemy within, 'til both of us fell by the way / Horseplay and disease is killing me by degrees while the law looks
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the other way” crashed Slang “crash” to undergo a period of unpleasant feeling or depression as an after effect of drug-taking into the dust “dust” Slang for heroin Stopped dead in his tracks “tracks” Slang for needle marks on the skin from multiple intravenous injections, considered an indication of habitual drug use and he lost his lust Dylan lost his “lust” an overwhelming desire or craving: a lust for junk. He was run down hard his health deteriorated due to HIV and he became “run down” and he broke apart so he stopped using dope He died in shame when his addiction died out it was an occasion for regret, disappointment, etc. he had an iron heart he once had had a constitution that was strong, healthy, and capable of great endurance: an iron constitution so he could handle junk.
I wear dark glasses to cover my eyes There are secrets in them I can’t disguise Come back baby if I ever hurt your feelings I apologize
I wear dark glasses to cover my eyes / There are secrets in them I can’t disguise heroin use causes the pupils of the eyes to become constricted (smaller). The term "pinned pupils" is sometimes used to describe this action Come back baby if I ever hurt your feelings I apologize if this offends my fans I am sorry.
Two trains running side by side Forty miles wide, down the eastern line You don't have to go I just came to you cause you’re a friend of mine
Two trains two ways of life, train as in “There’s a slow train coming” there is a Christian lifestyle coming that has taken some time to arrive running ongoing over a period of time side by side forty miles wide next to one another however there is gap between them that is insurmountable down the eastern line when I lived in the East, in Greenwich Village in New York City You don't have to go song from that folk period If You Gotta Go Go Now. I just came to you cause you’re a friend of mine He Was A Friend of Mine – another song from that same period. Positively Fourth Street: “You got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend / When I was down you just stood there grinning” you have a lot of nerve to claim to be my fan, when I was an obscure folk singer you just loved it!
I think that when my back was turned The whole world behind me burned It's been awhile since we walked down that long, long isle
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I think that when my back was turned / The whole world behind me burned I think that when I was not looking people tried to cheat me in drug deals – “I got burned on that nickel bag, it turned out to be weak” It's been awhile since we walked down that long, long aisle it’s been a long time since I was wedded to my heroin addiction.
We cried on that cold and frosty morn We cried because our souls were torn So much for tears, so much for these long and wasted years
We cried we were in great pain on that cold during a time characterized by repeated failure and frosty lacking warmth or enthusiasm the new plan had a frosty reception morn beginning - it was not easy to kick junk We cried because our souls were torn I was unhappy because my innermost being was torn - disrupted by the pull of contrary forces, I was still junk hungry but wanted to kick for good So much for tears, so much for regrets so much for these long and wasted years so much for my smack addiction.
Dylan not only did damage to himself with his addiction but he spread it to other rock musicians including John Lennon, who he turned on to smack. His songs singing the praises of heroin convinced other rock poets to try it and led to a lot of human misery. If there is a Hell, this guy is going there.
THE TEMPEST 2012
THE TITANIC: A METAPHOR FOR DYLAN’S CAREER
You think Dylan gives a shit about the people who perished in the Titanic disaster? He’s probably happy the great ship went down because it gave him
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something to base an allegory on. This poem is about Dylan’s career not about the Titanic.
The pale moon rose in its glory Out or’ western town She told a sad, sad story Of a great ship that went down
The pale the feeble as in a pale effort moon rose unrealistic expectations of fame and fortune as in the expression reaching for the moon came into existence; originated in its glory because of a highly praiseworthy asset: Bob’s talent is his crowning glory. Out or’ western town while he lived in the mid-West town of Hibbing, Minnesota She told a sad but it would foretell a tragic story “sad” as in causing sorrow or gloom; depressing sad deplorable; sorry story - Of a great ship that went down of someone who achieved wealth and fame but it all went down the drain. “Ship” as in when one's ship comes in when one has become successful or wealthy.
T’was the 14th day of April Over the waves she rode Sailing into tomorrow To a golden age foretold
T’was the 14th day of April Dylan began his career copying Woody Guthrie who, in Dust Storm Disaster, wrote “On the 14th day of April of 1935, there struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky. You could see that dust storm comin', the cloud looked deathlike black, And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track” Over the waves she rode over a rising trend that involved large numbers of individuals: a wave of rock and roll Dylan “rode” rode out survived, outlasted Sailing into tomorrow going effortlessly into the 1960’s To a golden age foretold all the way to the Golden Age of folk music and eventually the Golden Age of folk rock. A “Golden Age” is the most flourishing and outstanding period in the history of an art.
The night was black with starlight The seas was sharp and clear Moving through the shadows The promised hour was near
The night the entertainment industry: artists often perform at night was black with starlight was filled with stars of the folk singing world throwing light on the situation of Negros The seas something that suggested the
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ocean in its overwhelming sweep or vastness: a sea of controversy was sharp and was harsh or biting in tone or character: sharp criticism of Jim Crow and clear and easily perceptible to the eye or ear; distinct Moving arousing or capable of arousing deep emotion: a moving account of the assassination of Medgar Evers through the shadows through an imperfect imitation or copy. The promised an indication of forthcoming excellence as in a career showing considerable promise hour a significant time as in the Dylan song The Hour That The Ship Comes In was near.
Lights were holding steady Gliding over the foam All the lords and ladies Heading for their eternal home
Lights Dylan’s ideas “light” something that provides information or clarification: threw some light on the question of racism were holding were retaining attention or interest: Dylan can hold my interest steady and were unwavering, as in purpose; steadfast leftist thinking Gliding moving effortlessly over the foam over the beer drinking customers at Gerdes Folk City “Foam: as a mass of bubbles of air or gas in a matrix of liquid film, especially an accumulation of fine, frothy bubbles formed in or on the surface of a liquid, as from fermentation. All the lords and ladies all other the poets and musicians Heading for their eternal home dying out and heading for obscurity, extinction.
The chandeliers were swaying From the balustrades above The orchestra was playing Songs of faded love
The chandeliers the African-Americans were hanging like chandeliers after they had been lynched was swaying and this was swaying the emotions of Jews and Whites. Dylan exploited this feeling in many of his poems From the balustrades above from the barriers that had been erected to separate Blacks from Whites and keep the colored folks in their place The orchestra the Communist Party USA who was orchestrating the Civil Rights Movement “orchestrate” to arrange or control the elements of, as to achieve a desired overall effect: the Communist Party orchestrated a successful civil rights campaign was playing was using or manipulating the Civil Rights Movement, for their own interests: played the Blacks against the Whites Songs of faded love Leftwing songs advocating race mixing, integration, “fade” to cause to lose brightness or whiteness as in skin color.
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The watchman, he lay dreaming As the ballroom dancers twirled He dreamed that the Titanic was sinking Into the underworld The watchman Dylan the Rightist “watchman” as in the night watchman from Visions of Johanna “We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight / Ask himself if it's him or them that's really insane” we can hear Dylan throw some light on a subject and ask if it’s the Left or him that’s insane he lay dreaming he was nodding out As the ballroom dancers twirled as he was high on heroin just like he was in Mr. Tambourine Man, the greatest poem ever written extolling the virtues of opiates, “Cast your dancin’ spell my way I promise to go under it.” He dreamed that the Titanic was sinking he dreamed that his life was deteriorating in quality or condition and he had sunk to a new low even for him Into the underworld by pretending to embrace the thinking of the underground criminalized Communist Party USA.
Leo took his sketchbook He was often so inclined He closed his eyes and painted The scenery in his mind
Leo took his sketchbook Dylan took a brief, light, or informal literary composition, such as an essay or a short story He was often so inclined and he was willing to slant (incline) these stories He closed his eyes and painted he closed his thoughts to the truth and depicted vividly in words The scenery the Left wing scene in his mind that he experienced.
Cupid struck his bosom And broke it with a snap The closest woman to him He fell into her lap
Cupid cupidity a strong desire, especially for possessions or money; greed struck his bosom destroyed his beloved Rightwing ideals And broke it with a snap and he broke with them to snatch or grasp suddenly and with eagerness a chance to go to become famous The closest woman to him he fell into her lap and because of his opportunism he became a lap dog for the CPUSA. Dylan would have done everything short of sucking a cock to become famous.
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He heard a loud commotion Something sounded wrong His inner spirit was saying That he couldn’t stand here long
He heard a loud commotion he heard the CPUSA booing him when he gave his speech to the Emergency Civil Liberties Union (ECLU) Honorary Dinner during which Dylan was crowned COMSYMP3 OF THE YEAR Something sounded wrong his speech was not what these commies wanted to hear His inner spirit was saying that he couldn’t stand here long his true self told him that he could not play this roll any longer and take a stand for Soviet Communism when in reality he was a political conservative and an admirer of Barry Goldwater.
He staggered to the quarter deck No time now to sleep Water on the quarter deck Already three feet deep
3. Cold War jargon for Communist Sympathizer
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He staggered he arranged in alternating or overlapping time periods: I staggered the shots of smack so I would not get a chippie. Also to walk or cause to walk unsteadily as if about to fall like a junkie nodding out on the street to the quarter deck “deck” twelve bags of heroin in glassine bags held together by a rubber band No time now to sleep it was difficult to maintain my dope habit – sleep as in The Mighty Quinn “nobody can get no sleep there’s someone on everyone’s toes but when Quinn the Eskimo gets here everybody’s gonna wanna dose.” (better line here would be “everybody’s gonna overdose”) Water on the quarter deck /already three feet deep and that quarter of a deck of smack was already starting to get Dylan into some hot water that would grow deeper and deeper and eventually drown him. Smokestack was leaning sideways Heavy feet began to pound He walked into the whirlwind The skies sprang all around
Smokestack was leaning sideways the stuff he produced, filled with smoke and mirrors, was moving to the political right heavy feet began to pound the fans began to show their displeasure at his concerts. Also his desire to get his foot in the door of rock and roll began to pound in his brain He walked into the whirlwind this would result in him encountering a destructive force or thing. In Something There is About You Dylan wrote, “I was in a whirlwind now I’m in some better place” The skies the future sprang all around would free him from the prison of the Left and folk music “Spring” Slang To cause to be released from prison or other confinement.
The ship was going under The universe had open wide The roll was called up yonder The angels turned aside The ship was going under the revolution as in The Hour That The Ship Comes In was sinking The universe had opened wide Dylan could now write any darn thing he pleased The roll was called up yonder and he could play rock and ROLL The angels turned aside and folksingers like Woody Guthrie were no longer influencing him and guiding him.
Lights down in the hallway Flickering dim and dull Dead bodies already floating In a double bottom hull
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Lights down in the hallway the luminaries in their basement venues which they feel will eventually lead to their playing at concert halls. “Hall” as concert hall from Visions of Johanna:
Lights down in the hallway flickering dim and dull folk singers in obscure venues barely illuminating America with dim and dull folk music who come and go “flickering” as in Visions of Johanna “Lights flicker from the opposite loft” Dead bodies already floating and their careers already dying In a double bottom to twice the lowest or least favorable position hull that will soon be discarded The dry outer covering of a fruit, seed, or nut; a husk that is often useless. In Idiot Wind Dylan told me “You’re on the bottom.”
The engines then exploded Propellers they failed to start The boilers overloaded The ship’s bow split apart
The engines an instrument, or means of accomplishment in this case song such as Like A Rolling Stone then exploded then increased in popularity suddenly, sharply, and without control Propellers they failed to start a person that propels failed to have a positive effect on his audience The boilers those in a state of agitation; seething overloaded were overloaded with new information and lyrics they could not understand The ship’s bow split apart his Left Wing fans began to split.
Passengers were flying Backward, forward, far and fast They mumbled, fumbled, tumbled Each one more weary than the last
Passengers fans Informal a person who normally participates only passively in an activity were flying underwent an explosive reaction; burst Backward, forward, far and fast all throughout his audience They mumbled they talked indistinctly; usually in a low voice behind Dylan’s back. Positively Fourth Street, “I know the reason you talk behind my back I used to be among the crowd you’re in with.” fumbled Football to drop a ball that is in play. They dropped the ball tumbled spilled or rolled out in confusion or disorder: His fans tumbled out of the concert hall. Each one more weary than the last each one more sick of Dylan than the last.
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The veil was torn asunder Between the hours between twelve and one No change, no sudden wonder Could undo what had been done
The veil was torn asunder Dylan’s disguise as a lefty splintered just as Leftwing groups have a tendency to do Between the hours between twelve and one during a very dark period in Dylan’s life No change, no sudden wonder no change in the attitude of his fans due to their bewilderment about his music and words Could undo what had been done could get him to return to being a comsymp and folknick.
The watchman lay there dreaming At 45 degrees He dreamed the Titanic was sinking Drummin’ [Coming] to her knees
The watchman lay there dreaming Dylan remained there composing his dream-like poems At 45 degrees and they were now on 45 rpm singles like Like A Rolling Stone etc. He dreamed the Titanic was sinking Dylan believed his career and art was making an impression; becoming felt or understood: The meaning finally sank in Drumin’ to her knees because of the rock and roll music he was playing that often had a loud drumbeat. Or Coming to her knees causing other artists to give up their place of the record charts - bring someone to his knees is to force someone into submission.
Wellington he was sleeping His bed began to slide His valiant heart was beating He pushed the tables aside
Wellington he was sleeping Dylan was getting high on meth, smack, coke His bed began to slide his foundation in life began to go unattended or unacted upon: Let the matter slide. His valiant heart was beating he was pushing it by endangering a once strong heart he pushed the tables aside the odds were he was going to end up another rock star who accidentally overdosed. “Table” actuarial table, statistical table - a table of statistical data. In Slow Train Dylan wrote:
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I had a woman down in Alabama, She was a backwoods girl, but she sure was realistic, She said, "Boy, without a doubt, have to quit your mess and straighten out, You could die down here, be just another accident statistic." There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
I had a woman down in Alabama” I knew someone when I was enslaved by drugs “She was a backwoods girl” she got my poetry backwards, making it into a Leftwing diatribe when in reality I was far to the Right, she played my poetry backwards and discovered backward masking “but she sure was realistic” but despite Weberman’s inability to understand my poetry he was right on about certain things “She said, ‘Boy, without a doubt, have to quit your messin’ and straighten out’” say boy, you gots to quit messin’ with dope, get yourself straight son! “You could die down here, be just another accident statistic” you could OD and become just another dead rock star “There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend” there’s an idea that took a long time to take hold “around the bend” coming to cure my insanity. When someone is “around the bend” they are nuts.
