ENCYCLOPEDIA DYLANOLOGICA

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE POETRY OF NOBEL PRIZE WINNER BOB DYLAN NATIONAL INSTITUTUE OF DYLANOLOGY 318 Third Ave Suite 520 New York, New York 10010 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY INTRODUCTION THE KEYS TO DYLAN 2 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan won the Nobel Prize for literature, even though it took him a coon’s age to acknowledge it. Bob, who is a narcissist, was unhappy that it took them so fucking long to award it to him and believed he deserved it years ago. Now the mental basket case can bask in his glory for only a few more years. I sure will miss him when he’s gone. I intend to outlive him if it’s the last thing I do. The judges had no idea why they awarded him the prize, other than his early literal poems impressed them. There are certain keys that allow you to gain entrance to the subcontent of Dylan’s abstract and symbolic lyrics and written words which have now been recognized as poetry. The burnt match in the above photograph is one. One of the keys to understanding Dylan is that he once was a heroin addict. Another is that he is a racist: Tarantula, “& into the march now where tab hunter leads with his thunderbird…” In order to translate this line correctly you have to possess the racist 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 3 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Civil Rights Movement. In Ballad of a Thin Man 1966 Dylan described a singleminded monstrous minority group as shouting the word [Freedom] Now! “You see this one-eyed midget shouting the word now!” So 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 nigger 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. 4 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 racist repetitive 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. 5 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The big breakthrough in the gray room came when I added it all up, 1961 he sells his ass to sleazy gays on Times Square bars so he’s a maggot; he is 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 junkie. Next he hangs out with me, then beats the shit out of me on Elizabeth Street, that makes him a thug, divorces his wife becomes a sex addict, then get’s HIV Positive and this turns into AIDS and he almost dies. He’s a racist all along, hates Israel and even descends into Holocaust denial. It is all fucking here. The story of the 6 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY sleaziest writer and poet in existence to win the coveted Nobel prize for literature. Dylan is always like threatening to kill me or worse in verse. 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. That’s my boy, Bobby! So another key to Dylan is his hatred for me. Not only that but he repeatedly threatened my ass, culminating 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. No college professor like Christopher Ricks 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 two dudes in my dorm at MSU. You have to know about junk and junkies, you have to have a part intellectual part street mentality. Or you have to be another rock poet like Springsteen, Simon, Lennon, McCartney and others. You have to have lived 7 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY contemporaneously with Dylan. You had to be part of the beatnik culture, the hippy culture. Take this verse from Desolation Row. 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 They have nailed down everything that could possibly be stolen by corrupt cops They’re getting ready for the feast 8 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. To get him to feel more assured. To get him to feel more assured that locking up Lenny is the right thing. 9 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. Now that he won the Nobel Prize for Literature scholars are going to be pouring over his works trying to figure out what the fuck 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.” 10 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY They will come across The Encyclopedia of Dyanology and 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 a alt right racist conservative, at least the last time I checked. 11 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” How did a creepy looking kid like Bob become a rock and roll superstar? The answer is simple and can be found in Dear Landlord, an early poem about the Dylan-Weberman whatever the fuck 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. 12 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 13 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan has a repertoire of at least 20,000 songs and can choose those the fit into his previously invented poetic language. He first started choosing songs that fit into his poetic language with Self Portrait. Recently he has recorded songs from years gone by, focusing on the legendary Frank Sinatra. TRIPLICATE TRIPLICATE sloppy thirds picking Sinatra songs again that when looked at through a certain perspective mirror parts of Dylan’s life. When I hear these songs I can’t wait for them to be over. It is like enhanced interrogation. I don’t have to hear all of them and can get the lyrics online. Anyway the first two months he was in New York Dylan let people fuck him up the ass and he would suck their cocks for money and God knows what else he did. He started out as a degenerate and worked his way up on the scale of human filth from there reaching a low as a Jewish holocaust denier. But look on the bright side of things. The maggot almost got himself killed on New Year’s Eve 1961 when one of his johns decided he wasn’t a homosexual after all and tried to strangle him. You go to my head You linger like a haunting refrain And I find you spinning round In my brain Like the bubbles in a glass of champagne You go to my head Like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew And I find the very mention of you Like the kicker in a julep or two The thrill of the thought That you might give a thought To my plea, casts a spell over me Still I say to myself Get ahold of yourself 14 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Can't you see that it never can be You go to my head with a smile That makes my temperature rise Like a summer with a thousand Julys You intoxicate my soul with your eyes Though I'm certain that this heart of mine Hasn't a ghost of a chance In this crazy romance You go to my head, you go to my head Though I'm certain that this heart of mine Hasn't a ghost of a chance In this crazy romance You go to my head, you go to my head You go to my head 5. Slang a. A habitual drug user. Often used in combination: a dopehead. You linger to persist or continue, esp in the mind like a haunting refrain A repeated utterance or theme in this case shooting up And I find you spinning Though you might hear laughin', spinnin' swingin' madly across the sun It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run And but for the sky there are no fences facin' And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're Seein' that he's chasing. round In my brain 15 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Like the bubbles I reach for Nicky's lighter, flick it on, and move it evenly back and forth under the cooker until the heroin begins to bubble. in a glass of champagne You go to my head Like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew Something produced as if by brewing; a mix: And I find the very mention of you Like the kicker a stimulating or intoxicating quality in alcoholic drink or certain drugs. In a julep or two The thrill of the thought That you might give a thought To my plea, casts a spell over me 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' 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. Still I say to myself Get ahold of yourself Can't you see that it never can be You go to my head with a smile That makes my temperature rise 16 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Like a summer with a thousand Julys You intoxicate To impair the physical and mental faculties of (a person) by means of alcohol or a drug or other chemicalsubstance: my soul with your eyes Though I'm certain that this heart of mine Hasn't a ghost of a chance In this crazy romance You go to my head, you go to my head Dylan might take too much smack and his heart would stop beatin’ and his mind grow cold, then he’d believe what AJ told. 17 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY THAT OLD BLACK DYLAN THAT I KNOW SO WELL THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC That old black magic has me in its spell That old black magic that you weave so well Those icy fingers up and down my spine The same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine The same old tingle that I feel inside And then that elevator starts its ride And down and down I go, round and round I go Like a leaf that's caught in the tide I should stay away but what can I do? I hear your name and I'm aflame Aflame with such a burning desire That only your kiss can put out the fire 'Cause you are the lover I have waited for The mate that fate had me created for And every time your lips meet mine 18 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Darling, down and down I go, round and round I go In a spin, loving the spin that I'm in Under that old black magic called love That old black magic has me in its spell That old Black Magic Johnson, a basketball player who is HIV Positive has me in its spell any influence that can control the mind or character; fascination That old black magic that you weave so well Weave: To introduce (another element) into a complex whole; work in: Those icy fingers up and down my spine Ice: Slang To kill; murder. The same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine Witchcraft: magical influence; witchery. The same old tingle that I feel inside Tingle: To have the sensation of being poked lightly with many needles in a certain area of the body And then that elevator starts its ride Elevate: To increase the amount or intensity of: An elevated CD8 cell count is associated with an increased risk of HIV treatment failure for patients who initially achieve an undetectable viral load, And down and down I go, round and round I go Down: Injured. Officer down! Like a leaf that's caught in the tide 19 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY A widespread tendency or movement: an epidemic. I should stay away but what can I do? I hear your name and I'm aflame Inflame: To produce inflammation in (a tissue or organ). Aflame with such a burning desire Of immediate import; urgent: That only your kiss can put out the fire That only your approval, your relenting can stop it. 'Cause you are the lover I have waited for Sarcastic The mate that fate had me created for Sarcastic And every time your lips meet mine Darling, down and down I go, round and round I go In a spin, To have a sensation of whirling, as from dizziness; reel Loving the spin that I'm in Sarcastic Under that old black magic called love 20 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY YOUNG AT HEART Fairy tales can come true It can happen to you if you're young at heart For it's hard, you will find To be narrow of mind if you're young at heart You can go to extremes with impossible schemes You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams And life gets more exciting with each passing day And love is either in your heart or on its way Don't you know that it's worth Every treasure on earth to be young at heart For as rich as you are It's much better by far to be young at heart 21 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY And if you should survive to a hundred and five Look at all you'll derive out of bein' alive And here is the best part, you have a head start If you are among the very young at heart Fairy tales can come true Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a gay man. Fairy tales is AIDS It can happen to you if you're young at heart If you are a horny bastard like Bob Dylan was For it's hard, you will find Firm, solid, rigid, stiff, To be narrow of mind Celibate if you're young at heart You can go to extremes Woman after woman – a new one every night with impossible schemes a visionary or unrealizable project You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams When you get AIDS from coitus: Seams: A line, ridge, or groove made by fitting, joining, or lapping together two sections 22 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY And life gets more exciting with each passing day Life become more dangerous day by day And love is either in your heart or on its way And the virus is in your heart or on the way. Dylan almost died when his HIV turned to disseminated histoplasmosis and the fungus attacked his heart. Don't you know that it's worth Every treasure on earth to be young at heart Not to be HIV positive and to have your health is worth every treasure on earth For as rich as you are It's much better by far to be young at heart No matter how much money you have it is better to be free of this disease And if you should survive to a hundred and five Look at all you'll derive Derive: To trace the origin or development of (a word) out of bein' alive And here is the best part, you have a head start And if you are dope head you have more of a chance of contracting HIV, however Dylan got his through heterosexual over- activity. If you are among the very young at heart MAYBE YOU'LL BE THERE Each time I see a crowd of people 23 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Just like a fool I stop and stare It's really not the proper thing to do But maybe you'll be there (Maybe you'll be there) The key word here is crowd. In Positively Fourth Street Dylan wrote this to the folkniks “I used to be among the crowd you’re in with.” “blank stares, caves & the in – crowd grinning & banners with little bo peep” indifference to Dylan’s work, underground venues like The Café Wha? And Gaslight, the in crowd of folk music fans approving, and political banners with slogans followed by sheep. There is an alternative translation. Crowd as the common people; the populace. Just like someone who has made a tremendous mistake in life having contracted HIV I stop thinking about what is on my mind an stare: To be imminent or unavoidable to (one): AIDS now stares us in the face. I know it is impossible but maybe my health with return. I go out walking after midnight Along the lonely thoroughfare It's not the time or place to look for you But maybe you'll be there I go out walking during the worst part of the disease and have to walk that lonesome valley and walk it alone. It is the exact wrong time to look for being healthy again but I do it anyway. You said your arms would always hold me You said your lips were mine alone to kiss Now after all those things you told me How can it end like this You said you would always keep me healthy and that I would not get an STD from some cunt Lips Anatomy A labium and now after all the things you promised how could it under up in an STD like AIDS. The folkies believed they would always embrace Dylan’s militant songs (arms) and that he was their exclusive property but it ended in their departure. 24 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY (And then your arms will always hold me) (Your lips will be mine alone to kiss) I'll never have to hurry to the door 'Cause, baby, you'll be there (Baby, you'll be there) (Maybe, you'll be there) POLKA DOTS AND MOONBEAMS Dylan choose this song because it fits into his heroin symbolism. A country dance was being held in a garden I felt a bump and heard an "Oh, beg your pardon" Suddenly I saw polka dots and moonbeams All around a pug-nosed dream Bump: Slang A shot of hard liquor, sometimes accompanied by a beer chaser. 25 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The music started and was I the perplexed one I held my breath and said "May I have the next one?" In my frightened arms, polka dots and moonbeams Sparkled on a pug-nosed dream May I have the next shot of heroin in my frightened arms? There were questions in the eyes of other dancers As we floated over the floor There were questions but my heart knew all the answers And perhaps a few things more Dancer as in Mr. Tambourine man when he is straight “my toes to numb to step” and “cast your dancing spell my way.” Now in a cottage built of lilacs and laughter I know the meaning of the words "Ever after" And I'll always see polka dots and moonbeams When I kiss the pug-nosed dream Yeah Dylan was hooked on dope for decades. Pretty slick. Went right over all his fans heads. ALL THE WAY When somebody loves you It's no good unless he loves you all the way Happy to be near you When you need someone to cheer you all the way When you contract the love of a Dylanologist and you let me hang out with you in your studio and joke around all the day Taller than the tallest tree is That's how it's got to feel Deeper than the deep blue sea is That's how deep it goes if it's real 26 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan felt like he would have liked to hang me or kill me and dump my body in the ocean. He was always offering to drive me down to the piers in Brooklyn. When somebody needs you It's no good unless he needs you all the way Through the good or lean years And for all the in-between years come what may Dylan told me that I revived his career with all my shenanigans – it was getting pretty lean there for awhile for Bob. Who knows where the road will lead us Only a fool would say But if you'll let me love you It's for sure I'm gonna love you all the way all the way No one knows where life will take us, only a fool Informal A person with a talent or enthusiasm for a certain activity SKYLARK Have you anything to say to me? Won't you tell me where my love can be? Is there a meadow in the mist Where someone's waiting to be kissed? Have you seen a valley green with spring? Where my heart can go a journeying Over the shadows and the rain To a blossom covered lane And in your lonely flight Haven't you heard the music in the night? Wonderful music, faint as a will o' the wisp Crazy as a loon, sad as a gypsy serenading the moon 27 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Oh skylark I don't know if you can find these things But my heart is riding on your wings So if you see them anywhere Won't you lead me there? “Wonderful music, faint as a will o' the wisp Crazy as a loon, sad as a gypsy serenading the moon” This is about Dylan and the Left and how they once appreciated his art form. NEVERTHELESS Maybe I'm right and maybe I'm wrong Maybe I'm weak and maybe I'm strong But nevertheless I'm in love with you Maybe I'll win and maybe I'll lose And maybe I'm in for crying the blues But nevertheless I'm in love with you Somehow, I know at a glance The terrible chances I'm taking Fine at the start Then left with a heart that is breaking Maybe I'll live a life of regret And maybe I'll give much more than I get But nevertheless, I'm in love with you AIDS/HIV Maybe I'm weak Maybe I'll lose Terrible chances A life of regret 28 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL All or nothing at all Half a love never appealed to me If your heart, never could yield to me Then I'd rather, rather have nothin' at all All, or nothing at all If it's love, there ain't no in-between Why begin, then cry for somethin' that might have been? No, I'd rather, rather have nothing at all Oh, please don't bring your lips close to my cheek Don't you smile or I'll be lost beyond recall The kiss in your eyes, the touch of your hand makes me weak And my heart, may grow very dizzy and fall And if I fell under the spell of your call I would be caught in the undertow And so you see, I've got to say no, no All or nothing at all AIDS/HIV the touch of your hand makes me weak grow very dizzy and fall caught in the undertow ON A LITTLE STREET IN SINGAPORE On a little street in Singapore With me beside a lotus covered door A veil of moonlight on her lovely face How pale the hands that held me in embrace My sails tonight are filled with perfume of Shalimar With temple bells that guide me to her shore And then I hold you in my arms and love the way I loved before 29 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY On a little street in Singapore DUGI-HEROIN-SMACK Singapore lotus pale the hands that held me in embrace I hold you in my arms IT HAD TO BE YOU Why do I do just as you say Why must I just give you your way Why do I sigh? Why don't I try to forget? It must have been that something lovers call fate Kept me saying "I had to wait" I saw them all Just couldn't fall 'til we met It had to be you, it had to be you I've wandered around, finally found somebody who Could make me be true Could make me be blue And, even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you Some others I've seen Might never be mean Might never be cross Or, try to be boss But, they wouldn't do For nobody else gave me a thrill With all your faults, I love you still It had to be you, wonderful you It had to be you 30 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 'Cause nobody else gave me a thrill With all your faults, I love you still now And it had to be you, it just had to be you It had to be you IT HAD TO BE YOU Dylan-Weberman Why do I do, just as you say Why must I just, give you your way Why do I sigh, why don't I try, to forget Why did I ever write the song George Jackson about a cop killing psycho at your request. Why am I still sorry for writing it. And I am sorry for forcing Dylan into writing it. It must have been, that something lovers call fate Kept me saying, "I have to wait" I saw them all, just couldn't fall, 'til we met It must have been good luck on your part that I postponed having you offed. In In Congratulations performed with the Traveling Dingleberrys Dylan wrote: “Congratulations for making me wait Congratulations now it's too late” I saw Mafia figures but I couldn’t fall into sin by committing murder until I was sure you had it coming after I met you in person. Dylan would write “You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart.” It had to be you, it had to be you I wandered around, and finally found, the somebody who Could make me be true, and could make me be blue And even be glad, just to be sad, thinking of you Some others I've seen, might never be mean Might never be cross, or try to be boss But they wouldn't do For nobody else, gave me a thrill, 31 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY With all your faults, I love you still It had to be you, wonderful you It had to be you So of the people I ran into in life were asskissers but they never had the nerve to tell me, Bob Dylan, what the fuck to do, what the fuck to write, what drugs I should take, so I have to admire that in you. ALTERNATE TRANSLATION Why do I do just as you say? Why must I just give you your way? Why do I choose songs that depict the Dylan-Weberman literary relationship or whatever the fuck it is just as you say I do? Why do I sigh? Heave a sigh and resign myself to this fate Why don't I try to forget Why don’t a try to forget the shit you pulled on me in the early 1970’s. It must have been that something lovers call fate Chronicles. Dylan to Archibald McLeish “I wanted to tell him things were muddled, that a mob had been surrounding our house with bullhorns and calling on me to come out into the streets and lead a march on city hall, on Wall Street, on the Capitol ... that mythological figures of the fates have been weaving and now cutting my thread of life . .(thread of life smack).” Kept me saying "I had to wait" If I had Weberman killed I would fall under a lot of suspicion. Plus “he tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn’t enough to tame my heart.” In Congratulations 32 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan sarcastically congratulates me for making a deal with the Feds (Levy testified against LaRouche) and returning from exile in Israel. Congratulations you got a good deal. 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 I saw them all I saw all the folk fans booing me Just couldn't fall 'til we met But I didn’t experience defeat or ruin until I met Al. I consider this the “Key words” that defines the song. “Till we met” It had to be you, it had to be you I've wandered around, To behave in a manner that does not conform to morality or norms: wander from the path of righteousness. Finally found somebody who Could make me be true Could make me be blue And, even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you Some others I've seen Might never be mean Expressing spite or malice Might never be cross 33 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY An opposition, hindrance, or misfortune; affliction (esp in the phrase bear one's cross) Or, try to be boss Or boss Dylan around trying to get him to write left wing songs like George Jackson. The commissar of culture. But, they wouldn't do For nobody else gave me a thrill a sudden wave of keen emotion or excitement when Dylan beat me up on Elizabeth Street – the laughter down on Elizabeth Street – as he sings in Where are you tonight? With all your faults, I love you still Geology a fracture in the earth's crust resulting in the relative displacement and loss of continuity of the rocks on either side of it. Dylan almost put a fault in the sidewalk with my head It had to be you, wonderful you It had to be you 'Cause nobody else gave me a thrill With all your faults, I love you still now And it had to be you, it just had to be you It had to be you COME RAIN OR COME SHINE I'm gonna love you like nobody's loved you Come rain or come shine High as a mountain and deep as a river Come rain or come shine 34 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I guess when you met me It was just one of those things But don't you ever bet me 'Cause I'm gonna be true if you let me You're gonna love me like nobody's loved me Come rain or come shine Happy together, unhappy together And won't that be fine You are going to translate my poetry in a different fashion than others especially when it comes to shovgees (Blacks) Shine: (US) a black person (from shoeshiner). Happy with my ideas on race, unhappy with them, it really doesn’t matter. Days may be cloudy or sunny We're in or we're out of the money But I'm with you always I'm with you rain or shine I'm gonna love you like nobody's loved you Come rain or come shine High as a mountain and deep as a river Come rain or come shine High as a mountain, an enormous problem and deep and profound as humanity. I guess when you met me It was just one of those things But don't you ever bet me 'Cause I'm gonna be true if you let me I guess when you brought your class around to my house it was just an average day for me. (sarcastic) bet: To maintain confidently, as if making a bet: I bet they were surprised by the news. Eventually I will tell the truth if you let me. 35 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY MELANCHOLY MOOD Melancholy mood forever haunts me Steals upon me in the night Forever taunts me Oh, what a lonely soul am I Stranded high and dry By a melancholy mood Gone is every joy and inspiration Tears are all I have to show No consolation All I can see is grief and gloom Till the crack of doom Oh, melancholy mood Deep in the night I search for a trace Of a lingering kiss, a warm embrace But love is a whimsy And as flimsy as lace And my arms embrace an empty space Melancholy mood, why must you blind me Pity me and break the chains The chains that bind me Won't you release me, set me free Bring him back to me Oh, melancholy mood Deep in the night I search for a trace Of a lingering kiss, a warm embrace But love is a whimsy As flimsy as lace And my arms embrace an empty space 36 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY AIDS HIV Forever taunts me Oh, what a lonely soul am I Stranded high and dry By a melancholy mood All I can see is grief and gloom Till the crack of doom Oh, melancholy mood Melancholy mood, why must you blind me Pity me and break the chains The chains that bind me Won't you release me, set me free Bring him back to me Oh, melancholy mood SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT I'M A FOOL TO WANT YOU 2015 I'm a fool to want you To want a love that can't be true A love that's there for others too What else, junk, dugi, smack, schmeck there for anyone with $3 for a tray bag. Trayvon Martin was named after a tray bag. I'm a fool to hold you Such a fool to hold you To seek a kiss not mine alone To share a kiss that Devil has known I once held her in my arms / She said she would always stay / But I was a fool / I treated her cruel / I threw my stash away. Dope is all there is it makes the world 37 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY go ‘round dugi and only dugi it can’t be denied. Not matter what you think about it you just can’t do without it take a tip from someone who had to tip his bags to get the last remaining amount of junk. One thing’s for sure there ain’t no cure if you throw it all away. Dope is the devil’s brew fo’ sure. Time and time again I said I'd leave you Time and time again I went away But then would come the time when I would need you And once again these words I had to say I tried to kick heroin but then I got the craving, I needed a fix more than anything. So I relapsed. Take me back, I love you ...I need you I know it's wrong, it must be wrong But right or wrong I can't get along Without you I need a fix. Not Billie Holliday me! 38 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY THE NIGHT WE CALLED IT A DAY 2015 There was a moon out in space But a cloud drifted over its face You kissed me and went on your way The night we called it a day I heard the song of the spheres Like a minor lament in my ears I hadn't the heart left to pray The night we called it a day This is about Dylan parting ways with the Left. The key to this song is “There wasn’t thing left to say.” I was singing about unreachable goals and you dug it until I starting playing rock and roll with obscure cloudy lyrics. The folk community dumped Dylan. Dylan heard the boos and shouts of Judas but it was only a minor complaint in his ears. He was through having sympathy for the left Soft through the dark The hoot of an owl in the sky Sad though his song 39 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY No bluer was he than I “Hoot” to assail or drive out by hooting <hooted down the speaker> The moon went down stars were gone But the sun didn't rise with the dawn There wasn't a thing left to say The night we called it a day There wasn't a thing left to say The night we called it a day Stars celebrities. STAY WITH ME Should my heart not be humble, should my eyes fail to see, Should my feet sometimes stumble on the way, stay with me. Like the lamb that in springtime wanders far from the fold, Comes the darkness and the frost, I get lost, I grow cold. I grow cold, I grow weary, and I know I have sinned, And I go seeking shelter and I cry in the wind. Though I grope and I blunder and I'm weak and I'm wrong, Though the road buckles under where I walk, walk along. Till I find to my wonder every path leads to Thee, All that I can do is pray, stay with me, Stay with me. About JC. AUTUMN LEAVES The falling leaves drift by the window The autumn leaves of red and gold I see your lips, the summer kisses The sunburned hands I used to hold 40 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The declining leaves or pages of your books catch the drift of how I look out on life. The half dead book or communist thought in a golden age. I see you pay lip service, and the earlier approval of the brown African-American ideas I used to hold as in hold a belief Since you went away the days grow long And soon I'll hear old winter's song But I miss you most of all my darling When autumn leaves start to fall WHY TRY TO CHANGE ME NOW I'm sentimental So I walk in the rain I've got some habits That I can't explain Could start for the corner Turn up in Spain Why try to change me now I sit and daydream I've got daydreams galore Cigarette ashes There they go on the floor I go away weekends And leave my keys in the door But why try to change me now Why can't I be more conventional? People talk People stare So I try But that's not for me Cuz I can't see My kind of crazy world Go passing me by 41 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY So let people wonder Let 'em laugh Let 'em frown You know I'll love you Till the moon's upside down Don't you remember? I was always your clown Why try to change me now Don't you remember? I was always your clown Why try to change me Why try to change me now I'm sentimental So I walk in the rain I've got some habits That I can't explain I remember when I first came to New York City and started singing old songs. I can’t explain why I had a monkey on back, a $25 dollar a day habit. Could start for the corner Turn up in Spain Why try to change me now I could have ended up in some remote folksinging position. I sit and daydream I've got daydreams galore Cigarette ashes There they go on the floor I would sing songs that were full of unwarranted leftwing hope, I knew every one. I go away weekends And leave my keys in the door 42 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY But why try to change me now I would play the clubs on weekends and leave the musical key that I wanted to play as a later opportunity. Why can't I be more conventional? People talk Why can’t I stick to literal lyrics? The folk community has started a campaign against me. People stare So I try But that's not for me Cuz I can't see My kind of crazy world Go passing me by So let people wonder Let 'em laugh Let 'em frown You know I'll love you Till the moon's upside down Don't you remember? I was always your clown Why try to change me now SOME ENCHANTED EVENING Some enchanted evening you may see a stranger You may see a stranger across a crowded room And somehow you know, you know even then That somewhere you'll see her again and again Some enchanted (under a spell as in Cast your dancing spell my way I promise to go under it some time when I was doing junk) you may see a leftist civil rights type 43 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY across a crowded venue like Folk City and somehow you know that you will be popular with the folk singing left and see the same audience over and over again. Some enchanted evening, someone may be laughing You may hear her laughing across a crowded room And the night after night, as strange as it seems The sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams Some time when you are doing dugi someone will be happy across a crowded venue. And every time you perform as strange as it is for a racist to be singing the praises of the Negro in 1961 you will cater to her in your poems because that is where the fame and fortune is. Who can explain it, who can tell you why Fools give you reasons, wise men never try Who can explain it, who can tell you why it went down this way. Politicians give you reasons wise men never try. Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love When you feel her call you across a crowded room Then fly to her side and make her your own Or all through your life you may dream all alone Do what you have to do to succeed otherwise you will be singing your songs to yourself. Once you have found her, never let her go Once you have found her, never let her go His fans are hard core and stick with him. FULL MOON AND EMPTY ARMS Where Are You? Where are you, where have you gone without me 44 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I thought you cared about me, where are you Where's my heart, where is the dream we started I can't believe we're parted, where are you Dylan actually regrets the way our relationship turned out. Where is the dream we started. Dylan said he wanted to collaborate on a poem and we would split the royalties. So I told him about my trip to Mexico and what the Third World was like and he came up with “A bracero had a sombrero full of expresso” I said what the fuck does that mean. He said “That’s my thing Al.” When we said, goodbye, love, what had we to gain When I gave you my love, was it all in vain All life through, must I go on pretending Where is my happy ending, where are you Dylan offered me a job, money, a chance to get laid a lot, go on tour with him etc. if I canceled the Birthday Party I threw for him in front of his crib. But I turned him down and told him quit using drugs cause he is gonna OD and join the antiVietnam war movement. He said if I went through with it I was cut off forever. As a result all through life he has to pretend he hates me and there will be no reconciliation. Sad because some of our views have converged over the years. WHAT’LL I DO THAT LUCKY OLD SUN Up in the mornin', Out on the job, work like the devil for my pay But that lucky old sun got nothin' to do, but roll around heaven all day. Fuss with my woman, toil for my kids, sweat till I'm wrinkled and gray While that lucky old sun got nothin' to do, but roll around heaven all day. Dear Lord above, can't you know I'm pining, tears all in my eyes Send down that cloud with a silver lining, lift me to Paradise. Show me that river, take me across, wash all my troubles away Like that lucky old sun, give me nothing to do, but roll around heaven all day 45 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Send down that cloud with a silver lining, lift me to Paradise Show me that river, take me across, wash all my troubles away Like that lucky old sun, give me nothing to do, but roll around heaven all day 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 Dylan the ragged clown as in Mr. Tambourine man creates LP, circular shaped discs Up and down the block Printing a large amount of text. Note up and down, signifies vertical I’d ask him what the matter was But I know that he don’t talk Sarcastic: if there is a large amount of text Dylan surely knows how to talk And the ladies The record companies Columbia 46 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Treat To deal with or represent artistically in a specified manner or style: treats the subject poetically. Me kindly In an accommodating manner And furnish me with tape Recording 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 To be stuck singing scummy folk music With the Memphis blues again When I really want to sing rock and roll like Elvis. Graceland is in Memphis. 47 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 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. 48 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Who says she knows me well Who says she knows what Dylan is all about 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. 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 49 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Mona, great art tried to tell me stay away from writing a sequence or series, as of events, thoughts, etc: a train of disasters. A Communist Party line. A horizontal row of printed or written words or symbols. 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 just smoked To play or perform energetically: The band was really smoking in the second set. My sleepy mind and 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” .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 50 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 st with blowin in the wind and shot the fact a folk song could never become a pop hit full of holes 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 51 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 52 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 The miracle worker, the politician, gave me two cures something that corrects or relieves a harmful or disturbing situation and said participate without thinking: one was Barry Goldwater from the Western United States the other was a Communist trap Gin: A snare or trap for game. And like a fool he mixed up LBJ with Goldwater and it suppress, repress, or stifle his thinking: strangle a scream. Now Goldwater was defeated and Dylan has no 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 53 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 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 some thing cut off. 54 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Where I can watch her waltz for free Informal Something that presents no difficulties and can be accomplished with little effort. ’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 entrance into society as a heroin addict An’ she says, “Your debutante just knows what you need Heroin But I know what you want” I know what you are lacking to cause you to use hard drugs. 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. 55 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. So patiently Waiting to find out what price You have to pay to get out of Going through all these things twice 56 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 FULL MOON EMPTY ARMS 2014 Full Moon, Empty Arms: First recorded 1945. Released in May 2014. I was born 5/26/45. Dylan sent me a card by picking a tune from his amazing repertoire that fits into his symbolism as he did with songs like Take a Message to Mary! Full moon and empty arms The moon is there for us to share But where are you A night like this Could weave a memory 57 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY And every kiss Could start a dream for two Full moon and empty arms Tonight I'll use the magic moon to wish upon And next full moon If my one wish comes true My empty arms will be filled with you Full moon and empty arms The moon is there for us to share But where are you? Full moon, political craziness but no way to fight it empty long arms. The insanity is there for us to share but where are you in the political spectrum. A night like this could weave a memory To introduce (another element) into a complex whole; work in: The period of time covered by the remembrance or recollection of a person or group of persons: within the memory of humankind. A time like this could provide for A specific period in history “the time of the robber barons.” And every kiss could start a dream for two And every kiss, every embrace of multiculturalism could inspire a poem Tonight, I'll use the magic moon To wish upon Tonight, presently, Dylan will use an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source to confer (something unwanted) on someone namely Obama who he wishes was dead. 58 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY And next full moon If my one wish comes true My empty arms will be filled with you And the next time the world becomes insane and Dylan desire is realized by empty arms will be filled with you collapsed carcass. THE SECRETS OF CHRISTMAS IS IN THE HEART 59 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan’s Santa Claus is loaded on smack and bringing dugi to all the little kids to get them addicted. CHRISTMAS IS IN THE HEART Many of the traditional Christmas songs Bob Dylan chose for CHRISTMAS IS IN THE HEART contained a phrase that was either identical with, or closely resembled, a line from Dylan’s previously established body of poetry. In Do You Hear What I Hear he sang "A song, a song / High above the tree" In Tonight No Light Will Shine on Me he wrote, "As the wind blows high above the tree" In Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas he sang "Here we are as in olden days / Happy golden days of yore." In Days of '49 he wrote, "In the days of old in the days of gold often I repine." In Winter Wonderland he sang, “In the meadow we can build a snowman / And pretend that he's a circus clown.” In the liner notes to The Times They Are A-Changin’ Dylan wrote “An' I walked my road an' sung my song / Like a saddened clown / In the circus a my own world.” In Must be Santa Claus he sang "Who's got a beard that is long and white?" In Tarantula he wrote "the 60 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY soldier with the long beard says go ask questions my son" "Soldier" as “American President” In Gates of Eden Dylan wrote “The savage soldier” sarcastic; General Dwight Eisenhower accused by the far Right of being soft on Soviet Communism “sticks his head in sand” ignores historical precedents, (“sand” as in “the sands of time”) like an ostrich “And then complains" then protests Soviet expansionism in Cuba “Unto the shoeless hunter” unto Nikita Khrushchev who took his shoe off and banged it on the Soviet Delegations desk at the United Nations in 1960. “Hunter” as Khrushchev; 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.” Almost all American Presidents have been soldiers. Must be Santa Claus also contains this verse, "Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton." These keys indicate the subcontent of this song concerns American Presidents. In The Christmas Blues he sang "The jingle bells are jingling / The streets are white with snow" In Mr. Tambourine Man he wrote this to his heroin connection "in the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you" and in House Carpenter he wrote "Oh what are those hills yonder my love / They look as white as snow / Those are the hills of heaven my love / You and I'll never know." “Snow” is drug slang for heroin or cocaine. In Christmas on Christmas Island Dylan sang “you will never stray for every day / Your Christmas dreams come true” In I Threw it All Away Dylan wrote “take it to your heart don’t let it stray” and in New Morning he wrote, “this must be the day that all my dreams come true.” Both these poems appeared on the same LP and were translated as drug related. In The Christmas Song Dylan sang "Will find it hard to sleep tonight" and in The Mighty Quinn he wrote, "Nobody can get any sleep there's someone on everyone's toes / But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here everybody's gonna wanna dose." The Christmas Song also contains the lines "They know that Santa's on his way / He's loaded" slang; drunk or intoxicated "lots of toys" "toys" junkie slang for narcotic paraphernalia, works "and goodies" and dope. The song ends "see if reindeer really know how to fly?" “fly” get high. Not since Alistair Crowley composed hymns for the Church of England that covertly praised opium have Christians been hood-winked neither in this fashion nor on a grander scale. In Little Drummer Boy Dylan sang, "I am a poor boy." In If You Gotta Go, Go Now he wrote "I am just a poor boy baby trying to connect." “Poor boy" translates as 61 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "Leftist folksinger" in Tarantula he wrote this to the folk fans who witnessed him being jeered at his concerts, "you were also there when they castrated that poor boy in public" In Can't Ya Hear Me Crying 1961 he prayed for a break as a folk singer "Hey, stop you ol' train, Let a poor boy ride." With this key we can break the Dylan code and find out what Dylan is really singing about in Little Drummer Boy. "Come they told me" listening to Woody Guthrie records told me "A new born King to see" to visit Woody in the mental hospital where the Communist Party USA had dumped him "Our finest gifts we bring" my finest songs to play for him "To lay before the King" to lay on Woody the King of Folk Music. "So to honor Him" so in his honor, not that I ever believed any of the Communist agitprop "When we come" when I met him "Little Baby, I am a poor boy too" I told Woody, who was of diminished capacity that I was a genuine Depression Era folk singer "I have no gift to bring, That's fit to give a King" and that I could never live up to the high artistic and communistic standards set by Woody "Shall I play for you, on my drum" and I asked him if he wanted me to drum up support for the Communists with my music. "Mary nodded” the Motherland, the Soviet Union gave Dylan the OK “The ox" the rank and file Communist Tarantula "now the organizers must bring the oxen in & dragging leaflets" "and lamb" and those the Communists who are going to be sacrificed for the cause "kept? time" dug Dylan’s folk music beat "I played my drum for Him" I wrote songs to advance Communism "I played my best for Him" that were some of the best ever written "Then He smiled at me, Me and my drum." and then Woody had his fellow travelin' Communists approved of me and gave me the Tom Paine Emergency Civil Liberties award for furthering Communism. Rum ba bum Rum ba bum. SANTA Here comes Santa Claus! Right down Santa Claus Lane! Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer Are pulling on the reins. Bells are ringing, children singing; 62 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY All is merry and bright. Hang your stockings and say your prayers, 'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight Here comes Santa Claus! Here comes Bob Dylan Right down Santa Claus Lane! And he is a right winger from the word go Vixen A female fox – he is foxy shrewd and Blitzen and a Nazi sympathizer – blitzkrieg and all his reindeer In ITS ALL OVER BABY BLUE Dylan tells his the Cuban’s “all your reindeer army they are rowing home” an army accustomed to cold weather – the Sovs are retreating after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Are pulling on the reins the Soviet Union is controlling Bob Dylan The Traitorous Communist Puppet “Bells are ringing, children singing” SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES “ring bell hard to tell if anything is gonna sell” Dylan is playing his guitar and immature idiots are out there doing the same All is merry and bright. The future looks bright for Dylan the communist mistral Hang your stockings wait for your reward some dough and say your prayers, sing your scummy protest songs which you don’t believe in 'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight. Cause fame and chicks cum tonight Here comes Santa Claus! Right down Santa Claus Lane! He's got a bag that is filled with toys For the boys and girls again. Hear those sleigh bells jingle jangle, What a beautiful sight. Jump in bed, cover up your head, 'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight 63 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Here comes Santa Claus! Here comes Dylan Right down Santa Claus Lane! a welldefined track He's got a bag a bag of dope that is filled with toys and a set of works – Junkie talk – “Hey man let’s get off” “My toys are in my crib.” For the boys and girls again. Key word – again and again and again addiction Hear those sleigh bells jingle jangle, MR. TAMBOURINE MAN which even I must admit was the greatest peon to Opium ever written in all of literary history. “In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come following you” What a beautiful sight. What a great fucking high Jump in bed, go into a sleep like nod cover up your head, but be careful no one finds out you are a smack head Cause Santa Claus comes tonight cause the sleazeball Bobby from Minnesota comes tonight, cums all over himself. So fucking Christmas song that one turned out to be. Aleister Crowley Jr. WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, In the lane, snow is glistening A beautiful sight, We're happy tonight, Walking in a winter wonderland. 