“Backwards” as backward masking; I played “Oh winds which rush my tail to thee so it may flow and be” from If Dogs Run Free 1970 backwards and came up with “If Mars invades us” and I played “Ain’t no reason to go into town” from Time Passes Slowly 1970 backwards and came up with ‘Don’t expose me.’
I asked Dylan about this during the Weberman / Dylan Telephone Conversation and he said, “I never said ‘don’t expose me’ in New Morning what’s that?” I told him “You play a part of it backwards…” and he responded, “And it says ‘don’t expose me’? Oh fuck man Jesus why don’t you play an Andy Williams record backwards?” A. J.: “You know that it is there as well as I do because you put it there!” Dylan sighed twice. I sent news of this to Jann Wenner and it was covered by Rolling Stone. It was the first reported instance of backward masking.
Glass of shattered crystal Lay scattered roundabout He strapped on both his pistols How long could he hold out?
Glass lines on a glass surface of shattered broken into many small pieces crystal meth, coke Lay scattered roundabout were everywhere to be seen He strapped on he put a tourniquet on his arm as in Country Pie, “Saddle me up a big White goose / Tie me on and turn her loose” both his pistols and used a device for “shooting” dope – his works How long could he hold out? how
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much long would it be until his addiction caught up with him in one way or another?
His men and his companions were nowhere to be seen In silence then he waited for Time and space to intervene
His men his connections as in “the man” and his companions “companion” a person who accompanies or associates with another; other slimy junky rock musicians were nowhere to be seen were keeping a low profile In silence in secret then he waited for time and space God to intervene “intervention” as in “drug intervention program.” In the liner notes to Highway 61 Revisited Dylan wrote, “On the slow train time does not interfere.” Then in Slow Train he wrote, “There’s a slow, slow train comin’ round the bend” referring again to Christianity.
Dylan was wise to turn to Christianity to cure himself of heroin addiction because he could not have done it without a God. Dylan could have been contender in the moral arena of life. But he relapsed and blamed his junk- hunger on Christianity. My co-author, Michael Canfield, a Vineyard Christian Fellowship member who ran their suicide line became friendly with Dylan during Bob’s First Christian Period.
The passageway was narrow There was blackness in the air He saw every kind of sorrow Heard voices everywhere.
The passageway the act or process of passing from one place, condition, etc., to another was narrow was lacking flexibility; rigid: narrow Christian rules There was blackness the ideas appeared to emanate from a source other than the actual point of origin such as the Bible. Used chiefly of intelligence operations: black radio transmissions in the air “air” as in “on the air” reinforces the meaning of the word “blackness.” He saw every kind of sorrow he saw every sorry televangelist Heard voices everywhere heard many people saying they spoke for Jesus “voices” as a medium or agency of expression: a Minister that serves as the voice of the Almighty.
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Alarm-bells were ringin’ To hold back the swellin tide Friends and lovers clinging To each other side by side
Alarm-bells were ringin’ Dylan was warned To hold back the swellin tide to hold back from his recordings his feelings about the rising tide of Christianity that had swept over him Friends and lovers clinging to each other his most devoted fans had to “cling” - resist separation from him side by side as each new Jesus LP came out. “Side” is Slang for phonograph record. Mothers and their daughters Dylan’s young female fans
Descending down the stairs Jumped into the icy waters Love and pity sent their prayers
Mothers and their daughters Dylan’s first and second generation fan base Descending proceeding or progressing downward, as in number down the stairs into the basement of record sales Jumped formed an unfavorable opinion or judgment hastily: jump to conclusions about Dylan’s Christian period into the icy waters after they heard songs they believed were devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of disdain Love and pity sent their prayers those with undying love for Dylan and those who felt sorry for him sent protested against his Christian Period.
The rich man, Mister Astor Kissed his darling wife He had no way of knowing It'd be the last trip of his life
The rich man, Mister Astor the rich rock and roll singer Bobby Dylan Kissed his darling wife kissed his money goodbye He had no way of knowing he didn’t realize It'd be the last trip of his life this would his last Christian LP “trip” to make a mistake: tripped up on the last question. Calvin, Blake and Wilson Gambled in the dark Not one of them would ever live to Tell the tale or disembark
Calvin, Blake and Wilson a law firm, a stock brokerage house, an accounting firm gambled in the dark took a chance on Dylan not knowing how this Christian music would sell Not one of them would ever live none of them would be allowed to support themselves to tell the tale if they told a malicious story, piece of gossip about Dylan during this time or disembark of
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if they gave up managing his money and had him declare bankruptcy. Jump ship Figurative to leave any post or position; to quit or resign, especially when there is difficulty with the job.
Brother rose up 'gainst brother In every circumstance They fought and slaughtered each other In a deadly dance Brother a male person belonging to the same profession as another or others; fellow member rose up against brother fought one another in every circumstance due to their monetary greed “circumstances” financial status or means They fought and slaughtered each other they fought over money and “slaughtered” criticized one another unmercifully In a deadly dance moving in a pattern that would bring financial ruin to Dylan.
They lowered down the lifeboats From the sinking wreck There were traitors, there were turncoats Broken backs and broken necks
They lowered down they reduced in value, degree, or quality the lifeboats Informal a fund set up by the dealers in a market to rescue any member who may become insolvent as a result of a collapse in market prices From the sinking “sink” to lose value – the Iranian currency is sinking wreck a person or thing that has suffered ruin or dilapidation There were traitors, there were turncoats Dylan had become a traitor to his race and religion then a turncoat to Christianity Broken financially ruined; bankrupt backs being owed or due from an earlier time; in arrears: back pay and broken necks and a lot of Dylan’s people wanted to break his neck.
The bishop left his cabin To help others in need Turned his eyes up to the heavens Said: The poor are yours to feed
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The bishop left his cabin Dylan the Christian left his confinement in or as if in a small space or area To help all those in need and went back to helping his fellow Jews – the Israelis - writing songs like Neighborhood Bully Turned his eyes up to the heavens turned his thoughts to the God of the Hebrews Said: The poor those eliciting or deserving pity; pitiable: couldn't rescue the poor fellow are yours to feed minister to; gratify: fed their appetite for Jesus.
David the brothel-keeper came out Dismissed his girls Saw the water getting deeper Saw the changing of his world
David the brothel-keeper after Dylan left Christianity his insatiable sexual appetite came out came out of the closet and into the open again. Bob began to frequent prostitutes as normal women couldn’t satisfy his depraved sexual desires dismissed his girls and he refused to accept or recognize; rejected: dismissed the chances of catching an Sexually Transmitted Disease as highly improbable. Saw the water getting deeper and as a result got into some deep trouble just as he did with his heroin addiction Saw the changing of his world and saw his entire world change overnight. He expressed the same sentiment in World Gone Wrong a CD in which he wrote about his blood disease.
Jim Bakker smiled He never learned to swim Saw the little crippled child And he gave his seat to him
Jim Bakker James Orsen "Jim" Bakker is an American televangelist, a former Assemblies of God minister, convicted felon, and a former host (with his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker) of a popular evangelical Christian television program. A sex scandal led to his resignation from the ministry. The corrupted former Christian, Bob Dylan brought down by sex addiction smiled expressed cheerful acceptance or equanimity: We smiled at the bad weather and kept going He never learned to swim he never learned to conform to the norm – In Open The Door Homer he wrote “There’s a certain way a man must swim if he expects to live off the fat of the land.” Saw the little crippled child he realized he was disabled, damaged and impaired as in a crippling disease And he gave his seat to him and this became his new role – seat as a position of authority or eminence.
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He saw the starlight shining Streaming from the east Death was on the rampage But his heart was now at peace
He saw the starlight he saw God in Heaven shining closer than he had ever seen God Streaming Computer Science “stream” to transmit data in real time from the east from the Holy Land Death was on the rampage Dylan’s T- cell count had dropped and his HIV had turned into AIDS. As a result he contracted Disseminated Histoplasmosis, an AIDS-linked opportunistic infection that comes from dry bird droppings. But his heart was now at peace this fungus had attacked his heart and might have been fatal, and then Dylan would have rested “at peace”.
They battened down the hatches But the hatches wouldn’t hold They drowned upon the staircase of brass and polished gold
They battened down the hatches they prepared for an imminent disaster or emergency But the hatches wouldn’t hold but the anti-viral drugs cultured in eggs that are hatched failed They drowned they got into deep water upon the staircase because of one of a series of actions, processes, or measures taken to achieve a goal of brass that was going to be reached because of bold self-assurance and polished and because of doctors who had no imperfections or errors; flawless: gave a polished presentation gold and seemed to have great value.
Leo said to Cleo I think I’m going mad But he’d lost his mind already Whatever mind he had
Leo said to Cleo Dylan told his doctor But he’d lost his mind already but he’d lost his caution already “mind” to be careful about: Mind your manners! Whatever mind he had whatever caution he had, which was not much
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He tried to block the doorway To save all those from harm Blood from that open wound Pourin’ down his arm
He tried to block he tried to interrupt or obstruct the doorway the threshold: the point that must be exceeded to begin producing a given effect: the AIDS threshold was reached when he contracted histoplasmosis To save all those from harm to save all of his white blood cells from being destroyed by the AIDS virus Blood death from that open wound from that unhealed wound to the blood’s immune system left him vulnerable Pourin’ down his arm and came to destroy something that strengthens or protects as in the phrase armed against infection.
Petals fell from flowers ’til all of them were gone In the long and dreadful hours the wizards kiss played on
Petals fell from flowers Dylan’s hospital room was filled with flowers ’til all of them were gone until all the bacteria that had attacked his heart had been destroyed In the long and dreadful hours in the hours of life and death the wizards kiss played on AIDS, the sorcerers’ kiss, the devils’ kiss, played on, remained in his body or “play on” as in the book about AIDS by Randy Shilts, The Band Played On. The host was pouring brandy He was going down slow He stayed right to the ending Was the last to go
The host biology: the animal in which another organism lives was pouring brandy was congratulating himself for living through this He was going down slow he had been steadily deteriorating and for a while it looked like he was not going to pull through, not going to make it He stayed right to the ending however he stayed alive Was the last to go and did not abandon ship Figurative: to leave a failing enterprise. There were many, many others Nameless here forever more They never sailed the ocean or left their homes before
There were many, many others they were countless people who died because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic Nameless here forever more too many to include here They never sailed the ocean they never had the vast backlog of
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sexual experience that Dylan had; they contracted it from blood transfusions or left their homes before and had never been diseased before.
The watchman he lay dreaming the damage had been done He dreamed the Titanic was sinking and he tried to tell someone
The watchman he lay dreaming Dylan the poetic chronicler of events wrote the damage had been done the injury or harm impairing the function or condition of a person had already occurred He dreamed the Titanic was sinking he dreamed he was deteriorating in quality or condition: The patient is sinking fast and he tried to tell someone and he wrote about it in his poems.
The captain barely breathing Kneeling at the wheel Above him and beneath him 50,000 lungs of steel
The captain a person in command: a captain of the music industry barely breathing almost dead Kneeling at the wheel making recordings like Time Out of Mind in which he gave into his fears of death and admitted he had been brought to his knees by the disease. Also “wheel” as torture Above him superior to him in rank, position, or number; greater than and beneath him in a lower position than him 50,000 lungs4 of steel numerous determined AIDS patients protesting in organizations such as ACT-UP “lungs” as in at the top of one's lungs as loudly as one's voice will allow. “Wheel” as LP in Lo and Behold:
Now, I come in on a Ferris wheel An’ boys, I sure was slick I come in like a ton of bricks Laid a few tricks on ’em
“Now, I come in on a ferris wheel” I got famous for selling records that pushed revolution. In Eleven Outlined Epitaphs Dylan wrote, “ferris wheel runs in california park an' the sky trembles. turns red.” Tarantula; “the opium ghost ‘neath the ferris wheel on the side of the highway.” “An' boys, I sure was slick” and good ole boys I did a deceptively smooth job of it “I come in like a ton of bricks” I come in like a violent revolutionary. Also when
4. Most of the transcriptions of this verse read “50,000 tons of steel” because people just don’t fucking listen.
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I came on the folk scene I made myself seem like a good fellow; a helpful and trustworthy lad “Laid a few tricks” I composed a few deceptive protest songs that I had a knack for writing at the time “on 'em” on the suckers.
He looked over at his compass and he gazed into its face Needle pointin’ downward He knew he lost the race
He looked over at his compass he reviewed his moral compass: anything which serves to guide a person's decisions based on morals or virtues and he gazed and he looked long and fixedly in wonder into its face into the Jewish race which instilled morality in him Needle pointin downward his morality came from a prior source or earlier time: passed downward through the ages He knew he lost the race and this told him he had lost the morality of his race. In the dark illumination He remembered bygone years He read the Book of Revelations and he filled his cup with tears
In the dark illumination in the insight that being close to death brought him He remembered bygone years he re-examined his checkered past He read the Book of Revelations he read about the world coming to a tragic end due to disease and he filled his cup with tears and this matched his lot in life.
When the Reapers task had ended Sixteen hundred had gone to rest The good, the bad, the rich, the poor the loveliest and the best
When the Reapers when the virus had obtained as a result of effort task had ended its objective sixteen hundred had gone to rest numerous hookers contracted a terminal disease the good the good hookers who gave you your money’s worth the bad the ones that did not the rich the high priced escorts and call girls the poor the street hookers the loveliest the prettiest and the best and the pros.