64 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Sleigh bells ring, are you listening you have to pay attention to something that might kill you – you have to be sure of the dose In the lane note use of lane as tracks again snow is glistening the snow, the smack is pure crystal, almost uncut, not stepped on “A beautiful sight, We're happy tonight, In TONIGHT I’LL BE STAYING HERE WITH YOU Dylan wrote that all he wanted to do was get high Walking in a winter wonderland Gone away is the bluebird, Here to stay is a new bird He sings a love song, As we go along, Walking in a winter wonderland. Gone away is the bluebird, In TONIGHT I’LL BE STAYING HERE with you Dylan wrote “Well that mockingbird’s gonna said away, We’re gonna forget it / That big fat moon is gonna shine like a spoon /but we’re gonna let it ” Here to stay is a new bird Here to stay is a new kind of singer “He sings a love song” who is no longer political As we go along, Walking in a winter wonderland. In the meadow we can build a snowman, Then pretend that he is Parson Brown He'll say: Are you married? We'll say: No man, But you can do the job When you're in town In the meadow we can build a snowman, In America we can create a poem about heroin Then pretend that he is Parson Brown then pretend it contains Leftwing thinking He'll say: Are you married? The left will ask are you married to Communist ideology? “We'll say: No man, not really But you can do the job When you're in town.” but as long as it is popular in New York Town you can commit a “job” Informal A criminal act as in conspiracy Later on, we'll conspire, As we dream by the fire To face unafraid, The plans that we've made, 65 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Walking in a winter wonderland Later on, we'll conspire, later in my career as a make believe Leftist I will conspire with the Communist Party to overthrow the duly elected Government of these United States. As we dream by the fire as we dream of, fantasize about, revolution, in MY BACK PAGES Dylan wrote this about his life as a Leftist “Crimson flames tied through my ears / Rollin’ high and mighty traps / Pounced with fire on flaming roads / Using ideas as my maps To face unafraid, The plans that we've made, and are willing to confront the Government Walking in a winter wonderland. Living in a dreamland. In the meadow we can build a snowman, And pretend that he's a circus clown We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman, Until the other kids knock him down. In the meadow we can build a snowman, In America we can increase or strengthen by adding gradually to my career by cutting a record that was half acoustic half rock and roll And pretend that he's a circus clown then his old fans will have to make believe he is still a folksinger We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman, Will ridicule Dylan’s new sound Until the other kids knock him down. Until the other Leftists knock him Slang To find fault with; criticize When it snows, ain't it thrilling, Though your nose gets a chilling We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way, Walking in a winter wonderland. When it snows, ain't it thrilling, when you’re high on junk you first get a rush Though your nose gets a chilling when you snort it through you like totally chill out. Everything in life is perfect, every problem is solved, happy happy joy joy. “We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way” we will be euphoric and we’ll play as we did in QUINN THE ESKIMO “When Quinn the Eskimo get’s here everybody gonna want a dose or wanna doze.” Walking in a winter wonderland. Walking in a schemker’s wonderland. 66 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY THE LITTLE SHEPHERD BOY Fuck this, I had enough of Dylan’s “Christmas” songs. Christmas my ass. He is singing about dope and his career. So you figure this next one out… Said the night wind to the little lamb, Do you see what I see Way up in the sky, little lamb, Do you see what I see A star, a star, dancing in the night With a tail as big as a kite With a tail as big as a kite Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear A song, a song, high above the trees With a voice as big as the sea With a voice as big as the sea Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king, Do you know what I know In your palace warm, mighty king, Do you know what I know A Child, a Child shivers in the cold Let us bring Him silver and gold Let us bring Him silver and gold Said the king to the people everywhere, Listen to what I say Pray for peace, people everywhere! Listen to what I say The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light He will bring us goodness and light 67 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY IF DOGS RUN FREE 1970 JOHNNY REBEL DYLAN 68 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY TWO MULES (A MULE AND FORTY ACRES) TRAINS (A GROUP OF PEOPLE – CARPET BAGGERS) 69 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY RAIN (DESTRUCTION as in HARD RAIN KKK) 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 70 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY straight and I was not. When I supported the Palestinians and Dylan supported the JDL. The fact that he has Robert Davi in his new video The Night We Called it a Day, about Dylan parting with the Left, is encouraging. Davi doesn’t buy the liberal bullshit but thinks for himself. He is anti-Obama and pro-Israel like me A. J. Weberman who invented the word Dylanology. CLICK HERE FOR APPROPRIATE MUSIC TO IF DOGS RUN FREE 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 SWOOPING PLAIN (SWOOP DOWN ON WHITES OR RIVAL BLACKS) 71 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 and 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 72 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 “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 humanbeing. Also sarcastic: loving Blacks will make them evolve faster. “In harmony” in a relationship in which various components exist together without destroying one 73 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” DIGNITY 1995 74 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY THE LOST TWO MONTHS 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, 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 75 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 did 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 capitialist 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 new 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? 76 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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" 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? 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: 77 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. After this revelation I had to change my translation of 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 Rich man looking for a dashing youth with a quality suggestive of steel, especially a hard, unflinching character. A poor man selling his ass for his last meal. A man without substance or character: a hollow person looking for a black homosexual. For Dignity (sarcastic) Wise man lookin’ in a blade of grass Young man lookin’ in the shadows that pass Poor man lookin’ through painted glass For dignity 78 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Leaves of Grass poems by gay poet Walt Whitman To be accepted as a member of a group by denying one's own ancestry or background pass for being straight Poor man looking through the windows of cheap Times Square Bars for gays 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 Dylan almost got murdered by one of his tricks. “land of the midnight sun” The City That Never Sleeps is a well-known nickname for New York City, famously employed in the "Theme from New York, New York", covered by Frank Sinatra. It may also refer to: The City That Never Sleeps (film), a 1924 drama. City That Never Sleeps, a 1953 film noir. Searchin’ high, searchin’ low 79 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Searchin’ everywhere I know Askin’ the cops wherever I go Have you seen dignity? Search: Law The examination of a person or property, as by a law enforcement officer, for the purpose of discovering evidence of a crime. Dylan went to the cops and took them back to the bars that he hustled at to find the guy that almost killed him. Blind man breakin’ out of a trance Puts both his hands in the pockets of chance Hopin’ to find one circumstance Of dignity Blind Slang Drunk breaking out of a semiconscious state, as between sleeping and waking; a daze. To take possession of for himself, especially dishonestly: pocketed the receipts from Dylan’s tricks. 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 above verse was found in an outtake. Looks like someone pulled a knife on Bobby Zimmerman in a cheap Times Square hotel. 80 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Dylan went to a wedding the combination or blending of two separate elements of a transsexual and even this freak was turned off to my turning tricks. She said she could get killed if someone found out she was really a he. I went down where the vultures feed I would’ve gone deeper, but there wasn’t any need Heard the tongues of angels and the tongues of men Wasn’t any difference to me 81 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I went down to the level a person or thing that preys greedily and ruthlessly on others, esp the helpless, he could have sunk lower, but he had reached rock bottom. Or cock bottom. Tongue: To touch or lick with the tongue. Angel informal a person, esp a woman, who is kind, pure, or beautiful and the tongues of men sucking on my dick and I didn’t care as long as I made the cake. 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? on a razor's edge on a razor-edge in an acute dilemma 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 Of, pertaining to, or indulging in the drinking of alcohol, esp. to excess: drinking companions. Expression; utterance: gave voice to their feelings at the meeting. Filled to such an extent as to be detrimental to the inhabitant To hide something in order to save someone from censure or punishment: cover up for a colleague. A closet homosexual Something that faithfully reflects or gives a true picture of something else. 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 Abuse: to force sexual activity on; rape or molest. Footprints runnin’ ’cross the silver sand Steps goin’ down into tattoo land 82 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 jerk off Vulgar Slang To masturbate. 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 To eliminate (a disease, for example) from the body by medical or other treatment; cause recovery from: new antibiotics to cure infections like when Dylan got the clap or syphilis A manner or course of procedure determined by a specified factor: development along homosexual lines. Édouard Manet Guy de Maupassant Friedrich Nietzsche Leo Tolstoy Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec George Walker Oscar Wilde Englishman stranded in the blackheart wind Combin’ his hair back, his future looks thin Bites the bullet and he looks within For dignity Of relatively low density or viscosity: a thin liquid like semen. 83 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY something resembling a bullet, as in shape like a penis 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 Vulgar Slang The penis. So many roads, so much at stake So many dead ends, I’m at the edge of the lake Sometimes I wonder what it’s gonna take To find dignity 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 84 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 85 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 are no good that one is holding in life are worthless unless they are from the free world instead of the 86 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. ON THE ROAD AGAIN 1966 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? Well, I woke up in the morning There’s frogs Informal Hoarseness or phlegm in the throat. Inside my socks Sock it to (someone) Slang To deliver a forceful comment, reprimand, or physical blow to someone else. Your mama, Mother – your conscience She’s a-hidin’ informal a flogging; beating Inside the icebox ice Slang To kill; murder. 87 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Your daddy walks in wearin’ A Napoleon Bonaparte mask (as in The Emperor Jones) Then you ask why I don’t live here Honey, do you have to ask? 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 your monkey Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a person with dark skin. I get a face race as in The sun will respect every face on the deck 88 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Full of claws Claw - attack as if with claws; "The politician clawed his rival" also clause, laws I ask who’s in the fireplace Any open structure, usu. of masonry, for keeping a fire, the middle of a riot marked by arson And you tell me Santa Claus Man of folklore who brings gifts to well-behaved children at Christmas not rioting young blacks. The milkman comes in To obtain money or benefits from, in order to achieve personal gain; exploit: "The poverty pimps had milked their city of somewhere between $5 million and $10 million" He’s wearing a derby A race or contest, usu. one open to all entrants. Hat: A role or office symbolized by or as if by the wearing of different hats: 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 Well, I asked for something to eat I asked to buy some dope 89 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I’m hungry expressing or appearing to express craving as a hog One that uses too much of something. So I get brown rice, seaweed And a dirty Dirty: Slang Possessing or using illegal drugs. hot dog show-off, exhibitionist - someone who deliberately behaves in such a way as to attract attention I’ve got a hole Where my stomach Desire, appetite, or inclination 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 Your grandpa’s cane It turns into a sword 90 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY MLK: “non violence is a sword that heals” Your grandma prays to pictures That are pasted on a board Everything inside my pockets Isolated white areas also pockets of resistance Your uncle steals The government hits with oppressive taxes 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 91 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY He’s got something to prove Then you ask why I don’t live here Honey, how come you don’t move? Well, there’s fistfights in the kitchen The servant’s quarters They’re enough to make me cry (protest) The mailman comes in (the feds – why are you in federal prison? My dog bit a mailman) Even he’s gotta take a side Even the butler (the head servant, the civil rights leader) He’s got something to prove to need to show that you can succeed when people expect you to fail Then you ask why I don’t live here Honey, how come you don’t move? 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? Railroad: informal to force (a person) into (an action) with haste or by unfair means the same way the folk crowd, the Communists, forced Dylan into the folk scene by attending his concerts – gate - The total paid attendance or admission receipts at a public event. Dylan can’t transcend or jump this, rise suddenly in position or rank: jumped over two others with more seniority. Some time it gets so hard proceeding or performing with force, vigor, or persistence; assiduous: a hard worker you see. I just sitting here not moving ahead beating on my trumpet Music To mark or count (time or rhythm), especially with the hands or with a 92 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY baton Jerking off, beating not getting anywhere despites promise Indication of future excellence or success: a guitar player of great promise you left for me wonder where are you tonight sweet smell of success, Sweet Marie. 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 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 Well, six white horses that you did promise Were fin’lly delivered down to the penitentiary Well six bags of China White heroin were finally delivered to the criminal Bob Dylan after a long wait But to live outside the law, you must be honest But to be a dope connection you must not try to cheat your customers I know you always say that you agree 93 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Sarcastic But where are you tonight, sweet Marie? But where is success and money to buy dope from more reliable connection 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 – folk music But the riverboat captain, he knows my fate But I am bound for extinction because I am outdated. 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 and see if this will be the case 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 You see, you forgot to leave me with the key Oh, where are you tonight, sweet Marie? 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 You see, you forgot to leave me with the key Oh, where are you tonight, sweet Marie? 94 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 potheads 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. 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 95 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, proapartheid 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. BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND 1962 96 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannonballs fly Before they’re forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind The answer is blowin’ in the wind. 97 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 98 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “How many roads” how many courses in life “must a man” must a AfricanAmerican “walk down” take such as rape, murder, theft, the creation of dangerous public schools and generations of single welfare mothers “Before you call him a man?” before the Whites realize that the African-American is a genetically inferior being who can never amount to anything more than a male servant, a subordinate, “man” as in ‘Man Friday’ which is more like a “boy” (unless “man” had two meanings the first two lines of Blowin’ In The Wind are redundant). “Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail” how long will it take before White supremacist apartheid (who ever heard of a black dove?) that brought racial peace and stability to South Africa, sails effortlessly across the ocean to America “Before she sleeps in the sand?” and becomes a part of America history? Notice how the word “white” is larger than the rest of the lettering in the poem. “Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannonballs fly” how many times must the African-Americans become suddenly enraged, commit gun crimes ‘fly off the handle’ “Before they’re forever banned?” before they are treated in the same way as South Africa treats its African-Americans? Under the former system of apartheid, “banned” meant to deprive a person suspected of illegal activity of the 99 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY right of free movement and association with others “The answer” the answer to the ‘Negro question’ in America “my friend, is blowin’” is spreading “in the wind” in something that destroys “wind” as in ‘The winds of war.’ On another level the answer is to treat African-Americans as they did in the Old South, the answer is in White vigilantism, lynch ‘em and let ‘em blow (cause to move by means of a current of air) in the wind! Billie Holliday, Strange Fruit, “Southern trees bear a 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.” “Roads” as ways and courses of action; Playboys and Playgirls, “Your insane” your immoderate and wild “tongues” language, rhetoric, “of war talk ain’t a-gonna guide my road” Song to Woody, 1962 “I’m walking a road other men have gone down” I am trying to master a path in life of that of a folksinger as so many others have in the past. Also “roads” as John Cecil Rhodes a mining magnate and politician in South Africa and a violent and brutal racist who used forced labor tactics as a means of founding De Beers Diamonds. “Walk” as live; Ballad of Donald White, “But the jails they were too crowded, / Institutions overflowed / So they turned me loose to walk upon / Life’s hurried tangled road.” All Over You 1962, “You made me to a walkin’ wreck” a living wreck. “Sleep” as co-exist with, be comfortable with; You’re No Good 1962, “You got the ways of a devil sleeping in a lion’s den” Let Me Die In My Footsteps Before I Go Down Under the Ground 1962, “Let me sleep in your meadows with the green grassy leaves” let me co-exist in America with great books of poems such as Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman “Let me walk down the highway with my brother in peace.” Tomorrow is a Long Time 1962, “only if she was lying by me I would lie in my bed once again.” Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “an’ I’m still on that road, Jim / I’m still sleepin’ at night by its side.” “Sand” as history; Chronicles, “Ray Gooch 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.” To the Left in Tears of Rage 1968, “We pointed out the way to go” we told you that you should move in the direction of the Right “And scratched 100 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY your name in sand” and tried to cancel any major role you will play in history “But you just thought it was nothing more than a place” but you just thought it was nothing more than a suitable setting and occasion “for you to stand” for you to stand the test of time, to endure and to take a stand on certain key issues. “Cannonball” as a “crazy African-American” I’m In The Mood For You 1962, “Sometimes I’m in the mood, I’m gonna sleep in my pony’s stall” sometimes I am content to be continually drunk in a bar, “stall” booth, cubicle, or stand used by a vendor “Sometimes I’m in the mood, I ain’t gonna do nothin’ at all” sometimes I want to be shiftless like an urban Negro on welfare “Sometimes I’m in the mood, I wanna fly like a cannonball” sometimes I want to fly off the handle and commit a violent gun crime like the African-Americans do. The Weight 1967, “Catch a cannonball now” find a Black heroin dealer, catch a African-American by the toe “t’take me down the line” so I can lay out a few lines of smack to snort “My bag” of dope “is sinkin’ low and I do believe it’s time.” Mary and the Soldier 1993, “Perhaps in battle I might fall / From a shot from an angry cannonball.” “Pony” as intoxicant, glass for beer and liquor; Poem to Woody 1961, “And tomorrow’s mornin’ seems so far away / And you feel the reins” restraint and control “from yer pony are slippin’” New Pony 1978, “I had a pony, her name was Lucifer.” “Blow” to move along or be carried by or as if by the wind: It’s in the wind, it’s spreading rapidly; Poem to Woody 1961, “You need a cyclone wind” you need a destructive force “on a steam engine howler” that will drown out others songs, howl down a performer “that’s been banging” slang: causing a sense of excitement; a thrill “and booming” and suddenly increasing, as in popularity “and blowing forever” and spreading forever. Worried Blues 1962, “I’m going where the chilly winds don’t blow.” Go Away You Bomb 1962, “I want it blowin’ from every pore” Brownsville Girl 1986 “And you know it blows right through me like a ball and chain.” “Wind” something that disrupts or destroys; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1963, “with its old stone courthouse decayin’ in the wind” Eleven Outlined Epitaphs: “south Hibbing is where everybody came t’ start their town again. but the winds of the 101 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY north came followin’ an’ grew fiercer” Dignity 1994, “Chilly wind sharp as a razor blade” Cold Irons Bound 1997, “The winds of Chicago have torn me to shreds” Note: when Dylan’s fans, or “friends” heard the word “wind” in Blowin In The Wind it was defined as a tendency; a trend: the winds of change. 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 Pretending he just doesn’t see? “How many years can a mountain exist” how much longer can the mountainous problem of the Negro be allowed to exist “Before it’s washed” before the true nature of the problem will wash, will be made believable, obvious “to the sea?” to America. Also how many years will the problem of the Negro plague America before they are herded on to a boat and forced to make the long voyage across the sea to Africa where they can join their fellow savages! George Lincoln Rockwell offered free passage back to Africa for Blacks and made up mock oneway steamship tickets to this effect “Yes, ‘n’ how many years can some people exist” how many years will America allow poor Blacks to live at a minimal level; subsist “Before they’re allowed to be free?” before the are allowed to receive free money, an allowance, through the welfare system “Yes, ‘n’ how many times can a man turn” how many times can a man change “his head” his leader, the United States President “Pretending he just doesn’t see?” fooling himself into believing that this is not the truth about Blacks and electing a liberal Democrat or middle of the road Republican President rather than a Dixiecrat or a Goldwaterite Republican; Also “pretend” as one who sets forth a claim to a throne. In the original lyrics this last line was “act like his eyes just don’t see.” “Mountains” as problems: someone who can move mountains can solve a difficult problem. Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ 2009, “Beyond here lies nothin’ / But the mountains of the past.” In Changin of the Guard 1978 Dylan wrote this to the Communist Party, “I’ve moved your mountains” I’ve helped you with your 102 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY problems like gaining acceptance to the American people “and marked your cards” and I almost became a card-carrying Communist. “Sea” as America; God Bless America, “from sea to shining sea” In the Summertime 1981, “By that soft and shining sea” When The Ship Comes In 1963, “And the chains of the sea would have busted in the night” and the present restraints preventing the American working class from getting it’s just due would be thrown off “and be buried on the bottom of the ocean” and will never return after the Communist revolution. Emmett Till 1962 “While Emmett’s body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea” while Emmett is a corpse because of the intense anger and rage of a segregated South in the United States. Emmitt Till came to Mississippi from Chicago only to be mutilated and murdered for ogling a White woman. Dylan expressed his beliefs about welfare in Chronicles by quoting the Nazi David Duke: “The ex-Klansman David Duke from Metairie in Jefferson Parish had been elected to the Louisiana State House of Representatives and he was being interviewed. He said that welfare wasn’t working and that workfare would be better; make people on welfare work for the community instead of getting a free ride. He also wanted to put prisoners from state pens on work programs. Didn’t want them getting a free ride, either. I hadn’t seen Duke before; he looked like a movie star.” 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? “How many times must a man look up” how many times must the Whiteman become better, improve himself, advance; ‘things are looking up.’ “Before he can see the sky?” before he can see he is the best of the various races “sky” as the highest level and degree; ‘reaching for the sky’ or ‘The sky’s the limit’ “Yes, ‘n’ how many ears must one man have?” and how much sympathy, as in ‘lend a 103 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY sympathetic ear’ must the White Man have “Before he can hear people cry?” before he can hear that his own people are suffering as a result of integration “Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows” yes and how many Black on White homicides will it take until he learns “That too many people have died?” that too many White people, not a bunch of nappy-headed Black criminals, have been murdered. “Sky” as the highest level and degree; ‘Trails of Trouble 1962, “I walked down by the river” I went to an area of great abundance, the folk music scene “I turned my head up high” I thought on a higher level than the one I was on “I saw that silver linin’” an articulate interior covering of my thoughts “Silver” eloquent; persuasive: ‘a silver voice’ “That was hangin’ in the sky” that was hanging like a fine painting and would elevate me to much higher level and degree. “River” as an abundant stream or flow; To Dave Glover 1962, “They damned up the clear runnin river of ‘Love thy neighbor’ said by Jesus Christ.” Where Teardrops Fall 1989, “By rivers of blindness” God Knows 1990, “God knows there’s a river” god knows there was abundance of wealth in Palestine “God knows how to make a flow” God knows how to make it abound and teem “God knows you ain’t gonna be taking nothing with you when you go” God knows that when you are driven out of your homeland by the Zionist Jews all you wealth will be lost. Dylan expressed his views on Black on White crime in Chronicles, “He [Frank Sinatra Jr.] talked about the Civil Rights Movement, said his father had been active in civil rights and had always fought for the underdog that his father felt like he was one himself. Frank Jr. seemed pretty smart, nothing faked or put-on or ritzy about him. There was a legitimacy about what he did, and he knew who he was. The conversation rolled along. ‘How do you think it would make you feel,’ he said, ‘to find out that the underdog had turned out to be a son of a bitch?’ ‘I don’t know,’ I said, ‘probably not so good.’” 104 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY HARD RAIN 1962 Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son? Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? 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, 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, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?” Oh where have you been Bob Dylan with the anti-slavery thinking? “Oh, where have you been, my darling” one that is greatly liked and preferred in America “young one?” “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” 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 “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’ “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” hatred gonna fall on these people that I met in my journey. 105 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 106 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Blue” as anti-slavery, the Civil War combatants, the Blues and Grays; Gypsy Davy 1992, “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 refers 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. “Eyes” as thoughts; In Gonna Change My Way of Thinking 1979, 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.” “Stumble” as fall into evil ways; In She Belongs To Me 1965 (rather than I belong to her) Dylan described the CPUSA sarcastically, “She never stumbles” she never falls into evil ways “She’s got no place to fall” because she is already 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 go to 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” you want to see for yourself what lies are accepted as truth behind the closed society of the Iron Curtain countries. “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 107 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” “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.” 108 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Ocean” as profuse fame; 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 hatred; 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.” 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 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 takers whose tongues were all broken I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children 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 “I saw a highway of diamonds” I saw an open public space the size of a baseball diamond “with nobody on it” with no one willing to follow in the tradition of poets like Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot and compose racially conscious poetry to awaken the Whites “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 109 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. “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. 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) 110 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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 Molotov cocktails at tanks “I heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’” I heard numerous Hungarians and Czechs privately, secretly express discontent with the Russian Communist totalitarian regime “I heard one person starve” I heard one person die in a Siberian Gulag, “starve” archaic: to suffer and die from cold. In manuscript “dying” “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” heard the sound of President Eisenhower, a former General “who cried in the alley” who was more worried about the AfricanAmericans in the ghetto than the oppressed in the Soviet Union and its slave states and as a result appointed the race traitor Earl Warren to the Supreme Court Also in manuscript possibly “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.” “Clown” as soldier or policeman; 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” riot after riot “Won’t you come see me Queen Jane” register and vote Republican Conservative 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 & 111 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY you must love her too / she lives in armor & prejudice…she is frightened of the clowns.” “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!” 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” 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 African-American “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” In 1960 Dylan wrote: So I got on a subway and took a seat Got out on 42nd Street. I met this fellow named Delores there, 112 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Dylan 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. “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 horrifying news items of the day, the 113 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 mud people “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 114 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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! “Poison” as something murderous, something fatal; Tombstone Blues 1966, “The hysterical bride in the penny arcade” the White girl in the worthless Black school “Screaming she moans, I’ve just been made” I missed my period and I am pregnant “Then sends out for the doctor who pulls down the shade” then sends out for the family doctor who tells her she is pregnant with a child that she knows will be partially dark; “shade” “Says, ‘My advice is to not let the boys in’” and he refuses to give her an abortion and advices her to have sex with White men not with Blacks “boys” “Now the medicine man comes and he shuffles inside” the African-American who has impregnated a White girl shuffles inside, just like Step N’ Fetch-it shuffled and he is gonna remedy things “He walks with a swagger” he is either drunk or proud of himself or both for having impregnated a White bitch “and he says to the bride” and he says to his victim “Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride” stop all of this regret, swallow your racial pride, your arrogance Tarantula, “tragedy, the broken pride” “You will not die, it’s not poison” having a Black baby is not fatal, at least for me. Desolation Row 1965; “Then they’ll kill him with self-confidence / After poisoning him with words” Mississippi 1997, “I’m drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past.” 115 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 116 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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-theless “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 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 117 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “A finger” the Communist Party, a group that designated him as an intended victim, as a martyr for their cause “finger” as to designate as a victim; 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 darkie “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. 118 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” the 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. “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-Americanslave relationship “of which under present western standards is an impossibility” which is impossible as slavery in universally condemned in the Western World. “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.” 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 119 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” “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. 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. 120 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” 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 121 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” “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 / 122 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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?” 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 the big nig, 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 123 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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.” Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone Magazine named this next poem the greatest rock and roll song ever written. 124 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY QUEEN JANE APPROXIMATELY 1965 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? When your mother sends back all your invitations And your father to your sister he explains When your family sends back offers to socialize because You’re tired of yourself and all of your creations You made a mistake supporting civil rights: creatures: One dependent on or subservient to another. Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Become a conservative, Queen Jane? Plain 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 of the flower ladies Flower: To develop naturally or fully; mature the politicians Want back what they have lent you Lent: To contribute or impart about civil rights. And the smell To appear to be dishonest or corrupt: Of their roses Optimistic outlook 125 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Does not remain To be left after the removal, loss, or destruction of all else. 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? Now when all the clowns that you have commissioned Have died in battle To force or accomplish by fighting, struggling, etc. Or in vain And you’re sick of all this repetition Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? When all the police and soldiers that you pay to keep African-Americans in line are killed in 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? When all of your advisers Lawyers, attorneys Heave 126 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Vomit Their plastic Marked by artificiality or superficiality: At your feet to convince To move by argument or evidence to belief, agreement, consent, or a course of action: to convince you of his guilt. You of your pain Trying to prove that your conclusions Law The formal closing of a legal complaint or pleading. 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? Now when all the bandits 3. Informal. a person who takes unfair advantage of others. That you turned your other cheek to To be submissive and refuse to retaliate even when provoked or treated badly All lay down their bandanas Do rags And complain 127 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY To make a formal accusation: You must complain to the legislators about segregation. And you want somebody you don’t have to speak to To reprimand: your father will speak to you later. 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 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 128 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY LIKE A ROLLING STONE 1965 129 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY fall” you are destined to decline in political influence and in ratio to the nonWhite 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 130 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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’.” 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. 131 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 132 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” 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 untermenchen 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 AfricanAmericans “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?” 133 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 134 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 in Catholicism “All dressed like men / Tell yo’ mama not to worry because / They’re just my friends.” “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.” 135 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 136 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 137 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 138 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 arunnin’ 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.” 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 139 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 the race mixers want you to be. The message about bussing in Like A Rolling Stone is totally different than what he wrote in Iron Train A-Travelin’ 1962 “Does the burning of the buses give your heart a pain?” SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES 1965 140 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 are 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” male servant and subordinate “in the trench coat” in a belted raincoat similar in style to a military officer’s uniform, also “trench” as in trench warfare “Badge out” wearing a button supporting the Civil Rights Movement “laid off” not on his normal job, in the federalized 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 big 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 darkies “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 loving President awarded a special cap as a 141 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY sign of rank and achievement by a bunch of coons with black skin “with the big” having and exercising considerable authority, control, and influence “pen” with the ability to sign legislation into law “Wants eleven dollar bills” wants to sign legislative bills that are prima fascia bogus because they oppress Whites “You only got ten” rather than the real thing, legislation which will benefit Whites who are the majority of Americans. 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 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 “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. 142 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” “Soot” as African-American; Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 Liner Notes 1962 “Later yet in New York town / On my own terms” in my own language of a certain kind, chosen words: ‘I spoke in poetic terms’ “I said with age” I said as did the members of my generation “The only beauty’s in the cracks” the only ones worth writing about are mentally defective African-Americans “an’ curbs” who are deliberately held back from advancing in society “Clothed in robes of” expressed in academic theories, noble words “a dust” of shit “an’ grime” “grime” synonym “soot” black dirt ingrained in a surface. “An’ I searched for it in every hole” and I looked for it 143 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY in every slum in every deep or isolated place of confinement; dungeon where these defectives could be found. “Dirt” and “dust” as slander and excrement; Emmett Till 1962, “If you can’t speak out against this kind of thing” the torture and murder of Emmett Till “a crime that’s so unjust, Your eyes are filled with dead men’s dirt” your thoughts are filled with derogatory gossip about Blacks from years past “your mind is filled with dust” and your brain is filled with shit “Your arms” all of your powers; Caribbean Wind 1985, “We went into the wall to where the long arm of the law could not reach “and legs” and your ability to move on groups like the Klan “must be in shackles and chains” must be severely restricted “And your blood it must refuse to flow” and you also must be an abject coward “For you to let the human race sink down so god awful low” for you to let these racist scum exist. 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” if you be the big nig like Martin Luther Coon you can get away with anything since the Supreme Court ruled that the FBI’s surveillance was illegal but the same does not go for your lawbreaking so you better “Walk on your tip toes” be careful if you have a desire for drugs “Don’t try, No Doz” better be cool if you intend to use coke “No Doz” is a caffeine pill used to stay awake “Better stay away from those / That carry around” avoid those who conceal on their person “a fire hose” a round barrel from which bullets can be fired, if you are gonna use drugs watch out for the cops “Keep a clean nose” don’t leave any traces of drug use that will incriminate you like powder on your nose “Watch the plainclothes” look out for undercover cops “You don’t need a weather man” you don’t need someone who 144 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. “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.” “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.” 145 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Get sick, get well Hang around an ink well Ring bell, hard to tell If anything is goin’ to sell Try hard, get barred Get back, write Braille Get nailed, jump bail Join the army, if you fail “Get sick get well” get through childhood diseases, recover but then face more danger “Hang around” sort of attend “an ink” a Black “ink” a dark brown fluid. Tarantula, “reach out, Queenie, reach out—feel for equal saggy skin & believe this dark playboy licking ink from your notebook” “well” school “well” an abundant source; ‘a well of knowledge,’ get through your childhood hurdles only to end up in an integrated school “Ring bell” something comes to an end and you graduate “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” punch in “Get nailed” keep fixed, motionless, “jump” take prompt advantage “bail” of a student loan and attend a community college “Join the army, if you fail” join the armed forces if you flunk out. “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’” “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 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 146 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” desolate lives “where you must put a nickel in the parking meter into the arms of notorious daughters.” “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 “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.” 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 147 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Ah get born” be native to a particular country, region, or place, be Americanborn “keep warm” in Hibbing Minnesota, where the temperatures are often subzero “Short pants” a short period of being embarrassed about sex then “romance” make out, maybe get laid “learn to dance” learn to sing “Get dressed” get decorated and adorned as a performer “get blessed” discover that you are endowed with talent “Try to be a success” get gigs “Please her, please him, buy gifts” accept the truth and feasibility of the value of other performers “Don’t steal” don’t steal music from them “don’t lift” don’t lift, plagiarize lyrics either “Twenty years of schoolin’” twenty years of on the job training “And they put you on the day shift” and you end up working the day shift in the Café Wha? in Greenwich Village where Manny Roth pays you practically nothing. “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.” Look out kid 148 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 namely miscegenation! “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.” “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” 149 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 My love she speaks like silence Without ideals or violence She doesn’t have to say she is faithful Yet she’s true like ice like fire People carry roses Make promises by the hour My love she laughs like the flowers Valentines can’t buy her 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.” 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 150 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY (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 (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) 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). 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 151 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 (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 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 152 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 153 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 154 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 155 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, AfricanAmericanized, 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. IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH A TRAIN TO CRY 1965 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 An orderly succession of related events or thoughts; a sequence. See Synonyms at series. Can’t buy a thrill To feel a sudden sensation of pleasure Well, I’ve been up Slang Happily excited; euphoric: After receiving the shot, the performer was really up. All night, baby Leanin’ on the windowsill 156 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Nearly 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 Don’t the moon look good, mama 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 157 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Goin’ down over the sea? Don’t my gal look fine When she’s comin’ after me? 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 The political parties are filled with a cold manner or period of disaffection: a frost in diplomatic relations. 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. 158 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 159 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 160 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. “Door” as opportunity; Let’s Keep It Between Us 1982, “Before doors close and our togetherness comes to an end.” Poem to Woody 1961, “You need something to open up a new door.” 161 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Go lightly from the ledge, babe Go lightly on the ground I’m not the one you want, babe I will only let you down You say you’re lookin’ for someone Who will promise never to part Someone to close his eyes for you Someone to close his heart Someone who will die for you an’ 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 lightly from the ledge, babe Go carefully from your suicidal positions Go lightly on the ground Go lightly, don’t give a long sentence to, the planet earth, die already I’m not the one you want, babe I will only let you down I do not share your thinking but you don’t know it You say you’re lookin’ for someone Who will promise never to part Someone to close his eyes for you To Stalin and totalitarianism etc. Someone to close his heart And not worry about Communism’s victims Someone who will die for you an’ more 162 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 163 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 164 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 "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. 165 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 a wedding vow” and as if I 166 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 167 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 168 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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.” 169 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. The lamppost stands with folded arms Its iron claws attached To curbs ‘neath holes where babies wail Though it shadows metal badge 170 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 “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 171 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 still remains” but nonetheless remains “Upon the beach” on the beach known as the Bay of Pigs “where hound dogs” contemptible person; a scoundrel. “bay” there’s that word “Bay” as in Bay of Pigs “At ships” at 172 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY airships “with tattooed sails” with false markings “Heading for the Gates of Eden” returning to the United States after Kennedy cancelled the airstrikes. “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 173 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” 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 174 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 175 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 176 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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” 177 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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, nigger “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 178 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 179 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 180 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 181 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 “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 182 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 183 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 184 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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 185 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 pruninghooks: 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." 186 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 "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 187 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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” 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 188 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 anti189 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, “back here, literate old man with rebel flag above / home sweet home” who is standing on high moral ground “sign 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 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. “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 for long “and sweet” and was alleged heavily morality-based “It nearly swept me off-a my feet” and it nearly swept away my ambitions to become part of the pop music scene. 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. 190 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 191 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 192 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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’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” too far to the Left, because that is where the clergy is at “That not much is 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 193 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 194 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 195 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 AfricanAmerican. 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” 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. 196 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 197 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 198 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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 199 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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 200 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 nigger 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. 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 201 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 antiCommunist 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. 202 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 203 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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… 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: 204 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 205 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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. 206 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 207 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY learned about Communism “Can lead to hundred-dollar plates” and 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. 208 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” 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. 209 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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. 210 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 211 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.’ 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 212 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 213 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 214 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 215 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. "The darkness" something exhibiting or stemming from evil characteristics or forces; sinister "at the break" "break" that will weaken or destroy, as in spirit or health; overwhelm with adversity; also force out or release suddenly and violently "of noon" at a time to leave or face the consequences; Tarantula, "Doc's gonna have to leave by noon" Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You, "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. Additionally 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 "even the silver spoon" including the President John F. Kennedy "The handmade blade" the ICBM which has the tapered outline of a blade "the child's balloon" Sputnik, the round Russian 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. Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn 216 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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!" 217 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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? 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 218 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 219 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 offferings 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 "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 220 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy 221 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 222 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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. 223 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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 224 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. "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 225 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 226 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY promotion of information to damage the cause of a government "all is phony" is prima fascia false. 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? 227 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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 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 counterrevolutionaries 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 228 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 229 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 230 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 231 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 twentyfour. 232 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 233 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 234 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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 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, 235 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 236 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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 Bertolt 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 237 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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" 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. 238 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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" 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! “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 239 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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. 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 240 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 241 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 242 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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, 243 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. Maggies Farm continues: 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 244 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 245 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 246 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 influence the course of events. Also in the Chicago 247 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 248 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 249 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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’ 250 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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 251 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 252 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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” 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.” 253 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 obtain or appropriate unscrupulously or forcibly you better nationalize it fast “Yonder stands your 254 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 255 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 256 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 257 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 258 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 259 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 blindman’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 The ghost of ’lectricity howls in the bones of her face Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place 260 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 261 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 262 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 263 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 264 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 265 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 266 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Circus Informal Something suggestive of a circus, as in frenetic activity or noisy disorder Here comes the blind commissioner 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 267 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY From Desolation Row From America 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, The word "Cinderella" has, by analogy, come to mean one whose attributes were unrecognized, or one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect. Is this about Fidel Castro? She seems so easy (sarcastic) Their success is likely to happen by accident or without intention “It takes one to know one,” she smiles Fidel cons America into believing he is a revolutionary like George Washington and not a dirty low down communist And puts her hands in her back pockets Then puts her hands in someone who is part of a group or crew: the ship's hands in a small pocket of political thought Bette Davis style 268 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Hollywood movie style And in comes Romeo, he’s moaning “You Belong to Me I Believe” Then in comes John Kennedy he’s moaning, Cuba belongs to the Free World I believe, in an insecure, wavering style And someone says, “You’re in the wrong place my friend You better leave” You shouldn’t be president you should resign Place: High rank or status. And the only sound that’s left And the only speeches that are Leftist After the ambulances go After the Bay of Pigs Is Cinderella sweeping up On Desolation Row Is Fidel Castro forcing the United States into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action; "They were swept up by the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis." 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 269 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 270 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 271 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 272 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 273 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 274 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY They’re trying to blow it up 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” 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 275 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “Get Outa Here If You Don’t Know Casanova is just being punished for going To Desolation Row” 276 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 277 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 278 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 279 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Against their will And then the kerosene 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 280 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY (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 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 281 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 282 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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) 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 283 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 284 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 285 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 286 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 287 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 288 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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’ 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. 289 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN 1966 ALTERNATIVE 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 290 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 amoaning” 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 291 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 292 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 293 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I'm a sweet bourbon daddy 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 294 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY And nose that doe And bake that doe Tell ’em all That Tiny says hello Scratch your dad 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 295 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Join the monks The C.I.O. Tell ’em all That Tiny Montgomery says hello 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 296 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Join the monks The C.I.O. Join a union of junkies Tell ’em all That Tiny Montgomery says hello Now grease that pig 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 297 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 dop Take it on in In a plucking cup Shoot it up. a sudden pull or tug Three-legged man 298 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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! 299 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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” 300 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, she pleaded / From the corners” from a remote, secret place like the Kremlin “of her mouth” 301 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 w “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.” 302 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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… 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 303 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 millieu 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. 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 acustic 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 304 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 socalled 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 305 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Headlines in many newspapers spanning the width of a newspaper page of the field of World War II where good people died at the direction of their commanders. Death camp victims separated from their loved ones ??? 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 The cold-blooded moon The captain waits above the celebration 306 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 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. 307 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “She wakes him up” Dylan is awakened to the dangers of Communism “Fortyeight 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. 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. 308 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 309 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY hearts” innermost feelings “must have the courage” mental strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger “for the changing of the guards” to accept new ideas; “old guard” a faction that is unwilling to accept new ideas. Peace will come With tranquillity 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 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 310 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 311 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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, 312 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. “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 313 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 314 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Right of “your picture down off the wall” of the songs I was writing that wer 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 Well, I get up in the dawn and I go down and lay in the shade 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 315 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Well, the warm weather is comin' and the buds are on the vine The warm weather's comin', the buds are on the vine Ain't nothing so depressing as trying to satisfy this woman of mine 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 316 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 To deal with in writing or speech; Dylan gave a speech in front of the CPUSA at the Emergency Civil Liberties Award dinner where he put them down big time You shouldn’t take it so personal 317 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 When I saw you say “goodbye” to your friend and smile I thought that it was well understood to become aware of the intended meaning of (a poem for example): 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 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 sqeeze 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 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 318 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I couldn’t see what you could show me Your scarf had kept your mouth well hid To eat or drink voraciously; devour: "Americans scarf down 50 million hot dogs on an average summer day" You fed me so I let your big mouth slide. I couldn’t see how you could know me But you said you knew me and I believed you did I couldn’t see how you could understand what I was really saying When you whispered in my ear And asked me if I was leavin’ with you or her When you booed me at the ECLU event and asked me if I was leaving with capitalism or communism I didn’t realize just what I did hear I didn’t realize how young you were Lacking experience; immature: 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 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 319 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY That you were just kiddin’ me, you weren’t really from the farm This is the 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 anyway why not wait until the majority of the population ridicules race mixing and integration? “& WOWEE smash & the rage of it” 320 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY An’ I told you, as you clawed out my eyes Seized my thoughts That I never really meant to do you any harm sarcastic DYLAN’S SUICIDE ATTEMPT 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. ONLY A HOBO 1961 As I was out walking on a corner one day 321 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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 322 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 323 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. “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 324 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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. 325 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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” 326 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY be grateful for the imaginative poems I left you, my songs “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. 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 side- walk 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’ 327 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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. 328 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” 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. Dylan was down in the dumps. He vowed that if he failed in his bid for fame and fortune he would take his own life in a dramatic fashion. Early Dylan biographer Tony Scaduto asked if I heard that Dylan had attempted suicide in 1961 by having threatened to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge? (Dylan biographer Robert Spitz 329 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY reported a suicide attempt around this time). I told Tony that I had not but this made sense in light of Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “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 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 330 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 331 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 332 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY SOME OTHER KINDS OF SONGS 1964 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: 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 333 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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 334 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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: 335 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY (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 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 336 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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" 337 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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. 338 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 under stress, anxiety or depression. Crutches of this kind include alcohol, drugs and tobacco. 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, 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 339 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 340 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, Saviorthose 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 “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 341 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Bellevue or Kings County for psychiatric observation while you are trapped in the desolate world of folk music. SUICIDE 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, (so why not 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?" 342 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” It was at this time that Dylan wrote Only a Hobo and Man In The Street two poems that allegorically depicted the demise of a folk singer. 343 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 YOU CAN CALL ME AL 1986 344 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 345 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 have easily gone over and done it. I'll admit to having this suicidal thing... but I came through this time. 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. 346 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 347 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 atravelin’” 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.” “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. 348 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 pours salt” a colorless or 349 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 350 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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.” 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' 351 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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. "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. 352 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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, 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 selfindulgent, gluttonous, filthy fans. Also “hog,” a rough, flat scrubbing broom for 353 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 354 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 355 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! 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. 356 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. DELIA 1993 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 357 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 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. 358 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 will be a reciprocal arrangement “Mother you know, must hear the news” your conscience dictates that you hear songs of this nature “So write to her tenderly” so I will write songs to assuage her guilt. “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 359 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. But among the dead that were left on the hill 360 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 361 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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? “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. OUTLAW BLUES 1965 Ain’t gonna hang no picture Ain’t gonna hang no picture frame. Well, I might look like Robert Ford But I feel just like a Jesse James. “Ain’t gonna hang no picture” I am not going to make a movie like Birth of a Nation glorifying lynching carried out by the Ku Klux Klan in no uncertain terms, “Ain’t gonna hang no picture frame” I am not going to make a single picture on a roll of movie film about this “Well, I might look like Robert Ford” I might look like a race traitor, “But I feel just like a Jesse James” but I feel like a racist outlaw. Oh, I wish I was on some Australian mountain range. I got no reason to be there, but I Imagine it would be some kind of change. 362 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Oh, I wish I was on some / Australian mountain range” I wish I was in a country where only Whites were allowed to immigrate to like Australia where the range of societal problems are less “I got no reason to be there” I have no business there “but I imagine it would be some kind of change” but anyway it would be quite a change from the immigration and race mixing policies of the United States. I got my dark sunglasses, I’m carryin’ for good luck my black tooth. Don’t ask me nothin’ about nothin’, I just might tell you the truth. “I got my dark sunglasses” I am a Hollywood celebrity among the darkies “I’m carryin’ for good luck my black tooth” I am writing songs asking for the government to put some teeth into the way it treats Blacks, pass a Civil Rights Bill, so that I can get rich “Don’t ask me nothin’ about nothin’” but don’t ask me what I think about Negroes “I just might tell you the truth” because it is very unlikely I will tell you. “Sunglasses” as Hollywood celebrity Chronicles, “wearing Hollywood-ish sunglasses” Poem to Woody 1961, “And inside of the people made of molasses” sugar, money “That every other day buy a new pair of sunglasses” that are fickle in their choice of Hollywood entertainers Liner Notes to Desire 1976, describing his poetry “seen at times through dark sunglasses” through Hollywood stardom “an’ other forms of psychic explosion” and nervous breakdowns and other forms of insanity. I got a woman in Jackson, I ain’t gonna say her name. She’s a brown-skin woman, But I love her just the same. “I got a woman in Jackson” I have some more cover, a woman who accompanied me to Mississippi to sing at a voter registration rally “I ain’t gonna say her name” you would recognize it if I did “She’s a brown-skin woman” she’s a light skinned 363 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY African-American, a beaner named Baez “but I / Love her just the same” sarcastic, why even bring this up if it was not significant. JOLENE 2009 Well you’re comin’ down High Street, walkin’ in the sun You make the dead man rise, and holler she’s the one Jolene, Jolene Baby, I am the king and you’re the queen “Well you’re comin’ down High Street” you are at or near the peak of your career Joanie, “you are walkin’ in the sun” you are living in the public eye ‘in the sun’ “You make the dead man” you make someone not commercially productive; idle “rise” become more popular, get an erection “and holler she’s the one” and sing with her and have sex with her “Jolene, Jolene Baby, I am the king” I am the male considered as the best or most important of its kind in the field of folk “and you’re the queen” and you are the queen, you have female eminence and supremacy in the domain of folk music. Well it’s a long old highway, don’t ever end I’ve got a Saturday night special, I’m back again I’ll sleep by your door, lay my life on the line You probably don’t know, but I’m gonna make you mine Jolene, Jolene baby, I am the king and you’re the queen “Well it’s a long old highway, don’t ever end” it was really rough when I first came to New York City and associated myself with the Old Left; Standing On The Highway 1962 “Well, I’m standin’ on the highway / One roads goin’ to the bright lights, / The others goin’ down to my grave” “I’ve got a Saturday night special, I’m back again” I had a harmonica gig on Midnight Special thanks to Harry Belafonte “I’ll sleep by your door” I am comfortable awaiting for the opportunity you will provide me with “lay my life on the line” and travel to a voter registration drive in Mississippi “You probably don’t know, but I’m gonna make you mine” you didn’t 364 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY know it back then but your association with me rather than vice versa will further your future career. I keep my hands in my pocket, I’m movin’ along People think they know, but they’re all wrong You’re something nice, I’m gonna grab my dice I can’t say I haven’t paid the price Jolene, Jolene baby I am the king and you’re the queen “I keep my hands in my pocket” I keep my musical compositions confined to a small, isolated group “I’m movin’ along” they dig my riff “People think they know, but they’re all wrong” people think they know what side my songs are on politically but they are wrong, not Right “You’re something nice, I’m gonna grab” take and grasp suddenly “my dice” my protest songs, Tarantula, “malnutrition & thinking they’re too smart & you with the dice & forever uniform…receiving some degree & while giving it to your wall” “I can’t say I haven’t paid the price” I had to further an ideology that is repugnant to me. Well I found out the hard way, I’ve had my fill You can’t find somebody with his back to a hill Those big brown eyes, they set off a spark When you hold me in your arms things don’t look so dark Jolene, Jolene baby I am the king and you’re the queen “Well I found out the hard way” I found out from first-hand experience “I’ve had my fill” I have plugged up your vagina with my pecker “You can’t find somebody with his back to a hill” you will never find a lover in someone who has turned his back on your brand of politics, “hill” as in Capitol Hill “Those big brown eyes” those high falutin’ race mixin’ thoughts “they set off a spark” they were responsible for murders such as that of Medgar Evers; Only A Pawn In Their Game 1964, “A hand set the spark” “When you hold me in your arms things don’t look so dark” sarcastic: when I am in your power I forget about the darkies and I forget about your dark skin. 365 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY BELLE ISLE 1970 One evening for pleasure I rambled to view The fair fields all alone Down by the banks of Loch Eiron Where beauty and pleasure were known “One evening” during a later concluding time period; ‘the evening of my career in rock and roll music’ Tell Old Bill 2009, “The evenin’ sun is sinkin’ low” “for pleasure” sarcastic; to please myself, to satisfy my desires, to be self-indulgent “I rambled” I changed my focus “to view” conduct a systematic survey; a view of American Folk Music “The fair” Leftwing, equitable “fields” area of specialization, the folk music world “all alone” without a band backing me up “Down by the banks” down by the record companies “of Loch Eiron” located in some obscure place like folk music “Where beauty” something deserving of a high level of respect gained by impressive development and achievement “and pleasure” and the pleasure that it brings “were known” were recognized and appreciated by the folk crowd. “Fair” as equitable, in accordance with relative merit and significance. Marx, “To each according to his needs” As I Went Out One Morning 1968, “I spied the fairest damsel that ever did walk in chains.” I spied a fair maid at her labor Which caused me to stay for a while And I thought of a goddess to beauty Blooming’ bright star of Bright Isle. “I spied” I spied, as if I was an undercover FBI Agent, “a fair maid” a Communist woman, “maid” as in the Communist song Union Maid and as in “old maid” as in Desolation Row 1966, “at her labor” singing songs that favored the working class “which caused me to stay for a while” which caused me to pretend to join the Left for a short while “And I thought of a goddess to beauty” I devised a plan to use this woman with a beautiful voice in my rise to fame “Bloomin’” Joan Baez who 366 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY was growing and flourishing with youth and vigor “bright star” who was the brightest star, the most popular, yet not the brightest when it came to intelligence “of Bright Isle” of the folk music world. I humbled myself to her beauty “Fair maiden, where do you belong? Are you from heaven descended Abiding in Cupid’s fair throne?” “I humbled myself” sarcastic; I formulated a low opinion of myself compared “to her beauty” her voice, her songs “Fair maiden where do you belong?” Joan what century do you belong in? Your songs are certainly not from this one “Are you from heaven descended” are you a freakin’ reincarnation of some old English balladeer “Abiding in Cupid’s fair throne” still singing morbid love songs like Barbara Allen? “Young man, I will tell you a secret It’s true I’m a maid that is poor And to part from my vows and my promise Is more than my heart can endure. “Young man” Bob Dylan “I will tell you a secret” I will tell you the secret formula of my success “It’s true I’m a maid that is poor” it’s true that I am folksinger and a supporter of the Left which is not the best thing to be in the world “But to part from my vows and my promise” but to break my promise to perform a specified act and behave in a certain manner that I made to the Left “Is more than my heart can endure” is more than my true, innermost feelings can tolerate. Therefore I remain at my service And go through all my hardship and toil And wait for the lad that has left me All alone on the banks of Belle Isle” “Therefore I remain at my service” therefore I remain at the disposal of the Left including the Communist Party and its intelligence service “And go through all my hardship” and suffer at the hands of repressive forces “and toil” and labor with 367 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY difficulty “And wait for” eagerly anticipate the return of “the lad that has left me” Bob Dylan, who was never a Leftist and ain’t comin’ back because he wasn’t there to begin with “All alone” indifferent to the approval of a wider audience “on the banks” in the recording companies “of Belle Isle” of folk music. “Young maiden I wish not to banter It’s true I come here in disguise I came here to fulfill our last promise And hope to give you a surprise. “Young maiden” gullible Joanie “I wish not to banter” I am not trying to trick you with my protest songs “It’s true I come here in disguise” it is true that I hate folk music, I hate the Left and I am here pretending to be one of you because I harbor ulterior motives “I came here to fulfill our last promise” I came here to fulfill the promise of using folk music as a backdoor to enter the real world of rock and roll “And hope to give you a surprise” and I am going to surprise the shit out of you someday when I leave this sick world of commies and comsymps behind and start singing anti-Communist rock and roll songs. ROLLING AND TUMBLING 2006 Well, I get up in the dawn and I go down and lay in the shade 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 “Well, I get up” I get an erection “in the dawn” when I first begin to appear and develop; emerge “and I go down and lay in” have sex with “the shade” a beaner, a Hispanic, a half-breed, “shade” the degree to which a color is mixed with black; gradation of darkness. Dylan described Joan Baez in Tarantula, “crippled mermaid singing & listen that’s her singing now & she meows too. Tarantula, “on sweet” believing she is operating on high moral grounds “mermaid she sings of ideals, different formulas & wild cookbooks / dark Scary” “I ain’t nobody’s house boy” I ain’t a native boy who helped a soldier perform basic responsibilities; I am not helping the Kremlin achieve its goals. Also I am not being kept around to be used 368 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY by Baez as a sexual object “I ain’t nobody’s well trained maid” I am not a cardcarrying obedient Communist like Baez who was taught to sing by a voice trainer and sung in a well-trained three octave soprano voice. Note use of “maid” in all three poems. 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. 369 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 370 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 371 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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 372 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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. 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 373 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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’! 374 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. Dylan got HIV through numerous heterosexual, bareback contacts, not through IV drug use or homosexuality. 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. 375 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY SOME OTHER KINDS OF SONGS 1964 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? "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? The next poem, Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands 1966, is about New York City, which is home to the liberal media. 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? 376 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “With your mercury mouth” A god that served as messenger, now a newspaper “in the missionary times” One who attempts to persuade or 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!” 377 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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? 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 . . 378 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” 379 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Chloe Kiel “the 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. 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 380 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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? 381 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Silhouettes” as colored people; Chronicles, “He was noir all the way—dark sombrero, black britches, high boots, slip-on gloves—all shadow and silhouettedimmed 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 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 Tyrus 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 Tyrus” 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 382 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.’ 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 383 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 384 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 385 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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? 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 386 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. “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. 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 387 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 I pity the poor immigrant Who wishes he would’ve stayed home, Who uses all his power to do evil But in the end is always left so alone. That man whom with his fingers cheats And who lies with ev’ry breath, Who passionately hates his life And likewise, fears his death. “I pity the poor immigrant” I pity the North Vietnamese soldier who infiltrates into South Vietnam “Who wishes he would’ve stayed home” and regrets having done so “Who uses all his power to do evil” who uses all his firepower to further Communism “But in the end is always left so alone” but in the end, like other Leftists, is defeated “That man whom with his fingers cheats” the man who with his informants within the indigenous populations cheats American soldiers out of their lives “And who lies with ev’ry breath” and as a result has to take cover when his fire is returned “Who passionately hates his life” who is convinced that he is a victim of an unjust economic system “And likewise, fears his death” and as a result is willing to support a totalitarian regime where he could be summarily executed. I pity the poor immigrant Who tramples through the mud Who fills his mouth with laughing And who builds his town with blood, Whose visions in the final end Must shatter like the glass. 388 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I pity the poor immigrant When his gladness comes to pass. “I pity the poor immigrant” I pity the poor North Vietnamese soldier “Who tramples through the mud” who tramples, treads and stomps heavily and roughly across the jungles of Vietnam “Who fills his mouth” who fills his empty conviction-less talk “with laughing” with derision for America, with a feeling of a triumphant sense of well-being and who can exist on a very small amount of rice “And who builds his town with blood” and who attacks strategic hamlets set up by the United States “Whose visions in the final end” whose dreams for a Communist Vietnam after the war has ended “Must shatter like the glass” must shatter like any other illusion “I pity the poor immigrant / When his gladness comes to pass” I pity the poor North Vietnamese soldiers when his willingness to fight dissipates and he finds that he has no choice but to go on fighting. “Mud” as battlefield; Long Ago, Far Away, “The war guns they went off wild” went off freely “The whole world bled its blood / Men’s bodies floated on the edge” human lives hung in the balance as men were on the very edge of the abyss of death “Of oceans made of mud” in vast battlefields. 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 sweet pretty things Ostensibly or superficially attractive but lacking substance or conviction: full of pretty phrases sentimental or unrealistic 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 389 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY manufacturers. 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 Endorse To express approval or support of, esp. publicly: to endorse a political candidate. 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. But the town has no need to be nervous Marked by or having a feeling of unease or apprehension 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 A returning or haunting memory or image. 