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They wait at the landing And they tried to understand But there is no understanding On the judgment of Gods hand
They wait at the landing Informal “land” to cause to arrive in a place or condition: promiscuity will land you an STD and they tried to understand But there is no understanding on the judgment of Gods hand but there was no understanding of why God chose them to get this disease or not to get it.
The news came over the wires And struck with deadly force Love had lost its fires All things had run their course
The news interesting or important information not previously known or realized it's news to me came over the wires was transmitted to his doctors and struck with deadly force and a drug was able to fight the infection and kill the bacteria Love had lost its fires what Dylan termed his “Love Sickness” had lost its ability to kill him all things had run their course the infection had run its course.
The watchman he lay dreaming Of all things that can be He dreamed that the Titanic was sinking Into the deep, blue sea
The watchman Dylan he lay “lay” to cause to be in a particular condition dreaming which was a condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration of all things that can be of a cure for AIDS/HIV He dreamed psychology suffer delusions be unrealistic you're dreaming if you think you can be cured that the Titanic was sinking that Bob Dylan was making an impression; becoming felt or understood into the deep into a profound in quality or feeling blue sea vastness of unhappiness.
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DUQUESNE WHISTLE BLOWIN' 2012
There is no disputing the fact that the video that accompanies Duquesne Whistle Blowin' is about a stalker who relentlessly follows a beautiful woman. I believe this video has allegorical content and stalker represents me. In reality Dylan was the stalker and not me as he drove around my block on his bicycle until he saw me on Elizabeth Street. He stalked me like prey came up from behind me, choked me, then threw me on the sidewalk and got on top of me then began to bang my head against the sidewalk. Some hippies pulled him off. Because this went down one block from the Bowery (skid row) two bums asked me “Did he get much money?” They thought I had been rolled. I told him that was Bob Dylan, he’s a millionaire he doesn’t have to come down to the Bowery an’ roll drunks.
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The video opens with a shot of John Lennon who was a close revolutionary associate of mine for several years. The next thing we see is a homeless person utilizing the garbological method that I invented, going through trash. I should get a cut of whatever he finds. The stalker in the video, the Weberman figure, has a rose that he wants to give to the woman he is stalking. In Love Minus Zero No Limit Dylan wrote this about the Left’s rose- colored empty promises of a higher hourly wage “People carry roses make promises by the hour.” But the pretty woman wants no part of this street urchin so she maces him. The stalker steals another rose and he goes after her again however this time he knocks someone off a 12 foot ladder. He is then apprehended by the police and sent to jail. I attended the Graduate School of Survival at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Finally the fun begins. The dude who fell off the ladder and broke his arm gets his crew together, snatches the stalker, kneecaps him and beats the shit out of him then dumps him on the street when who just happens to come strolling down – Dylan and his posse. Meanwhile the stalker is hallucinating that the chick digs him. Dylan nonchalantly walks over the Weberman like he was a piece of trash, not a human being. This video doesn’t bother me in the least because no one knows this actor is portraying A. J. Weberman.
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Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like it's gonna sweep my world away I wanna stop in Carbondale and keep on going That Duquesne train gon' rock me night and day
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowin' listen to that Nazi Weberman spouting his rhetoric like a whistle blower, exposing alleged wrong-doing. Fritz Joubert Duquesne was a South African Boer who was a Nazi secret agent, military officer, big game hunter, saboteur, and journalist. Imprisoned on numerous occasions, he narrowly avoided execution by firing squad and once escaped from prison by feigning paralysis. While spying for Germany, he and 32 others were arrested in the FBI's 1941 takedown of the Duquesne Spy Ring. The movie classic The House on 92nd Street was based on Duquesne. So I am a Nazi and not Dylan who, in Chronicles, called Hitler “a towering figure”.
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowin' / Blowing like it's gonna sweep my world away Listen to that Nazi Weberman blowing off like he is going to wipe out my heroin addiction with a single stroke “sweep” as often used with away: The exposure in effect swept away his habit I wanna stop in Carbondale I want to do up some dugi. This is similar to Champagne Illinois another song about heroin, “I certainly do enjoy, Champagne Illinois.” This is an example of the alcohol/heroin metaphor found in Country Pie: “Just like old saxophone Joe when he’s got the hogshead up on his toe oh me oh my love that country pie.” “Up on his toe” is similar to a line in Mr. Tambourine Man where Dylan wrote “my toes too numb to step” meaning he can’t dance or get high and then he asks Mr. Tambourine Man to “cast your dancing spell my way I promise to go under it.” What all this adds up to is simply I wanted do shoot some smack and keep on going and continue being a schmecker - a Jewish junkie That Duquesne train gon' rock me night and day but the Nazi Weberman, with his pig mentality, is going to hassle me about my dope
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habit night and day “rock” to disturb the mental or emotional equilibrium of; upset: news of Dylan’s addiction rocked New York town.
You say I'm a gambler, you say I'm a pimp But I ain't neither one Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Sounding like it's on a final run
You say I'm a gambler you say I am a capitalist pig as in Woody Guthrie’s song I Ain’t Got No Home In the World Anymore “gamblin’ man is rich and the working man is poor and I aint got no home in this world anymore” you say I'm a pimp you say I am a pig who panders to the Left But I ain't neither one but I am something you haven’t thought of Al because you were unable to pick up on the embedded meaning of the majority of my poetry Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing listen to that Nazi Weberman spouting off his theories Sounding like it's on a final run sounding like the underground newspaper he works for is folding. Run as in the production achieved during a period: the East Village Other had a final press run of 15,000 copies.
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Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like she never blowed before Blue light blinking, red light glowing Blowing like she's at my chamber door Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing listen to that Nazi Weberman denouncing me in front of my crib during the Bob Dylan 30th Birthday Party, a day that will live in the anals of infamy Blowing like she never blowed before reaching new lows of hatred, ridicule Little light sarcastic: much public attention: brought the scandal to light blinking shining intermittently, as in signaling doom red light glowing cops called in to stop a riot instigated by police informant who I had identified as such on a previous occasion. This informant, who had infiltrated Vietnam Vets Against the War had witnessed his fellow soldiers in Vietnam being killed and maimed and ended up in a mental institution when he returned to the United States. From then on he was determined infiltrate and destroy the Left. Blowing like she's at my chamber door messing with me in front of my townhouse, endangering my wife, my children, forcing me to leave my beloved Greenwich Village. Fuck this idiot wind, I wanna see fucker dead. That is why I detect an image of an LED blinking on a handgun then turning to red which indicated the laser pointer was activated after someone chambered a few rounds of ammunition. Dylan was packing because he was his own bodyguard. He had a carry permit when I knew him. Dylan was always asking me “You want to go for a ride, Al?” I asked “Where to?” He replied, “Oh down near the old Brooklyn Navy Yard. We can get a good look at the river.”
You smilin' through the fence at me Just like you always smiled before Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like she ain't gon' blow no more
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You smiling through the fence at me you are going through my garbage again and having a great time of it Just like you've always smiled before just like you did before you agreed to cease and desist. Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing listen to the stinking Nazi Weberman lying Blowing like she ain't gon' blow no more because he only pretended he wasn’t going to stalk me anymore. After Dylan did the Bangladesh Benefit Concert I promised to lay off but went back to the trash anyway where I was confronted by Sarah, Dylan’s wife, an event that led to Dylan jumping me on Elizabeth Street. It was an unfortunate confluence of events.
Can't you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing? Blowing like the sky's gonna blow apart You're the only thing alive that keeps me going You're like a time bomb in my heart
Can't you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing? Can’t you hear that Nazi Weberman writing? Blowing writing like the sky's like his future “sky” as future from Trails of Trouble “I walked down by the river, I turned my head up high. I saw that silver linin' / That was hangin' in the sky” gonna blow apart going to be demolished from Dylan blows to his head You're the only thing alive that keeps me going you’re the only thing alive that I would like to see dead and this keeps me going - going around the block on my bicycle stalking you You're like a time bomb in my heart you caused my emotions to explode into violence. Dylan came from behind and attacked me on Elizabeth Street. He sings about “The laughter down on Elizabeth Street” in Journey through White Heat.
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There's a neon light ablaze in the green smoky haze, And laughter down on Elizabeth Street And a lonesome bell tone in that valley of stone Where she bathed in a stream of pure heat
“There’s a neon light” there’s a superstar, Tell Me 1983, “Tell me, do those neon lights blind your eyes?” tell me does stardom deprive your thoughts of perception and insight? “ablaze” emotionally aroused; ‘ablaze with anger’ “in this green” in this new to me but productive “smoky” really quick “smoke” to go and proceed at high speed, to smoke Weberman out “haze” hazing; beating “laughter” ridicule of the great revolutionary A. J. Weberman “down on Elizabeth Street” Dylan attacked me on Elizabeth Street between Bleecker and Houston “And a lonesome bell tone” and the death bell tolled for A. J. Weberman and the Dylan Liberation Front as he faced the music; Can’t Escape From You 2008, “The dead bells are ringing” “in that valley of stone” in the city street surrounded by brick buildings that became the area where Weberman would finally be punished, “stoned” “where she bathed in a stream of pure heat” where that maggot who calls himself “A. J.” bathed in a steady flow and succession of punches for a change rather than bathing in the spotlight or limelight. Also “pure” as racially pure; ‘pure White heat’.
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I can hear a sweet voice steadily calling Must be the mother of our lord Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like my woman's on board
I can hear a sweet I can hear a sarcastic: pleasing to the mind or feelings, gratifying voice an agency through which is communicated another's purpose, policy steadily unwavering in purpose; steadfast calling “call” to communicate or try to communicate with by telephone: I recorded a telephone call. Must be the mother “mother” Slang something considered extraordinary in disagreeableness and intensity of our lord to a man who has mastery in a given field or activity as Dylan does in the field of poetry, must be Weberman on the phone Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing listen to the Nazi Weberman talking Blowing like my woman's on board talking like I share his politics “aboard” in or into a group, organization, or business: brought aboard two new protestors.
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like it's gon' blow my blues away You old rascal, I know exactly where you're going I'll lead you there myself at the break of day
Too personal to translate.
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I can't provide for you no easy answers, Who are you that I should have to lie? You'll know all about it, love It'll fit you like a glove When the night comes falling from the sky.
“I can’t provide for you no easy answers” I can’t prepare to answer a question that will arise when you are in prison “Who are you that I should have to lie?” you think I am going to put myself in a position where I am subject homosexual rape, lie as in assume a prone position “You'll know all about it, love” you will learn about homosexual rape “It'll fit you like a glove” it will fit you like an anal cavity search, like a big black dick up your ass “When the night comes falling from the sky” after you get incarcerated in the near future.
I can hear your trembling heart beat like a river You must have been protecting someone last time I called. I've never asked you for nothing you couldn't deliver I've never asked you to set yourself up for a fall.
“I can hear your” I can hear Weberman’s “trembling” full of fear and anxiety “heart” his most important and essential part “beat” beat the drum for freedom “like a river” in great abundance “You must have been protecting someone” you must have been acting as your own lawyer “last time I called” the last time I called to order marijuana or while a mutual friend, perhaps Lord Oliver Foot, called in while I listened “I've never asked you for nothing you couldn't deliver” all I asked you for was some weed which you could have easily delivered wherein you asked me for something I could not deliver, as one delivers a performance, you asked me to deliver revolutionary songs when I did not believe in them. Not only that but they would have brought the heat down on me “I've never asked you to set yourself up for a fall” and I never asked you to deliberately get yourself busted, however, this is what you were asking me to do when you wanted me to be part of the anti-war movement while I was addicted to heroin and subject to arrest.
“Protection” as an attorney “I Shall Be Released 1967,
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They say ev’ry man needs protection They say ev’ry man must fall Yet I swear I see my reflection Some place so high above this wall
“They say every man needs protection / They say that every man must fall” they say every connection needs a good attorney, they say every man must take a fall, slang for getting arrested “But I swear I see my reflection” but I swear I see my connection “somewhere so high above this wall” on the street and wasted.
I wake up every morning with that woman in my bed Everybody telling me she's gone to my head Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like it's gon' kill me dead
I wake up every morning with that woman in my bed I come to the realization each day that I have contracted in incurable Sexually Transmitted Disease – HIV. “Bed” as to have sexual relations which is found in Maggie’s Farm:
I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s pa no more No, I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s pa no more Well, he puts his cigar Out in your face just for kicks His bedroom window It is made out of bricks The National Guard stands around his door Ah, I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s pa no more
“I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more” I ain't gonna work for the Soviet Union, the father of Communism no more, “Well, he puts his cigar” well he puts his Communist propaganda pushing Civil Rights “Out in your face” out in the White race’s midst “just for kicks” just to cause trouble, so he can get his version of kicks “His bedroom” but his sexual moirés, “bedroom” as sexually suggestive; ‘a bedroom comedy’ as dictated by the Communist Party of the USSR “window” as an interval of time during which certain conditions or an opportunity exists - a window of sexual vulnerability “It is made out of bricks” bars inter-racial marriage as the White Russian race must be preserved, it’s sexual policies are dictated by Party stalwarts, “brick” a reliable person. “The National Guard stands around his door” and that makes the Communists no different than Southern racists. Alabama
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Governor George Wallace stood at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in a symbolic attempt to block two Black students from enrolling at the school. They were escorted inside by members of the federalized National Guard. “Face” as race; in regard to James Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi; Oxford Town 1963, “Guns and clubs followed him down / All because his face was brown.” I wake up every morning with that woman in my bed Everybody telling me she's gone to my head all the Doctors are advising me that it will eventually destroy my brain Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing listen to that Nazi Weberman blowing smoke Blowing like it's gon' kill me dead writing that my HIV is gonna kill me dead when it is not.
Can't you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing? Blowing through another no good town The lights on my lady's land are glowing I wonder if they'll know me next time 'round
Can't you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing? Can’t you hear that Nazi Weberman doing his Dylan translations wherein he belittles me and characterizes me as the lowest scum on earth? Blowing through another no good town being expressed in another no good book The lights the knowledge, the wisdom, the enlightenment on my lady's land are glowing in my poetry is outstanding I wonder if they'll know me next time 'round I wonder if after I am dead the meaning of my poetry will ever be expressed properly, not in the crude fashion Al does it.
Dylan must really hate the fact that he got stuck with me as the primary Dylan critic not on his pad. But let’s say there were other rock critics who were able to pick up on Dylan’s embedded meaning. Would they sing the praises of his racism and self-hatred? They would come down on him like a ton of bricks. This is some stupid shit here expressed in a complex manner. If Dylan thinks the scholars of the future are going to discover the meaning of his poetry he is wrong. You got to have lived through it and witnessed Dylan’s career unfold and more importantly played an important part in its development; you got to be into all kinds of drugs, politics and music of a certain period to understand it. Like Dylan started out on the street and no college professor is ever going to know that street like I know it. I’m the only game in town. In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
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I wonder if that old oak tree's still standing That old oak tree, the one we used to climb Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like she's blowing right on time
I wonder if that old oak tree's still standing I wonder if that old lynching tree is ready to go back into action and terrorize the African-Americans into behaving? That old oak tree, the one we used to climb you know, the lynching tree from years back which I protested against in ostensibly anti- racist Blowin in the Wind and used to climb to the top of the record charts Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing blowing like she's blowing right on time listen to the way that Nazi Weberman translates my poems. That hypocrite is in sync “right on time” with my views on African-Americans. He is conversant with racialist thinking and is a little too articulate when it comes to expressing racists view, especially when Blacks are involved.
I intend to express Dylan’s views on race as articulately as possible in order to demonstrate that it is not stupidity that motivates him but pure evil. As a Dylanologist I am sworn to portray Bob Dylan in the worst possible light and as time goes on that becomes easier and easier.
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JOHN LENNON WAS A MEMBER OF THE DYLAN LIBERATION FRONT (button reads FREE BOB DYLAN DLF)
ROLL ON JOHN
This is allegory here that traces the history of Bob Dylan’s career and it is not really about John Lennon. In fact if Dylan had gotten busted for smack I bet he would have “rolled on John.”
Doctor, doctor tell me the time of day Another bar is empty, another penny spent
Doctor, doctor In 1961 Dylan’s career was failing and he needed a doctor, a psychiatrist, after he threatened to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. Also the doctor as to falsify or change in such a way as to make favorable to
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oneself: Dylan doctored his bio to make him look romantic tell me the time of day tell me how my act can fit into the present with respect to prevailing conditions and trends: You must change with the times and folk is where it is at Another bar is empty another venue without an audience; vacant or unoccupied another penny spent another song that I composed depleted of force or strength; exhausted. “Penny” as “song” in Only a Hobo:
A blanket of newspaper covered his head As the curb was his pillow, the street was his bed. One look at his face showed the hard road he'd come And a fistful of coins showed the money he bummed.
“A blanket” something with the ability to cover so as to inhibit, suppress, and extinguish “of newspaper” of songs based on newspaper articles, or of unfavorable reviews “covered his head” concealed his intellect “As the curb” as the fact he was being deliberately held back “was his pillow” was something that mitigated or relieved this adverse effect; Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961, “And yer pillows of feathers turn to blankets of lead” “the street” MacDougal Street, the village “was his bed” was the unlikely place that would supply his foundation in show business or his grave “bed” as a small plot of land “One look at his face showed the hard road he'd come” one look at his being a Jew and an American folk musician indicated that for him to get anywhere was a miracle “And a fistful of coins” and his grasp of a large number of songs that he had created, coined “showed the money he bummed” showed that he could use his imagination, obtaining ideas for free then transforming them into art.
He turned around and he slowly walked away They shot him in the back and down he went
He turned around “turn around” as in to turn things around in his favor and he slowly walked away and he slowly walked away from the Village folk scene They shot him in the back his cowardly folk fans backstabbed him as in Positively Fourth Street, “I know the reason you talk behind my back, I used to be among the crowd you’re in with” and down he went and down he went in their estimation.
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Shine your light Movin' on You burned so bright Roll on, John Shine your light light up people’s lives with knowledge Bob Movin' on then move on You burned so bright you were so intelligent, you got burned out Roll on, John however, you are still doing your thing
From the Liverpool docks to the red-light Hamburg streets Down in the quarry with the quarrymen Playing to the big crowds, playing to the cheap seats Another day in the life on your way to your journey then
From the Liverpool docks dock: to deprive of a benefit or a part of one's wages, especially as punishment: The musicians union docks its member for dues to the red-light Hamburg streets to McDougall Street where many a career stopped as if it had been signaled to do so by a red light and where the Reds, the Communists, flourished Down in the quarry with the quarrymen way down in underground basement venues like the Gaslight or the Café Wha? with those who extract facts, for example by careful searching: finally quarried out the politics of Marxism from hundreds of
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sources. Playing to the big crowds, playing to the folk crowd at Gerdes Folk City In Positively Fourth Street, written to his folk fans, Dylan said, “I know the reason you talk behind my back, I used to be among the crowd you’re in with.” playing to the cheap seats playing to tourists Another day in the life on your way to your journey then all part of the game on the road to fame.
Sailin' through the trade winds bound for the South Rags on your back just like any other slave They tied your hands and they clamped your mouth Wasn't no way out of that deep dark cave
Sailin' moving fast or effortlessly through the trade winds through the vicissitudes of or relating to trade or commerce, the music trade magazines like Billboard bound in bonds or chains; tied with or as if with a rope a bound prisoner also bound, for the South for the slavery of dope addiction Rags Slang a newspaper specializing in sensationalism or gossip in this case Newsweek Magazine on your back that would not get off Dylan’s back and tried to destroy him with an article that alleged he did not write Blowin’ In The Wind just like any other slave just like any other communist. In Tangled Up In Blue he wrote:
I lived with Emma on Montague Street In a basement down the stairs There was music in the cafes at night And revolution in the air Then he started into dealing with slaves And something inside of him died
Dylan lived with anarchists like Emma Goldman when he was in the basement of his career and was part of the civil rights movement. Ashley Montague (Montague Street) was a prominent sociologist who pushed integration. Dylan started to climb the stairs of success and “There was music in the cafes at night and revolution in the air” but then he started dealing with the Communists “Then he started into dealing with slaves and something inside of him died.”
They tied your hands the Commies made sure all your songs were politically correct and they clamped your mouth clamp down: to become more strict or repressive; Stalin clamped down on deviationism Wasn't no way out of that deep dark cave there was no way out of that gulag.
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I heard the news today, oh boy They hauled your ship up on the shore Now the city gone dark, there is no more joy They tore the heart right out and cut you to the core
I heard the news today, oh boy I heard my songs when they were based on newspaper articles They hauled Informal they compelled you to go, especially for trial your ship your revolution as in The Hour that the Ship Comes In up on the shore to the side of the Soviet Union “shore” as land; country. Often used in the plural: far from our native shores. Now the city gone dark, there is no more joy now Dylan hates himself for selling out his ideals They tore the heart right out they forced him to take out the very essence of his thoughts and cut him to the core censored his core beliefs.
Put on your bags and get 'em packed Leave right now, you won't be far from wrong The sooner you go the quicker you'll be back You've been cooped up on an island far too long
Put on your bags bag it Slang cease discussion of an issue: Finally in disgust I told my debating opponent to bag it Leave right now, abandon the political Right you won't be far from wrong however you will be on the wrong side of the issue The sooner you go the quicker you'll be back the sooner you leave your Goldwaterite thinking the sooner you can return to it as an influential force You've been cooped “coop” Slang a prison up on an island far too long. You’ve been in Greenwich Village located on Manhattan Island too long.
I fixed that and drove him out of the Village. Dylan may or may not have deserved this at the time but in retrospect the Holocaust denying maggot had it coming. Dylan would tell me time and time again, “Al, you been in the city too long.”
Slow down you're moving way too fast Come together right now over me Your bones are weary, you're about to breathe your last Lord, you know how hard it can be
Slow down you're moving way too fast I am nothing but a Leftwing song hustler “fast” as acquired quickly with little effort and sometimes unscrupulously: made a fast buck writing protest songs Come together right now over me when I should be uniting the Rightwing Your bones “bones” the fundamental plan or design, as of the plot of a book are weary are discontented or bored by the long continuance of something like message
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songs you're about to breathe your last you are about to sing your last topical song Lord, you know how hard other poets know how oppressive and unjust in nature or effect it can be forcing someone to write poems they don’t believe in can be.
What a laugh! Dylan was sorry he sold out his rightwing political beliefs and the only way he could express them was to embed them poetically in a fashion that went over 99.999% people heads.
Roll on, John, roll through the rain and snow
Take the right-hand road and go where the buffalo roam They'll trap you in an ambush before you know Too late now to sail back home
Roll on, John, roll through the rain and snow live on Bob through disaster as in Hard Rain Gonna Fall Take the right-hand road take a Rightwing course in life and go where the buffalo go and go where the true America of our forefathers lies They'll trap you the liberals and leftists will force you to be politically correct in an ambush in before you know by launching a sudden attack made from a concealed position Too late now to sail back home too late now to express my true Rightwing ideas.
Tyger, tyger burning bright I pray the Lord my soul to keep In the forests of the night Cover 'em over and let him sleep
Tyger, tyger death, death burning bright full of promise and hope of going to paradise I pray the Lord my soul to keep I hope I don’t end up in Hell for what I have done and for what people think I represent In the forests of the night in the vast graveyard of the universe Cover 'em over and let him sleep let me rest in peace not in Hell.
ROCK POETS REACT TO DYLAN IN POETRY
Lennon did dig Dylan and had to be restrained from punching me out by Yoko on at least one occasion after I said some bad shit about Bob. None- the-less Lennon, Ono and I became friends and co-revolutionists despite our differences about Dylan.
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The Beatles were aware of my work. On October 25, 1968 I published Hey Jude, A Message to Dylan in the underground newspaper The East Village Other. It was immediately reprinted by the International Times in London. The International Times was connected with the Indica Bookshop run by a dude name Barry Miles (but known just as “Miles”) where I hung out in the summer of 1967. John and Yoko met at this counter-cultural landmark and Paul McCartney helped keep the bookstore alive. McCartney and Lennon were hardcore. This article totally freaked out the world of rock poetry. Someone on the outside was inside now, and his name was Weberman. In June 1969 John and Yoko recorded Give Peace A Chance.*** One verse of it reads:
Let me tell you now Everybody's talking about Revolution, evolution, mastication Flagellation, regulation, integrations Meditations, United Nations Congratulations
When I listen to this at approximately 1 minute 18 seconds, I don’t hear the word “revolution.” I hear “Weberman.” “Everybody's talking about Weberman, evolution” everybody is talking about the Dylanologist Weberman who is making a gradual development to a more complex form of rock and roll criticism “mastication” and this involves the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics “Flagellation” but can often mean beating poetry to death “regulation” because it means
V1-739 applying a principle, rule, or law designed to control its ambiguity “integrations” and also entails the act of combining two distinct literary concepts into an integral whole; the integration of poetry and prose “Meditations” after having thought deeply about the words lesser used meanings “United Nations” America and England united by Weberman’s translations. “Congratulations” congratulations mate, jolly good.
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HEY JUDE A MESSAGE TO DYLAN
"hey jude" is a message from john lennon and paul McCartney to bob Dylan which attempted to convince Dylan to return to being a rock and roller and forget the john Wesley Harding and Nashville skyline crap he was doing at the time.
VERSE ONE hey Jude
Saint Jude is the patron of lost causes. Juden is the German word for Jew and Dylan is Jewish.
Don’t make it bad
don't contribute to the sad state of reality
Take
take, in the sense of record.
a sad song
informal Brit ludicrously contemptible; pathetic song about heroin
and make it better
and improve reality
remember to let her into your heart
Capacity for sympathy or generosity; compassion:
Then you can start to make it better then you can write better songs.
VERSE TWO
hey jude, don't be afraid
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of performing in public
you were made to go out and get her
the last time you went on tour you did so against your will since you had to fulfill a lot of contractual obligations you are a natural born performer
the minute you let her under your skin
The minute you start shooting dope under your skin. Sarcastic:
then you begin to make it better
VERSE THREE
and any time you feel the pain, again lennon rephrased Dylan’s reactions to teenagers from blonde on blonde -in just like a woman Dylan reproaches American youth:"your long time curse hurts but what's worse is this pain in here" so 'anytime being a pop star becomes too difficult because of fame' hey jude, refrain" go back to the seclusion of Woodstock don't carry the world upon your shoulder don't try to do the impossible for well you know
now that Dylan has recovered from his accident which was really a close OD call and rehab that it’s a fool
fucking stupid
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who plays it cool
who takes dope
by making his wealth a little golder
by using dugi:
Then the sands will roll
Out a carpet of gold
For your weary toes to be a-touchin'
And the ship's wise men
Will remind you once again
That the whole wide world is watchin'.
VERSE FOUR hey jude, don't let me down
more blonde on blonde symbolism. in obviously five believers Dylan writes- 'dont let me down/ don't let me down/ i won't let you down, etc. so lennon is imploring Dylan in his own terms to record some more rock
you have found her
you have made initial contact with like a rolling stone, etc.
now go and get her
VERSE FIVE
so let it out and let it in
play rock and roll
hey jude begin doing your thing in public again
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you're waiting for someone to perform with
you already have the Band
and don't you know what it's just you
you would be a hit playing solo, acoustic
you'll do
and your presence is enough to insure sro crowds wherever you go
the movement you need
movement in the musical sense - tempo or rhythm - you need to win the allegiance of the young
is on your shoulder
is rock-that-is music which comes from an electric guitar which hangs from one's shoulder vis a vis an acoustical guitar which one carries in every hand.