390 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY She hands down her wits Fig. to announce or deliver a (legal) verdict or indictment. The grand jury handed seven indictments down last week. The jury handed down a guilty verdict. Wits Sound mental faculties; sanity: scared out of my wits. To Jezebel the nun she violently knits (sometimes not capital) a shameless or scheming woman one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. A bald wig for Jack the Ripper who sits At the head of the chamber of commerce Mama’s in the fact’ry She ain’t got no shoes Daddy’s in the alley 391 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY He’s lookin’ for the fuse I’m in the streets With the tombstone blues 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 laughable newly married young woman / a person that causes great amusement grumbles or complains that she is pregnant and the doctor tell her not to have sex with young boys eligible for the draft because they want to get married. 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 man who must take his medicine for what he did to get a deferment on his draft card shuffle - intermix playing cards or draft cards. Swagger rare to force, influence, etc, by blustering and tell the bride decide to do something although it will make you feel embarrassed or ashamed: 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?” 392 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 whimp.” 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 393 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 The rape of civilians causes the Geneva Conventions to be tossed away and makes the prostitutes “worthless” - morally reprehensible; "would do something as despicable as prostitution" But the tears droplets of semen and her cheeks (Either of the buttocks) are from laughter rather than from being anally raped. 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 394 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 395 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Where Ma Rainey (mother of the blues) and Beethoven (father of classical music) once unwrapped unwrap - make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; Their bedroll Roll a succession of sounds. Examples: roll of drums (drum beats) Tuba players Tuba - The Latin word for "trumpet." Military bands Now rehearse To practice (an action) by repetition so as to improve performance: rehearse military maneuvers. Around the flagpole Nationalism And the National Bank A bank chartered by the U.S. government and formerly authorized to issue notes that served as money. At a profit 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 wartorn area. For the soul To the old folks home the congress And the college An electoral college. 396 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. And cool you To make less ardent, intense, or zealous: And cease the pain Of your useless and pointless knowledge 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 397 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” immoderate and wild “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 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. 398 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 399 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 because you remind me of something that used to be / Somethin’ that crossed over from another century?” or is it something I inherited genetically? 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 sabre and you’ve picked up the baton Somethin’ there is about you that I can’t quite put my finger on 400 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 hand’s on the sabre” 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. 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 401 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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.” 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, 402 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 403 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 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 404 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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. 405 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 reborn, in Jesus case he was resurrected in Dylan’s; spiritually reborn and converted ‘a bornagain 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.” Sara Dylan born October 28, 1939 in Wilmington, Delaware as Shirley Marlin Noznisky to Isaac and Bessie Noznisky and later known as Sara Lownds, was married to Bob Dylan from November 1965 until their divorce in June 1977. Sara was a tough cookie. When I spoke with Dylan he was always alluding to the fact that “his wife might hit him” and I witnessed her attack two reporters. Al Aronowitz reported that her father Isaac, a scrap metal dealer and first generation Jewish immigrant, was killed on November 20, 1956 in the course of a robbery. I know from the research I did into the life of Jack Ruby that the mob controlled the scrap metal business on the East Coast in the 1950’s and that many 406 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY an incriminating vehicle was disposed of by mob associates in this field, but I could not link Mr. Noznisky with organized crime. WE BETTER TALK THIS OVER 1978 I think we better talk this over Maybe when we both get sober You’ll understand I’m only a man Doing the best that I can. “I think we better talk this over” I think we sound reconsider our decision to get a divorce “Maybe when we both get sober” maybe after you stop drinking and I stop using dope. “You’ll understand I’m only a man / Doing the best that I can” you will understand that I am subject to the temptations of the flesh and I am doing the best I can under these circumstances. This situation can only get rougher Why should we needlessly suffer? Let’s call it a day go our own different way Before we decay. “This situation” this critical, problematic, and striking set of circumstances “can only get rougher” might get violent “Why should we needlessly suffer?” why go through all of this “Let’s call it a day go our own different way” lets get divorced and separate “Before we decay” before we get too old to find new spouses. You don’t have to be afraid of looking into my face We’ve done nothing to each other time will not erase. Oh child, why you wanna hurt me? I’m exiled you can’t convert me I’m lost in the haze of your delicate ways With both eyes glazed. 407 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “You don’t have to be afraid of looking into my face” you don’t have to be afraid of assessing the damage that you did to my face “We’ve done nothing to each other time will not erase” it will heal. “Oh child, why you wanna hurt me? I’m exiled you can’t convert me” I have left the Jewish religion and I am not coming back “I’m lost in the haze” I took a beating, a hazing “of your delicate ways” from your violent ways “With both eyes glazed” with two black eyes. I feel displaced, I got a low-down feeling You been two-faced, you been double- dealing. I took a chance, got caught in the trance Of a downhill dance. “I feel displaced” I had to move like a refugee and I have been displaced as your husband “I got a low-down feeling” and everyone knows it since it is all over the press “low down” as in inside information given to a reporter “You been twofaced” you have been with non-Jews, people of a race other than your own “you been double-dealing” you been cheating on me bitch “I took a chance” I knew I took a chance marrying you “got caught in the trance / Of a downhill dance” but I was caught in web of drug addiction. In relation to Dylan’s love for heroin in Mr. Tambourine Man 1964, “Cast you dancin’ spell” trance “my way I promise to go under it” as one goes under the narcotic effects of a drug. But I don’t think it’s liable to happen Like the sound of one hand clappin’. The vows that we kept are now broken and swept ‘Neath the bed where we slept. “But I don’t think it’s liable to happen” it is unlikely that we will reunite “Like the sound of one hand” like an old hand at something “clappin’” getting the clap, “clap” a common venereal disease aka gonorrhea. Tarantula contains numerous passages where Sigmund Freud, who linked sexuality with almost everything, is linked to “Mr. Clap,” “Freud paces back & forth—struggling with his boot & trying to finish his Vermouth—”fraid you got the wrong idea Mr. Clap.” “The vows that we kept” the marriage vows we once kept “are now broken and swept” and have 408 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY been swept under the carpet, deliberately forgotten about “‘Neath the bed where we slept” because of both of our cheating on one another. Don’t think of me and fantasize on what we never had Be grateful for what we’ve shared together and be glad. Why should we go on watching each other through a telescope? Eventually we’ll hang ourselves on all this tangled rope. “Don’t think of me and fantasize on what we never had” don’t carry all this bitterness and resentment around just because I could not be loyal to you “Be grateful for what we’ve shared together and be glad” be happy you got to spend some time with someone of my caliber and be glad “Why should we go on watching each other through a telescope?” why should we hire private eyes to spy on one another? “Eventually we’ll hang ourselves on all this tangled rope” eventually we will destroy one another in divorce court, “tangle” something jumbled and confused; ‘a tangle of divorce law.’ Oh, babe, time for a new transition I wish I was a magician. I would wave a wand and tie back the bond That we’ve both gone beyond. “Oh, babe, time for a new transition” time for a change “I wish I was a magician / I would wave a wand” perform a miracle, whip out my dick “and tie back the bond” and renew our marital ties “That we’ve both gone beyond” that we both irrevocably left behind. 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. 409 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 410 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! IN THE GARDEN 1980 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.” 411 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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. 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 412 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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? 413 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 now 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. 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 414 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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, 415 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 alcohol “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 of 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! I don’t need no alibi when I’m spending time with you I’ve heard all of them rumors you have heard them 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. 416 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 in his articles and 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 nor the heroin habit that it feeds. 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 fooled by a ruse and tactic used to mislead and delay, the false, satanic religion of the Jews. 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, 417 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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?” SOLID ROCK 1980 For me He was chastised, for me He was hated, 418 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 419 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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 420 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 421 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 422 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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” “ 423 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 424 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 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. 425 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 426 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 427 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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-ofart 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 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 428 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Rothchild family were falsely 429 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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.” 430 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 431 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 432 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 433 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 434 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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? GOD KNOWS 1990 God knows you ain’t pretty, God knows it’s true. God knows there ain’t anybody Ever gonna take the place of you. God knows it’s a struggle God knows it’s a crime God knows there’s gonna be no more water But fire next time. “God knows you ain’t pretty” the Lord knows Arab terrorists act in an ugly, violent fashion “God knows it’s true” God is certain of that because one of his commandments was Thou Shalt Not Kill “God knows there ain’t anybody / Ever gonna take the place of you” but the Lord knows that the Jews are not going to replace Palestinian Arabs in the land of Palestine therefore “God knows it’s a struggle” God knows the Palestinian uprising is not terrorism but a struggle for a wronged people’s self-determination “God knows it’s a crime” the Lord knows that passing the suffering of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis off on the 435 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Palestinians is a crime “God knows there’s gonna be no more water” God knows that Israelis are going to stop using water cannons and rubber bullets “But fire next time” and use bullets next time, as they did in Gaza in 2009. God didn’t call it treason God didn’t call it wrong, It was supposed to last a season But it’s been so strong for so long. “God didn’t call it treason” the Palestinians did not take up arms against their own government “God didn’t call it wrong” God thinks they are doing the right thing fighting the Israelis “It was supposed to last a season” the Israelis believed they could suppress this rebellion, this intifada, quickly “But it’s been so strong for so long.” THE CAT’S IN THE WELL 1990 The cat’s in the well and grief is showing its face The world’s being slaughtered and it’s such a bloody disgrace. The cat’s in the well, the horse is going bumpety bump. The cat’s in the well, and the horse is going bumpety bump. Back alley Sally is doing the American jump. “The cat’s in the well” the Jews are “poisoning the well” in the Middle East just like they did to the Christians during the Middle Ages “and grief is showing its face” and intense sorrow caused by the loss of a loved one is prevalent in many Palestinian Arabs, and the cause of the grief is the Jewish race “The world’s being slaughtered” the Palestinians are being exterminated “and it’s such a bloody” “bloody” accompanied by or giving rise to bloodshed “disgrace” and it is bringing disfavor and discredit to Israel and to Jews in general “The cat’s in the well, and the horse” the Rightwing revisionist Likud candidate Yitzhak Shamir “is going bumpety bump” is assigning peace to a lower position and priority “Back alley Sally” Israel, a country that engages in back channel, back alley, diplomacy “is doing the American jump” is eagerly going along with American foreign policy. 436 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The cat’s in the well, and papa is reading the news. His hair is falling out and all of his daughters need shoes. The cat’s in the well and the barn is full of bull The night is so long and the table is oh, so full “The cat’s in the well” the Israelis are polluting the Middle East and “and papa” an American worker “is reading” learning from, understanding, deciphering “the news” the news about Israel “His hair is falling out” he losing his political strength “and all of his daughters need shoes” and his children need jobs, positions; the money spent on foreign aid to Israel used to suppress the intifada would be better spent domestically “The cat’s in the well and the barn” “barn” a building located in the country: Camp David “is full of bull” is considered to be a load of bullshit by Israel “The night is so long” the absence of morality of the present time persists much longer than it should “and the table is oh, so full” sarcastic, and the negotiating table is filled with negotiators. 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 leaves are starting to fall The cat’s in the well, leaves are starting to fall Goodnight, my love, may the lord have mercy on us all. “The cat’s in the well and the servant” the Jews are polluting the Middle East and the Arab soldier “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” and the Israelis, the slaves of the United States, the dogs of war “are going to war” are going to war “The cat’s in the well, leaves” the Jews are polluting the Middle East and the leafs, entire pages, of the Bible “are starting to fall” are beginning to fail and fall into disfavor with the Israelis “Goodnight, my love” you are going into that eternal night, my love “may the lord have mercy on us all” and may God forgive us for our sins. “Goodnight” as death, Ten Thousand Men 1990, “10.000 women all dressed in white” numerous politically ultraconservative and reactionary Israeli Arabs “Standing at my window” taking a 437 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY political stand in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, “wishing me goodnight” wishing to see the State of Israel destroyed. 2X2 1990 One by one, they followed the sun One by one, until there were none. Two by two, to their lovers they flew Two by two, into the foggy dew. Three by three, they danced on the sea Four by four, they danced on the shore Five by five, they tried to survive, Six by six, they were playing with tricks. “One by one, they followed the sun” one by one the majority of Palestinians were turned into refugees after the 1948 Israeli-Arab war and followed a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events, the Chief Mufti of Jerusalem who told the Palestinians to flee for their lives “One by one, until there were none” one by one until there were no Palestinians left in the State of Israel just ‘Israeli Arabs’ “Two by two, to their lovers they flew” many went to refugee camps in the West Bank, many to refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon, and others to an Egyptian run camp in the Gaza Strip “Two by two, into the foggy dew” they went into an uncertain future “Three by three, they danced on the sea” the Palestinians danced the dance that Israel choreographed also danced at weddings and reproduced in Gaza which is on the Mediterranean Sea “Four by four, they danced on the shore” they began to multiply in the West Bank “Five by five, they tried to survive / Six by six, they were playing with tricks” eventually they began developing a knack for terrorism. Also “trick” an artifice or stratagem; a cunning contrivance; a sly procedure. How many paths did they try and fail? How many of their brothers and sisters lingered in jail? How much poison did they inhale? How many black cats crossed their trail? How many tomorrow’s have are they given away? 438 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY How many compared to yesterday? How many more without any reward? How many more can they afford? “How many paths did they try and fail?” how many other ways did the Palestinians try to get their land back before resorting to terrorism? “How many of their brothers and sisters lingered in jail?” how many Palestinians were jailed just for the possession of a Palestinian flag? “How much poison did they inhale?” How much teargas did the Israelis use to quell the rioting and rock throwing? How much fatal nerve gas did they inhale as the PLO accused Israel of employing? “How many black cats crossed their trail?” how many informants, cultivated by the Israelis, have spied against them? “black” as clandestine. “How many tomorrows have they given away?” how many human lives have they sacrificed? “How many compared to yesterday?” how many deaths compared to the time they lived in what was once Palestine? “How many more without any reward?” how many more deaths without a homeland? “How many more can they afford?” how many deaths can they bear without disadvantage or risk? UNBELIEVABLE 1990 It’s unbelievable, it’s strange but true It’s inconceivable it could happen to you. You go north and you go south Just like bait in the fish’s mouth. Ya must be livin’ in the shadow of some kind of evil star. It’s unbelievable it would get this far. “It’s unbelievable” it’s terrible and shocking “it’s strange” it’s something new that I am not accustomed to “but true / It’s inconceivable” so unlikely or surprising as to have been thought impossible “it could happen to you” that Israel would turn into a repressive state “You go north” you occupy the Syrian Golan Heights in the North “and you go south” and you occupy Gaza in the South “Just like bait” and as a result Israel is responsible for Jew-baiting, anti-Semitism “in the fish’s mouth” as 439 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Israel has become the Jewish people’s spokesperson, mouthpiece for most of the world “Ya must be livin’ in the shadow” you must be living under the influence of a dominating presence that has shadowed you for 2,000 years “of some kind of evil star” and be cursed ‘in the stars’ in relation to your future, destiny. Additionally the Mogen David, the Star of David on the Israeli flag “It’s unbelievable it would get this far” it’s unbelievable that Israel still exists. It’s undeniable what they’d have you to think It’s indescribable it can drive you to drink. They said it was the land of milk and honey now they say it’s the land of money. Who ever thought they could ever make that stick. It’s unbelievable you can get this rich this quick. “It’s undeniable” impossible to deny “what they’d have you to think” what the Israelis would have American Jews believing about the Palestinian uprising “It’s indescribable” it’s exceeding description “it can drive you to drink” it can force you to drink in a lot of information about Israel “They said it was the land of milk and honey” the Zionists said Israel was a land flowing with milk and honey as it says in the Bible “now they say it’s the land of money” now all the Israelis want is money “Who ever thought they could ever make that stick?” who ever thought that the Jews, who had never produced their own weapons in the past, could do so now? “It’s unbelievable you can get this rich this quick” it is beyond comprehension that you could become wealthy by selling these arms on the world market to every tin-horned dictator in Central America. Every head is so dignified, every moon is so sanctified Every urge is so satisfied as long as you’re with me. All the silver, all the gold, all the sweethearts you can hold That don’t come back with stories untold, are hanging on a tree. “Every head is so dignified” many people wear knitted yarmulkes on their heads as a mark of distinction to indicate they are Jews “every moon is so sanctified” the 440 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Jews go by the lunar calendar and special prayers are said when there is a new moon “Every urge” every instinctive motive to kill “is so satisfied as long as you’re with me” is approved by the religious parties who are part of the government’s coalition “All the silver, all the gold” all the valuable information you have received from spies “All the sweethearts you can hold” spies cherished for their excellent qualities; Time Passes Slowly 1970, “Once I had a sweetheart, she was fine and good looking” “That don’t come back with stories untold, are hanging on a tree” that don’t come back with secrets are allowed to be executed. This is a reference to The Lavon Affair, a false flag operation Israel ran against the Egyptians. Israeli spies, who had carried out terrorist acts in Egypt and blamed them on the Moslem Brotherhood, were allowed to be hung in Cairo, after Israeli military intelligence disowned them and refused to exchange them for Egyptian spies in Israeli custody. HANDY DANDY 1990 Handy dandy, controversy surrounds him He been around the world and back again Something in the moonlight still hounds him Handy dandy, just like sugar and candy “Handy dandy” Israel, an American flunky much concerned with appearances that is handy to have around in the Middle East “controversy” a dispute, especially a public one, between sides holding opposing views “surrounds him” literally surrounds Israel as Israel is surrounded by its enemies who believe that the Zionist entity should not exist “He’s been around the world and back again” the justification for Israel’s existence is based on the persecution Jews suffered during the Diaspora “Something in the moonlight” some form of lunacy “that still hounds him” still pursues him relentlessly and tenaciously; Neighborhood Bully, “Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn” “Handy dandy, just like sugar and candy” Israel is based on “sugar” slang for money and “candy” spoon fed news stories. 441 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Candy” as spoon fed news stories; Eleven Outline Epitaphs, “I don’t like t’ be stuck in print starin’ out at cavity minds who gobble chocolate candy bars quite content an’ satisfied their day complete at seein’ what I eat for breakfast.” Handy dandy, if every bone in his body was broken he would never admit it He got an all girl orchestra and when he says ‘Strike up the band’ they hit it Handy dandy, handy dandy “Handy dandy, if every bone in his body was broken he would never admit it” if every one of his core beliefs in his body of thought were broken, even if he breaks all 613 commandments of the Torah he would never cop to it “He got an all girl orchestra and when he says” he has an army partially made up of women and when he gives an order “Strike” when Israel orders a military attack on; assault “up the band” using a group of people; ‘a band of soldiers’ “they hit it” they hit their target and destroy it. Handy dandy, he got a stick in his hand and a pocket full of money He says, Darling, tell me the truth, how much time I got? She says, You got all the time in the world, honey. “Handy dandy he got a stick in his hand” he has a weapon backing up the strength and force of his position; ‘negotiated from a strong hand’ “and a pocket” a small, isolated, and protected area “full of money” full of wealthy American Jews “He says, ‘Darling, tell me the truth, how much time I got?’” Israel asks the United States how much time does it have to solve the Palestinian question “She says, ‘You got all the time in the world, honey’” and the United States responds, take your time baby, it’s only been 42 years that the Palestinians have been in refugee camps, honey, as in a land flowing with milk and honey, Israel. 10,000 MEN 1990 Ten thousand men on a hill Some of ‘m goin’ down, some of ‘m gonna get killed. Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue 442 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 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 “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. 443 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS 1997 Next animal that he did meet Had wool on his back and hooves on his feet Eating grass on a mountainside so steep. “Ah, think I’ll call it a sheep.” “Next animal that he did meet” next bestial human Dylan came into contact with “Had wool on his back” had a Jewish prayer shawl or tallis on his back “and hooves on his feet” and ate only animals that chewed their cud and had split hooves. Also the cloven hoof is traditionally associated with the Devil “Eating grass” destroying the grass roots or indigenous people “on a mountainside so steep” by living on a hilltop settlement in the occupied West Bank “Ah, think I’ll call it a sheep” a mindless follower of Judaism, a settler. LONESOME DAY BLUES 2001 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. My captain, he’s decorated—he’s well schooled and he’s skilled He’s not sentimental—don’t bother him at all How many of his pals have been killed 444 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY My captain” Arial Sharon “he’s decorated” he has been awarded a mark of honor, as a medal “he’s well schooled” he has received extensive military training “and he’s skilled” well skilled in the art of killing “He’s not sentimental” effusively and insincerely emotional “don’t bother him at all / How many of his pals have been killed” it doesn’t bother him how many Palestinians he has killed in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN 2006 I was thinkin’ ‘bout Alicia Keys, couldn’t keep from crying When she was born in Hell’s Kitchen, I was living down the line I’m wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee “I was thinkin’ ‘bout Alicia Keys” Alicia Keys is an arbitrary metaphor for Israel discernible only through context although the word “key” might have played a part in Dylan’s choice of words “Couldn’t keep from crying” couldn’t keep myself from protesting publically about Israel’s conduct “When she was born in hell’s kitchen” when Israel was born after the Nazis cooked up a living hell for the Jews of Europe by putting them in ovens, crematoriums “I was living down the line” I was on their death list if they took over the United States “I’m wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be?” I wished there was a country I could flee to “I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee” I was searching for such a country so desperately that I would have even been willing to clear out the inhabitants of an American state. Gonna raise me an army, some tough sons of bitches I’ll recruit my army from the orphanages I been to St. Herman’s church and I’ve said my religious vows I’ve sucked the milk out of a thousand cows “Gonna raise” cause to assemble, draft “me an army, some tough sons of bitches / I’ll recruit my army from the orphanages” Israel will take boys and girls who have been raised on Kibbutzim, collective farms, where they were separated from 445 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY their parents and raised in a communal area as an experiment in Socialism and draft them into the Israeli Defense Forces. “I been to St. Herman’s church” I have been a country that resembled Russia; Saint Herman was a Russian saint born in Moscow and Mt. St. Herman is in Israel “said my religious vows” made a solemn promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order such as those of the Socialist Labor Party, again, “religion” as politics “I’ve sucked” and as a result I have attracted by using an inducement, suckered “the milk” the money “out of a thousand cows” out of innumerable American Jewish cash cows both conservative and liberal. “Vow” as a promise of fidelity; My Back Pages 1964, “equality” the sameness in state and continued course as Whites “I spoke the word” I preached the word of God, wrote it my poetry “as if a wedding vow” as if I was forever wedded to these ideas as if they were religious ideas. I got the pork chops, she got the pie She ain’t no angel and neither am I Shame on your greed, shame on your wicked schemes I’ll say this, I don’t give a damn about your dreams “I got the pork chops” Israel has the pork, money from pork barrel legislation, special pet projects “she got the pie” America has a big piece of the world economic pie and Israel is the largest recipient of American foreign aid “she ain’t no angel” America is not a guiding moral influence who is giving the aid out of the goodness of its heart “and neither am I” and as a result neither is Israel. Additionally Dylan is not going to be an “angel” and donate money to Israel “shame on your greed” shame on Israel for taking this money from the United States in return for carrying out its policies “shame on your wicked schemes” shame on the Israel Lobby for taking over Congress by making large campaign contributions that are in reality bribes. Shame on men like Jack Abramoff! “I’ll say this” I will say this at the risk of hurting my career since the entertainment industry is controlled by Zionist Jews “I don’t give a damn about your dreams” I don’t give a damn about your Zionist ideals, I don’t give a damn about your visionary schemes; your imaginary or anticipated state of happiness, dream of 446 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY bliss; ‘the dream of a Jewish State.’ “Wicked schemes” as bribery and genocide; Psalms 26, “Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes.” “Wicked schemes” also appears in The Book of Ester and means genocide, “But when it came to the king’s attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.” Thunder on the mountain heavy as can be Mean old twister bearing down on me All the ladies of Washington scrambling to get out of town Looks like something bad gonna happen, better roll your airplane down “Thunder” a fast moving “on the mountain” big problem “heavy as can be” ponderous as it can be “Mean old twister” an unforeseen development; officers of AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby were arrested for receiving classified information on Iran “bearing down on me” exerting its full strength on Israel “All the ladies of Washington” all the Israeli spies “scrambling to get out of town” leaving rapidly; Also making their communications unintelligible; ‘scramble the message so that the National Security Agency can’t decode it’ “Looks like something bad gonna happen, better roll your airplane down” looks like a big espionage trial is in the works so you better get your unmanned spy plane out of its hanger because your HUMINTELL (human intelligence) is drying up. THE LEVEE’S GONNA BREAK 2006 If it keep on raining, the levee’s gonna break Everybody’s saying this is a day only the Lord could make “If it keep on raining” if the hatred in the Middle East continues “the levee’s gonna break” the barrier that the Israelis constructed to keep out the Arabs and establish a state of apartheid is gonna be rendered useless and inoperative “Everybody is saying this is a day only the Lord could make” Orthodox Satmar Jews believe that the State of Israel should not exist until the Messiah comes and 447 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY leads the Jewish people to the promised land. In fact, according them, its very existence is an impediment to this ever happening. Well, I look in your eyes, I see nobody other than me I see all that I am and all I hope to be If it keep on raining, the levee’s gonna break Some of these people don’t know which road to take “Well, I look in your eyes” I examine your thoughts and “I see nobody other than me” and I see an Israel that is entirely populated by Jews, as the Israeli Arabs have been expelled “I see all that I am” I see all that I give rise to and are characterized by “and all I hope to be” sarcastic, all that I aspire to “If it keep on raining, the levee’s gonna break / Some of these people don’t know which road to take” the Israeli Right would take the road to war rather than the road to peace. Some people on the road carrying everything they own Some people got barely enough skin to cover their bones “Some people on the road carrying everything they own” the Palestinians were forced out of Israel in 1948 and had to leave behind whatever they couldn’t carry with them “Some people got barely enough skin to cover their bones” and this act was perpetrated by victims of Nazi death camps. Put on your camp clothes, mama, put on your evening dress Few more years of hard work, then there’ll be a 1,000 years of happiness “Put on your camp clothes” put on your death camp Nazi SS uniforms rather than your striped death camp prisoners uniforms, let’s hear your words about concentration camps “mama, put on your evening dress” put on the clothes that signify your moral decline “Few more years of hard work” a few more years of repression of the indigenous population, a few more years of emulating the Nazis whose slogan was “Freedom Through Work” originally in German: Arbeit macht frei. This motto above the main gate greeted all who entered the Auschwitz “then 448 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY there’ll be a 1,000 years of happiness” then Israel will enjoy the “Thousand Year Reich” a thousand years of Nazi rule that Hitler never lived to see. 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).” 10,000 Men 1990 “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).” 449 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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).” ^ 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 ancestory “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 450 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 451 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 452 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” 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 453 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” 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 454 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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, Achmadinijad. 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. 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. 455 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 456 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 selfhating 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 457 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 ultraorthodox 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; “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 nonJewish 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 458 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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” 459 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 One460 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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, 461 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN 2006 Thunder on the mountain, rolling like a drum Gonna sleep over there, that’s where the music coming from I don’t need any guide, I already know the way Remember this, I’m your servant both night and day “Thunder on the mountain” a warning about the problem of Israel becoming like Nazi Germany “rolling like a drum” increasing in its danger like a “drum,” a cylindrical metal container used for shipping or storage of liquids such as Zyklon B used to murder Jews “Gonna sleep over there” sarcastic; going to visit Israel “that’s where the music coming from” because it is the new Nazi Germany: almost every concentration camp had an orchestra that would play classical music as the prisoners were marched in. Now Israel has assumed that role. “I don’t need any guide” I don’t need a model or standard for making comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany. Also I don’t need One-Legged Terry who became an Israeli tourist guide “I already know the way” I already know the way you treat Palestinians “Remember this, I’m your servant both night and day” sarcastic; I am not longer a part of your militant Zionist army and have no allegiance to you whatsoever now or in the future. 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 462 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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, 463 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 racemixin’ 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. 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 464 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 465 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY would last” sarcastic; he never told me the strength of the dope and when I would need another shot. 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 466 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! 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. 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. 467 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY MR. TAMBOURINE MAN 1964 Mr. Tambourine Man 1964 had its roots in Spanish Harlem Incident 1964. Dylan wrote of “the reach of rattling drums” and used many of the same words such as place, hand, feet, street, heels, and diamond. Though I know that evenin’s empire has returned into sand, Vanished from my hand, Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping “Though I know that evenin’s” although I know that last night’s “empire” a substance obtained from an extensive enterprise under a unified authority: ‘a criminal empire’ “has returned into sand” is history once again “Vanished from 468 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY my hand” has disappeared from my possession “Left me blindly here to stand” and has left me here to endure the agony of not knowing where my next fix is coming from “but still not sleeping” and still jonesing for smack. “Sleep” as heroin or high on heroin; 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” someone is getting in the way of people’s desire to get high “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 Mr. Dope Connection sell me some smack “I’m not sleepy” I am not high “and there is no place I’m going to” and I got no other place to score “Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me in the jingle jangle morning” Hey Mr. Dope Connection get me some junk and in the disturbing, disconcerting early signs of withdrawal symptoms, when I am jonesing for some dope “I’ll come followin’ you” I’ll cop from you. Tarantula, “with earrings that that jingle from his toes” 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.” 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. 469 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “My weariness amazes me” my forbearance has worn out and this is something that even flips me out “I’m branded on my feet” I have a burning desire to cop some junk “I have no one to meet” but I have nowhere to cop “And the ancient empty street’s” and the decrepit streets in Harlem where heroin is sold openly “too dead for dreaming” is so devoid of dealers I don’t even dream of getting a fix. Allen Ginsberg, Howl, “I’ve seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness…dragging themselves through Negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix.” 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” get me high, get me stoned “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 “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” my desire to get drugs is overcome by my inertia “wait only” and I wait only “for my boot heels / To be wanderin’” for that shot of heroin “booting” up; injecting a drug, for 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 my own parade” into a visible display of intoxication, drooling, scratching, nodding out “cast your dancing spell my way” throw a little heroin my way “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 addicted. Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind 470 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 mortality “far past the frozen leaves” transcending the unchangeable leafs, pages of a book of written laws “The haunted” continually present in, all pervasive “frightened 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” to sing my poetry “beneath” while under the influence of “the diamond” the all encompassing “sky” highest level and degree of euphoria a drug can produce “with one hand waving” with my style of writing “free” not subject to arbitrary interference by a Communist Cultural Commissar “Silhouetted by the sea” completely immersed in America and the freedom it affords the individual “circled” surrounded “by the circus sands” by the uncontrollable chaos of history such as the advent of Soviet Communism. Hurricane 1975, “The trial was a pigcircus he never had a chance” “With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves” with all past experience and future experience overpowered by the depths, the extent of the waves of happiness; 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. 471 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY JUST LIKE TOM THUMB’S BLUES 1966 Now all the authorities They just stand around and boast How they blackmailed the sergeant-atarms 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 472 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 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 473 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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. 474 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! “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” 475 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 476 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” 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 477 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 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. 478 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 479 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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 “Attendezvous, s’il vous plait’” 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. 480 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 481 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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. 482 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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. 483 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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-andso I got another woman 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 484 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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. 485 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” 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!” 486 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 487 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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… 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. 488 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 489 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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. 490 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! 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 491 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 subSaharan Africa “Straight down the line” and becomes part of America’s future; You Wanna 492 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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” 493 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “your soul” 494 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 495 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 496 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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. 497 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 498 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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 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. 499 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 “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 500 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 501 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 502 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 503 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 504 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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, 505 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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?” What good am I if I know and don’t do, If I see and don’t say, if I look right through you, 506 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. TRYING TO GET TO HEAVEN 1997 People on the platforms Waiting for the trains I can hear their hearts a-beatin’ Like pendulums swinging on chains 507 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “People on the platforms” patients on a raised horizontal surface like an operating table “Waiting for the trains” waiting for a series of consequences wrought by an event; ‘HIV led to a train of disasters’ “I can hear their hearts abeatin’” I can sense fear in them “Like pendulums” like something that swings back and forth from one condition to another “on chains” in captivity or oppression; bondage, in a state of suspended animation swinging between life and death. When you think that you lost everything You find out you can always lose a little more I’m just going down the road feeling bad Trying to get to heaven before they close the door “When you think that you lost everything” when your T-cell count is down to zero “You find out you can always lose a little more” you find out there is worse in store, you always can lose your life “I’m just going down the road feeling bad” going down the path of life and into the future with an incurable illness “Trying to get to heaven before they close the door” trying to find some kind of contentment here on earth before I die, before I lose the opportunity. 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 my soul has turned into steel” 508 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 509 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 510 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 (its 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 511 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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” Chronicles, “When Frank sang that song, I could 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 512 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 nonshow 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.” 