Like this was not the only song that lennon-McCartney wrote about bobby Dylan. Maggie Mae, taken from Maggie’s farm, concerned Dylan’s departure from the political scene due to his heroin addiction.
MAGGIE MAE
oh dirty Maggie Mae they have taken her away
hard drugs have taken Dylan away and she never walk down lime street any more she will never be a hit with the limeys ever again oh the judge he guilty found her in drifter's escape Dylan described how he was sentenced by the folknicks for being sellout. for robbing a homeward bounder
V1-744 for cheating the folknicks. that dirty no good robbin' maggie mae to the port of liverpool they returned me to two pounds ten a week, that was my pay
Dylan would earn more from rock.
OB-LA-DI, OB-LA-DA
Desmond has a barrow in the marketplace Molly is the singer in a band Desmond says to Molly, "Girl, I like your face" And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand
Desmond takes a trolley to the jeweler's store Buys a twenty carat golden ring (rin-ring) Takes it back to Molly waiting at the door And as he gives it to her she begins to sing (sing)
In a couple of years They have built a home sweet home With a couple of kids running in the yard Of Desmond and Molly Jones (ha ha ha ha)
Happy ever after in the market place Desmond lets the children lend a hand (arm!) (leg!) Molly stays at home and does her pretty face And in the evening she still sings it with the band
Desmond has a barrow in the market place
Dylan is a folksinger in the market place.
Molly is the singer in a band
The other Dylan is a rock and roller.
Desmond says to Molly-girl I like your face
The folksinger becomes a rock singer
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And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand.
And takes over his fate.
Obladi oblada life goes on bra
Lala how the life goes on
Desmond takes a trolly to the jewelers store
Dylan goes to the music store
Buys a twenty carat golden ring
Buys an electric guitar.
Takes it back to Molly waiting at the door
And as he gives it to her she begins to sing.
Then goes electric and sings rock and roll.
In a couple of years they have built home sweet home
In a couple of years Dylan is famous as a rock musician
With a couple of kids running in the yard Of Desmond and Molly Jones.
With an audience of young people.
Happy ever after in the market place
The commercial recording market place.
Molly lets the children lend a hand
Dylan gets bucks from young people
Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face
Shoots smack
And in the evening she's a singer with the band.
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And plays with THE BAND!!!!!!
ROCKY RACCOON
Now somewhere in the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota There lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon And one day his woman ran off with another guy Hit young Rocky in the eye Rocky didn't like that He said, "I'm gonna get that boy" So one day he walked into town Booked himself a room in the local saloon Rocky Raccoon checked into his room Only to find Gideon's Bible Rocky had come, equipped with a gun To shoot off the legs of his rival His rival it seems, had broken his dreams By stealing the girl of his fancy Her name was Magill, and she called herself Lil But everyone knew her as Nancy Now she and her man, who called himself Dan Were in the next room at the hoe down Rocky burst in, and grinning a grin He said, "Danny boy, this is a showdown" But Daniel was hot, he drew first and shot And Rocky collapsed in the corner Now the doctor came in, stinking of gin And proceeded to lie on the table He said, "Rocky, you met your match" And Rocky said, "Doc, it's only a scratch And I'll be better, I'll be better, Doc, as soon as I am able" Now Rocky Raccoon, he fell back in his room Only to find Gideon's Bible Gideon checked out, and he left it, no doubt To help with good Rocky's revival
Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota
There lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon
Somewhere in rural area of Minnesota there lived a young boy named Bob Dylan
And one day his woman ran off with another guy
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And one day his hopes of becoming a rock and roll singer was shattered by another performer
Hit young Rocky in the eye Rocky didn't like that
Made Dylan feel like he was an inferior intellect
He said I'm gonna get that boy
So one day he walked into town
So one day he came to New York City
Booked himself a room in the local saloon
Started working in Gerdes Folk City that served alcohol
Rocky Raccoon checked into his room
Only to find Gideon's bible
But Dylan checked into his venue only to find that folk music of a moralistic nature was in demand.
Rocky had come equipped with a gun
To shoot off the legs of his rival
Dylan had come to New York City with an electric guitar ready to compete in the pop music world
His rival it seems had broken his dreams
By stealing the girl of his fancy
But the Beatles and the British Invasion put and end to his hopes
Her name was Magil and she called herself Lil
But everyone knew her as Nancy
Ringo, George and John
Now she and her man who called himself Dan
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McCartney
Were in the next room at the hoe down
Were playing bigger venues
Rocky burst in and grinning a grin
Dylan burst in and singing a song
He said Danny boy this is a showdown
My show beat the Beatles show
But Daniel was hot, he drew first and shot
But McCartney was hot, popular and drew a bigger crowd and took a shot at it
And Rocky collapsed in the corner, ah
And Dylan became much less popular until I revived his career in the early 1970’s
Now the doctor
To add ingredients so as to improve or conceal the taste, appearance, or quality of: doctor the soup with a dash of sherry. came in stinking of gin
And proceeded to lie on the table
And put his cards on the table
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He said Rocky you met your match And Rocky said, doc it's only a scratch And I'll be better I'll be better doc as soon as I am able
And now Rocky Raccoon he fell back in his room Only to find Gideon's bible Gideon checked out and he left it no doubt To help with good Rocky's revival, ah Oh yeah, yeah
MEAN MISTER MUSTARD
Mean Mister Mustard sleeps in the park Shaves in the dark trying to save paper Sleeps in a hole in the road Saving up to buy some clothes Keeps a ten-bob note up his nose Such a mean old man Such a mean old man His sister Pam works in a shop She never stops, she's a go-getter Takes him out to look at the queen Only place that he's ever been Always shouts out something obscene Such a dirty old man Dirty old man
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I was tight with John Lennon and Yoko Ono and in the early 1970’s. One night, while visiting with him and Yoko on Bank Street I followed John Lennon into the bathroom. Hey the dude was naked anyway so what difference did it make? Anyway Lennon looked at my stubble covered face and remarked, “A. J. you should shave in the night, shave in after it gets dark.” I forgot how I responded but the minute he said this Mean Mister Mustard came to mind. Was Lennon giving me a hint about the subcontent of this poem? I think so.
Mean Mister Mustard sleeps in the park Shaves in the dark trying to save paper Sleeps in a hole in the road Saving up to buy some clothes Keeps a ten bob note up his nose Such a mean old man Such a mean old man
“Mean Mister Mustard” Weberman who cannot cut the mustard Slang to come up to expectations when it comes to interpreting poetry “sleeps” is in a state of inactivity resembling or suggesting sleep “in the park” in a stadium where artists like the Beatles attract large audiences, he only has a small underground following “Shaves” only touches or barely grazes in passing “in the dark difficult to understand; obscure: poetry that is large in scope and dark” in substance. It is also concealed or secret; mysterious and he is in the dark as to its meaning “trying to save” trying to save, rescue paper the underground press, the East Village Other; paper as in a newspaper. “Sleeps” is asleep to the truth “in a hole” because of a fault or flaw: There are holes in his arguments “in the road” in a way, path, or course in life “Saving up” making unnecessary; obviating: saved me the time of figuring out these lyrics for myself “to buy” informal to believe especially whole heartedly or uncritically: couldn't buy into that idea “some clothes” something that conceals or disguises also words as in words clothed in hatred “Keeps a ten-bob” keeps a lot of Bob Dylan “note” the characteristic vocal sound made by a musical instrument, Dylan’s music and lyrics up his nose in his curiosity: Informal the nose considered as a symbol of prying: Keep your nose out of my poetry. “Such a mean old man” such a man who studies meaning: mean as act as a symbol of; signify or represent: In this poem, the budding flower means opium. Such a mean old man such a man who is low in social status
His sister Pam works in a shop She never stops, she's a go-getter
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Takes him out to look at the queen Only place that he's ever been
“His sister Pam” Weberman’s other persona “works in a shop” looks for something with the intention of acquiring it “She never stops” he pulls out all the stops Informal To deploy all the resources or force at one's disposal: AJ pulled out all the stops when he went through Dylan’s trash “she's a go- getter” he goes and gets the garbage. “Takes him out” takes the trash out of the bag “to look at the queen” to see how Dylan’s wife is living “Only place that he's ever been” Weberman lives in a garbage can “Always shouts out” always makes a loud cry about what he has found which is “something obscene” something repulsive; disgusting “Such a dirty old man” who has acquired the trash by illicit or improper means, who is covered with dirt from this endeavor “Dirty old man” dirt as malicious or scandalous, someone who digs up the dirt on Dylan.
I first met John and Yoko after the group I headed, the Rock Liberation Front, started a mini-riot in the offices of their manager, Allen Klein. "Klein come clean / Where's the buck fourteen?" "You'll wonder where the money went / When Klein runs a charity event" shouted 20 sign-carrying members of the Rock Liberation Front as we marched in front of "Klein the Swines" plush offices at 1700 Broadway. Some RLFers were carrying bushel baskets of rotten apples, tomatoes and lettuce in order to implement the RLF’s FREE FOOD FOR STARVING MUSIC EXECS PROGRAM which was based on the assumption that if Klein and Co. had to rip-off the starving people of Bangla- Desh for bread, they must be a bunch of hungry mothers. This RLF action was inspired by Rolling Stone ex-editor Peter McCabe, who, about a week
V1-752 before the demo, had pointed the finger at Klein in an article in New York Magazine. The piece concerned the rather obvious fact that the cost of the Bangla Desh Concert Benefit Album was highly inflated and implied that ABKCO (Klein's Co.) was pocketing $1.14 per album sold - and considering the LP would probably sell 3 million copies, that wasn't chicken feed. A few days after McCabe's story hit the streets Klein called a press conference in his office on Monday, February 28, 1971. He made sure the underground press was notified because the McCabe article had accused him of excluding the Underground Press from other press conferences. Klein's big mistake was sending an invitation to the NY ACE, since they tipped the RLF to what was happening. Five RLFers showed up on Monday, including Ann Duncan, Minister of Art, Frank Rose (now at Wired), Minister of Information, two photographers and myself.
After casing the place and finding that everything worth stealing had been removed we began to listen to Klein do his thing; that is, lie like a motherfucker. "I didn't make a cent; in fact we actually lost money on the disc. We did it for the starving people of Bangla, Desh. I'm gonna sue New York Magazine for six million." Klein said he gave $2.00 an LP to Phil Spector for studio (it was recorded live) and mixing costs-multiply that by 3 million and you've got six million dollars going to Spector who was worth-twice that at the time.
In the middle of all this bullshit Spector wobbled in and began a super indignant riff about how the press was trying to do a number on Klein. When a straight reporter dared to question Klein, he was met with obscenities from Phil who soon challenged him to a fist fight, but just as the guy was about to slug Spector, an ABKCO heavy moved in and grabbed him. Then Ann began
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to cross examine Klein - "How are we supposed to take your word on these figures - are we going to believe capitalist pigs?" Phil went over to her and began to harass her. Ann moved somewhere and Phil followed her, then began to literally step all over her. "You swine," Ann screamed and Spector couldn't believe his ears, "Did you hear what she called me?" he demanded of everyone. Meanwhile I began to grill Klein about what I believed to be the album's inordinately high production costs - "You sure you ain't gettin a kickback from the printers? Maybe on the next deal with them they don't charge, eh?" "Stay in the garbage can!" yelled Phil. "Go back to the 1950's Spector," I retorted. "Why don't I you sell some more hotdogs in front of Dylan's house, Weberman?" he whined. Finally Klein told me to shut up 'cause I know nothing about the business.
Then a Capitol Records exec, who was there to deny some info given "by mistake" by a Capitol VP to McCabe, pinned the press release regarding the upcoming RLF action against ABKCO. This dude recognized me from the time we picketed Capitol over their refusal to press the Bangla-disc at cost. I had told him we were holding a tribunal for his company downstairs and they'd better send their best attorney or else we'd have to assign them a legal aid lawyer who would plead them guilty. He didn't dig my humor. He showed the release to AK who said, "I think it's time to show Mr. Weberman out." Suddenly 2 of his heavies came out of the woodwork and grabbed me. I broke loose and shoved one toward the window. If not for a ledge, in front of it, he would have gone thru it - then 20 flights down.
Meanwhile, Phil had grabbed Ann and was holding her up against a wall by the throat yelling "Call your man off, those are feds he's fighting. Call him off or else I'll karate chop you in the throat." And this is the man that Yoko Ono, author of Sisters Oh Sisters, hires to produce her records? Finding Ann intractable, Spector came over to me and announced he was gonna do the job the heavies had failed at. I grabbed him by the collar, then slapped his face - "The next time I hit you, capitalist scumbag, it'll be a punch in the nose and you’ll never be able to snort coke again!" Then I felt this tremendous hand clasp around my wrist and a big dude pulled us apart. Four more "heavies" appeared and they escorted me out peacefully ... up until Phil came from behind screaming how he was gonna do me in. I tried to break loose again to "waste the mother fucker" when the Capitol exec flipped. "We gave you the opportunity to go quietly but you wouldn't take it," he screamed. Then he turned red, unsuccessfully attempted to knee me in the groin and took a karate chop on the neck. "We saw you hit him," yelled Klein's heavies as if they were gonna take me to court and were getting their testimonies together early. Eventually they shoved me in the elevator and I waited downstairs for Phil. After ten minutes of shadow- boxing the weasel appeared - he tried to come at me but his bodyguard held
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him back. After some half-hearted attempts to elude his employee/captor I went over to him and called him a chicken. He answered, "You're nothing cause you can't afford the luxury of hiring people to protect you." I told him Amerika also hires mercenaries in Vietnam. Then he told me that I shouldn't go after stars. "Are you kidding man, that's my specialty."