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. 513 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 514 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 515 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 516 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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).” 517 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 518 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 519 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 520 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 521 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 522 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 523 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 524 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 DylanWeberman 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 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? In December 1967 Dylan released Dear Landlord. During our telephone conversation Dylan told me that the song was not about Albert Grossman, “it wasn’t meant for anybody man, it was an abstract song it sure as hell wasn’t meant for you. I was not even aware of you at that time.” “Isn’t ‘landlord’ your symbol for critic?” “No man like I wasn’t aware of you at that time.” Dylan could have heard about me through people we knew in common or perhaps he read Ratzo’s interview? Ratzo called me on a daily basis back then, to check on the progress of the Dylan Liberation Front. One night he said he ran into Dylan on West 8th Street and he told Dylan he was tight with me. He said that Dylan gave him his phone number and told him that people approach him and offer to beat 525 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY up Weberman, but he tells them not to do it. Because I underestimated Dylan’s ability to collect intelligence on me for decades, and did not realize that Dylan had an uncanny ability to sense who would finally decipher his poetry, the meaning of Dear Landlord eluded me. DEAR LANDLORD 1968 Dear landlord, Please don’t put a price on my soul. My burden is heavy My dreams are beyond control. When that steamboat whistle blows, I’m gonna give you all I got to give, And I do hope you receive it well, Dependin’ on the way you feel that you live. “Dear Landlord, Please don’t put a price on my soul” dear Leftwing critic please don’t appraise; evaluate, in an official capacity my poetry “My burden is heavy” my “burden” the central meaning or theme of my poetry and its effect, essence, core, gist “is heavy” is laden with meaning, ponderous, “My dreams” my ideals, my aspirations for America “are beyond control” are beyond singing the praises of totalitarianism, authoritarianism “control” “When that steamboat whistle blows” when I come to the end of my career and I decide to blow the whistle on myself “I’m gonna give you all I got to give” I am going to write a biography which will provide enough clues so that you can decipher my poetry “And I do hope you receive it well” and I do hope the book is well received by you and by other critics “Dependin’” determined, conditioned, and contingent “on the way you feel” if you have an intuitive awareness and natural ability; ‘has a feel for deciphering codes’ “you live” and you are still alive by that time. Thirty-seven years later Dylan published his autobiography, Chronicles 2005, the book made reference to in Dear Landlord. Pretty spooky. “Landlord” as Leftwing critic, She’s Your Lover Now 1971; “The pawnbroker roared” the CPUSA, an entity that makes people into pawns and uses them thought Dylan was a roaring success “Also so did the landlord” and so did the 526 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Leftwing critics “The scene was so crazy, wasn’t it?” the scenes that I portrayed in my poetry were foolish or impractical; senseless “Both were so glad” both the CPUSA and its running dog folk critics were happy “To watch me destroy what I had” to watch Dylan take up their cause and contribute to the destruction of freedom in America “Angel” a political guiding influence; watching over others “brings out the best in people, doesn’t it?” sarcastic, it brings out the worst in people doesn’t it? “Why didn’t you just leave me if you didn’t want to stay?” why didn’t you just not show up at my concerts if you didn’t dig the new Dylan “Why’d you have to treat me so bad?” why did you have to disrupt my concerts; Sooner or Later One Of Us Must Know 1966, to his folk fans sarcastically, “I didn’t mean to treat you so bad” “Did it have to be that way? / Now you stand here” now you take a political stand here “expectin’ me to remember somethin’ you forgot to say” and you still expect me to articulate your Leftwing thoughts? You gotta be kidding? Tarantula; “the harmonica battalions of bitter cowards” the militant folk musicians afraid to enter the mainstream “bones & bygones” clinging to remnants of the past “while steadier” while free from change, variation, or fluctuation; uniform “louder” clamorous and insistent “the moans” the complaints, the reviews “& arms” and powers “of funeral” deadly “landlord” Leftwing folk critics “with one passionate kiss” who can kill your career with one passionately bad review. Dear landlord Please heed these words that I speak. I know you’ve suffered much But in this you are not so unique. All of us, at times, we might work too hard To have it too fast and too much And anyone can fill his life up With things he can see but he just cannot touch. “Dear landlord / Please heed” Dear Leftwing folk critic please pay close attention to a warning “these words that I speak” that I am about to issue “I know you’ve suffered much” I understand that you were busted at Michigan State University in 1964 for selling pot and endured a lot of hardship “But in this you are not so 527 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY unique” but in this world of drugs it is par for the course “All of us, at times, we might” both of us on certain special occasions we might “work too hard” proceed and progress slowly and laboriously “To have it too fast” to do something that would be far ahead of its time “fast” indicating a time somewhat ahead of the actual time “and too much” that would be something great and remarkable “And anyone can fill his life up” but anyone with an empty creative life can compensate for it by filling his life up “With things” with poems “he can see” he can read “but he just cannot touch” but just cannot translate properly nor express their true value, or even come close to equaling and touching their greatness. Dear landlord, Please don’t dismiss my case. I’m not about to argue, I’m not about to move to no other place. Now, each of us has his own special gift And you know this was meant to be true, And if you don’t underestimate me, I won’t underestimate you. “Dear landlord, Please don’t dismiss my case” don’t summarily dismiss the arguments I make in favor of conservatism “I’m not about to argue” I am not about to put forth reasons for or against; debate politics with you “I’m not about to move to no other place” I am not about to be moved to some other place on the political spectrum. “Now, each of us has his own special gift” now you have a gift for translating poetry and I have a gift for writing it “And you know this was meant to be true” and God made things this way “And if you don’t underestimate me” and if you don’t underestimate the depth and profundity of my poetry “I won’t underestimate you” I won’t underestimate your ability to translate it into prose. After reading my articles in the underground weekly the East Village Other Dylan decided that Weberman might actually have some minor redeeming literary value and in November 1969 he told Jann Wenner, “I bet that Weberman’s a hard working fellow, though.” Dear Landlord, “all of us at times we might work too hard” “I bet he really does a good job if he could find something to do, but it’s too 528 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY bad it’s just my songs, ‘cause I don’t know if there’s enough material in my songs 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 Freud…doing a really big analysis of somebody who has countless volumes of writings. But 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?” how can I translate material that has not been heard or read? This escapes me. “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?” In 1969 Dylan dug me “on some level” since he failed to realize what a nightmare I would turn into however he didn’t want me translating his poetry and putting it in book form so he wrote… 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 “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. 529 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 530 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. Nonethe-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 skag. 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.” You’re trying to reshape me in a mold love 531 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 532 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 533 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 534 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 535 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 536 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 537 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 MAN IN ME OCTOBER 1970 The man in me will do nearly any task, And as for compensation, there’s little he would ask. Take a woman like you To get through to the man in me. “The man in me will do nearly any task” the devil in me will do what it is assigned to do except if the task involves doing good “And as for compensation, there’s little he would ask” sarcastic; and all he will ask for is your soul “Take a woman like you” takes a scumbag like A. J. Weberman “To get through to the man in me” to reach the devil, the murderer in me. Storm clouds are raging all around my door I think to myself I might not take it anymore. Take a woman like your kind To find the man in me. 538 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Storm clouds are raging all around my door” heavy dark clouds presaging rain or a storm are erupting violently around the perimeter of my home, trouble is brewing due to Weberman publicizing the fact I like to get high on smack, he is stirring up hatred against me “I think to myself I might not take it anymore” I think to myself maybe this is a good time to stop taking heroin until the heat dies down or maybe this is the time to get rid of Al and not have to take his crap anymore “Take a woman like your kind” take a sick bastard like A. J. Weberman “To find the man in me” to find the devil in me. But, oh, what a wonderful feeling Just to know that you are near Sets my a heart a-reeling From my toes up to my heels. “But, oh, what a wonderful feeling” but oh what a great high “Just to know that you are near” just to see that blood rushing up the droppers neck “Sets my a heart a-reeling” it sets my innermost being a-dancin’ “From my toes” from my desire to take drugs “up to my heels” Mr. Tambourine Man 1964, “boot heels to be wanderin.’” The man in me will hide sometimes to keep from bein’ seen But that’s just because he doesn’t want to turn into some machine. Took a woman like you To get through to the man in me. “The man in me will hide” the devil in me with tan your hide “sometimes to keep from bein’ seen” to prevent you from continuing the expose him as a junkie “But that’s just because he doesn’t want to turn into some machine” but that is just because Dylan doesn’t want to have to turn to Organized Crime for help in solving the Weberman problem. “Machine” organized group of people whose members are, or appear to be, under the control of one or more leaders “Took a woman like you” took a douche bag nozzle like A. J. Weberman “To get through to the man in me” to get through to the devil in me. During one of our meetings Dylan said he wanted me to hear his latest single. 539 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW 1971 What’s the matter with me, I don’t have much to say, Daylight sneakin’ through the window And I’m still in this all-night cafe. Walkin’ to and fro beneath the moon Out to where the trucks are rollin’ slow To sit down on this bank of sand And watch the river flow. “What’s the matter with me / I don’t have much to say” how come I am not like everyone else in Greenwich Village who is protesting against the war in Vietnam? “Daylight” sarcastic; understanding and insight into what was formerly obscure; Chronicles, “As for what time it was, it was always just beginning to be daylight and I knew a little bit about history” “sneakin’” sarcastic; is moving in a quiet, stealthy manner as embodied by Al “through my window” into my political thinking “And I’m still in this all-night café” and I am still thinking the same way I did when I first came to New York City and worked at the Café Wha? Tangled Up In Blue 1974, “I lived with Emma” Emma Goldman, Communist leader “on Montague Street” on McDougal Street “In a basement down the stairs” the Café Wha? is located in a basement, I should know I worked there in 1966; also at the lowest level of the entertainment scene “There was music in the cafes at night” I was playing in the various coffee houses “And revolution in the air” and singing about Leftwing revolution “Walkin’ to and fro beneath the moon” doing something on the sly “Out to where the trucks are rollin’ slow” out to where drugs are easily obtainable “To sit down on this bank of sand” to be rich and famous, a part of history “And watch the river flow” and watch fame, fortune and heroin flow in abundance. “Truck” as drug; In Ballad for a Friend 1962, Dylan wrote about his buddy who OD’d “A diesel truck was rollin’ slow” a powerful drug was looking weak “Pullin’ down a heavy load” but was really the equivalent of 25 bags of heroin, a load “It 540 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY left him on a Utah road” it left him dead “They carried him back to his home town, His mother cried, his sister moaned, / Listen’ to them church bells tone.” 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” as homosexual, a passage through which gas escapes; an anus. Talking John Birch Society Blues 1962, “I looked way up my chimney hole” Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “the underground’s gone deeper” the extent of the underground now encompasses “says the old chimney sweeper” fags “sweep” as the clearing out and removal of dust, excrement, with a long round object Tarantula, “‘shouldn’t done that’ said a very manly girl who came down the chimney” Tarantula, “a roaring free for all is witnessed later between as follows: rabbit seller, who, because he lives in a room” lives a life “where the rain” the hatred “continues to fall thru the chimney” continues to fall on homosexuals “always has 541 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY a chronic cough” is always getting himself free of irritating material “& is constantly in an al capone type mood—call him White Man / the ex faggot g.i.” Dylan got HIV through numerous heterosexual, bareback contacts, not through IV drug use or homosexuality. 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. SOME OTHER KINDS OF SONGS 1964 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? "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? People disagreeing on all just about everything, yeah, Makes you stop and all wonder why? Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street Who just couldn’t help but cry. 542 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “People disagreeing on all just about everything, yeah” Dylan and myself having opposite views on heroin use “Makes you stop” sarcastic; makes you want to stop using it “and all wonder why” and wonder why you used it in the first place, however the real reason I have cut back on my drug use is because “Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street” very recently I saw someone in Greenwich Village, “street” a particular area of a city as Wall Street “Who just couldn’t help but cry” who told everyone I was using junk. Oh, this ol’ river keeps on rollin’, though No matter what gets in the way and which way the wind does blow, And as long as it does I’ll just sit here And watch the river flow. “Oh, this ol’ river keeps on rollin’” my wealth keeps on increasing “No matter what gets in the way” no matter what media articles orchestrated by Weberman say “and which way the wind does blow” and no matter what the destructive political climate is like, and no matter how far it spreads “And as long as it does I’ll just sit here / And watch the river flow.” People disagreeing everywhere you look Makes you wanna stop and read a book. Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street That was really shook. “People disagreeing everywhere you look” Al and I disagreeing about the meaning of my poetry “Makes you wanna stop” sarcastic; makes you want to stop thinking the way I do about what my own poetry means “and read a book” and read Weberman’s book about my poems “Why only yesterday” recently “I saw somebody on the street” in the Village “That was really shook” disturbed (mentally); Seven Curses 1961, “The gallows shadows shook the evening.” 543 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 544 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 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. 545 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 546 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 547 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 548 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 549 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, “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. 550 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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 551 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 AfricanAmericans 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 552 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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. 553 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” 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 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 554 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 facts “Even you, yesterday you had 555 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 fucking 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. 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 preWeberman existence. 556 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 the Devil arranged for him to be 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 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 557 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 558 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 559 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY would have separated us sooner or later “You tamed 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 560 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 561 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 shortlived. 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 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 562 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 563 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 racemixing 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. 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. 564 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 565 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 across that lonesome ocean” “Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go” race traitor! 566 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 567 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 568 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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 569 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. Cinqo 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; 570 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 ain’t necessary” who needs imagination, with Communism it is all cut and dry. 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. 571 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “As we rode” as we were sustained and supported “through the canyons” by the crater, the 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. 572 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 phonyassed Communist. 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 573 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Folom 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.” I picked up his body and I dragged him inside 574 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 toughts “I cursed her one time” 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 575 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 by the Soviets “Any day now I shall be released” any day now I shall be released from my pact with the Communist devils. 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 576 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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 577 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 578 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 579 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 580 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 581 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 582 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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! SLOW TRAIN 1979 I had a woman down in Alabama, She was a backwoods girl, but she sure was realistic, 583 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. “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. 584 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” “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 585 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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? 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, 586 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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 587 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 588 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 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. 589 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. The imitation of good faith 590 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 591 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 592 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 593 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 594 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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, 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. 595 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 596 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 597 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 598 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 599 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 AfricanAmericans 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 AfricanAmericans are also not too fond of the blood-sucking Jews. “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 600 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 lion.” A. J. Weberman “The TV set” 601 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 fucked 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 602 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 603 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 604 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 605 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 606 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 607 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the disease of addiction; also the transfer of 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 608 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. Antiretroviral 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. 609 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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. 610 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 AfricanAmericans 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-Americanlovin’ 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. 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 611 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 a fucking 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 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 612 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 613 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 614 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 groinin-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 615 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. HaydenGuest “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.’” HaydenGuest 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-editorpublisher thing so he had changed his story at least twice. In any event HaydenGuest is a world class journalist who risked his life in Lebanon to aid American hostages. 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” 616 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 the fuck up! Taylor used a lot of Dylan’s symbolism in his poetry and also used a lot of dugi according to his exwife 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. “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 617 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 with superseding indictments count on them cooperating “There ain’t no limit to the amount of 618 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 wan / 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 619 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 620 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. “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 621 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 622 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ratting each other out just like the niggers 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… 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 623 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 proConfederate 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 624 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Movement “struggle” the concerted opposition to apartheid “and strive” and fight against injustice “If I don’t do anybody any harm” if I 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 625 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. “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” 626 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 627 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 628 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 ultraorthodox 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, 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. 629 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 nonJewish 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 the former Neturei Karta Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, “Has dimmed my sights” has made feel 630 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 631 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 632 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 633 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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 634 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 635 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. Your sweet voice Calls out from some old familiar shrine I got no choice 636 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 637 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY and the brightest “I want to be with you any way I can” however, I will make an exception in your case. 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. 638 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 639 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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 640 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 noone 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. 641 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! 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 642 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. Tombstone Blues 1966, “I’m in the kitchen with the tombstone blues.” “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 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 643 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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, 644 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 methinks I have astronomy” 645 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 646 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” 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 647 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 648 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 649 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 650 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 651 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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.” 652 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 653 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 654 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 655 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! 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 656 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 657 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, Look out kid They keep it all hid Better jump down a manhole Light yourself a candle 658 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 659 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 660 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 661 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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.” 662 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Marshall Davis is Obama’s pops. He is not consciously disseminating “black” propaganda. 663 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 664 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 665 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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: 666 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 667 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 668 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 669 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 670 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 671 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 672 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY It’s soon after midnight And I don't want nobody but you 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 673 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 674 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 675 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 676 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The evil and the good livin' side by side All human forms seem glorified 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 predisposition Up on the hill, a chilly wind blows from the graveyard where Abraham 677 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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, 678 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 679 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 680 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 AfricanAmerican 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 681 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Everybody's talking Bout the early roman kings 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 682 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 community that is always looking for an excuse to riot and loot, and Zimmerman getting off the hook will provide that excuse. 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 683 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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: 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 684 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 685 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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: 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 686 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 687 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 AfricanAmericans 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. 688 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Do you see any parallels between the 1860s and present-day America? 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. 689 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The Civil War was not worth fighting to free a bunch of niggers. “The USA” the United States of America wouldn’t give it up and not the Confederancy? 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 nigger 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. 690 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY People at each others 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 fucking 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 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 691 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 692 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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: 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: 693 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Front 2 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: 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” 2. At this time I called myself its “Minister of Defense.” However I was removed from that post after Dylan creamed me. 694 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 New York. Gooch was also a smack dealer and gun dealer with Mafia connections. He worked at a clandestine location in Brooklyn turning opium 695 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 696 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 697 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 698 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 699 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 700 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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: 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 701 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 702 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 703 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 fucking 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 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 704 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 705 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 706 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 707 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 708 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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.’ 709 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 710 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 711 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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: 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 712 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 713 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 714 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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? 715 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 716 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 717 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 718 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 719 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 720 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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 721 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY She thought she broke the back of the city She thought she thought she knew she had lied 722 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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, cryptoanti-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 723 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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. 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, 724 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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? 725 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 726 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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 727 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 728 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 “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 729 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 730 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan’s sickness spread to his pudgo 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 731 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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 732 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 733 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 734 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 735 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY for good So much for tears, so much for regrets so much for these long and wasted years so much for my fucked up 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 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 736 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 737 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 738 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. The watchman, he lay dreaming As the ballroom dances 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 dances 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 739 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. He heard a loud commotion Something sounded wrong His inner spirit was saying That he couldn’t stand here long 740 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 COMSYMP 3 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 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 3. Cold War jargon for Communist Sympathizer 741 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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.” 742 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 743 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 dreamlike 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: 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. 744 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 745 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “shooting” dope – his works How long could he hold out? how 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. 746 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 747 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 748 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 749 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Jim Bakker James Orsen "Jim" Bakker is an American televangelist, a former Assemblies of God minister, convicted felon, and a former host (with his thenwife 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. 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 750 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 751 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 752 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 lungs 4 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 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 4. Most of the transcriptions of this verse read “50,000 tons of steel” because people just don’t fucking listen. 753 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 754 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “dream” psychology to 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. 755 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 756 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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. 757 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 758 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 759 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 760 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 761 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 762 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 763 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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’. 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 764 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Alternative Translation Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing blowing like it's gon' blow my blues away “blow” as in blow a joint of marijuana, listen to Weberman selling pot You old rascal you disreputable person I know exactly where you're going to prison I'll lead you there myself at the break of day “break” as in to force one's way out of; escape from: break jail. I did federal time after my dog bit a mailman. In Journey Through Dark Heat Dylan described what my first “bid” period of incarceration would be like: 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. 765 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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, 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 766 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 767 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 fuckin’ 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 768 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 oneeyed man is king. 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. 769 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 770 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY as to falsify or change in such a way as to make favorable to 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 771 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the crowd you’re in with” and down he went and down he went in their estimation. 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 772 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY From the Liverpool docks dock: to deprive of a benefit or a part of one's wages, especially as a 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 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 773 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 774 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 775 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 776 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 777 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 778 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 779 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 fullfill a lot of contractual obligations you are a natural born performer 780 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 its a fool fucking stupid 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 781 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 alligance of the young is on your shoulder 782 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 market place Dylan is a folksinger in the market place. Molly is the singer in a band 783 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The other Dylan is a rock and roller. Desmond says to Molly-girl I like your face The folksinger becomes a rock singer 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 jewellers 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 musican 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 commerical recording market place. Molly lets the children lend a hand 784 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. And plays with THE BAND!!!!!! ROCKY RACOON 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 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 785 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 He said Rocky you met your match And Rocky said, doc it's only a scratch 786 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 787 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 788 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 789 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 790 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ^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 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 791 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 792 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 fucking 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 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. 793 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Abie 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 794 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY message here really is. 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 795 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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! i ii iii yoko Yoko Ono Lennon18 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 796 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 797 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 798 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 799 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Knights of Malta, a group that plays an important role in the mythology of the wanna-be Hitler, Lyndon LaRouche. In 1972 Abie 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. 800 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 801 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 802 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 greatgrandmother'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 803 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 804 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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. 805 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 806 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY high? What is wrong with singing what you want to sing rather than what someone tells you to sing? 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? 807 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY PANCHO AND LEFTY, TOWNES VAN ZANDT, A.J. WEBERMAN AND THE DEVIL Bet you didn't realize Van Zandt is writing about me (Lefty) and Dylan in Pancho and Lefty. Townes Van Zandt died on New Years 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. 808 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 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 809 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 spokeperson 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 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 habitLefty'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 toldbut 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 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 810 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Ah fuck, here we go again. More Dylan worship. 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 fucking 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. Not a ghost bloodied country All covered with sleep Where the black angel did weep Not an old city street in the east 811 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 rallys 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. Cut mouth bleeding razor's Forgetting the pain 812 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 fucking 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 813 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 814 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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 815 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 816 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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] MICK JAGGER 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 817 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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”) 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 818 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 musicans 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, admiting 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. 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 819 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 nigger When black coal burns it ripens She pried the whip out of her master's hand 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." 820 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. "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 tatooed 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. 821 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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 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. 822 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 823 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY perfectly" your music is attracting many fans "but there's a part thats 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 Youre the misbred, grey executive I've seen heavily advertised. Youre the great, gray man whose daughter licks policemens buttons clean. Youre the man who squats behind the man who works the soft machine. 