We came back a few days later, picketed, then went up to ABKCO, losing the cops who were supposed to keep us out. We threw a lot of rotten lettuce and tomatoes all over the front office. Shortly thereafter I received a call from Yoko Ono who invited Ann and I over to her Bank Street crib. I knew John and Yoko quite well in the early 1970’s. It was many an hour I spent with them on Bank Street. When John left Yoko she would call me for consolation and advice.
I was involved in several criminal conspiracies with John including violations of the Neutrality Act, conspiracy to cross state lines with the intent of starting a riot also known as the H. Rapp Brown law, sale of marijuana and hashish, theft of services from John Cage after we hooked up a "People's WATTS line" to his phone so Lennon could make clean calls, violations of DOS armaments export laws, organizing a demonstration without the proper sound permits in Central Park and littering. How many other people can say the same? No one. Dylan had this to say about my co-revolutionists in Idiot Wind:
Your partners in crime hit me up for nickels and dimes, The man you were loving couldn't never get clean It felt outa place, my foot in his face, But he should-a stayed where his money was green
“Your partners in crime” John Lennon and Yoko Ono, marital partners who were financing your criminal activities such as starting riots at the Republican Convention in Miami “hit me up for nickels and dimes” hit me up for nickel and dime bags of scag “the man you were loving couldn't never get clean” even your good buddy John Lennon who you were seeing regularly was an addict who tried unsuccessfully to go cold turkey. I was singled out for punishment for using smack by Weberman because I wasn’t a left-winger! “It felt outa place my foot in his face” it felt incongruous beating up Weberman, another Jew “but he should-a stayed where his money was green” but he should have used his imagination for something more productive than persecuting me for my political beliefs and for my having a substance abuse problem.
At this time I was a radical Leftist who took the side of the PLO against Israel. Later I would change my position to one more in line with my own
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self-interest. Yoko, however, would eventually go off the deep end with her anti-Zionist thinking as it turned into out and out Jew hatred.
Yoko Ono’s Friday February 18, 2011 full page New York Times ad “IMAGINE PEACE 2011” contained code words that referred to the Jewish people in a classical anti-Semitic rant. This ad is Dog-whistle politics. Dog-whistle politics, also known as the use of code words, is a term for a type of political campaigning or speechmaking which employs coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has a different or more specific meaning for a targeted subgroup of the audience. The term is used to refer to messages with an intentional subtext. The key to its use is to maintain the option of "plausible deniability." For example the phrase "states' rights", although literally referring to powers of individual state governments in the United States, are "code words" for institutionalized segregation and racism.
These are the code words that indicate this ad is about Jews: “world control” “elitist” “minority” “arrogant” “changing law for their convenience (lobbyists)” “seducing us with words (control of media)” “rich” “keeping wealth for themselves (greedy)” and Blue Meanie which the production supervisor of Yellow Submarine admitted stood for Jews. Put this together with Yoko Ono’s having convinced John Lennon to monetarily support Abbie Nathan, a so-called Israeli peace advocate who was jailed for meeting with the Jew-killer Yasser Arafat along with Ono’s having awarded the anti-Zionist self-hating Jews Mordechai Vanunu, Seymour Hersh and the Center for Constitutional Rights (founded by Communist Jews) the $50,000 John Lennon Peace Prize it becomes obvious what Yoko’s message here really is.
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Remember, this is dog whistle politics and you are not going to find any direct reference to Jews in the text. This the text of Yoko Ono’s full page ad:
IMAGINE PEACE 2011
Yoko Ono Lennon 18 February 2011
Dear Friends, Today, February 18th, 2011, I am 78.I know you are asking many questions on Twitter and elsewhere about what I am really like. It’s something I would love to know, too! One day it will suddenly dawn on us …maybe. The world situation is too urgent for us now to discuss trivial things, like what I eat for breakfast. We are at a point in human history when we have to wake up and realize that the only people who can save the world are us. Every hour that goes by without us doing anything about it affects us, and affects the world that we love so much. In his State of the Union Speech, President Obama said we should do “big things.” Well, we are already doing the biggest thing anybody in the human history could ever hope for. Together, we are creating a world of Peace, Love and Freedom, all while the negative forces try their hardest to stop us. With their power, they want to control the whole world. But we will not let them. That’s big. The way we are doing it is by being conscious of the “Power of Togetherness.” The negative forces do not have that. They are an elitist minority, dipping their heads in arrogant madness. They always play the same game – using violence, changing laws for their convenience, and seducing us with words to get what they want. They say if we do things their way, we will all be rich. Well, that’s not happening. It never will. Once there is great wealth, they will want to keep it for themselves. They also use fear tactics, saying the world will be in a great mess if we don’t do it their way. Well, the world is already in a mess. Why? Because we followed them. It’s Time for Action. It’s Time for Change. We, the people of the world, are not dumb. We understand what the “Blue Meanies” are trying to do. We just don’t know how to stop it. And wonder if we can at all. But we can! We are doing it. Take a look at this map. Each dot represents millions and millions of people who are all, right now, thinking of Peace: wishing it, voicing it, and hoping that their dream of peace will become a reality. The map expresses what my husband John Lennon and I envisioned. I know he is smiling, thinking of how little time it took for all of us to Come Together. IMAGINE PEACE is a powerful, universal mantra that we should all meditate on. With it, we will achieve the impossible. Hopefully, without bloodshed. Look at all the courageous people who are now being hurt in marches and thrown in prisons for no other reason except for carrying “Peace, Love and Freedom” in their hearts and voicing it. I don’t want you to get hurt. You shouldn’t have to. 7 billion of us, people of the world, have the birthright to live with a healthy mind and body at all times. You should not even get one scratch on you, and you won’t, if
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you don’t allow it. So keep IMAGINE PEACE in your head. Have a clear picture of where we stand, what we are doing, and where we want to be. Know that we are connected in our hearts and minds. War Is Over, if you want it! I love you! Yoko Ono Lennon 18 February 2011
We, the people of the world, are not dumb. We understand what the “Blue Meanies” are trying to do. We just don’t know how to stop it. And wonder if we can at all.
Although this line appears towards the end of Yoko’s text it is worth examining first as it provides the least ambiguous code word. The people of the world are not dumb. They understand the underhanded activities of the Blue Meanies but have no idea how to stop them. They are demoralized. Who were the Blue Meanies in the Beatles movie Yellow Submarine? In the DVD commentary track of Yellow Submarine, production supervisor John Coates stated that "blue" was a play on "Jew." He claimed it was not as a reflection of any anti-
Semitism on the part of the filmmakers, but rather as a commentary on the stereotypical casting of Jews as villains. There is also a scene where a Blue Meanie questions some disguised Beatles, asking, "Are you Bluish? You don't look Bluish..." Sounds like “You don’t look Jewish.” With this in mind let’s see if there is other words in this ad that might refer to Jews.
With their power, they want to control the whole world. But we will not let them.
Who are they? They are the Jews. Who has been accused of trying to “control the whole world?” Put “Jewish world control” in quotes and run a search in Google and you get 31,000 hits. For centuries, anti-Semitic propaganda has demonized the Jew as a conspiratorial, manipulative
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outsider with powers and designs of world domination. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was a forgery that supposedly laid out the blueprint for a Jewish world government. Yoko’s “Peace” ad is no different.
They are an elitist minority, dipping their heads in arrogant madness.
Elite is defined as a group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual or economic status. Elitist is a term that is often applied to Jews. The Soviets’ code word for Jews was “rootless cosmopolitans.” Minority is defined as a racial, religious, or national group thought to be different from the larger group of which it is part. This is also applicable to Jews. But the key word here is arrogant an even more frequently used code word for Jews. The Prime Minister of Indonesia stated, "Israel is a small country. There are not many Jews in the world. But they are so arrogant that they defy the whole world." People who express hatred, resentment or fear regarding the Jews almost always focus on charges of Jewish arrogance, elitism and lust for power - all elements in Yoko’s full page “Peace” ad. Although not a run of the mill code word for Jew the use of the word “dipping” here is significant. On the Jewish holiday of Passover it is asked, “Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip [our food] even once, but on this night we dip them twice?”
They always play the same game – using violence, changing laws for their convenience, and seducing us with words to get what they want.
The Jews use in the sense of exploit the violence of the Nazis during the Holocaust to rationalize the existence of the State of Israel. Changing laws for their convenience is a reference to Jewish Congressional lobbyists like Jack Abramoff. “Seducing us with words to get what they want” is another way of saying that the Jews control the media. This is classic anti-Semitism. Type “Jews control the media” in quotation marks into Google search and you come up with 76,000 results.
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They say if we do things their way, we will all be rich. Well, that’s not happening. It never will. Once there is great wealth, they will want to keep it for themselves.
The Iranian Hitler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated: "Although they are a miniscule minority, Jews have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner." Part of the Jewish stereotype in America is that Jews are rich. “keep it for themselves” Another trait attributed to Jews in general is that they are greedy and want to keep all the wealth of the world for themselves.
They also use fear tactics, saying the world will be in a great mess if we don’t do it their way. Well, the world is already in a mess. Why? Because we followed them. Israel has nuclear weapons and according to Ono uses them to intimidate the world. Ono gave journalist Seymour Hersh the $50,000 John Lennon Peace Prize award. Hersh is the author of The Samson Option, a book that claims that the famed U.S. airlift to Israel during the Yom Kippur War was only undertaken because Israel blackmailed President Nixon, threatening to use its atomic arsenal if supplies were not sent immediately. Ergo “fear tactics” and “the world will be in great mess.” In a recent speech at the Georgetown University Hersh blamed the war in Iraq on a coup effectuated by a small group of neo-con Jews and claimed that many high ranking members of the American military were secret members of the
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Knights of Malta, a group that plays an important role in the mythology of the wanna-be Hitler, Lyndon LaRouche.
In 1972 Abbie Nathan, who advocated the expulsion of settlers from Judea and Samaria and the destruction of the Israeli State bought a 188-foot, 570- ton freighter, which was financed, in part, by the sale of posters signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In 1973 he anchored it off the coast of Tel Aviv and turned it into a pirate radio station, The Voice of Peace, with a mix of pop songs and peace messages. Had he really been for peace that would've been great. But he wasn't. He was advocating disgraceful surrender to Arab terrorists, expulsion of Jews from the Land of Israel, and other such atrocities. All of that was pimped up by a nice assortment of popular music. Nathan was sent to prison on two occasions for meeting with Yasser Arafat, a terrorist who orchestrated the murder of numerous Jews.
Yoko Ono gave Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu the same peace prize. She stated: "It's possible that somebody might attempt to murder Mordechai, that's the main concern." She wanted to keep him safe from the Mossad. Vanunu, a former technician at an Israeli nuclear reactor, served 18 years in prison for divulging information about Israel's nuclear secrets. Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported that Vanunu had advised
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Palestinian fellow inmates on making bombs while serving his term for treason. He also cheered every time a suicide bomber killed Israeli civilians.
The Center for Constitution Rights, founded by the self-hating Jew William Kunstler was also a recipient of the John Lennon Peace Award which should really be called The Destroy Israel Award. The extreme left Center for Constitutional Rights (“CCR”) attempts to use our federal courts to punish Israelis who have helped keep Israel free against terrorists determined to destroy it. Israel is defined as the enemy because it is one of the closest allies of the United States and is in the foreground of the war against the kind of terrorists whom CCR loves to represent. CCR is the same organization that represents al Qaeda suspects in cases against the United States government. Not content with advocating on behalf of America’s terrorist enemies, however, CCR decided to get the U.S. courts involved in rebuking Israeli policies and military operations in its continuing fight for survival. One of CCR’s key allies in its judicial war against Israel is the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, an anti-Israel propaganda mill. As NGO Monitor reported, “CCR consistently disregards the context of terror, denies Israel’s right to self-defense, and accuses it of deliberately targeting civilians.”
IMAGINE PEACE is a powerful, universal mantra that we should all meditate on. With it, we will achieve the impossible. Hopefully, without bloodshed.
Imagine Peace is a piece written and published by Yoko that is quite ambiguous. With it she hopes to defeat Israel, hopefully without bloodshed but if that is what is takes Yoko is ready to approve of violence.
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What caused Yoko Ono to adopt this left/right Jew hatred? Could it have been her ex-husband Sam Havadtoy, the son of Jewish Holocaust refugees who were forced to move to England from Hungary? I first heard of Sam Havadtoy from a sleazy druggie and floor-tiller named Bruce Kirsh whose motto was “I never met a drug I didn’t like.” Long before Yoko hooked up with Sam Havadtoy Bruce told me that he had worked for him on a job that entailed renovating and decorating a town house owned by the King of Morocco. Sam would form a dummy company wherein everyone would have phony social security numbers then fold the company at tax time then start anew with another bogus company. When Albert Goldman told me Yoko was going out with this bi-sexual interior decorator I could not freaking believe it. Yoko got into this Jew-hating bag after Sam divorced her and Yoko had to make a huge divorce settlement payment to him. Another possibility is that fascism runs in her blood.
YOKO’S FATHER WAS JAPANESE WAR CRIMINAL
Yoko had a rather naïve way of looking at World War II and in the early 1970’s was quoted as saying: “If I was a Jewish girl in Hitler’s day, I would approach him and become his girlfriend. After 10 days in bed, he would come to my way of thinking. This world needs communication. And making love is a great way of
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communicating.” Yoko Ono is the daughter of a Japanese war criminal who worked with the Nazis during World War II. It seems to me that Yoko has not escaped her fascist heredity. Yoko was born into power and wealth on February 18, 1933 to her parents, Eisuke Ono and Isoko Yasuda Ono at her great-grandmother's palatial estate overlooking Tokyo, with the emperor's compound located nearby. A staff of thirty servants attended to the family's every need. Yoko's paternal great-grandfather, Atsushi Saisho, was the descendant of a 9th Century emperor and a member of a powerful family which played a role in overthrowing the shogunate system in Japan. Yoko's mother came from a very wealthy family. Isoko Yasuda Ono's grandfather was Zenjiro Yasuda, the founder of the Yasuda Bank and head of one of Japan's richest business cartels. Zenjiro Yasuda had amassed a fortune of more than one-billion dollars before his death by assassination in 1921. It was this cartel that profited from the Rape of Nanking as it was his industries that used the slave labor from Nanking. Following World War II, the Yasuda Bank was dissolved by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, Douglas McArthur due to its complicity in Japanese war crimes. Downtown Tokyo contains an entire block seized from Ono’s family after the war as reparations and given to the Philippines. Ono went to the exclusive Gakushuin school, for the Japanese aristocracy. One of her classmates was the Crown Prince Akihito, now the Emperor of Japan. She was in Japan when the bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and told this author that she had to eat grass to survive. Her father Eisuke Ono was working in America prior to Pearl Harbor and left the country possibly fearing that his role as a Japanese spy might be unearthed or that he might have been placed in an internment camp along with his family. During the war he had been working in occupied Hanoi, Vietnam and was imprisoned as a Japanese war criminal after Japan surrendered. The fascist’s wife and children were in Tokyo when it was razed by American firebombs in 1945, killing more than 100,000 people many of whom had taken part in the war effort. Afterwards Ono and her younger brother were evacuated to the countryside.
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PAUL McCARTNEY
You think you make choices in life but a lot of shit is actually inherited. Other Beatles found the Dylan-Weberman mythology an interesting phenomenon and wrote poetry about it. Paul McCartney wrote a poem about it entitled, In Liverpool:
By the sports field of the Institute Lives Soft Sid, the harmless village fool Greeting kids who pass the other side Saying Hello Children
“By the sports field of the Institute” on MacDougall Street where a representative of the National Institute of Dylanology stole Dylan’s trash for sport “Lives Soft Sid, the harmless village fool” lives Bob Dylan the Greenwich Village a harmless heroin addict as he has enough bread to support his habit “Soft” as in The Soft Machine by William Burroughs, a book about heroin “Greeting kids who pass the other side” greeting an audience that thinks the opposite of the way he does “Saying Hello Children” conning them.
Listening to the bin man holding court Promising to buy a brand new bike King of little children for a day He gives them money
“Listening to the bin man holding court” listening to the garbologist expounding on various subjects and at the same time “Promising to buy a brand new bike” still copping smack. “Brand new” as in Brand New Leopard Pillbox Hat that contained these lines:
Well, you must tell me, baby How your head feels under somethin' like that Honey, can I jump on it sometime? Yes, I just wanna see If it's really that expensive kind
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Well, I asked the doctor if I could see you It's bad for your health, he said
“King of little children for a day” king of the naive fans, Queen for a Day, a 1950’s TV program “He gives them money” he gives them his imagination, talent.
McCartney also made reference to the Dylan / Weberman relationship in a poem entitled Give the Man a Break
Workers on the picket line Picking up the trash Executive negotiators Shout about the cash
“Workers on the picket line” a member of the working class, a Communist, protesting against Bob Dylan “picking up the trash” going through his garbage “executive” men interested in the conduct of national affairs “negotiators” who are trying to bring about something through conference, discussion, “shout about the cash” shout about how much money Dylan has and shout about having found a letter to Johnny Cash in Dylan’s trash.
Give the man a break Give the guy a chance Ain’t no law say a man can’t dance
“Give the man a break” give Bob Dylan an escape: a prison break “Give the guy a chance” Give Bob Dylan a favorable set of circumstances; an opportunity: a chance to escape “Ain’t no law say a man can’t dance” what is wrong with getting high? What is wrong with singing what you want to sing rather than what someone tells you to sing?
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Doctor’s gonna operate Wants to know if you’d Like to buy a kidney Mustn’t eat the food
“Doctor’s gonna operate” suppliers of drugs are going to push dope “Operate” informal to conduct business in an irregular or devious manner: drug dealers operating in the projects. “Wants to know if you’d like to buy a kidney” wants to know if you want to buy some smack “mustn’t eat the food” sarcastic: mustn’t give it a try food - anything that provides mental stimulus for thinking.
Later in the hospital While he’s on his job Poisoned in the kitchen By a dirty slob
“Later in the hospital” later having made the jump to insanity “While he’s on his job” “job” informal a criminal act, especially a robbery: a garbology job stealing trash “Poisoned” and I used garbology to poison people’s minds about Dylan “in the kitchen” cooking up fixes “By a dirty slob” by A. J. Weberman.
Yeah I did go round telling everyone Dylan’s poems were about junk. That was a new one in rock and literary history. Hey wait a cotton pickin’ minute. Paul McCartney called me a dirty slob. But if you call someone a dirty slob in the forest and no one hears it, has the event actually occurred?
PANCHO AND LEFTY, TOWNES VAN ZANDT, A.J. WEBERMAN AND THE DEVIL***
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Bet you didn't realize Van Zandt is writing about me (Lefty) and Dylan in Pancho and Lefty. Townes Van Zandt died on New Year’s Day 1997 from health problems stemming from years of substance abuse.
Living on the road my friend Was gonna keep you free and clean Now you wear your skin like iron Your breath's as hard as kerosene You weren't your mama's only boy But her favorite one it seems She began to cry when you said goodbye And sank into your dreams
Living on the road my friend / Was gonna keep you free and clean Did you really believe that going on tour would keep you free of dugi, clean Now you wear your skin like iron / Your breath's as hard as kerosene now you wear your race as your strength and your life is incendiary. You weren't your mama's only boy But her favorite one it seems you weren't the Lefts only spokesperson but its favorite She began to cry when you said goodbye / And sank into your dreams and your folk fans had a sissy fit when you went electric and your poems descended into some gray areas like smack.
Pancho was a bandit, boys His horse was fast as polished steel Wore his gun outside his pants For all the honest world to feel Pancho met his match you know On the deserts down in Mexico Nobody heard his dying words That's the way it goes
Pancho was a bandit, boys / His horse was fast as polished steel Dylan was a junkie his horse went into his vein with a new set of works Wore his gun outside his pants / For all the honest world to feel exhibited his desires for all those who understood his poetry Pancho met his match you know On the deserts down in Mexico Dylan met his match while he was a junkie, lost in the rain in Juarez. His match was A J Weberman who went around saying Dylan was slimy junkie Nobody heard his dying words / That's the way it goes And nobody believed him even though Dylan had almost OD'd several times but what do you expect? People have always ignored the prophets of their time.
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Lefty he can't sing the blues / All night long like he used to AJ Weberman can't complain anymore like he used to when he stole Dylan's garbage The dust that Pancho bit down south / Ended up in Lefty's mouth the dust, the garbage, dust as in the British dustbin that Dylan threw away, went south, gave AJ something to talk about and promote his theory that Dylan's current bag was bag of scag. The day they laid poor Pancho low The day Dylan stopped playing folk music Lefty split for Ohio The Left and AJ as its spokesperson split for singers like Phil Ochs who was from Ohio Where he got the bread to go / There ain't nobody knows he got it from bootlegging Dylan tapes.
All the federales say They could have had him any day They only let him hang around Out of kindness I suppose
Lefty he can't sing the blues All night long like he used to The dust that Pancho bit down south Ended up in Lefty's mouth The day they laid poor Pancho low Lefty split for Ohio Where he got the bread to go There ain't nobody knows
All the federales say They could have had him any day They only let him slip away Out of kindness I suppose The poets tell how Pancho fell Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold So the story ends we're told Pancho needs your prayers it's true, But save a few for Lefty too He just did what he had to do Now he's growing old
The poets tell how Pancho fell the other rock poets sing about Dylan's dope habit Lefty’s livin' in a cheap hotel while AJ is writing for the underground press The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold things have quieted down about Dylan's habit and Weberman hasn't figured the rest out - he is still cold So the story ends we're told but don't think it is over Pancho needs your prayers it's true, Dylan needs your help to get his head together But save a
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few for Lefty too but don't dismiss the value of Weberman out of hand "He just did what he had to do" he just did what his conscience dictated Now he's growing old
A few gray federales say They could have had him any day They only let him go so wrong Out of kindness I suppose
LOU REED
The Velvet Underground - THE BLACK ANGEL'S DEATH*** Song Mirrors Bob Dylan Career
Dylan and Lou Reed had a mutual admiration society going at the time I hung out with the good Dylan, not the sick Holocaust denying scum that unfortunately exists today. Dylan played him a lot when I was over hanging out in his studio. Both were schemk heads.
The myriad choices of his fate Set themselves out upon a plate For him to choose What had he to lose
Dylan had to decide whether he was going to go along with the program or do something that not many Jewish kids did at the time. If he failed he would take his own life.
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Not a ghost bloodied country All covered with sleep Where the black angel did weep Not an old city street in the east Gone to choose
So Dylan left Hibbing which was a sleepy economically depressed area and came to an old city street known as MacDougall Street in the Eastern part of the country, New York City’s Green-wich Village
And wandering's brother Walked on through the night With his hair in his face On a long splintered cut from the knife of G.T.
And Dylan preserved even though he was cut from the bill at Gerdes “some people don’t have much food on their table but they got a lot of knives and forks and the got to cut something.” Dylan in Talkin New York. Or this can refer to Dylan almost getting knifed by one of his rough trade customers when he was a male prostitute.
The rally man's patter ran on through the dawn Until we said so long To his skull-shrill yell
Dylan who went down to civil rights rallies in the South and in D.C. sang protest message songs until he started digging his own grave with the commie shit.
Shining brightly red-rimmed and Red-lined with the time Infused with the choice of the mind On ice skates scraping chunks From the bells
Obvious communistic (red) and in line with the Communistical times in the village songs poured forth from Dylan’s infused with the thinking that this is what he has to do to get somewhere although in reality he was on thin ice thanks to the acoustic music. mouth bleeding razor's Forgetting the pain
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Antiseptic remains cool goodbye So you fly To the cozy brown snow of the east Gone to choose, choose again
Totally changing what came out of his mouth, cutting off his folk fans leaving with the remains of his old songs who got pissed and booed him “a cool goodbye.” While this was happening Dylan was getting into the brown heroin in New York City, choosing to be a smack head.
Sacrificials remains make it hard to forget Where you come from The stools of your eyes Serve to realize fame, choose again
Again “remains” the old Dylan songs made it hard for his fans to forget where he came from but the dilation of Dylan’s pupil’s are like stool pigeons and belie the fact that he is a junkie and is using the money from his fame to buy dope.
And roverman's refrain of the sacrilege recluse For the loss of a horse Went the bowels and a tail of a rat Come again, choose to go
So Dylan got a gorilla on his back and dropped out of sight in Woodstock, became a recluse while he kicked horse
And if Epiphany's terror reduced you to shame Have your head bobbed and weaved Choose a side to be on
If the stone glances off Split didactics in two Leave the colors of the mouse trails Don't scream, try between If you choose, if you choose, try to lose For the loss of remain come and start Start the game I che che che che I
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Che che ka tak koh Choose to choose Choose to choose, choose to go
TAKE IT EASY by Glenn Frey
Glenn Frey was a great rock poet however he was also a dugihead. It was like an occupational hazard back then with Dylan, the leader of the School of Rock Poetry, romanticizing junk in songs like Mr. Tambourine man. Dude was only 67 when he died. That shit catches up with you.
Well, I'm runnin' down the road tryin' to loosen my load I got seven women on my mind Four that wanna own me Two that wanna stone me One says she's a friend of mine Take it easy Take it easy Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy Lighten up while you still can Don't even try to understand Just find a place to make your stand And take it easy
Well, I'm running down [To make tired; cause to decline in vigor] the road [life] tryin' to loosen my load [trying to cut down on my heroin use load - 25 bags of heroin as seen above, tryin’ to cut loose from smack]
I've got seven women on my mind,
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Four that wanna own me, [exploit him, control him]
Two that wanna stone me, [stoned: Intoxicated by a drug, get me high]
One says she's a friend of mine [only one decent person]
Take It easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels [anything like a wheel in shape or function – a pill that breaks in quarters] drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can [use less dope before you overdose] don't even try to understand [don’t try to rationalize your way out of it]
Just find a place to make your stand [just stop using dope, take a stand against it] and take it easy [and maintain thy cool].
Well, I'm standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona It's such a fine sight to see It's a girl, my Lord In a flatbed Ford Slowin' down to take a look at me Come on, baby Don't say maybe I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me We may lose, and we may win But we will never be here again So open up, I'm climbin' in So take it easy
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Well, I'm runnin' down the road tryin' to loosen my load Got a world of trouble on my mind Lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover She's so hard to find Take it easy Take it easy Don't let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy Come on, baby Don't say maybe I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me Oh, we got it easy We outta take it easy
Well, I'm a standing on a corner [I am in a threatening or embarrassing position from which escape is difficult] in Winslow, Arizona [near a source of Mexican heroin] and such a fine sight to see [I should not be here trying to cop sight Informal Something unsightly or ridiculous. Stanley to Laurel “you’re a fine sight to see”] It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me [it’s my connection driving up and looking me over, scope me out make sure I am not the man] Come on, baby, don't say maybe [come on man don’t say maybe you have the stuff, say you have it man, I am like strung out man] I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me [I know the smack you sell me is going to save me from withdrawal symptoms] We may lose and we may win though [we may get wasted or OD depending on the potency of the heroin brand] we will never be here again [but you only live once] so open up, I'm climbin' in, [so open up the glassine envelope and jump right in – Dylan – the rain man gave me two cures and said jump right in] so take it easy [and get wasted]
Well I'm running down the road trying to loosen
my load, got a world of trouble on my mind
lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover, she's so hard to find [for a drug that won’t get me popped but that is impossible to find]
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MEMO FROM TURNER IS A MESSAGE TO BOB DYLAN
Dylan, Weberman Telephone Conversation: "Hey man Jagger wrote a song about you and called you a faggy little leather boy with a smaller piece of stick" Dylan, "That's about him, man."