824 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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 forebearers, Daughters of the American Revolution, "licks" lick (someone's) boots 825 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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" 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. Youll 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 826 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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. 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?" 827 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY SPRINGSTEEN AND AL or SAL Another artist who was intrigued by this myth was Bruce Springsteen. I was a big influence on Bruce. Like back in the early 1970’s Joey Kivak, a friend of Ratzo and a Dylan bootleg tape customer gave Springsteen my East Village Other rock poetry articles once every week. Bruce was still gigging in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Like Joey tells me, “This guy is another Bob Dylan, you got to meet him” and I told him one Bob Dylan is too much. So it came as no surprise when I heard this in: JUNGLELAND The Rangers had a homecoming In Harlem late last night And the Magic Rat drove his sleek machine Over the Jersey state line Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge Drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain The Rat pulls into town, rolls up his pants Together they take a stab at romance And disappear down Flamingo Lane Well, the Maximum Lawmen run down Flamingo Chasing the Rat and the barefoot girl And the kids 'round there live just like shadows Always quiet, holding hands From the churches to the jails Tonight all is silence in the world As we take our stand Down in Jungleland The midnight gang's assembled And picked a rendezvous for the night They'll meet 'neath that giant Exxon sign That brings this fair city light Man, there's an opera out on the Turnpike 828 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY There's a ballet being fought out in the alley Until the local cops, Cherry-Tops, rips this holy night The street's alive as secret debts are paid Contacts made, they flash unseen Kids flash guitars just like switchblades Hustling for the record machine The hungry and the hunted Explode into rock 'n' roll bands That face off against each other out in the street Down in Jungleland In the parking lot the visionaries dress in the latest rage Inside the backstreet girls are dancing To the records that the DJ plays Lonely-hearted lovers struggle in dark corners Desperate as the night moves on Just one look and a whisper, and they're gone Beneath the city, two hearts beat Soul engines running through a night so tender In a bedroom locked in whispers Of soft refusal and then surrender In the tunnels uptown, the Rat's own dream guns him down As shots echo down them hallways in the night No one watches when the ambulance pulls away Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz Between what's flesh and what's fantasy And the poets down here don't write nothing at all They just stand back and let it all be And in the quick of a knife, they reach for their moment And try to make an honest stand But they wind up wounded, not even dead Tonight in Jungleland the first thing that tipped me off that this might be about me and Dylan was the line Listenin to the jukebox in AJ ways. I figured it was just that one line that was 829 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY about me. It was the lines “gangs assembled” “and local cops” that brought to mind the birthday party. Also I figured it might be about me because I had recently been on the cover of the New York Times so I figured what I did back in the early 1970’s would have been immortalized by others. Garbology The rangers (Military) (in the US and certain other armies) a commando specially trained in m aking raids had a homecoming A coming to or returning home. in Harlem late last night In Manhattan in the night Peter Von Goldberg established the Dutch settlement of Nieuw Haarlem here in 1658. And the Magic Rat Dylan. In Froggy Went A Courtin Springsteen makes reference to Christopher Ricks book on Dylan and how he got permission to reprint lyrics ‘Well Uncle Rat he gave his consent, uh-huh Hey Uncle Rat he gave his consent, uh-huh Now Uncle Rat he gave his consent And the weasel wrote the publishment, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh Drove his sleek machine over the Jersey state line His guitar –Springsteen reference “And my machine, she's a dud, out stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey” Barefoot girl sitting on the hood 830 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Slang Barefoot girl – Dylan the poor folk singer and pretend leftist who actually supported the Klan Of a Dodge but evaded being pinned as this by cunning, trickery, or deceit: Drinking warm To take in eagerly through the senses Beer One of Dylan’s symbols for heroin as in “I’ve already had two beers I’m ready for the broom.” in the soft The soft machine book about junk by my late friend Bill Burroughs Summer rain During the war in Nam rain as in hard rain gonna fall 831 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The Rat pulls into town rolls up his pants Rolls up, as in roll up an operation and pants as in desire, heavy breathing. Also Dylan rolled up his sleeve to show me he was not a junkie when after I brought my Dylanology class to his pad. Together they take a stab Stab: To plunge (a pointed weapon or instrument) into something. Take a try At romance A strong, sometimes short- lived attachment, fascination, or enthusiasm for something. Dylan invited me to hang out with him. and disappear down Flamingo Lane and express my opinions Pink 2. Slang Having leftist political opinions. Well the Maximum An upper limit allowed by law maximum sentence Lawman In the Dylan weberman tel con Dylan called me a pig and said I had a pig mentality. Run down Flamingo A point-by-point summary. AJ gives Bob his left wing rap Chasing the Rat and the barefoot girl To seek the favor or company of persistently: chased me until I agreed to a date. Chased Dylan who had sold out the left the rat and Dylan the leftist folk singer. And the kids (intr) to behave or speak deceptively - the false threats. 832 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Round here look just like shadows Dylan would get the studio dark as night fell so it would get real spooky, especially when I was coming down from caffeine pills I copped. Shadow: The darkness or diminished light caused by the blocking of a light source: Always quiet, holding hands a séance – predicting the future. Dylan would say Al if you get into my life I might gain a soul From the churches to the jails tonight all is silence in the world From the moral to the immoral, from the righteous to the criminal Dylan would go anything to silence me from telling the world his is a dope head. As we take our stand down in Jungleland As I take a stand of heroin use and junkies and dealers in general The midnight gang's assembled and picked a rendezvous for the night The Dylan Liberation Front, those that appear at the darkest hour have assembled and picked a meeting place, in front of Dylan towhouse, for a demonstration known as Dylan’s 30th Birthday They'll meet 'neath that giant a person or thing of extraordinary importance, achievement, etc.: one of giants of folk musicExxon sign A portentous incident or event; a presage, That brings this fair 833 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Lawful to hunt or attack: fair game. City light Public attention; general knowledge: brought the scandal to light. Man there's an opera A theatrical presentation in w out on the Turnpike US a motorway for use of which a toll is charged, Dylan is paying a toll There's a ballet being fought out in the alley AJ dancing around with trash City “To Begin Phasing Out Alley Trash Pickups, Converting All To Curbside.” Until the local cops, Cherry Tops, rips this holy night In When I Paint My Masterpiece Dylan described the bash in this fashion “newspapermen eating candy had to be held down by big police.”There was a near riot at the Birthday Party caused by a FBI informant. The street's alive as secret debts are paid Contacts made, they vanished unseen An acquaintance, esp one who might be useful in business, as a means of introduction, etc Dylan had contacts in the mafia and he had GI Joe Sternberg, Paul Eboli’s chauffer who set Paul up for a hit giving out frankfurters to get people away from in front of 94 MacDougal. 834 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Kids flash guitars just like switch-blades hustling for the record machine David Peel played his weapon, his guitar trying to promote his records. The hungry and the hunted explode into rock'n'roll bands David Peel was hungry for fame so went after Dylan, the hunted, That face off against each other out in the street down in Jungleland The “out of the street” line is an important clue that this verse is about the Dylan Birthday Party. In the parking lot Those not going anywhere The visionaries (of people) characterized by idealistic or radical ideas, esp impractical 835 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ones Dress in the latest rage Move with great violence or intensity: Inside the backstreet And for those who are obscure, in the underground And hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets With a love so hard and filled with defeat Running for our lives at night on them backstreets Girls are dancing dance attendance on someone to attend someone solicitously or obsequiously to the records that the D.J. plays [In AJ ways] Lonely-hearted lovers struggle in dark corners Key word: “struggle.” Strife, contention, or combat: armed struggle. Violent revolutionaries struggle to overthrow the government in dangerous situations Desperate as the night moves on, just a look and a whisper, and they're gone Under heavy FBI and Red Squad surveillance that creates paranoia Beneath the city two hearts beat In the underground two people’s emotions are identical, me and Bruce Soul A person considered as the embodiment of an intangible quality; a personification. Engines 836 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY A machine or instrument used in warfare, as a battering ram, catapult, or piece of artillery. Radical leaders like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, A. J. Weberman Running through a night so tender Sarcastic: in a dangerous brutal environment In a bedroom locked In a prison In whispers of soft refusal and then surrender After refusing soft drugs like pot then surrounding to heroin addiction In the tunnels uptown Tunnel: an underground passage. In the underground uptown in Spanish Harlem or Harlem The Rat's own dream guns him down Dylan’s heroin use leads to his destruction. As in Happiness is a Warm Gun by John Lennon. As shots echo down them hallways in the night As Dylan shooting heroin reverberates in his music. No one watches when the ambulance pulls away No one watches as great literature, like that of Hemingway, an ambulance driver during WWII. Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light Or as Dylan “shuts the light shuts the shade you don’t have to be afraid I’ll be a addict tonight.” Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz 837 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY In America the Vietnam war rages on? But why “street?” Could this refer to Elizabeth Street where Dylan jumped me. Waltz Informal To lead or force to move in a self-assured or purposeful manner; march: waltzed them into the principal's office. Between flesh and what's fantasy Between my actual body and what Dylan fantasized doing to it. and the poets down here Dylan who was down on the Bowery Don't write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be Are too busy beating me up to write about more important things. And in the quick Sensitive or raw exposed flesh of the night they reach for their moment To extend or move a hand, arm, or other body part, especially when trying to touch or grasp something: And try to make an honest stand Stand: A desperate or decisive effort at defense or resistance, as in a battle: made their stand at the river. but they wind up wounded, not even dead Tonight in Jungleland 838 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ADAM RAISED A CAIN In the summer that I was baptized, My father held me to his side, As they put me to the water, He said how on that day I cried. We were prisoners of love, a love in chains, He was standin' in the door, I was standin' in the rain, with the same hot blood burning in our veins, Adam raised a Cain. All of the old faces, Ask you why you're back, They fit you with position, And the keys to your daddy's Cadillac, In the darkness of your room, Your mother calls you by your true name, You remember the faces, the places, the names, You know it's never over, it's relentless as the rain, Adam raised a Cain. In the Bible Cain slew Abel And East of Eden he was cast, You're born into this life paying, for the sins of somebody else's past, Daddy worked his whole life, for nothing but the pain, Now he walks these empty rooms, looking for something to blame [play], You inherit the sins, you inherit the flames, Adam raised a Cain. Lost but not forgotten, from the dark heart of a dream, Adam raised a Cain In the summer that I was baptized, In a period of growth when I was first initiated in the language of rock 839 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY My father A man who creates, originates, or founds something: Weberman is considered the father of Dylanology. Held me to his side, To align oneself in a disagreement: As they put me to the water, As they tested me, see if Bruce’s performance held water He said how on that day I cried. He influenced on how that day I cried out, sang We were prisoners of love, a love in chains, We were both die hard Bob Dylan fans, who was in the chains of heroin addiction He was standin' in the door, He was standing in the door of opportunity, I rushed through the yard, I burst through the front door My head pounding hard, up the stairs I climbed (Downbound Train) I got somethin' in my heart, I been waitin' to give I got a life I wanna start, one I been waitin' to live No more waitin', tonight I feel the light I say the prayer I open the door, I climb the stairs... (Leah) I was standin' in the rain, 840 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I was an unknown Springsteen: Now we went walking in the rain talking about the pain from the world we hid Our love went bad, times got hard Now I work down at the carwash Where all it ever does is rain Don't you feel like you're a rider on a downbound train with the same hot blood burning in our veins, With the same militant leftist views we shared Adam raised a Cain. (Alan Where is the Key?) All of the old faces, All of the old folk music fans who booed Dylan when he switch to folk-rock. Ask you why you're back, Ask you why you have returned to hassle him. They fit you with position, They make you the leader of the Dylan Liberation Front And the keys to your daddy's Cadillac, Something that provides access to or understanding of something else: The key to Dylan’s poetry was the Dylan Word Concordance. In the darkness of your room, In Went to See The Gypsy Dylan wrote his about me, “Room was dark and empty lights were low and dim.” 841 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Your mother calls you by your true name, Jungleland was released in August 1975, Blood on the Tracks, containing Idiot Wind was released in January. Dylan calls me by my true name “Idiot” as in Idiot Wind. You remember the faces, the places, the names, Idiot Wind: “Your mind is filled with big ideas, images and distorted facts.” You know it's never over, it's relentless as the rain, Adam raised a Cain. Relentless (of an enemy, hostile attitude, etc) implacable; inflexible; inexorable. The next verse does not follow the printed lyrics which are: In the Bible Cain slew Abel And East of Eden he was cast, You're born into this life paying, for the sins of somebody else's past, Gotta Iong time survivor in the in model he was cursed You’re born into this life foiled listen to someone else's purse. [looking into someone else’s purse] Daddy worked his whole life, for nothing but the pain, Now he walks these empty rooms, looking for something to blame [play], You inherit the sins, you inherit the flames, Alan where is the key? Lost but not forgotten, from the dark heart of a dream, Alan where is the key? 842 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY In September 2005 the Dylan To English Dictionary was published. It contained plausible translations of many Dylan poems but it fell short when it came to poems that were written from a rightwing and racist perspective. Nonetheless the Dylan To English Dictionary 2005 was the most advanced Dylanological work of its time, however, it did not get the same widespread attention that Christopher Rick’s book on Dylan, Dylan’s Vision of Sin, received. Rick’s book was irrelevant and gave absolutely no insight into Dylan. Dylan might have hoped that comparing him to many classical poets would give him more stature in the literary world, so he let Ricks quote many of his poems, something that he would not do for any of my prospective publishers. When I heard the words “consent” and “publishment” in this reworking of a traditional folk song I knew Springsteen was up to something! FROGGY WENT A-COURTIN’ 2006 Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride A sword and pistol by his side, He went down to Miss Mousie's door, Where he had often been before “Froggy” Christopher Ricks “went a-courtin' and he did ride” went out courting a big publisher and his reputation rode on “A sword and pistol by his side” his authority as a college professor. “He went down to Miss Mousie's door” he approached Dylan’s people “Where he had often been before” who were already familiar with him. He took Miss Mousie up on his knee, Said "Miss Mousie will you marry me?" "Without my Uncle Rat's consent I wouldn't marry the President," “He took Miss Mousie up on his knee” he begged them “Said "Miss Mousie will you marry me?" Miss Mousie will you marry me forever to the poetry of Bob Dylan? "Without my Uncle Rat's consent” without Bob Dylan’s consent “I 843 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY wouldn't marry the President" I wouldn’t allow anyone, even the President of Ricks’ University, to closely associate themselves with Dylan’s poetry. Well Uncle Rat he gave his consent, And the weasel wrote the publishment, “Well, uncle Rat” well Dylan “he gave his consent” agreed to let Ricks reprint his poetry “And the weasel” Christopher Ricks whose weasel words were used to deliberately make statements evasive or misleading “wrote the publishment” published his book that was supposed to impress the Noble Prize Committee but did not. “Uncle Rat” or “the Magic Rat" (Dylan), as in Springsteen’s Jungleland: The Rat's own dream guns him down as shots echo down them hallways in the night No one watches when the ambulance pulls away Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light "The Rat's own dream guns him down” Dylan’s own poems expose him “as shots” heroin injections “echo down them hallways in the night” reverberate and manifest themselves in Dylan's concert hall performances “No one watches when the ambulance” when Dylan’s great literature “pulls away” vanishes “Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light” or as Dylan shuts out the truth and gets high on heroin. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight, "Shut the light, shut the shade / You don't have to be afraid / I'll be your baby tonight" “and the poets down here Don't write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be” and Dylan downed out on smack is a political conservative. Froggie Went A-Courtin’ continues: Well where will the wedding supper be? Way down yonder in a hollow tree, “Well now where will the wedding supper be” for whom will Rick’s perform this service? “supper” as in sing for one's supper to obtain something by performing a service “Way down yonder” somewhere in Hell “in a hollow tree” and it will be for 844 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY someone without substance or character: a hollow person whose history Springsteen lays out: Yeah the first come in was a flying moth, Who laid out the tablecloth, “Yeah the first to come in” the first guest to arrive at the wedding, to come into Dylan’s life “was a flying moth” was a pest that liked to fly high on reefer “Who laid out” who displayed to everyone “the tablecloth” what Dylan had for diner based on what I found in his garbage. Well the next to come in was a junie bug, She brought the whiskey in a water jug, “Well the next come in” well the next guest to enter “was a junie bug” was someone who taped, bugged Dylan’s telephone conversations “She brought the whiskey” she revealed Dylan’s use of an intoxicant “in a water jug” and it held water; of an argument or idea to be believable or reasonable. Next come in was a big black snake, Chased them all into the lake, “The next come in” the next guest “was a big” leftist “black” attended with disaster; calamitous “snake” a person, esp. a colleague or friend, who secretly acts against one and throws a birthday party for Bob Dylan “Chased them all into the lake” made Dylan head across the lake, the Atlantic Ocean, for Israel. Little piece of cornbread laying on a shelf If you want any more, you can sing it yourself Yip, go! “Little piece” an artistic or literary creation “of cornbread” that is corny, dull and tiresome but with pretensions of significance or originality. Diamond Joe "His bread” mainstay, bread and butter “it was corndodger” "laying on a shelf” laying 845 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY on a shelf in a bookstore “If you want any more” if you want a better puff job sweetheart book “you can sing it yourself” the only alternative would be for Dylan to have written the book himself. “Yip, go!” Go Yippie AJ Weberman, beat the pants off Ricks. SPRINGSTEEN: YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY HAS COME TO TOWN 2007 The Dylan To English Dictionary 2005 was an approximation to Dylanese however it was the most advanced Dylanological work of its time. Springsteen commented on it: You can't sleep at night You can't dream your dream Your fingerprints on file Left clumsily at the scene Your own worst enemy has come to town “You can't sleep at night” Bobby you presently can’t find contentment “Sleep” as find contentment, Springsteen’s No Surrender, "I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lover's bed." “You can't dream your dream” you can’t dream up your poetry without fear that it will be translated or mis-translated “Your fingerprints” your writing, traces of your existence, any identifying characteristic left behind “on file” in a line of things arranged one behind the other in a certain order, in this case alphabetical order as in a dictionary “Left clumsily” turned into leftist thoughts and expressed in an inelegant or ungraceful way; ‘an awkward prose style’ “at the scene” at the scene, the surroundings amid which anything is set before the imagination “Your own worst enemy has come to town” A. J. Weberman who is widely regarded as Dylan's arch enemy is going to go to town on you. There's a face you know Staring back from the shop window The condition you're in 846 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Now you just can't get out of this skin “There's a face you know” Dylan's actual face “Staring back from the shop window” staring back from Amazon books, a window one opens on a computer to shop: The Dylan To English Dictionary 2005 “The condition you're in” the social position; rank “Now you just can't get out of” now you can't suppress “this skin” Weberman reprinting your lyrics, “skin” to produce, in recitation, examination, etc., the work of another for one's own. The times they got too clear So you removed all the mirrors Once the family felt secure Now no one's very sure “The times they got too clear” the major review of The Dylan To English Dictionary 2005 appeared in The New York Times by Colin Moynihan and suggested some of Dylan's poetry dealt with the relationship I had with Bob Dylan such as the line, "the laughter down on Elizabeth Street" “So you removed all the mirrors” so made sure that those media outlets that would have repeated this story, other major publications, did not review this book “Once the family” once your body of work “felt secure” was impenetrable “Now no one's very sure” now Weberman is advancing the state of the art of Dylanology. SHACKLED AND DRAWN: DYLAN AND AIDS 847 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN AT ELTON JOHN’S AIDS RESEARCH BENEFIT Gray morning light spits through the shade Another day older, closer to the grave Closer to the grave and come the dawn I woke up this morning shackled and drawn Gray morning light spits A slender, pointed rod on which meat is impaled for broiling. Dylan in the Disease of Conceit “it will turn you into a piece of meat” another day older and closer to the grave another day with HIV and closer to death Closer to the grave “grave” fraught with danger or harm: a grave wound and come the dawn and with age something is beginning to be perceived or understood: Realization of the inevitability of death soon dawned on Zimmerman I woke up this morning Bob Dylan was brought into a state of awareness or alertness: suddenly woke to the danger he was in shackled chained restrained or confined as if with chains: gays who were chained to a life of being HIV positive and drawn Haggard, as from fatigue or ill health: a wan, drawn face due to disseminated histoplasmosis. Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn 848 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Pick up the rock son, carry it on What’s a poor boy to do in a world gone wrong I woke up this morning shackled and drawn Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn ⁄ Pick up the rock son, carry it on this is a reference to the Myth of Sisyphus where Sis rolls a rock up a hill but when he gets to the top the rock rolls back down and again and Sis has to start from scratch. Judging from the fact Dylan “picked up a nail” (as Hickey recalled in his soliloquy in The Iceman Cometh) by not using a condom Dylan believed in The Myth Of Syphilis not Sisyphus What’s a poor boy this is the first clue and a give-away that tells you the song is about Dylan. Dylan calls himself a poor boy in Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You, “If there’s a poor boy” if there’s another folksinger on McDougall Street “then let him have my seat” then let him have my position of prominence cause tonight I’ll be staying here with [the best horse money can buy] you. The second clue is to do in a world gone wrong World Gone Wrong is a CD by Dylan in which he first sings about what it is like to have HIV. A swear by Allah his whole world went wrong when he picked up that 849 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY motherfucker. I woke up this morning shackled and drawn I’m trudging walking heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud through the dark in a world gone wrong Once again World Gone Wrong was a CD by Bob Dylan in which he first revealed he was HIV Positive I woke up this morning shackled and drawn Freedom son’s a dirty shirt The sun on my face and my shovel in the dirt A shovel in the dirt keeps the devil gone I woke up this morning shackled and drawn Freedom son’s a dirty shirt “shirt” as “word” in Springsteen’s The Line “as we drove her brother’s shirt slipped open” “Shirt” as word in Lost in the Flood “Eighth Avenue sailors in satin shirts whisper in the air” The sun in the sun In the public eye on my face “face” as “race” as in The Hour that the Ship Comes In “the sun will respect every face on the deck the hour that the ship comes in” and my shovel spoon used to snort coke or heroin in the dirt moral corruption. A shovel in the dirt keeps the devil gone a snort of smack keeps the withdrawal symptoms at bay bedevil To torment mercilessly; plague. I woke up this morning shackled and drawn I was once shackled to heroin and depleted of moral strength. The boss don’t use horse. Gambling man rolls the dice, workingman pays the bill It’s still fat and easy up on banker’s hill Up on banker’s hill, the party’s going strong Down here below we’re shackled and drawn Gambling man rolls the dice “gamble” to engage in reckless or hazardous behavior: You are gambling with your health by continuing to to engage in anal intercourse with hookers workingman pays the bill Dylan who is widely regarded as a Leftist bears the expense Up on banker’s hill, the party’s going strong for the record companies Dylan’s Leftist songs are still bringing in dough Man At The Top by Springsteen “Here comes a banker, here comes a businessman Here comes a kid with a guitar in his hand / Dreaming of his record in number-one spot /Everybody wants to be the man at the top” Down here below we’re shackled and drawn…Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn ⁄ Pick up the rock son, carry it on…We’re trudging through the dark in a world gone wrong 850 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I always loved the feel of sweat on my shirt Stand back son and let a man work Let a man work, is that so wrong I woke up this morning shackled and drawn I always loved the feel of sweat Informal To fret or worry. Born to Run “In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream” on my shirt about the words to my song poems Let a man work, let a man enchant artfully, especially for the purpose of influencing: The politician worked the crowd at the Obama benefit is that so wrong ⁄ I woke up this morning shackled and drawn Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn ⁄ Pick up the rock son, carry it on…What’s a poor boy Again: Dylan describes himself as a poor boy during his folk period. In Poor Boy Blues Dylan wrote “Hey, stop you ol’ train / Let a poor boy ride / Cain’t ya hear me cryin’? / Hm, hm, hm” to do in a world gone wrong what’s some who was once a wholesome folk singer to do in a world of HIV? I woke up this morning shackled and drawn… Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn Pick up the rock son, carry it on What’s a poor boy to do but keep singing his song I woke up this morning shackled and drawn The song ends with gospel singers saying “Stand up and be counted.” Springsteen is wasting his breath with Dylan. DON MCLEAN AMERICAN PIE THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED: FALL 1971 Oh, and there we were all in one place A generation lost in space With no time left to start again So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Jack Flash sat on a candlestick 'Cause fire is the devil's only friend 851 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY And as I watched him on the stage My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in hell Could break that Satan's spell And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight The day the music died He was singing “There we were all in one place” there we were in the same position in a social scale - the hippy era “A generation lost in space” having the unrestrained liberty to think, do, etc as we wished. Also getting spaced out on acid “With no time left to start again” having just tuned in turned on and dropped out “So come on Jack” so come on Bob Dylan “be nimble” be marked by quick, clever conception, as in a nimble mind “Jack be quick” Bob be fast in understanding, thinking, or learning: mentally agile “Jack Flash” someone who came up with a sudden and brilliant burst as in a flash of wit “sat on a candle stick” Bob Dylan put out a light, extinguished a hope “‘Cause fire” because an extreme passion for something such as scag “is the Devil’s only friend” is playing into the hands of Lucifer “As I watched him on the stage” as I watched him perform on stage “My hands were clenched in fists of rage” I got really pissed. Also to do something about it was the then-current rage in the rock poetry world “No angel” no guiding force “born” created “in Hell” who, although demonized, raised hell about Dylan’s alleged addiction and lack of political commitment. A. J. Weberman, Minister of Defense, of the Dylan Liberation Front “Could break that Satan’s spell” could get Dylan straight and out of the psychological state induced by the devil drugs that had completely captured Dylan’s attention “And as flames” and as Dylan’s passion “climbed high” progressed and got him high “into the night” into the present time in Dylan’s life “To light the sacrificial rite” and illuminated the path to sacrificing what appeared to be his politics to addiction and possibly even death by an overdose “I saw Satan laughing with delight” I saw evil ridiculing and triumphing 852 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY over good and Satan taking Dylan’s soul to Hell where it would undergo eternal torment “the day the music died” the day Bob Dylan figuratively died. 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 Bone digger Bone digger Dogs in the moonlight Far away from my well-lit door Mr. Beer belly Beer belly Get these mutts away from me You know I don't find this stuff amusing anymore “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, 853 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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, 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 It's a street in a strange world Maybe it's the Third World Maybe it's his first time around He 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 Scatterlings and orphanages 854 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 855 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 856 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY PAUL SIMON ME AND JULIO DOWN BY THE SCHOOLYARD 1972 The Paul Simon poem Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard was a light hearted look at the Dylan-Weberman myth. First of all my middle name is “Jules.” The mama pajama rolled out of bed And she ran to the police station When the papa found out he began to shout And he started the investigation Weberman the sleeping pothead roll: To wrap (something) round and round upon itself or around something else. Often used with up: roll up a joint - Weberman woke up and decided to squeak on Bob Dylan. When the political side of Weberman found out he began to protest and began investigating Dylan and his heroin inspired poems. It's against the law It was against the law What the mama saw It was against the law It’s against criminal law? It is also against moral law since heroin turns you into a monomaniac. The mama looked down and spit on the ground Every time my name gets mentioned Weberman looked down on Dylan and showed his contempt anytime Dylan’s name was mentioned. The papa said oy if I get that boy I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention 857 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Weberman who was Jewish said if I get that renegade Jew I will make him stop using drugs detention: custody or confinement, esp of a suspect awaiting trial (Education) a form of punishment in which a pupil is detained after school Well I'm on my way I don't know where I'm going I'm on my way I'm taking my time Dylan is on his was to dying of a heroin overdose but it is not going to happened overnight. He is confused as to the meaning of life – it ain’t to shoot dugi. But I done know where Goodbye to Rosie the queen of Corona Goodbye to the rosie outlook of the Left popular in New York City See you, me and Julio Down by the schoolyard See you, me and Julio Down by the schoolyard See Simon, Dylan and Weberman down by the school yard where Dylan would play basketball. See the three of us in Greenwich Village. Me and Julio down by the schoolyard In a couple of days they come and Take me away But the press let the story leak And when the radical priest Come to get me released We was all on the cover of Newsweek And I'm on my way 858 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “In a couple of days they come and take me away” Dylan was at a low point in his career “But the press let the story leak” but media like Rolling Stone let the story out that I suspected Dylan was a junkie, that I got his garbage “And when the radical priest come to get me released” and when I, A. J. Weberman came to release Dylan from his addiction “We was all on the cover of Newsweek” the Dylan-Weberman story was in Newsweek Magazine. Newsweek ran a full-page article about Dylanology. 859 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY CREDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL DOWN ON THE CORNER 1969: Early in the evenin' just about supper time, Over by the courthouse they're starting to unwind. Four kids on the corner trying to bring you up. Willy picks a tune out and he blows it on the harp. Down on the corner, out in the street Willy and the Poorboys are playin' Bring a nickel; tap your feet. Rooster hits the washboard and people just got to smile, Blinky, thumps the gut bass and solos for a while. Poorboy twangs the rhythm out on his kalamazoo. Willy goes into a dance and doubles on kazoo. Rooster (Dylan who is waking people up) / hits (indulges excessively in) / the wash board (an instrument used by the Black community to play folk music: the early Dylan plays Black music. Also Dylan washed, went over, with a committee and was awarded a contract from Columbia Records) / and people just got to smile (everybody approves) / Blinky (Dylan the folksinger) / thumps (as a Southern Baptist thumps a bible, Dylan thumped Leftwing doctrine.) / the gutbass (and had courage, guts, doing so) / and solos for a while (and played acoustic guitar and sang by himself for a while) / Poorboy twangs the rhythm out, on his kalamazoo (Dylan the rock star plays electrified rock and roll music) / Willie goes into a dance and doubles on kazoo / (Dylan goes along with the dance of drugs, follows closely and does whatever something or someone wants, and takes doubles of kazoo).” Down on the corner, out in the street Willy and the Poorboys are playin' Bring a nickel; tap your feet. Down on the corner, out in the street, Willy and the Poorboys are playin' 860 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Bring a nickel; tap your feet. You don't need a penny just to hang around, But if you've got a nickel, won't you lay your money down? Over on the corner there's a happy noise. People come from all around to watch the magic boy. “Down on the corner (in a remote part of the music business) / out in the street (doing something that is suited to them) / Willie and the Poorboys are playin’ (Dylan and his back-up band are playing – wrong use of poor) / Bring a nickel (bring a nickel bag of heroin) / tap (use up, exhaust) / your feet (your determination to change the world) / KRIS KRISTOFFERSON ME AND BOBBY MCGEE: 1968 “From the Kentucky coal mines (from songs like North Country Blues that dealt with coal miners) / To the California (to his new frontier) / of sun (never experienced before under the sun) / Yeah, Bobby (Dylan) / shared the secrets of my soul (shared my idealism and art in which it was expressed) / Through all kinds of weather (through various states or vicissitudes of life or fortune) / Through every thing that we done (through both of our careers) / Yeah Bobby baby kept me from the cold (from media that failed to evoke human emotion and compassion) / One day (during a moment of prominence) / up near Salinas (in another new frontier, this one with Spanish overtones) / Lord I let him slip away (do something other than what was intended for him. Also “slip away” as sneak away unnoticed) / He’s looking for that home (goal) / And I hope he finds it / Well I’d trade all of my tomorrows (I would trade all of Dylan’s later poems singing the praises of, what in my opinion, was heroin) / For one single yesterday (for just one song-poem like Hard Rain) / To be holdin’ Bobby’s body (keeping the body of Dylan’s work in its previous position) / next to mine (similar to my own) / Freedom (not being imprisoned by something) / is just another word (is the same as) / For nothin’ left to lose (not to have to begin or begin to stop having a certain characteristic like drug addiction. This is a reworking of Like A Rolling Stone where Dylan sang, “When you ain’t got nothing you got nothing to lose”) / Nothin’ and 861 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY that’s all that Bobby left me (nothing of any real value is what Dylan is leaving his fans at the time this poem was composed) / But feelin’ good (feeling good about one’s self because of being a part of human progress) / was easy Lord / When he sang the blues (when Dylan was in his prime, singing morally right-on poetry) / Hey, feelin’ good was good enough for me (and I didn’t need any counterrevolutionary drug like heroin to fill in a void) / Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee (and if that was enough to satisfy me it should also have been enough to satisfy Dylan).” BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: DEVILS AND DUST: I got my finger on the trigger But I don't know who to trust When I look into your eyes There's just devils and dust We're a long, long way from home, Bobbie Home's a long, long way from us I feel a dirty wind blowing Devils and dust “I got my finger (to accuse, point the finger at someone, also finger - in music. To indicate on a part or composition the choice and configuration of fingers to be used for a piece of music) / on the trigger (something that starts off a chain of events as Springsteen has done in the pop music world) / But I don’t know who to trust (trust - have belief or confidence in, or reliance on, the truth, goodness, character, power, ability, etc of someone - Springsteen has lost his faith in Dylan) / When I look into your eyes (when I examine your thoughts, look into your mind) / There’s just devils (evil, and someone who excels at something as in "Dylan is a devil of a poet") / and dust (deceit. Also British - garbage as in trash).” “You’re a long, long way from home Bob (you have strayed a long way from roots on the Left) / Home’s a long long way from us (and I no longer share your goals) / Hear a dirty wind a blowin (I hear you disseminating lies, excrement, trash in your poetry – wind a blowin’ as in Blowin In The Wind) / devils and dust.” 862 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I got God on my side And I'm just trying to survive What if what you do to survive Kills the things you love Fear's a powerful thing, baby It can turn your heart black you can trust It'll take your God filled soul And fill it with devils and dust “I got God on my side (Dylan’s With God On My Side - Dylan feels justified in his beliefs) / And I’m just trying to survive (and he is trying to stay alive despite what is being HIV positive) / What if what you do to survive (but what if having to adopt an embittered worldview) / Kills the things you love (kills the spirit of humanity that dwells within you) / Fear (of death) / is a powerful thing, baby / It can turn your heart black you can trust (it can make your innermost feelings, heart of hearts, black, pessimistic, cynical, evil, and you better believe it) / It’ll take your God filled soul (it will take your once political essence) / And fill it with devils and dust (in another verse Springsteen sings the word “song” rather than “soul” and “god-fearin’” rather than “Godfilled” in a similar reference to Dylan’s early works).” Well I dreamed of you last night In a field of blood and stone The blood began to dry The smell began to rise Well I dreamed of you last night, Bobbie In a field of mud and bone Your blood began to dry And the smell began to rise “Well I dreamed of you last night (I wrote a poem about you recently, “dream” as in Dylan’s Dear Landlord, “my dreams are beyond control”) / In a field (a region of space in which one object exerts force on another) / of blood (a often fatal blood disease) / and stone (that is written in stone, immutable, incurable) / The blood (the life within you) / began to dry (cause Dylan to lack warmth of character) / 863 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The smell (to be aware of something by intuition; to recognize signs or traces of: Example: I smell a rat. Also smell as stench) / began to rise (originate, increase).” “Well I dreamed of you last night, Bobbie (In Glory Days Springsteen wrote, There’s a girl that lives up the block [“block” as “head,” from the idiom “knock your block off” - translation: Dylan is smarter than Springsteen and operates on a higher level] / In school [as he established his own school of poetry] / she could turn all the boys heads [and she could change and upgrade the way in which other rock poets composed poetry in their heads, their minds. Note the use of “block” and “head” in close proximity] / Sometimes on Friday [on a day where people often go out to view entertainment] / I would stop by [mimic Dylan’s music - stop: to adjust the vibrating length of a guitar string by pressing down with a finger] / and have a few drinks [drink - drink something in - to listen to it, learn it eagerly, while I sang it and played it. Absorbed it…] / after she put her kids [her creations] / to bed [to put a newspaper to bed - to finish a work, apropos since Dylan based many of his topical poems on newspaper articles] / Her husband [husband – to manage resources wisely, as the early Dylan did] / Bobby / they split up… [Dylan changed, left the topical song world]” / In a field of mud (disgraced out of favor, Dylan’s name is mud with those on the Left who are in the know. Also a battlefield) and bone (disagreement - Springsteen has a bone to pick with Dylan, also blood is produced in the bone marrow) / Your blood began to dry (no longer produce T-cells) / The smell to rise (and the virus began to catch up with you).” We've got God on our side Now every woman and every man They wanna take a righteous stand Find the love that God wills And the faith that He commands I've got my finger on the trigger And tonight faith just ain't enough When I look inside my heart There's just devils and dust 864 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Now every woman and every man (all of your fans) / They wanna take a righteous stand (justifiably morally correct political position) / Find the love that God wills (find the political and social truth that is their destiny to progress to) / And the faith (loyalty to a promise) / that He commands (that they deserve or are entitled to. Also Dylan’s knowledge of and ability to use language - his command of the English language) / I’ve got my finger on the trigger (Springsteen is at the forefront of supporting Democrats like John Kerry) / And tonight (presently) / faith just ain’t enough (his old belief in Dylan will no longer suffice) / When I look inside my heart (when Springsteen looks into his heart of hearts, his true beliefs) / There’s just devils and dust (all he sees is the evil and trash that Dylan is generating).” Well I've got God on my side And I'm just trying to survive What if what you do to survive Kills the things you love Fear's a dangerous thing It can turn your heart black you can trust It'll take your God filled soul Fill it with devils and dust Yeah it'll take your God filled soul Fill it with devils and dust CHRONICLES 2004 AND THE DISEASE OF CONCEIT Dylan, "Conceit is not necessarily a disease. It’s more of a weakness. A conceited person could be set up (be put in a compromising or dangerous position usually by trickery or deceit: Also set up as “made erect”) easily and brought down (caused to fall into sin) 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" to apply therapeutic treatment with the hands to a part of the body such as the penis and testicles "completely if you know what buttons to push" do the right things to elicit a sexual response. So in a sense" if you read between the lines "that’s what the lyrics are talking about. 865 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The Disease of Conceit had additional verses including, “There’s a whole lot of people dreaming tonight about the disease of conceit (currently having pipe dreams that it will disappear) / whole lot of people screaming tonight (speaking or writing with intense or hysterical emotion) / about the disease of conceit / I’ll hump ya (HIV/AIDS will cause a difficult, trying, or critical phase or obstacle in your life: Also vulgar, to copulate with) / and I’ll dump ya (unceremoniously dispose of you, make you worth much less than you really are) / and I’ll blow your house down (destroy any chance you have of appearing before an audience, a packed house) / I’ll slice (interrupt, as in cut. Also slice-of-life the accurate transcription into poetry of a segment of actual life experience) / into your cake (the very thing that you did with ease, that was a piece of cake, staying healthy) / before I leave town (and finished going to town on you - doing something very thoroughly) / Pick a number (sarcastic: choose how many days you have left to live. Also pick the disease that you want to do a number on you. Gangster slang how many days you will spend in the hospital after getting a beating) / take a seat (sarcastic: have a new position of eminence in the world: Also sit down before you faint) / with the disease of conceit.” Robert Allen Zimmerman also said this in regard to the poem Disease of Conceit - "The song (a habitual or characteristic manner) rose up (extended above other objects) until I could read (predict, foretell, learn from) the look in its eyes (what it held for me in the future). In the quiet (privacy) of the evening (of the period of my life that was coming to an end) I didn’t have to hunt far for it (sarcastic: seek it outside of myself since it was within me, it ran in my blood).” (Chronicles 2004) DURING HIS SPEECH AT THE MUSICARE AWARDS DYLAN MAKES REFERENCE TO THE TIME HE PINNED ME DOWN TO THE GROUND 866 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 867 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY strange environment to preach racism in, but he did it anyway but throwing his songs in with the others. Fact is most 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. 868 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY BOB DYLAN, A JEW, BLAMES THE JEWS FOR THE SLAVE TRADE Understanding what Dylan is saying here revolves around the definition of the word “Arab.” Dylan writes that the middlemen in the slave trading business played their violins around campfires at night and this seeped into the slaves heads. He calls them Arabs but music is forbidden by the Qu’ran. Then he says he has Arab and European Blood in him. Arab is his code word for Jew. 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. This is a description of the early part of Dylan’s career. On the slow train as in “there’s a slow train a-comin’” some good trend or train of thought that takes a long time to come time In Music The meter of a musical pattern: three-quarter time. The rate of speed at which a piece of music is played; the tempo doesn’t interfere with the relationship between the artist and his audience. And at the Arabian crossing crossing: Biology The process of crossbreeding; hybridization such as an Ashkenazi Jew waits White Heap the White Americans, and the man 869 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY from the newspaper and the stars of the music world & behind him the hundred Inevitables behind him are those who failed, whose careers died made of solid rock & stone despite their rock and roll sound. Twinkle Clown with arabic lettering on his forehead wanting everybody to experience his fright "you must experience my fright to be my friend! " so says he to Lucy Tunia, whose vegetarian legs shine like mahogany & who comforts Twinkle Clown in his fits when he has no harem . . 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 Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums Should I put them by your gate Oh, sad-eyed lady, should I wait? In an interview posted on Bob Dylan dot com Zimmerman was asked: “What was that thing about the blues being a combination of Strauss waltzes and Arabic violins? Where did you get that?” I read it in a musicology book. In the 16 or 1700’s there were African tribal wars and instead of slaughtering their enemies like they would do today, the African chiefs roped up their captives and sold them as slaves to Arab slave traders, who were basically middlemen in the slave trading business. Then the slaves had to be marched to where the ships were at the landings; Dutch ships, English ships, Spanish ships, whatever. And that march was a long hard tedious journey, sometime covering hundreds of miles. The Arabs played their violins at night around campfires. And that sound must have drifted into their dreams. 870 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The first thing that makes me suspicious about this is Dylan’s failure to name the title of the book. Then the line “The Arabs played their violins at night around campfires.” There is only one problem here: Playing instruments of music is a Greater Sin or Shirk. It is Harām to play instruments like the violin. Listening to music is also a Shirk. Music as a Shirk is reported by Fazl ibn Shazān from Imam ‘Ali ar-Riďa (a.s.): “And to be engrossed in musical instruments is also a Greater Sin.” A lot of these slaves died before they even got to the boats. When they got to the ports they’d be sold to the sea captains, then they’d make another long journey over the water to the New World. Hard to tell how many of them actually survived from the whole ordeal. Agents in America would buy the slaves from the sea captains, then the agents would sell them to plantation owners. In the new world, they’d hear a lot of minuets played at plantation parties … that’s sort of how it happened according to the book, two different influences, it was so interesting. So you have the Arabs playing violins and the plantation owners playing Minuets at the parties the field hands were invited to. That was SORT OF how it happened; it wasn’t actually how it happened because as we will later find out the Arabs were actually Jews. The 12 bar blues pattern, that's something else. That evidently comes out of field hollers, where one guy sings a line and a whole bunch of others repeat that line and maybe after that there is a third different line. It all gets mixed up. I can’t remember everything in the book, but this one chapter intrigued me. It pertained to the Delta blues and for that type of music it made sense. North Carolina stuff and Georgia and Florida songs are different - have less of a twang and are more melodic, seem to have more of a waltz minuet vibe, maybe because of who the slaves were and what they were exposed to along the way, musically speaking. The Delta blues has always been eerie and suspenseful, Middle Eastern in tone, so to me it made sense. I’ve always had a feeling for the blues, even back when I was a little boy … before I even knew what it was … mostly the sound of the 871 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Delta blues, because it’s probably in my DNA. I guess I must have both Arab in me and waltz time European blood as well. The Delta Blues Middle Eastern in tone? The Delta Blues is part of Dylan’s DNA? The guy is a full blooded Jew - an Ashkenazi - whose blood traces back to Israel but was mixed with that of Europeans. The Arab blood he is talking about is a code word for Jewish blood and the Arab middleman slave traders Dylan was referring to are Jews. CHRONICLES Fear's a powerful thing, Bob Dylan It can turn your heart black you can trust It'll take your God filled soul And fill it with devils and dust - B. Springsteen 872 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Louis Ferdinand Celine was the author of Journey To The End of the Night a cult anti-war classic of the early 1960's popular among the Beats. Henry Miller visited this Nazi collaborator and Jew hater in post-war France in the late 1950's. After the visit Miller became convinced that "the great artist is not always the great human being." Perhaps Bob Dylan is the best living example of this. There is no doubt in my mind that Dylan is a great artist. But as far as the human being thing goes he is sinking lower and lower. I know what is going on in what is left of his mind - his anti-Zionist beliefs are starting to turn really sour and is becoming Jew-hatred. How could a Jew be an anti-Semite? It happens more often than one would expect. Lyndon LaRouche, a Nazi economist, has a shitload of Jews working for him. Fred Newman, a Jew himself, runs a Jew hating cult in New York City. Rabbi Mordechi Weberman, my own freakin' cousin, meets with Jew haters on a regular basis. Dylan has a whole history of self-hate. After he converted to Christianity, unlike the other members of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, he focused on the Jews killed Christ aspect of fundamentalism and wrote, "on the way out of Egypt through Ethiopia, the judgment of THOSE WHO KILLED CHRIST" or "to the judgment hall of the Christ" however you hear it. Then came the Swiftian allegory about Israel on UNDER THE RED SKY and how it was unbelievable 873 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY that Israel acted the way it did during the Intifada. Now Dylan is downplaying the evil of the Nazis by comparing Nazi Germany to modern day Israel in MODERN TIMES. Next he will be denying the Holocaust and verbally attacking his own people in his poetry. I understand that Dylan is a bitter alta-cocker. I would be bitter too if I was HIV postive, especially to fall from such a high place. As the prison psychologists told the inmates at MDC, the prison where I was incarcerated, "It's those who end up here from Park Avenue, not those who lived in the projects, who are most likely to attempt suicide." Dylan is committing suicide via his own self-destructive political philosophy. For the love of G-d, take pity on yourself. In Chronicles Dylan crossed the line and became a Patrick Buchanan type thinker - but fortunately there is no perception of this by the public due to the fact that no journalist or reviewer wants to be out of step with the rest of the media and point out certain passages from Chronicles 2004 that on their face indicate that there is something seriously wrong with Dylan's thinking - something that reeks of a diseased mind. HITLER WAS A TOWERING FIGURE This paragraph is from Chronicles 2004: 874 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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." Hitler was a towering figure? The dictionary defines towering figure as: very great - a towering figure in the British art world. Dylan's view of Hitler appears to be not unlike that of Louis Farrakhan, a notorious Jew hater, "Here come the Jews [sic] don't like Farrakhan, so they call me a Hitler. Well, that's a good name. Hitler was a very great man." It also reminds me of a statement that Nazi collaborator Gertrude Stein made in 1937: "There is too much fathering going on just now and there is no doubt about it fathers are depressing. Everybody nowadays is a father, there is father Mussolini and father Hitler and father Roosevelt and father Stalin..." Stein was one of the few Jews to meet with Adolf Hitler. Somebody should have put a bullet through this bitch! She should never have been an icon of the counter-culture. ROBERT ALLEN ZIMMERMAN: I FEEL AKIN TO NAZI CHARLES LINDBERGH Here is what Dylan writes about Lindbergh, "There were other Minnesotans, too, that I felt akin to. Charles Lindbergh, the first aviator to fly nonstop across the Atlantic in the '20s. He was from Little Falls." 875 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY In September 1939, two weeks after the Nazi invasion of Poland, Lindbergh delivered a nationwide radio address urging the United States to stay out of the war. In this speech Lindbergh proclaimed that Nazi victory in Europe was certain and because of this America should stay out and deal with the consequences. Later in the speech, Lindbergh commented “These wars in Europe are not wars in which our civilization is defending itself against some Asiatic intruder”. A later article by Lindbergh in Readers Digest continued: “Our civilization depends on a western wall of race and arms which can hold back…the infiltration of inferior blood." EZRA POUND AND T. S. ELIOT In his 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. When T. S. Eliot spoke at the University of Virginia aren't a few weeks after Hitler came to power, he said that in a well ordered society "Reasons of race and 876 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY religion combine to make any large number of free-thinking Jews undesirable." I don't care you good a poetry this guy wrote, he was a piece of shit and that's that. DYLAN ON ADOLF EICHMANN Dylan asked Ray Gooch, the smack dealer Dylan crashed with when Dylan first hit New York City, what it was like to work in a plant where animals were slaughtered. Gooch compared it to a prison where people were slaughtered. Dylan elaborated, "[Auschwitz] was one of the Nazi death camps in Europe and 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. His trial was a big deal. On the witness stand Eichmann declared he was merely following orders, but his prosecutors had no problem proving that he had carried out his mission with monstrous zeal and relish. Eichmann had been convicted and his fate was now being decided. There was a lot of talk about sparing his life, even sending him back to Argentina, but that would have been foolish. Even if he was set free he probably wouldn't last an hour. The State of Israel claimed the right to act as heir and executor of all who perished in the final solution. The trial reminds the whole world of what led to the formation of the Israeli state. The first thing that caught my attention was that when Gooch compared Auschwitz to a slaughterhouse in the Midwest Dylan did not report registering any objection. Only the most fanatical Animal Liberationists would equate the two. Later Dylan writes that the Eichmann trial was a "big deal." A big deal can be defined as something of special importance but it can be also sometimes used 877 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ironically as an interjection. Dylan went on, "There was a lot of talk about sparing his life, even sending him back to Argentina, but that would have been foolish. Even if he was set free he probably wouldn't last an hour." Set free? Who the fuck even suggested he be set free? Much of the talk about returning Eichmann to Argentina came from Argentina's military dictatorship and from Nazi groups that had brought him there in the first place. In 1964 Dylan was one of those who thought it was wrong to execute Eichmann or go after Nazi war criminals "irma goes t' israel an' writes me that there, they hate nazis much more 'n we over here do. eichmann dies yes, an' west germany sends eighty - year - old pruned - out gestapo hermit off t' the penitentiary." DAVID DUKE: MOVIE STAR Throughout Chronicles 2004 Dylan sings the praises of various black musicians, composers and lyricists, such as Robert Johnson, pointing out how their genius influenced him. Dylan sang at the March On Washington in 1963, he wrote Blowin' In The Wind but now this is what he has to say about David Duke, a Nazi, Klansman and convicted embezzler: "The ex-Klansman David Duke from Metairie in Jefferson Parish had been elected to the Louisiana State House of Representatives and he was being interviewed. He said that welfare wasn't working and that workfare would be better make people on welfare work for the community instead of getting a free ride. He also wanted to put prisoners from 878 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY state pens on work programs. Didn't want them getting a free ride, either. I hadn't seen Duke before; he looked like a movie star. I gathered myself together [allowed him to help formulate my ideas, I accumulated my ideas] and went back in to work with Dan." Is this all Dylan has to say about David Duke, that he looked like a movie star? The movie star is the hero of Birth of a Nation, “the little colonel” who Duke made himself look like through plastic surgery. By his absence of criticism as a one time member of the Civil Rights Movement Dylan is tacitly endorsing David Duke. Dylan should be saying, "Ban the Klan! Death to the Klan!" Dylan has a wife and daughter who David Duke would call NIGGERS. Dylan has worked with numerous black people. And all Dylan can say about Duke is that he looked like a movie star and wanted to stop Blacks from getting a free ride. THE ONLY FREE RIDE BLACKS GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS CHAINED UP TO JAIL OR PRISON OR TO A COURT APPEARANCE IF THEY CAN'T MAKE BAIL. Dylan makes me puke. 879 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DAVE VAN RONK - THE GRAND DRAGON OF FOLK MUSIC "David was the grand dragon. If you were on McDougal Street in the evening and out to see somebody play, he'd be the first and last vital choice of the night." This is how Dylan describes Dave Van Ronk, a socialist and anti-racist until his recent death? A Grand Dragon is a high-ranking member of the Klan! To become a Grand Dragon you got to do some shit, like kill, injure, and mess up some Black people. Dylan sings the praises of Van Ronk throughout his book and everyone knows that Dylan's first album was not much different than Van Ronk's early work which everyone back then would listen to ask themselves, "You believe this dude is white?" Hey I lived through this era sports fans. What did Dylan do for Van Ronk anyway? Did he ever try to help his career, did he ever let him open at one of his concerts? RAY GOOCH FOLLOWER OF ROCKWELL Dylan has this to say about Ray Gooch: He was a nonconformist, a nonintegrator and a Southern nationalist. Ray had said that New York City was the city that won the Civil War, came out on top-that the wrong side had lost, that slavery was evil and that the thing would have died out anyway, Lincoln or no Lincoln. I heard him say it and thought it was a mysterious and bad thing to say, but if he said it, he said it and that's all there is to it. What is a motherfucking "nonintegrator"? A segregationist. A racist. I believe I heard of a dude named Ray who lived on the far West Side from a cat named Dave Moore who lived next door to me at 146 Sullivan Street in 1965. Gooch was a smack dealer. No wonder Dylan never mentioned him before. Previously Dylan wrote that he stayed with MacKenzie’s and with Van Ronk then said he got a pad on the Lower East Side and trekked or shmecked his way to the Village for gigs. 880 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY But perhaps the most telling episode indicative of Dylan's racism was revealed when Dylan described an encounter with Frank Sinatra Jr. "He talked about the civil rights movement, said his father had been active in civil rights and had always fought for the underdog-that his father felt like he was one himself...The conversation rolled along. "How do you think it would make you feel," he said, "to find out that the underdog had turned out to be a son of a bitch?" "I don't know," I said, "probably not so good." Zimmerman fails not only to challenge someone who in my opinion sounds like a racist pig, he agrees with him. Frank Jr. was saying that "the underdog had turned out to be a son of a bitch" - all Black people were gangbangers, bad-assed or lazy niggers, dopers, rip offs, welfare mothers and Dylan agreed with him? Zimmerman said he was with his wife, which wife? The African-American one or the Jewish one? DYLAN ON JEW-HATING BLACK RAPPERS 881 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY A few years earlier, Kurtis Blow, a rapper from Brooklyn who had a hit out called "The Breaks" had asked me to be on one of his records and he familiarized me with that stuff, Ice-T, Public Enemy, N.W.A., Run-D.M.C. These guys definitely weren't standing around bullshitting. They were beating drums, tearing it up, hurling horses over cliffs. They were all poets and knew what was going on. Somebody different was bound to come along sooner or later who would know that world, been born and raised with it ... be all of it and more. Professor Griff the Mental Stiff of Public Enema had previously said anti-Semitic remarks on stage but his quotation that Jews were responsible for "the majority of the wickedness that goes on across the globe" were greeted with shock and outrage, especially by White critics that previously embraced the group. Faced with a major crisis, Chuck D faltered. At first he fired Griff, then he brought him back to the group and then he broke up the group. Griff gave one more interview where he attacked Chuck D and PE, which led to his permanent departure from the group. Embedded racist content is a recurrent theme in Dylan’s major poems! If you want to go into denial and believe that I am projecting my racist beliefs on Dylan’s 882 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ambiguous poetry remember this: It would have been impossible for me to make them all work as racist if this meaning had not already been put there intentionally. If I could do this I would be Bob Dylan. Dylan’s early crypto-racist songs were not symptomatic of the fact that although Cracker Boy could crank out some amazing poems and tunes, he was never really all there. This was not the case. Dylan wrote that he held racist views when he was still in Hibbing. Bob Dylan’s Dream 1962, “As easy it was to tell black from white / It was all that easy to tell wrong from right / And our choices they were few and the thought never hit / That the one road we traveled” that the course of action in life that we took in regard to Blacks “would ever shatter” would turn to disillusionment “and split” and split us up personally ideologically. These early racist beliefs were reinforced by Raymond Gooch who was born on February 16, 1931 and who died October 15, 1991. Gooch’s SS #224-38-4122 was issued in Virginia. Coincidentally George Lincoln Rockwell’s ANP headquarters was located in Virginia. Dylan crashed at Ray Gooch’s far West Village pad. 883 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Chronicles, “Ray was an opium smoker; smoked opium in a bamboo pipe with a mushroom bowl. They had cooked it up once in the kitchen, boiling little kilos of bricks” a kilo brick of opium is not little it is a very large quantity and Dylan wrote “bricks” rather than “brick” “until they became like gum. Boiling and re-boiling and draining liquid through filtered cloth-the kitchen smelled like cat piss. They kept it in a crock jar. He wasn’t like a slob junkie from the junkyard, though, not in any way, not like somebody who uses dope just to get normal—not a part time junkie, he’s not even addicted. He’s not someone who would rob anybody to pay for a habit. He’s wasn’t like that. There’s a lot of things I didn’t know about Ray. I didn’t know what saved him from arrest, either?” was Dylan hinting that he was a snitch for the narcotics cops of the New York City Police Department or did he have a connection to Organized Crime and the local narcs were on the pad? At least two Greenwich Village narcs active at that time, Imp and Koch, were accused of taking money from drug dealers by the Knapp Commission. Chronicles continued, “Ray was maybe ten years older than me—from Virginia he was like an old wolf, gaunt and battle-scarred” old wolf sounds like Rommel, the Nazi desert wolf “came from a long line of ancestry made up of bishops, generals, even a colonial governor” his ancestor, Sir William Gooch was a colonial governor of Virginia. He was a real American, not some child of second generation immigrants like Dylan “He was a nonconformist” he did not go along with the liberal orientation of New York City “a nonintegrator” he believed in the separation of the races, he was a racist “and a Southern nationalist” and he believed the South should succeed from the Union rather than give up Jim Crow “He and Chloe lived in the place like they were hiding out. Ray was like a character from out of some of the songs I’d been singing, someone who had seen life, done deeds and lived romances-had traipsed around, had a broad grasp of the country, its conditions” he was unhappy with the way Whites were treated “Though there was an undercurrent of upheaval” a great change and disturbance “reverberating” which would have a prolonged and continuing effect “and in a few years the American cities would tremble, Ray took little interest, said the real action was ‘in the Congo’” if you really want to kill African-Americans become a mercenary in the Belgian Congo “Ray had an elite background, even studied at Camden Military Academy in South Carolina, which he had left with ‘sincere and utter hatred.’ He’d 884 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY also been ‘expelled with gratitude’ from Wake Forest Divinity School, a religious college” had he been expelled because of his Nazi beliefs? “He was working in a tool-and-die factory in Brooklyn, but before that had drifted around, had been employed at the Studebaker plant in South Bend and also at an Omaha slaughterhouse on the kill floor. Once I asked him what that was like. ‘You ever heard of Auschwitz?’” Gooch compared the slaughter of animals to the slaughter of Jews; if Gooch would have known that Dylan was Jewish he would probably not have asked him if he knew about Auschwitz “Sure I had, who hadn’t? It was one of the Nazi death camps in Europe and 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. His trial was a big deal” it was blown out of proportion; Tarantula, “so i shoot dope once in a while. big deal” “On the witness stand Eichmann declared he was merely following orders, but his prosecutors had no problem proving that he had carried out his mission with monstrous zeal and relish” in other words the Nuremburg prosecutors failed to prove that Eichmann was not just following orders and all they could prove was that he just got overly enthusiastic in doing so “Eichmann had been convicted and his fate was now being decided. There was a lot of talk about sparing his life, even sending him back to Argentina, but that would have been foolish” no one talked about freeing him and sending him back to Argentina except Dylan “Even if he was set free he probably wouldn’t last an hour” setting him free was the wrong thing to do not because it was immoral, but because it would be impractical. Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “irma goes t’ Israel an’ writes me that there, they hate nazis much more ‘n we over here do. eichmann dies yes, an’ west germany sends eighty-yearold pruned-out gestapo hermit off t’ the penitentiary.” Chronicles continues, “The State of Israel claimed the right to act as heir and executor of all who perished in the final solution” they claimed the right to do this to receive reparations from Germany “The trial reminds the whole world of what led to the formation of the Israeli state” it was a show trial to justify the existence of the Zionist entity. “Ray wasn’t somebody who would leave any footprints on the sands of time” Ray would not make history “but there was something special about him” yet he had 885 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY an amazing influence on me, more so than anyone else “He had blood in his eyes” “blood” descent from a common ancestor; parental lineage was apparent in his thoughts “the face of a man who could do no wrong” he was a White American Protestant Southerner “total lack of viciousness or wickedness or even sinfulness in his face” and his race manifested the highest qualities of America “He seemed like a man who could conquer and command anytime he wished to” Ray Gooch was what made America powerful “Ray was mysterious as hell” mysterious, Satan is also mysterious and there was “the mystery tramp?” from Like a Rolling Stone. Dylan described Ray’s arms cache “Everything in plain sight. A lot of firearms, too. You’d think that Ray was part of the police force or a licensed gunsmith or something. There were different parts of guns—of pistols, large frame, small frame, Taurus Tracker pistol, a pocket pistol, trigger guards, everything like in a compost heap, altered guns” semi-automatics converted to machine guns “guns with shortened barrels” sawed off shotguns “different brands of guns—Ruger, Browning, a single-action Navy pistol, everything poised to work, shined out. You’d walk into this room” you would enter his life “and feel like you were under the vigilance of some unsleeping eye.” Gooch was a vigilante “It was weird. Ray was anything but a macho tough guy. I asked him once what he did with all this stuff back there, what it was for. ‘Tactical response,’ he said.” a tactical response is an armed response involving paramilitary operations that are small, close to base, and of short-term, like shooting a African-American that riots. Ray Gooch was a walking time bomb as many Nazis are. Nazis were living in liberal Greenwich Village? In July 1963 Paul Joachim, of 10 Downing Street in Greenwich Village, a follower of George Lincoln Rockwell, was arrested for possession of a weapons arsenal. Daniel Burros was arrested with Joachim. Burros was later exposed by the New York Times as being Jewish and was subsequently murdered by other Nazi scum. Chronicles, “I was in New York City, communists or no communists. There were probably plenty around. Plenty of fascists, too. Plenty of would-be left-wing dictators and right-wing dictators. Radicals of all stripes.” “Ray was a Southerner and made no bones about it, but he would have been antislavery as much as he would have been antiunion. ‘Slavery should have been outlawed from the start,’ he said. ‘It was diabolical. Slave power makes it 886 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY impossible for free workers to make a decent living-it had to be destroyed.’” Gooch did not look at it in terms of racism but from the point of view of a poor White competing with the Blacks for jobs and even Dylan had to admit “Ray was pragmatic. Sometimes it was as if he had no heart or soul. Ray was not a guy who had nothing on his mind. He knew what he thought and he knew how to express it, didn’t make room in his life for mistakes. The mundane things in life didn’t register with him. He seemed to have some golden grip on reality, didn’t sweat the small stuff, quoted the Psalms and slept with a pistol near his bed. At times he could say things that had way too much edge. Once he said that President Kennedy wouldn’t last out his term because he was a Catholic” not only did he hate Blacks, he hated Catholics just as the Klan once did “When he said it, it made me think about my grandmother, who said to me that the Pope is the king of the Jews.” Dylan didn’t hate Catholics and thought this remark could be a selffulfilling prophecy. “How much did I know about that cataclysmic event [the Civil War]? Probably close to nothing. There weren’t any great battles fought out where I grew up. No Chancellorsvilles, Bull Runs, Fredericksburgs or Peachtree Creeks. What I knew about it was that it was a war fought about States’ Rights and it ended slavery” this implies there was no moral imperative involved and the racism is still as American as apple pie. “Ray had said that New York City was the city that won the Civil War came out on top” Ray blamed the Jews for starting the Civil War so that they could benefit economically “that the wrong side had lost” that the Confederacy should have won “that that slavery was evil and that the thing would have died out anyway” after how long? “Lincoln or no Lincoln” and that Lincoln was evil “I heard him say it and thought it was a mysterious” it created a feeling of strangeness, curiosity, and wonder, again the word “mysterious” in connection with a racist leader “and bad thing to say” and was a bad thing to express; but not to think about “but if he said it, he said it and that’s all there is to it” but if the great Raymond Gooch said it, it was true! Dylan was not always a Jewish traitor and historical revisionist. In Talkin John Birch Society Blues 1962 he wrote, “Now we all agree with Hitler’s' views / 887 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Although he killed six million Jews.” In With God On Our Side 1962 he wrote “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. Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “I talked with one of the sons of Germany” I spoke with a Nazi who was really nothing more than a patriotic German. The word “son” can be looked at in two ways. It can mean a young man or a patriot, as in “sons of the American Revolution “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” I and learned that he regards Hitler as a misguided patriot. In Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964 Dylan ridiculed Israelis for not forgiving the Nazis and expressed sympathy for the mass murderer Eichmann and the highranking Nazi and Hitler henchman Rudolph Hess who was the only prisoner at Spandau Prison after being convicted of War Crimes at Nuremberg. Dylan calls him a “hermit.” irma goes t’ Israel an’ writes me that there, they hate nazis much more ‘n we over here do. eichmann dies yes, an’ west germany sends eighty-year-old pruned-out gestapo hermit off t’ the penitentiary. In his book Tarantula 1965 he wrote, down with you sam. down with your answers too. Hitler did not change history. Hitler WAS history Down with America, Uncle Sam, and your reasons for fighting in World War II. What Zimmerman is saying here is that Hitler was not a leader who was a charismatic demagogue who imposed his genocidal and militaristic ideas on Germany, but Hitler came to power because of history – that is the Treaty of Versailles imposed unfair harsh penalties on Germany and the German people. Never a bad word about Hitler of Nazism from Herr Zimmermann. In Promoting Democracy--An Obsession Whose Time Has Passed crypto-Nazi Ron Paul stated: 888 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Promoting democracy is now our nation’s highest ideal. Wilson started it with his ill-advised drive to foolishly involve us in World War I. His utopian dream was to make the world safe for democracy. Instead, his naiveté and arrogance promoted our involvement in the back-to-back tragedies of World War I and World War II. It’s hard to imagine the rise of Hitler in World War II without the Treaty of Versailles. Also from 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?” “Freedom” represents the free world - the countries of the world that have democratic and capitalistic or moderately socialistic systems rather than communist or totalitarian systems. In other words Hitler was not such a bad guy because he opposed Communism. Only good words about Hitler and Nazis from Bob Dylan! In his autobiography entitled Chronicles 2004 Dylan called Hitler a towering figure and put him 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. In Chronicles 2004 Robert Allen Zimmerman continued to express sympathy for Adolf Eichmann, who would have put him in an oven: Auschwitz was one of the Nazi death camps in Europe and 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. His trial was a big deal. “Gestapo organizer?” Zimmerman makes Eichmann into a death camp victim “Organize” death camp jargon for stealing or scounging clothing, food etc. that 889 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY frequently made the difference between life and death “manage [the death camps].” “manage” as in succeed in accomplishing or achieving, especially with difficulty. SS Commander Reinhard Heydrich disclosed to Eichmann in autumn 1941 that all the Jews in German-controlled Europe were to be murdered. In 1942, Heydrich ordered Eichmann to attend the Wannsee Conference where Germany's anti-semitic measures were set down into an official policy of genocide. Eichmann was given the position of Transportation Administrator of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question", which put him in charge of all the trains that would carry Jews to the death camps in the territory of occupied Poland. Eichmann was never in charge of the death camps. “His trial was a big deal.” Dylan implied that his trial was blown out of proportion; Tarantula, “so i shoot dope once in a while. big deal.” On the witness stand Eichmann declared he was merely following orders, but his prosecutors had no problem proving that he had carried out his mission with monstrous zeal and relish. The Nuremburg prosecutors failed to prove that Eichmann was not just following orders and all they could prove was that he just got overly enthusiastic in doing so “Eichmann had been convicted and his fate was now being decided. There was a lot of talk about sparing his life, even sending him back to Argentina, but that would have been foolish” no one talked about freeing him and sending him back to Argentina except other Nazis and Bob Dylan “Even if he was set free he probably wouldn’t last an hour” setting him free was the wrong thing to do not because it was immoral, but because it would be impractical. Chronicles continued, “The State of Israel claimed the right to act as heir and executor of all who perished in the final solution” they claimed the right to do this to receive reparations from Germany as all these money grubbing Jews were interested in was gelt “The trial reminds the whole world of what led to the formation of the Israeli state” it was only a show trial to justify the existence of the “Zionist entity.” What a sick motherfucker. So it should come as no surprise that in Tempest’s Narrow Way we discover Bob Dylan is an Israel-hating, antiZionist Jew. The Tea Party is pro-Israel and they are not Holocaust deniers and 890 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Hitler admirers as is Robert Allen Zimmerman. Not only did Dylan admire Nazis, he also admired the Klan and Robert Allen Zimmerman, ex-bar mitzvah boy, wrote this in Chronicles 2004: The ex-Klansman David Duke from Metairie in Jefferson Parish had been elected to the Louisiana State House of Representatives and he was being interviewed. He said that welfare wasn't working and that workfare would be better; make people on welfare work for the community instead of getting a free ride. He also wanted to put prisoners from state pens on work programs. Didn't want them getting a free ride, either. I hadn't seen Duke before; he looked like a movie star. Dylan liked David Duke’s ideas. Factor this into the equation when you decide if Dylan is a racist or not? “Work programs?” The Klansman David Duke wanted to bring back chain gangs, a form of torture!! The “movie star” David Duke paid a plastic surgeon to make him look like was Colonel Ben Cameron, the head Klansman from Birth of a Nation: When I knew Dylan he was a Zionist and he was supporter of the State of Israel and the Jewish Defense League. In retrospect he was a good guy with a substance abuse problem. I was a Leftist anti-Israel self-hating Jew at this time intent on digging my own grave, however, I had never supported Nazis. I must admit that Dylan has had periods of sanity. After he became disillusioned with Christianity he wrote Neighborhood Bully a fairly literal song about Israel and the Jews: 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. He also wrote License to Kill. Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool And when he sees his reflection, he's fulfilled. 891 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” now 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” and when he sees the manifestation or result of inbreeding, someone with the same racial characteristics as himself, more like a “pure breed” dog than a human being, “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 when it comes to the distribution of wealth “He wants it all and he wants it his way” the Nazis want all the wealth by stealing it from others “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? By 1990 Bob Dylan had reverted back to his anti-Israel thinking of the mid-1960’s. Why? Ha’shem had smote Robert Zimmerman with HIV/AIDS. He recalls this in Scarlet Town and The Tempest, on this his latest CD. Having an incurable disease made him hate the world and since he is part of the world, hate himself. The Palestinian uprising where children armed only with rocks (that could not have possibly injured anyone) faced Israeli soldiers using rubber bullets gave Dylan an opening to express the contempt he had previously expressed for his own race. After the Intifada Dylan began his attack on Israel in his LP Under the Red Sky in which he used very simple, almost childlike language as in Handy Dandy 1990: Handy dandy, he got a stick in his hand 892 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY And a pocket full of money He says, Darling, tell me the truth, how much time I got? She says, “You got all the time in the world, honey.” “Handy dandy he got a stick in his hand” Israel has a weapon backing up its sovereignty and as a result can negotiate from a strong hand “and a pocket” bank account “full of money” full money from wealthy American Jews “He says, ‘Darling, tell me the truth, how much time I got?’” Israel asks the United States how much time does it have to solve the Palestinian question “She says, ‘You got all the time in the world, honey’” and the United States responds, take your time baby, it’s only been 42 years that the Palestinians have been in refugee camps, honey, as in a land flowing with milk and honey, Israel. There is a similar theme in Unbelievable 1990: It's undeniable what they'd have you to think It's indescribable it can drive you to drink. They said it was the land of milk and honey now they say it's the land of money. Who ever thought they could ever make that stick. It's unbelievable you can get this rich this quick. “It's undeniable” it’s impossible to deny “what they'd have you to think” what the Israelis would have American Jews believing about the Palestinian uprising “It's indescribable” it’s exceeding description “it can drive you to drink” it can force the American Jewish community to drink in a lot of information about Israel “They said it was the land of milk and honey” the Zionists said Israel was a land flowing with milk and honey as it says in the Bible “now they say it's the land of money” 893 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY now it is a greedy militaristic country “Who ever thought they could ever make that stick?” who ever thought that the Jews, who in the past had never produced their own weapons, could do so now? “It's unbelievable you can get this rich this quick” it is beyond comprehension that you could become wealthy by selling these arms on the world market to every tin-horned dictator in Central America. It was a natural progression for Dylan to begin comparing Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to the Nazis treatment of the Jews in The Levee’s Gonna Break: Some people on the road carrying everything they own Some people got barely enough skin to cover their bones “Some people on the road carrying everything they own” the Palestinians were forced out of Israel in 1948 and had to leave behind whatever they couldn’t carry with them “Some people got barely enough skin to cover their bones” and this act was perpetrated by victims of Nazi death camps. Put on your camp clothes, mama, Put on your evening dress Few more years of hard work, Then there’ll be a 1,000 years of happiness 894 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Put on your camp clothes” put on your death camp Nazi SS uniforms rather than your striped death camp prisoners uniforms, “mama, put on your evening dress” put on the clothes that signify your moral decline “Few more years of hard work” a few more years of repression of the indigenous population, a few more years of emulating the Nazis whose slogan was “Freedom Through Work” originally in German: Arbeit macht frei. This motto above the main gate greeted all who entered the Auschwitz “then there’ll be a 1,000 years of happiness” then Israel will enjoy the “Thousand Year Reich” a thousand years of Nazi rule that Hitler never lived to see. Some Holocaust deniers start out being anti-Zionist but it is not a big jump from hating Israel to denying the major factor in its existence. In the case of Robert Allen Zimmerman, Jew boy from rural Minnesota (an area with a high GermanAmerican population and few minorities) he had already adopted a pro-Nazi attitude in his youth, thanks partially to his worship of a neo-Confederate named Raymond Gooch, who gave him a place to crash when he first came to New York City. Dylan crossed the line into evil in Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum, which is about the Labor and Likud Parties in Israel, when denied the extent of the Holocaust: 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 895 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Well, a childish dream” well, let me explain, listen up, 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 again subject to Nazi genocide “And a noble truth” and the grand and stately 896 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY truth 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” hunting, inquiring, investigating and she is questioning if the number of people killed in the Holocaust was exaggerated in order to justify the establishment and existence of the State of Israel, “She's wearin'” bearing, carrying, and maintaining “a multi-thousand dollar” a belief that hundreds of thousands of Jews, rather millions, were murdered “gown” and this belief is 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. Dylan joined his idol David Duke and the Hitler of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in this belief. Holocaust deniers are crypto-Nazis, they are not revisionist historians. First of all they all know the Holocaust took place but deny it in order to further Nazism. Most people were disgusted by Nazism due to its insane genocidal nature so the Nazis want to convince people that this pathology did not exist so people will be attracted to Nazism once again. They are well aware that unlike themselves, not too many people are into gassing babies. Holocaust deniers also want to deny the last Holocaust so when they perpetrate a new one they can deny that one too. Another motivation of the Nazi Holocaust denier is to de-legitimatize the necessity for the existence of Israel, because the Holocaust was what convinced the world to give the Jews their own State. The Nazi despises Israel because the existence of Israel makes it much harder for the Nazi insect to kill Jews since, unlike the Jews in Nazi Germany, Jews in Israel are not unarmed. Nazism is about among other things - the killing of Jews; it is a criminal conspiracy to commit mass murder. Finally these Holocaust denial vermin want to desecrate the memory of those who perished. They’ve taken everything from these Jews and now they want to take their deaths from them and make them into non-persons. In an interview with Bill Flannigan in April 2009 Dylan was asked about Hitler: BF: Do you think actors have to be sincere? 