Didn't I see you down in San Antone On a hot and dusty night? You were eating eggs in Sammy’s When the Black man there drew his knife. Aw, you drowned that Jew in Rampton As he washed his sleeveless shirt, You know, that Spanish-speaking gentlemen, The one we all called Kurt.
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"Didn't I see you down in San Antone" didn't I see you down on heroin "on a hot" a hot shot, a Lethal Dose of heroin "and dusty night" "dust" a fine white powder. "We were eating eggs" eating pussy "in Sammy’s" in a famous Jewish restaurant in New York City "when the black man there drew his knife" when you realized you have a miniscule penis compared to Blacks or you got bothered by black crime "Aw, you drowned that Jew in Rampton" you denied your Jewish background and became a fascist like Ezra Pound or T.S. Eliot "as he washed" as you covered up, whitewashed, "his sleeveless shirt" something that would become apparent if you were wearing a short sleeved shirt like a number tattooed on your arm from a concentration camp. You sick bastard you are fascist despite the Holocaust "You know?" remember World War II Jew boy Robert Allen Zimmerman and remember "that Spanish-speaking gentlemen" sarcastic, you know that German speaking gentleman "the one we all called Kurt" the one as known as Adolf Hitler.
"San Antone" as "heroin" Dylan, Lo And Behold "I pulled out for San Antone" I pulled the needle out of my vein after shooting dope "I never felt so good" and I was wasted on heroin "My woman said she'd meet me there" my connection said he would supply with more dugi "And of course I knew she would" because the connection wanted bread "The coachman" the pony express message deliverin' Dylan "he hit me for my hook" he asked me for my sickle as in hammer and sickle to show my bona fides "And he asked me my name" my past reputation "I give it to him right away" I gave him the business right away "Then I hung my head in shame" then I wrote all those songs I didn't believe and was ashamed of having done so.
"Egg" as a vagina, Talkin TV "Don't let an egg get laid in there by something you can't see" Tarantula, "you hear voices saying things like "titen 'in up Joe - keep 'm titened up" & then Orion looking evil & he wipes you off & keeps you clean & Familiar Face himself "i heard you been eating some eggs? any truth to that?" & Orion licking his flesh." Highlands "she got a pretty face, with long white shiny legs / I said, "Tell me what I want," she say, "You probably want hard boiled" hard-bitten: tough and callous by virtue of experience "eggs." What Good Am I? "What good am I if I'm walking on eggs, if I'm wild with excitement and wet between the legs? If I'm right in the thick of it and I don't know why, what good am l?"
"Drowned that Jew In Ramton" This is similar to the English poet T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland
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Full fathom five your Bleistein lies Under the flatfish and the squids. Graves' Disease in a dead Jew's eyes! Where the crabs have eat the lids."
Come now, gentleman, I know there's some mistake. How forgetful I'm becoming, now you fixed your business straight.
"Come now, gentleman, I know there's some mistake" come now, sarcastic, you other Nazis, I know there has been a mistake admitting a Jew in your midst "How forgetful I'm becoming now" oh shit I just remembered "you fixed your business straight" Dylan had his foreskin grafted back on and is no longer Jewish.
I remember you in Hemlock Row In nineteen fifty-six. You're a faggy little leather boy With a smaller piece of stick. You're a lashing, smashing hunk of man; Your sweat shines sweet and strong. Your organs working perfectly, but there’s a part that’s not screwed on.
"I remember you in Hemlock Row in nineteen fifty-six" I remember when you when you when you toured England in 1966 and visited Saville Row "You’re a faggy little leather boy with a smaller piece of stick" compared to me you were a sadistic sexual deviant with a small penis "You’re a lashing" you’re making caustic verbal attacks "smashing" and are a resounding
V1-778 success "hunk of man" skinny little wimp "Your sweat shines sweet and strong" your work is preeminent, pleasing and economically or financially sound or thriving "Your organs working perfectly" your music is attracting many fans "but there's a part that’s not screwed on" but you are still totally insane, you have a screw loose.
Weren't you at the coke convention back on nineteen sixty-five You’re the misbred, grey executive I've seen heavily advertised. You’re the great, gray man whose daughter licks policemens buttons clean. You’re the man who squats behind the man who works the soft machine.
"Weren't you at the coke convention back on nineteen sixty-five" didn't you tour England high on meth back in 1965 "You're the misbred" Jewish "grey executive" representative of the Confederate South "I've seen heavily advertised" sarcastic: I have heard nothing about this side of your personality "You're the great, gray man" you're the ancient confederate soldier "whose daughter" whose forbearers, Daughters of the American Revolution, "licks" lick (someone's) boots behave in a servile or obsequious manner toward someone "policemens" law enforcement "buttons" badges "clean" make sure they are morally pure; virtuous, however there is also a self-hating contradiction here since you are also, "the man who squats" occupies a place illegally "behind the man who works the soft machine"
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behind the Dylan who is into heroin, The Soft Machine is a book by addict William H. Burroughs.
Come now, gentleman, your love is all I crave. You’ll still be in the circus when I'm laughing, laughing on my grave.
"Come now, gentleman, your love is all I crave" Come now, other Southern racists your truth is all I crave, not heroin "You'll still be in the circus" you will still be part of this disorder "when I'm laughing, laughing in my grave."
When the old men do the fighting and the young men all look on. And the young girls eat their mothers meat from tubes of plasticon. Be wary of these my gentle friends of all the skins you breed. They have a tasty habit - they eat the hands that bleed.
"When the old men do the fighting" when the lawyers argue in court "and the young men all look on" and their defendants are young drug users "And the young girls" and the fans "eat their mothers meat" feed on the essence, substance of what is happening to you "from tubes of plasticon" from television "Be wary of these" watch out for the cops "my gentle friends" my non violent drug using friends "of all the skins you breed" be careful of all the money you make "They have a tasty habit - they eat the hands that bleed" they like to prey on rock stars, because they are wealthy. "Bleed" to pay out money, especially an exorbitant amount.
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So remember who you say you are and keep your noses clean. Boys will be boys and play with toys so be strong with your beast. Oh Rosie dear, doncha think its queer, so stop me if you please. The baby is dead, my lady said, you gentlemen, why you all work for me?
"So remember who you say you are and keep your noses clean" so remember that you claim to be a progressive and try to not snort too much dope "Boys will be boys and play with toys" immature idiots like yourself are bound to end up copping a set of works, or toys, or gimmicks "so be strong with your beast" so try to keep your habit under control. "Oh Rosie dear, doncha think its queer so stop me if you please" Oh optimist dear, you might think it is unlikely to happen so disregard what I have to say if you please "The baby is dead" Bob Dylan's dead "my lady said" the devil, the connection said "you gentlemen, why you all work for me?"
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PAINT IT BLACK IS ABOUT DYLAN
The fact the Bob Dylan is a racist has been a well kept secret in the Rock Poets School for years. Jagger knew about it in 1966. Either Dylan expressed his opinions to him or he caught on the subcontent of songs like Blowin’ In The Wind. Remember this poem is written from Dylan’s point of view.
I see a red door and I want it painted black No colors any more, I want them to turn black I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a red door and I want it painted black I see an opportunity to be a Leftist but I would rather be a racist No colors any more, (Color: Skin pigmentation considered as a racial characteristic or a marker of racial identity) I want them to turn black Black: Attended with disaster; calamitous: a black day; the stock market crash on Black Friday. I hope the Blacks get what they deserve – a one way ticket to Africa I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes Dylan sees the other artists go by in their summer - a time of blossoming, greatest happiness, etc clothes words as in Dylan’s Talkin’ Clothes Line – a line is a number of words followed by a period.
(Springsteen use “summer clothes”)
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And the girls in their summer clothes In the cool of the evening light The girls in their summer clothes Pass me by
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes I have to shoot up dope, turn on my head, alter my consciousness until the gloom pessimism this engenders goes.
I see a line of cars and they're all painted black With flowers and my love both never to come back I see people turn their heads and quickly look away Like a newborn baby, it just happens every day
I see a line a manner or course of procedure determined by a specified factor of cars careers – In Down the Highway Dylan written before Dylan got recognition he sings about all the cars passing him by and they’re all painted Black Dylan’s early career consisted of Negro spirituals and ostensibly civil rights anthems. With flowers and my love both never to come back with the best examples of Dylan works never to return. I see people turn their heads and quickly look away I see other rock musicians evolve in the mind; meditate on; ponder: turned the question in her mind and reject Dylan’s racism. Like a newborn baby, like someone in a early period of development it just happens every day this has become a frequent occurrence.
I look inside myself and see my heart is black I see my red door I must have it painted black Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black
I look inside myself and see my heart is black If I would become introspective vile; wicked: the pirates' black deeds. I see my red door I must have it painted black Maybe then I'll fade away Maybe then I will realize I am not white fade to lose or cause to lose whiteness “and not have to face the facts” and not have to face the fact that he is Jewish It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black not easy facing up, admitting your race “face” the sun with respect every face on the deck the hour that the ship comes in.” when all you sing about is blacks.
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No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue I could not foresee this thing happening to you If I look hard enough into the setting sun My love will laugh with me before the morning comes
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue no more with my naivety translate into loyalty I could not foresee this thing happening to you how the fuck someone who wrote Blowin’ In the Wind could become a racist is beyond me. If I look hard enough into the setting sun” If a could foresee the future I would see your career going down the drain, disappearing My love will laugh with me before the morning comes however my truth will keep my career going and keep me happy long after the sun has set on yours, Bob Dylan.
I wanna see it painted, painted black Black as night, black as coal I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Tim Buckley:
Sefronia shook the black cat's bone at me And I was only wax in the spell of fire Oh my coal black Black When black coal burns it ripens She pried the whip out of her master's hand
“Toes” as drugs and the desire for drugs; The Hour That the Ship Comes In 1964, “Then the sands will roll” then history will unfurl. Also “roll” as in ‘roll a joint’ “Out a carpet of gold” a welcome mat of Acapulco Gold premium Mexican pot “For your weary” for your interest, forbearance, or indulgence that is worn out in regard to “toes” your desire to get high “to be a-touchin’” to equal. Liner Notes John Wesley Harding 1968 “Terry tightened his belt and in an afterthought, stated: ‘Wait!’ ‘Yes?’ ‘How many of them would you say there were?’ Vera smiled, she tapped her toe three times.” Country Pie 1969, “Just like old Saxophone Joe / When he’s got the hogshead” intoxicant “up on his toe / Oh me, oh my / Love that country pie” Huck’s Song 2007, “From my toes to my head, you knock me dead / I’m gonna have to put you down for a while.”
“Room” as life or lives; to the Communists in What You Gonna Do 1961 Tell me what you’re gonna do / When you can’t play God no more? / What you gonna do when the shadow comes creepin’ in your room?” what are you going to do when the FBI comes into your life. Ballad of Hattie Carol 1964
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“That sailed through the air and came down through the room” and came into her life “Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle” Tarantula, “it’s no use to spend all these hours a day doing it in a room—you’re losing living” Liner Notes To John Wesley Harding 1968, “Why didn’t you just tell them you were a moderate man and leave it at that instead of goosing yourself all over the room?” you should have told the world that you were a conservative instead of forcing your Leftwing songs into people’s lives and helping the enemy.
“Bail” as a loan Bob Dylan’s 117th Dream 1965, “Now, I didn’t mean to be nosy / But I went into a bank / To get some bail for Arab / And all the boys back in the tank / They asked me for some collateral / And I pulled down my pants.”
“Dance” as sing or song; Tarantula, “sing for the barber & when you’re found guilty of not owning a cavalry & not helping the dancer with laryngitis” Tarantula, to other folksingers, “why dont you learn to dance instead of looking for new friends?” new fans; Positively Fourth Street 1965, to his folk fans, “You gotta lotta nerve to say you are my friend / When I was down you just stood there grinning.” Tarantula, “the lonesome sound—in atlanta as dont dance, listen.” Every Grain of Sand 1981, “In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space.”
LEONARD COHEN: MARIANNE
[Verse 1]
Come over to the window,
Window: a way of gaining insight on something “window on the world”
my little darling
Dylan was the darling of the Leftist folk crowd
I'd like to try to read your palm (poem)
I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy
Before I let you take me home
Bringing It All Back Home
[Chorus]
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Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began
To laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again
Bob Dylan - It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
[Verse 2]
Well you know that I love to live with you But you make me forget so very much I forget to pray for the angels And then the angels forget to pray for us
You know that I would love to co-exist with you but you make me forget what is right and what is wrong and as a result I lose my respect for decent people Angel: One who manifests goodness, purity, and selflessness and I will end up in hell
[Verse 3]
We met when we were almost young
Deep in the green lilac park my road is blessed with many flowers an' the sounds of flowers liftin' lost voices of the ground's people up up higher higher all people
You held on to me like I was a crucifix
As we went kneeling through the dark
Dark: not pale or fair; swarthy: a dark complexion.
[Verse 4]
Your letters they all say that you're beside me now
Then why do I feel alone?
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I'm standing on a ledge and your fine spider web
Is fastening my ankle to a stone
Well, I ride on a mail train, baby, can't buy a thrill
Well, I been up all night leanin' on the windowsill
[Verse 5]
For now I need your hidden love
I'm cold as a new razor blade
You left when I told you I was curious
I never said that I was brave
Now I need your hidden meaning I’m cold as in from the object of a search sarcastic and of course I know it deals with heroin blade- the part of a sharp weapon, tool, etc, that forms the cutting edge – a needle You left when I said I was curious about shooting dope but I never said I had the guts to do it.
[Verse 6]
Oh, you are really such a pretty one
I SEE YOU'VE GONE AND CHANGED YOUR NAME AGAIN
And just when I climbed this whole mountainside
To wash my eyelids in the rain
How many years can a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?
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