897 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY BD: Not at all. Mae West wasn’t. She was just who she was on the screen. Just like Jimmy Stewart and Burt Lancaster. Yeah, Lon Chaney, too. BF: Could that mean that Alec Guinness is Hitler? BD: Well sure, a part of him is. But of course he’s not Hitler. And neither is anybody else. Hitler was Hitler. BF: Do you remember images of Hitler from growing up? BD: No, not growing up. He was dead by the time I was four or five. I never had a real understanding of that. BF: Never had an understanding of what? BD: How you take a failed landscape painter and turn him into a fanatical mad man who controls millions. That’s some trick. I mean the powers that created him must have been awesome. BF: Well, the social and economic conditions of the Weimar Republic were so different than now. BD: Yeah sure, looking back in hindsight, you can see that someone would have to take control. But still, it’s so perplexing. Like why him? You could see that the man’s a total mutt. No Aryan characteristics whatsoever. You couldn’t guess his ancestry. Brown hair, brown eyes, pasty complexion, no particular type of stature, Hitler mustache, raincoat, riding whip, the whole works. He knew something. He knew that people didn’t think. Look at the faces of the millions who worshipped him and you see that he inspired love. It’s scary and sad. The torch of the spoken word. They were glad to follow him anywhere, loyal to the bone. Then of course, he filled up the cemeteries with them. BF: It brings to mind Hitler talking to the crowd in Triumph of the Will by Leni Riefenstahl. BD: Yeah, it’s clear as day. 898 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan began with a statement that on its surface says nothing “Hitler is Hitler.” Why is Dylan being non-judgmental here? Then when asked about Hitler and Nazism Dylan replied that “I never had a real understanding of that.” What he is saying here is the way the history of Hitler and the Nazis was taught to him in school and the way the media portrays it was false. This takes the interviewer by surprise “Never had an understanding of what?” as he senses that Dylan is about to defend Nazism. Dylan responded, “How you take a failed landscape painter and turn him into a fanatical mad man who controls millions. That’s some trick. I mean the powers that created him must have been awesome.” Who took a failed landscape painter and turned him into a dictator? What sinister, behind the scenes power created him? What group has enough power to control the world? The Zionist Jews more often than not get this distinction, in forgeries such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Flannigan is starting to see that Dylan is fucking demented. Instead of asking him “What hidden powers created Hitler and Nazism?” he says “Well, the social and economic conditions of the Weimar Republic were so different than now.” Dylan was not talking about social and economic conditions; he was talking about some sinister conspiracy that installed Hitler and the Nazis. “Yeah sure, looking back in hindsight” looking back at the establishment of the State of Israel “you can see that someone would have to take control” you can see that the Zionist Jews put Hitler in power. Note: Dylan is not talking about Hitler, he is talking about these mysterious conspiratorial forces. Dylan’s only objective to Hitler is that he was not racially pure enough to be a symbol of Nazism: You could see that the man’s a total mutt. No Aryan characteristics whatsoever. You couldn’t guess his ancestry. Brown hair, brown eyes, pasty complexion, no particular type of stature, Hitler mustache, raincoat, riding whip, the whole works. Dylan continues, “He knew something. He knew that people didn’t think. Look at the faces of the millions who worshipped him and you see that he inspired love. It’s scary and sad.” Hitler knew that people’s emotions were more important than their thoughts and he inspired the emotion of love in the German people. Dylan had to qualify his remarks with “this is scary and sad” rather than “frightening and 899 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY tragic” but then he calls Adolf Hitler “The torch of the spoken word” “torch” anything regarded as a source of enlightenment, guidance, etc. the torch of Nazism. “They were glad to follow him anywhere, loyal to the bone.” The German were justified in their loyalty to Hitler “Then of course, he filled up the cemeteries with them” however he was a poor military tactician. What all this boils down to is that the much loved Bob Dylan is a hardcore self-hating racist pig who embraces conspiracy theories that could have originated with Lyndon LaRouche. He is the lowest form of a Jew on the planet earth. In his latest Rolling Stone interview evidence suggested that when Dylan claimed he was transfigured into Robert Zimmerman, the LA Hell’s Angel leader who died in a motorcycle accident, this was really a metaphor for George Zimmerman, who killed Trayvon Martin in a widely publicized case in which George Zimmerman became a symbol of racism. Transfiguration is Roman Catholic doctrine. He told us that he has been in touch with Catholic theologians. He said he wanted to make Tempest a more religious CD although “religious” means political in his symbolism. He also stated: These are the same people that tried to pin the name Judas on me. Judas, the most hated name in human history! If you think you've been called a bad name, try to work your way out from under that. Yeah, and for what? For playing an electric guitar? As if that is in some kind of way equitable to betraying our Lord and delivering him up to be crucified. All those evil motherfuckers can rot in hell. Why was Dylan so upset by the use of word Judas when he used it numerous times in Frankie Lee and Judas Priest? For these and other reasons such as references to “the mother of our Lord” and poetic verses opposing gay marriage it is possible that Robert Allen Zimmerman has become a Roman Catholic. In any event welcome to Dylan’s Second Christian period. You are probably wondering by now why I still devote so much time to Bob Dylan if think he is schtick dreck and have little faith he can ever overcome his genetic challenge of self hate. The answer is simple. To fuck him up! He reads everything I write to get an idea how much I have gotten into his poetry, into his head. My 900 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY books are best read by Bob Dylan when his HIV causes him to contract an opportunistic infection and his world turns gray and spooky like he used to make it for me when I hung around his studio and he wouldn’t turn on the lights as the sun set and everything took on a dim gray electric tinge and I was coming down from caffeine pills looking out the window at three angels mounted on the walls of Saint Anthony’s church on Sullivan and Houston. It was then that this scumbag would tell me, “Al, if you get into my life I might gain a soul.” Gain a soul? What could that mean? Hey that didn’t even sound like Bob Dylan making a death threat like that! Or did it? In I’m Gonna Miss You When You Go Dylan wrote: 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, trying, or unusual state of affairs: problems with Weberman “have ended sad” have ended sadly for me as he got one over on me with his shenanigans but they might also end sadly for Weberman, in fact he might meet 901 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY his end “Relationships have all been bad” my personal relationship with Weberman turned out badly for me. I was nice to the guy and he screwed me over “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” boy will I be happy when Al is dead. In Idiot Wind Dylan wrote that “One day you'll be in the ditch, flies buzzing around your eyes” one day Weberman will be in his grave and will hear the sound of zippers opening, flies opening, and it will be people pissing on his grave. Dylan has threatened me, wished for my death, predicted I would end up in prison and be raped “you’ll know all about it love it will fit you like a glove when the night comes fallin’ from the sky” denigrated me, called me a Nazi, a pig, everything in the book. All I can say in response is the motto of the Jewish Defense Organization – Death to Nazi Scum. How does he respond to my allegations of racism and Nazi sympathies? Just the same as Pee Wee Herman would, “I know you are but what am I?” This is what Dylan had to say in Rolling Stone. Everything people say about you or me they are saying about themselves. Ever notice that? In my case there is a whole world of scholars, professors and Dylanologists and everything I do affects them in some way. And you know in some ways I’ve given them life. They’d be nowhere without me. Bob Dylan has given me life. Ha! I assume he meant he has given me a source of vitality; an animating force. But in reality he gave me death, his existence made me waste a good deal of my life on someone who is not a world 902 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY class thinker. So I look at the word “life” as Slang; a sentence of intellectual imprisonment lasting until death do him part. ANTI-COMMUNIST POETRY Cracker Boy came to New York City in 1961 and immediately hooked up with the Communists who he viewed as agents of a foreign, totalitarian power. He had no choice, they controlled the folk music world; At that time the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) was much more powerful and influential than it is today, especially in New York City with its high population of Jews, many of whom were grateful to the Soviet Union for the defeat of Hitler. An early Dylan concert was promoted by Harold Leventhal, a card-carrying Communist. Dylan was tight with Pete Seeger, who is still a Communist. He visited Woody Guthrie, who had written a column for the CPUSA’s Daily Worker. The urban folk scene was filled with Red Diaper Babies. Dylan was such a good actor that he had CPUSA eating out of his hands and it awarded him one of its highest honors. Dylan pretended to be soft on Communism when in his mind he was not; With God On My Side 1963, “I’ve learned to hate Russians / All through my whole life / If another war comes / It’s them we must fight / To hate them and fear them / To run and to hide” hide under school desks and in fallout shelters “And accept it all bravely With God on my side.” In Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues 1962 he said Communism was less noxious than Nazism “Now we all agree with Hitler’s’ views / Although he killed six million Jews / It don’t matter too much that he was a Fascist / At least you can’t say he was a Communist! / That’s to say like if you got a cold you take a shot of malaria.” In the same song he ridiculed anti-Communists “I wus lookin’ high an’ low for them Reds everywhere, I wus lookin’ in the sink an’ underneath the chair / I looked way up my chimney hole / I even looked deep inside my toilet bowl / They got away.” It is ironic that Bob Dylan was instrumental in advancing the Communist movement in the United States when in truth he would have liked to have seen the entire CPUSA deported to the Soviet Union where they could get a taste of what Communism was really like. In Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964 he wrote, 903 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ELEVEN OUTLINED EPITAPHS 1964 A Russian has three an’ a half red eyes five flamin’ antennas drags a beet—colored ball an’ chain an’ wants t’ slip germs into my Coke machine “burn the tree stumps at the border” say the sex—hungry lunatics out warmongerin’ in the early mornin’ “poison the sky so the planes won’t come” yell the birch colored knights with patriotic shields “an’ murder all the un—Americans” say the card—carryin’ American book burners (yes we burned five books last week) as my friend, Bobby Lee, walks back an' forth free now from his native Harlem where his ma still sleeps at night hearin' rats inside the sink an' underneath her hardwood bed an' walls of holes where the cold comes in scared wrapped in blankets an' she, God knows, is kind an' gentle ain't there no closer villains that the baby - eaten' Russians rats eat babies too “A Russian” a Communist “has three an’ a half red eyes” has unmistakable Communist thoughts “five flamin’” a backlog of experience in making a situation worse ‘The Communists fanned the flames of discontent’ “antennas” and the Reds do this with something likened to an insects sensory appendage, as in function and form; ‘Sensitive intelligence antennae,’ the KGB, the Soviet equivalent of the CIA “drags a beet-colored ball an’ chain” drags, is shackled to 904 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Communism “an’ wants t’ slip germs into my Coke machine” and is adept at biological warfare “‘burn the tree stumps at the border’” invade the Soviet Union, carry out a scorched earth policy that totally annihilates Communism “say the sex-hungry lunatics” say those desperate people who have been judged to be on the lunatic fringe “out warmongerin’ in the early mornin’” who advocated a first strike almost immediately after World War II ended, before the Soviets could get nuclear weapons “‘poison the sky so the planes won’t come’” drop an atomic bomb and let its radioactivity spread before the Soviets develop it and have the capability to send it to the United States by their equivalent of the B-26 bomber “yell the birch colored knights with patriotic shields” yell the John Birch Society warriors who hide behind patriotism “‘an’ murder all the un-Americans’” and destroy anyone we deem as subversive Commumist spies “say the card-carryin’ American book burners” say the totalitarian card carryin’ Nazis. “Sex” as insanity; Tarantula, “ask Gonzalas' chauffeur to his Sausage Maker on the steps of the boom boom parlor/ while handing in his perfume/ the sky, changing into a sexy spaghetti odor, continues to tremble - Gonzalas, meanwhile, sports a cane & tries to hide his korean accent/” “Eye” as “thought” as in “in the mind’s eye.” From the Liner Notes to The Times They Are a-Changin’ “an' make me seem the ridiculous one in the eyes of their readers.” In Gonna Change My Way of Thinking 1979, 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” you can fool someone, you can take hold of his emotions with your fallacious thoughts. Dylan didn’t believe a word of this judging from his songs with racist subcontent such as blowin in the wind. There is no Bobby Lee who he let in his pad and what the fuck is a hardwood bed? Baby eating Russians? This is a joke pandering to idiots like me. Dylan expresses his real thoughts about Commies in the liner notes to his next LP: Another Side of Bob Dylan. SOME OTHER KINDS OF SONGS 1964 jack o'diamonds 905 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY one - armed prince wears but a single glove as he shoves never loves the moon's too bright as he's fixed mirrors 'round the room at night “jack o'diamonds” the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, workers paradise that encompasses almost half the world. Diamonds as the Left: Well, I'm lookin' down at two cards, They seem to be handmade. Well, I'm lookin' down at two card, They seem to be handmade. One looks like it's the ace of diamonds, The other looks like it is the ace of spades. (Down The Highway circa 1962) I am looking at two futures and it is up to me to create them one is being an Ace, as in ace reporter, when it comes to the Left and the other is being an Ace for the spades, the American-Africans. Where a voice from the gambling room is calling her to come on in She smiles, walks the other way As the last ship sails and the moon fades away From Black Diamond Bay. Where a voice from the gambling room is calling her to come on in Dylan is seduced by capitalism She smiles, walks the other way She approves and moves to the right 906 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY As the last ship sails and the moon fades away as the last Ship as in When the Ship Comes In, which deals with revolution and the reaching for the moon that went with fades away From Black Diamond Bay. From the Left wing Dylan “one-armed” one party system “arm” as in a single administrative or functional branch, as of an all-controlling organization like the Communist Party “prince” ruler of a principality, ruler of the Eastern Bloc nations. Also all-powerful nation “wears but a single glove” with the gloves off informal (of a dispute, argument, etc) conducted mercilessly and in earnest, with no reservations “as he shoves” as it shoves things down people’s throats “never loves” never tells the truth “the moon's” the unattainable promises made by Socialism are “are too bright” are too full of promise and hope; they do not ring true “as he's fixed mirrors 'round the room at night” as Communism has put in pinhole cameras to spy on tourists in their hotel rooms. KGB also used one way mirrors. it's hard t' think there's probably somethin' in my drink should pour it out inside the sink would throw it in his face but it'd do no good give no gain just leave a stain “it's hard t' think” it is impossible to think straight about Communism “there's probably somethin' in my drink” KGB operations often involved drugging its targets 907 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Strong circumstantial evidence of Russian state responsibility,” the British judge wrote, had led him to the conclusion that Putin foe, Litvinenko was indeed poisoned when he met Andrei K. Lugovoi, a former K.G.B bodyguard, and Dmitri V. Kovtun, a Red Army deserter, for tea in the Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel in London on Nov. 1, 2006. “should pour it out inside the sink” not drink the tea “would throw it in his face” I would reprove the Soviets “but it'd do no good / give no gain” it won’t get those dissidents who are suffering freed “just leave a stain” just make me look bad, like a rightwingnut. jack o'diamonds an' all his crap needs some acid in his lap what hour now it feels late somehow my hound dog bays need more ashtrays i can't even remember 908 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the early days “jack o'diamonds / an' all his crap” the Soviet Union and all its high ranking party members “needs some acid” needs to get dosed with LSD, not the most pleasant hallucinogenic drug in the world “in his lap” in the lap of luxury, conditions of great affluence and material comfort afforded to him because he is a member of the Communist Party elite “what hour now” what particular time is it? ‘it is the ‘hour of need’ “it feels late somehow” it is too late because the Soviet Union has nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them “my hound dog” international police, CIA, FBI The police department hounded him, they called him Mr. Smith – Joey Even the bloodhounds of London couldn't find you today - Something's Burning, Baby EVERYTHING IS BROKEN 1989 Broken hands on broken ploughs Broken treaties, broken vows Broken pipes, broken tools People bending broken rules Hound dog howling, bullfrog croaking Everything is broken “Broken hands” demoralized old hands at negotiating; Tarantula, “tragedy, the broken pride” “on broken ploughs” at war once again, “plough” as peace; Isaiah 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” broken peace treaties between the Israelis and the Palestinians “broken vows” broken solemn promises to live and act in accordance with 909 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY international law and give the Palestinians a homeland “Broken pipes” pipe bombs exploding, fragmenting, sending out shrapnel “broken tools” Palestinians used as tools, being 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 soldiers, police “howling” drowning out and silencing peace by loud derisive calls; ‘The candidate was howled down at the meeting’ “bullfrog” civilians “croaking” dying “Everything is broken.” “Bullfrogs” as civilians, Tarantula, “onward then when Brown Dan, the creep cop who likes to kill bullfrogs & whose boss keeps saying ‘he's got a bad knee’” he is not good at being subservient, following orders, “‘but you oughta see him run, babe, you oughta see 'm run & chase them little chink lovers.’” my hound dog bays “bays” are in the position of having been checked and held at a distance; ‘He has seen the nuclear threat held at bay for 40 years’ “need more ashtrays” sarcastic; need more corrupt politicians negotiating in smoke filled rooms. “i can't even remember the early days” this is so uncharacteristic of the American tradition that it blows my mind. need more ashtrays i can't even remember the early days “Ashtrays” as negotiations also appears in She’s Your Lover Now 1971, Yes, you, you just sit around and ask for ashtrays, can’t you reach? I see you kiss her on the cheek ev’rytime she gives a speech With her picture books of the pyramid And her postcards of Billy the Kid (why must everybody bow?) You better talk to her ’bout it You’re her lover now “Yes, you just sit around and ask for ashtrays” you do nothing but ask for negotiations, summit meetings “can't you reach?” “reach” can’t you come to a 910 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY certain condition or situation; ‘Reach a compromise on nuclear disarmament’ “I see you kiss her on the cheek” I see you kiss either of her buttocks “ev'rytime she gives a speech” every time a Soviet diplomat gives a speech “With her picture books” with its books that describe phenomena vividly in words “of the pyramid” of Communist slavery also Marx’s Das Kapital, a graphic representation of a few wealthy Capitalists at the top and many poor on the bottom “And her postcards” and her message songs “of Billy the Kid” written by Bob Dylan who would later make an allegorical movie about his life entitled Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid “(Why must everybody bow?)” why must even I have to pay tribute to the Communists? “You better talk to her 'bout it / She’s your lover now” you better as these questions as she’s your truth now. “Postcards” as message songs; Desolation Row 1965, “They're selling postcards of the hanging” the record companies are selling message songs about lynching “They're painting the passports brown” they are making it a pre-requisite that in order to get anywhere in the music business you have to like brown people. Another Side of Bob Dylan contained this hidden message to the Left that the only reason Dylan took up their cause was to get ahead in life and that he now rejects them. Dylan went on to become a hero of the Left, basically a Communist sympathizer or comsymp, however Bob Dylan had always hated Communism with a passion. He was convinced that its adherents were agents of a foreign power determined to make slaves of us all. But he had made a deal with the Devil and anyway posing as a Commie would help his career because the Communists controlled the folk music world; At that time the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) was much more powerful and influential than it is today, especially in New York City with its high population of Jews, many of whom were grateful to the Soviet Union for the defeat of Hitler. An early Dylan concert was promoted by Harold Leventhal, a card-carrying Communist. Dylan was tight with Pete Seeger, who is still a Communist. Bob visited Woody Guthrie, who had written a column for the CPUSA’s Daily Worker. The urban folk scene was filled with Red Diaper Babies. Dylan was so good at living up to the pact he made with Lucifer that he had CPUSA eating out of his hands and it awarded him one of its highest honors. Dylan 911 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY praised the Soviets and asked why they are our enemies? With God On My Side 1963. I've learned to hate Russians All through my whole life If another war comes It's them we must fight To hate them and fear them To run and to hide And accept it all bravely With God on my side. In Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues 1962 he said Communism was less noxious than fascism: Now we all agree with Hitler’s' views Although he killed six million Jews It don't matter too much that he was a Fascist At least you can't say he was a Communist! That's to say like if you got a cold you take a shot of malaria. Hitler was a Nazi, not a Fascist. It is interesting to note that Dylan never uses the word “nazi” in any of his song poems and only twice in his written word poetry. He never used the word “Nazi” in a pejorative sense. In the same song he compared the anti-Communists to feces: I wus lookin' high an' low for them Reds everywhere, I wus lookin' in the sink an' underneath the chair I looked way up my chimney hole I even looked deep inside my toilet bowl They got away. 912 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY RIGHTWING BOB Despite the fact Robert Allen Zimmerman was born a full blooded Jew, during a long period in his life he identified with Nazi and Ku Klux Klan thinking. As a result Cracker Boy, as he called himself in his 1965-1966 book, Tarantula, thought in racist terms. That is why there are numerous racial terms in RightWingBob. Who ever heard of a racist saying ‘Let’s ship the African-Americans back to Africa?’ I am not here to cover up for Bob Dylan I am here to expose him. It was what was going through his mind, not mine but some people will inventively blame the translator for the translations, claiming that I am projecting my racist views on Dylan’s abstract poems. It really doesn’t matter if I use the word African-American or not, the liberal Dylan-lovers in the media are going to ignore this book despite the fact that there is only one person in the world who knows Bob Dylan’s poetry better than me and that is Bob Dylan. I harbor no illusions and know that no matter how logical my translations are, no matter how I repeatedly demonstrate a degree of consistency that had to be put there by a conscious effort, this book will be treated as if it does not exist because it is part of these Dylan-lovers’ agenda to preserve Bob Dylan as a liberal icon. These people simply do not want to believe them. Additionally many media institutions such as Rolling Stone Magazine don’t want to alienate the powerful Dylan camp. And on October 13, 2009 Dylan released Christmas in the Heart. All of the artist’s U.S. royalties from sales of these recordings will be donated to the food bank provider Feeding America in perpetuity. Additionally, Dylan partnered with two international charities to provide meals in the developing world and they will also receive a cut of the royalties in perpetuity. Despite this statement in the Dylan press release when Columbia Records and Feeding America were contacted I was told that Dylan had not decided which international charities will be the recipients of his largesse. Everybody loves Bob Dylan and if you love Christmas, if you love Santa, if you love Bob Dylan, don’t repeat the findings of RightWing Bob. The reason that after almost fifty years of producing records, CDs, DVDs, this the first time any of the money from any of them went to an entity other than Bob Dylan is damage repair. Dylan fears the truth and has done all he can to insure it does not get widespread dissemination. My literary agent found several big publishers 913 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY interested The Dylan-English Dictionary, but their legal departments could not get permission from Bob Dylan to reprint the lyrics. He gave up trying to sell it as it was “an exercise in futility.” THE DEVIL AND BOB DYLAN You're gonna have to serve somebody, It may be the Devil or it may be the Lord But you’re gonna have to serve somebody In 1961 Bob Dylan struck a bargain with Satan namely communism. In return for his soul Bob would have half a century of fame and fortune. Dylan first revealed this pact in his 1965 book Tarantula when he wrote “tho you might not take this the right way, i would even sign a chain with the devil.” In 1970, in The Man in Me, Dylan sang, “The man in me would do nearly any task” the Devil in me would do nearly anything I ask of him, make me rich, famous anything except if it involved doing something good “when asked for compensation there’s a little he would ask” when asked for something in return the only trivial thing he would ask for is my soul, not too much to ask. In 2004 during a CBS 60 Minutes interview Dylan again confessed to having made a deal with the Devil when Ed Bradley asked him, “Why do you still do it? Why are you still out here? Dylan: Well it goes back to the destiny thing you know I made a bargain with it a long time ago and I’m holdin up my end. Bradley: What was your bargain? Dylan: To get where I am now. Bradley: Should I ask who you made the bargain with? Dylan: (laughs) with you know with the chief commander. Bradley: On this earth? Dylan: On this earth and in the world we can’t see. A “bargain” is “an agreement between parties fixing obligations that each promises to carry out.” I agree to give you my soul and in return you make me rich and famous. Bradley then asked whom he made this bargain with? Dylan responded that it was with the “Chief Commander on this earth and in the world 914 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY we can’t see.” The Bible tells us until the Messiah returns Satan is the most powerful being on earth. Matthew 4:8 4:10: Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And said unto him, all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. The biblical names of the Devil are: Prince of this World (John 12:31) and “the ruler of this world” (John 16:11). In Troublin’ Mind 1979 Dylan referred to Satan as the “prince of the power of the air.” Here comes Satan, prince of the power of the air, He's gonna make you a law unto yourself, Gonna build a bird's nest in your hair. He's gonna deaden your conscience 'til you worship the work of your own hands, You'll be serving strangers in a strange, forsaken land. Dylan was obviously making reference to a pact he made with the Devil. When Dylan hung out with this author he tacitly admitted the Devil lived within him when he said: Al you’re not going to get into my life, because if you do, I might gain a soul Dylan was threatening my ass. If I continued to mess with him he was going to have me offed. But the way he put was rather odd, as if he were the Devil! If you doubt he said this, Bob admitted to having done so during the Weberman-Dylan hacked telephone conversation. The Devil had gotten his due. Dylan had advanced the cause of Communism beyond Satan’s fondest nightmares. The next mission the Devil assigned to Dylan was to promote Civil Rights for the American Negro. The Devil opposed race mixing, however, he looked at the Civil Rights Movement as a way to promote 915 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY racial unrest in America. Getting Dylan, who fancied himself a Southern aristocratic slave owner, to pretend to champion the cause of African-Americans took a lot of convincing on the part of the Devil. Robert Allen Zimmerman’s racism went back to his childhood. The lyrics in Bob Dylan’s Dream 1962 that dealt with his youth in Hibbing, Minnesota contain racist sub-content, “As easy it was to tell black from white / It was all that easy to tell wrong from right.” White is right, black is wrong. Dylan nicknamed himself “cracker boy.” “Cracker” usually disparaging: a poor usually Southern white. Tarantula, “a glass” an illusory as in I Pity The Poor Immigrant 1968, “Whose visions in the final end must shatter like the glass.” “sidewalk” coffee house audience “meeting the cracker boy's soul” where Dylan could not express his racist beliefs openly. “Also “cracker” as poet as in Chimes of Freedom 1964 “and the sky cracked its poems in naked wonder” and God created his poetry just as he did Adam and Eve. The Devil pointed out certain things to Dylan in order to convince Bob to go along with the program. Bob had first appeared in Greenwich Village in February 1961. The Devil reminded him that if he had openly expressed his racist thinking in the race-mixing capitol of the United States it would have destroyed any chance of his making it. The Devil advised Dylan to rely on Dog-whistle politics to express his hatred for colored folk. Dog-whistle politics, also known as the use of code words, is a term for a type of political campaigning, speechmaking, or songwriting 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. On the Devil’s recommendation Dylan used certain key code words in his songs, while innocuous on their surface, after they appeared in proximity to one another their related lesser used meanings sent racist messages to those who already were aware of the poetry’s overall racist framework. During a tape recorded telephone conversation in 1971 I asked Dylan about his early message songs, “Remember those?” Dylan responded, 916 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 and liberal icon, ‘the messages he sent to himself’ were just the opposite of those he sent to his liberal commie nigger-loving audience. In Chronicles Dylan wrote 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 even wrote that he purchased a Geiger counter in the event the Soviets were able to retaliate. With the new puzzle piece Chronicles had supplied, that revealed Dylan was politically conservative and with the translation of the word “face” as “race” I finally realized Dylan was hated Blacks, especially Black males, and covertly expressed these feelings in his songs. 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. Die-hard liberals Peter, Paul and Mary made unwitting fools out of themselves and a million demonstrators both White and Black. Dylan and Satan, on the other hand, had the biggest laugh on people he viewed as a racially inferior lot since D. W. Griffin produced Birth of a Nation, a movie that glorified the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. 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 917 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 918 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 919 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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). https://www.scribd.com/doc/198842363/DYLANOLOGIST-AJ-WEBERMAN-INBROADSIDE-MAGAZINE-BY-GORDON-FREISEN 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? 920 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY THE DYLAN WEBERMAN HACKED PHONE CONVERSATION JANUARY 1971 WEBERMAN: What tape? DYLAN: You called Naomi? WEBERMAN: Yeah. DYLAN: Told her about some tape-what tape was that? WEBERMAN: Nah, I didn't say…any tape…what I did was I typed out, ah, ah my recollections of our conversations together and I'm going to use it as an interview. I'm going to send it to every underground paper in America for free rather than selling it to... DYLAN: You didn't tell me that was any interview. WEBERMAN: Oh, well, didn't you like, ah, didn't you ... 921 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: Hey, man, you want an interview with me? Let me know. I'll give you an interview. Don’t take… WEBERMAN: OK, OK, fine. I was gonna let you see it beforehand and ah, because I realize it wasn't taped and I don't wanna misquote you or put words in your mouth. DYLAN: Well, what about the tape? Got a tape recorder in your jacket? WEBERMAN: No tape. No tape. I didn't have a tape in my jacket. I don't have the money for, ah, one of those concealed tape recorders. (wanna get the door Ann) So I just typed up... DYLAN: OK, look, man, you want to have an interview? WEBERMAN: Yeah. DYLAN: We'll have an interview, but don't ah... WEBERMAN: Yeah. DYLAN: You know, that's sneaky shit man. WEBERMAN: What kind of sneaky shit man? DYLAN: You come and talk with someone and type it up right? WEBERMAN: But you know I'm a cat who writes about, who specializes in writing about you. DYLAN: Yeah, man, I understand that you know but if you want to have an interview we can have an interview above the table you know. And ah just keep it on top of the table that’s all I’m talking about. I mean I think I think that I deserve that right. WEBERMAN: Sure, sure, that's fine with me. I'd prefer it that way, you know. That would even make it better. Although this isn't bad. What I have here is real ... DYLAN: I'd like to see it, anyway. Can you bring it around. 922 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: Yeah I will DYLAN: Like a WEBERMAN: Well, what should I do bring it around now, or ... DYLAN: No, No, No I'm tied up for the weekend. WEBERMAN: After the weekend? DYLAN: How about like on Monday or Tuesday. WEBERMAN: Oh, gee, the trouble is that these people are expecting, expecting something from me Monday. DYLAN: [Sighs] I'm working, man, like I'm building some shit you know and I really gotta get it built. WEBERMAN: Right. DYLAN: Just, ah, some tables and some shelves and some stuff and I've gotta get it done. I put it way off. WEBERMAN: Ah, OK, I'll tell them that it'll have to wait... DYLAN: Just like one week, or, or, a day or two two days. Just let me see it. WEBERMAN: OK, let me bring it over today, I'll just leave it in your mailbox, OK. DYLAN: Well I’ll be there I’ll be at the studio today so bring it by and give it to me but I can’t read it. I won’t be able to do that. And then I will call you back WEBERMAN: Ok Groovy. DYLAN: OK Bye, bye. WEBERMAN: So long. [They hang up. The taped conversation resumes a few days dater.] WEBERMAN: You read it? 923 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: Yeah, you asked me about, ah, corrections and all that, and I noticed that you just had a big pile of them in your hand you know, and I was wondering like if you were like fuckin’ around with me, like on but you had a big pile of them in your hand man WEBERMAN: Wait wait wait a minute, what are you saying man? DYLAN: You obviously had a whole lot printed up. So I mean WEBERMAN: No, no, I had the concordance, I have two, I had two Xeroxes made. Cost me a dollar four cents. I had two Xeroxes of this made. DYLAN: OK, like there's a couple things in that article that I kind of object to. WEBERMAN: What, what? DYLAN: One thing there about Johnny Cash man, I don't think that's right. And then there’s another thing WEBERMAN: Your saying Johnny Cash is in the past ... DYLAN: Yeah, you didn’t I didn't say it like that. I didn’t quite really understand the article. Like if you said in the article if you said that’s past that was the quote. But like it really didn’t make specific whether that pertained to Johnny Cash's playing for the White House was in the past, or whether I was digging Johnny Cash whether that was in the past, the whole thing is kind of vague man. You know I didn’t want it printed that I don't dig Johnny Cash man, because I do. WEBERMAN: OK, OK, I'll say, you know, so I'll put down it was sarcastic. DYLAN: The other thing was on Dear Landlord man I couldn’t have said that song was written for Grossman. WEBERMAN: No you told me you said it was for Al Grossman I remember that specifically. Oh I says like he’s giving me the DYLAN: Well man it wasn’t all the way for Al Grossman in fact he wasn’t even in my mind. Only later man, only later when people pointed out to me that the song 924 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY might have been written for Al Grossman I thought well maybe it could have been. WEBERMAN: You were just puttin’ me on. DYLAN: I wasn’t puttin’ you on. WEBERMAN: You were just giving me the usual line DYLAN: I don’t want you to print that that is was in for Grossman because it wasn’t. WEBERMAN: Who should I say it was written for. DYLAN: It wasn’t written for anyone it’s an abstract song. It sure as Hell wasn’t written for you. WEBERMAN: It wasn’t. DYLAN: It sure as Hell wasn’t, no. I was not even aware of you at that time. WEBERMAN: Isn’t landlord critic though in your symbolism? DYLAN: No man like I wasn’t aware of you at that time. WEBERMAN: Right, right, that’s how I…yeah DYLAN: So man I don’t care what you have to figure out to say but it wasn’t written for Grossman so don’t say it. I mean you know it’s just not right. WEBERMAN: How about if I make it like sarcastic? DYLAN: Another thing man, it’s like there's some lies in there man, there’s some lies in that article though though. I don't have the article with me, but there's some lies in there. WEBERMAN: Like what? 925 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: Well, I had the article I called you before but you weren't home. I had the article in front of me. I left the article at the studio, but there's some lies in there. I couldn't believe it. WEBERMAN: Want me to read the article, Man? DYLAN: Yeah. WEBERMAN: I was really fuckin' hassled. DYLAN: No, no. no, start around in the like third or fourth page. WEBERMAN: Third of fourth page. One, two three. Somewhat taken aback, I told him there’s all this evidence in your poetry so we talked. Dylan said he didn’t dig the Panthers because of their position on the Middle Eastern situation, little Israel versus all those I started to explain how the Panthers believe that everyone has a right to live Jews, Arabs and Palestinian refugees when this kid from my class comes over and says he wants to talk to Dylan. I told him that was cool but to wait until we got done because I had something important to say to Bob and I didn’t know if I was ever going to see him again. I was seizing the time. So the punk says you are full of shit and so is Dylanology. So I grabbed him by the collar and screamed, split asshole. He left but as he was going he yelled out in grade school intonation “Weberman is bootlegging Dylan’s suppressed novel” Dylan said I only had half of the book the other half is up in Woodstock and I should never worry about running out of things to interpret. DYLAN: California, man, California. WEBERMAN: California? DYLAN: California man. WEBERMAN: You don’t want people ripping you off eh? DYLAN: It’s not in Woodstock. That right and also I don’t want people you know up there asking questions. WEBERMAN: It’s out in California, okay 926 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: What’s the difference, Woodstock, California, doesn’t affect my thesis in one way or the other. And that I should never worry about running out of things to interpret. He said he was going to invite me up to Woodstock a couple of months ago, I asked him how come he didn't, how come I had to have a demonstration in front of your house to get you to negotiate? 'You know how dedicated I am and how well I know your work.' 'I know Al, and one day we'll go for a ride together and I'll interpret all of my poems for you.' 'We ain't going by the docks, are we?’ I didn't say that, but you know, what difference does it make? 'No, Al you scared my kids telling them . DYLAN: Hey that's another one. WEBERMAN: You did say I scared your kids. DYLAN: Did I say that, man? Well, it's not true. Alright. WEBERMAN: You told Terry I scared your kids man. DYLAN: I didn’t mean scare you know what I’m talking about? I didn’t really mean scare because they were really aware and I don’t want to insinuate that but I didn’t mean that really. I might have said it but I didn’t really mean that because my kids are unaware of this or that you know I said that because it could have been possible but it wasn’t possible. And I don’t want to throw that out, I really don’t. WEBERMAN: So what should I write? DYLAN: I don’t know. WEBERMAN: How about you shook up my kids? DYLAN: No, no not even my kids. Leave my kids out of it. WEBERMAN: Leave your kids out of it. DYLAN: Ah because it was me that was my thing imposed on them. And that was my thing, you know what I mean? So ah I don’t know what you can say anything you I don’t ah you shook up my landlord or my superintendent or whatever I 927 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY don’t know. Well figure it out, anything it don’t matter but that’s not really that doesn’t really speak for me. WEBERMAN: Ah. But you did say that to me. DYLAN: If I did say that man I am sorry and I should have said it. WEBERMAN: Alright DYLAN: I am sorry for my kids man because it’s not true and it’s just I mouthed off that’s all and I shouldn’t have said it for their sake cause it’s just not true. WEBERMAN: The kid didn’t look scared really. DYLAN: No, they weren’t man and I don’t want to say it my wife will fucking hit me man and I don’t really want to get into that. WEBERMAN: Sorry man I didn’t mean to drag your kids into it. I wouldn’t hurt them. They will be with us soon anyway. DYLAN: Will you take that out? WEBERMAN: Yeah, I’ll take that out. Like these radical freaks were staying over at the archives and I told them where you were at and they thought about trashing the place but I told them don’t do it, it ain’t fair to the kids. DYLAN: Oh man take all that shit out. Please. You can leave the radical stuff in there you can say it ain’t fair to me but but not to the kids because WEBERMAN: What I was saying at the time, what I am saying there is preventing me from telling them… DYLAN: Well, I made a mistake man, I shouldn’t have said it. One of those things I shouldn’t have said I thought I could use it as a weight. And ah WEBERMAN: I know a lot of people who wanna hurt you especially after that garbage thing. You know all these college students come around to my garbage to take some back to their dorms. You wouldn’t like these kids either. Get a garbage compactor and I’ll come around and pick it up once a week. I don’t like machines 928 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY no that’s not true. Bob you wouldn’t have me offed would you? You scared? Sure I am. This is an oligarchy, the more money you have the more power. I wouldn’t do it Al, don’t worry, it’s too late anyway. I didn’t think so man, it would be like GM offing Nader. But if you do you better do a good job. I went on and gave Dylan a rap against imperialism racism sexism he didn’t seem like he was listening and then I told him that Nashville Skyline sucked while Self Portrait was a stoned rip off since many people bought it, played it once and stuck it on their shelf. Neither album related to objective reality. Dylan responded quietly, well there were two good songs on the album, Days of ’49 and Copper Kettle. DYLAN: Hey ah You don’t have to change this man but I’ll say there were more than two I still say there were more than two you don’t have to change but I mean you don’t have to change it you can leave it like that but there were more than two WEBERMAN: Without those two LPs there would be no New Morning and anyway I am trying to get back on my feet as far as my music goes. Al, do you use amphetamine? No man the reason I have so much energy is because I am tuned into life into the life force that is trying to assert itself here on earth. I’m ALIVE man. Why worry so much about earth when there is? What do you want be to do worry about if Mars invades us? What drugs do you use? I found something else in the thing. Let me finish the paragraph. What drugs do you use Al? Reefer and caffeine. You? No drugs. Bullshit. Well so long Al. Well then I’m going to put no drugs and it looked true because Dylan’s eyes looked normal. Because I made reference to your pupil size in other articles you know and I feel I should put that in to be fair. Well so long Al, you’re an interesting fellow see you in a few weeks. I gave him the power handshake and I split. When I got home I was fucking wasted. I was rapping with Harvey, a lawyer friend when the phone rang. Hello Al, this is Bob. Suddenly the phone began to look like my record player. Wanna come over here and visit me tomorrow. That’s like asking a strung out junkie if he wants a fix. Al, I wanna thank you for helping me sell a lot of records your articles have helped me get it, keep it going. Yeah that’s one of the aspects of Dylanology I don’t dig I may cancel it out soon. Al do you have a drivers license. No never learned to drive. Too bad I know of this chauffer job that’s open. Are you trying to buy me 929 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY out, stop right there, it in fucking possible. No I wasn’t trying to buy you out, I just wanted you to see life from another seat, you been on the streets too long. Hey Bob you know that song Champagne Illinois you wrote Cal Perkins he needed something anyway why not write a song called Carbondale, Illinois cause that’s where the pigs just murdered a black man who was going to testify against them. Dylan remained silent. You there. Call you tomorrow. Hung up. The next day he called and told me to come over to his midtown studio with a tape deck and an amplifier if I wanted to hear some rare Dylan tapes cause all he had in the studio was a record player. My old lady Ann helped me take the stuff uptown then split cause Dylan said he wanted me and him to be alone. Dylan began, I seen you around a lot Al. Bob let’s set up the equipment. He went over to the speaker and started unscrewing the terminals. Let me do it man I did the thing this little bit of playacting the riff about not having a tape recorder in the studio was a clever ploy to convince me that Dylan wasn’t into recording conversations but I didn’t go for and I maintained my cool when it came to saying self incriminating things. We began. What do you think of Tim Leary, Dylan asked. I think he’s great, a revolutionary etc. mystical, national hero of Woodstock Nation. What do you think? I don’t follow politics. How come I found newspapers in your garbage It’s not my garbage, mix all garbage together, your politics genocidal. A lot of people I talk to say you support the war in Vietnam. I did this to get back at the freaks who would not leave me alone in Woodstock I don’t dig the fame thing DYLAN: I don’t dig the what? WEBERMAN: The fame thing. DYLAN: Okay WEBERMAN: Freaks find me everywhere. Get a long haired wig. They would never recognize you. Buy me one. Cash, that lackey was so conservative at the time you did things together that Nixon later invited him to sing at the White House. DYLAN: Okay. WEBERMAN: Cash goes out of his way to praise Nixon’s genocidal policies at his concerts. What should I say? That’s past or 930 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: No you can say ah. WEBERMAN: That’s what you said. DYLAN: I think I might have said that for him but not for me. I might have said that for him but I don’t think I should actually say that for him anyway WEBERMAN: So what should I say? DYLAN: You should say Well ah too bad. That ain’t good either man. I don’t know what to say man. What am I supposed to say? I not gonna… WEBERMAN: What do you think of Johnny Cash? He's your friend, right? DYLAN: I can't even answer that, man, I mean, I've heard Johnny Cash since I was a kid. WEBERMAN: Right, but things have changed. DYLAN: His music hasn't changed man, I still listen to ... WEBERMAN: I'm not putting Johnny Cash down that much, man, I'm saying at the time that, ah, like. DYLAN: I dig him. WEBERMAN: At the time Nashville Skyline was coming out, Cash was a more, a very conservative musician. That's why Nixon invited him to the White House. He changed. Cash was going through a change, be it motivated by financial or motivated, you know, just being exposed to the music people the way they are today, he went through some kind of a change. Right? So what I'm saying is at the time you did things together. I'm not attacking Cash now, that he ... DYLAN: Hey, I love him. I mean that’s it. I just don’t. I got nothing else to say. WEBERMAN: OK, OK. Man, almost all the other rock poets put you down in their songs in your own language for your politics! 'They're just using my phrasing’ No, man.' They understand what you say from studying your poetry. Man If you really believe in your current bag and want to remain in it how come you copped out on 931 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY yourself in your poetry? And the poetry is simple enough that many people understand it. Isn’t that indicative of a contradiction in your personality? Now I had Dylan going, he suddenly became very…this is a composite of our two conversations. I'm gonna say that, uh, I have a little preface to put there, there's that quote and then its composite, I didn't get to that yet, that's why I didn't finish the last part plus a little news release about "Don't expose me" on New Morning! Isn't that indicative of a contradiction in your personality?' No, I ... DYLAN: What did you just say man, what was all that have to do? That wasn't in the article. WEBERMAN: That's gonna be in the article, this isn't complete, it's about 90 percent complete. What's left is a little thing saying this is not Dylan talking, this is my ... DYLAN: I never said "Don't expose me" in New Morning, what's that? WEBERMAN: Backwards, - backwards, you know you play a part of it backwards. DYLAN: And it says "Don't expose me"? WEBERMAN: Yeah. DYLAN: Oh fuck, man. Jesus! WEBERMAN: It's the same part that, it's the same part that ah DYLAN: Jesus, why don't you play an Andy Williams record backwards, man and see what it says… WEBERMAN: If you play the whole record backwards, man, it only makes sense in ah, two places, "mars invades us" and only when you slur the words you know, uh, "when mars invades us" and ain’t no reason to go into town and that says "don't expose me" backwards. You know, like, you ... DYLAN: Jesus. WEBERMAN: You know that as well as I do, man, because you put it there. 932 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: Hooh! Hooh! [mind-boggled gasps]. OK, go ahead, man WEBERMAN: No, man, they all understand what you're saying the same way I do, from studying your poetry. How come you copped out on yourself in your poetry and the poetry is simple enough that many people understand it. Isn’t that indicative of a contradiction in your personality. Now I had Dylan going, he suddenly became very depressed and didn’t say anything. He looked hurt. I almost felt sorry for him. DYLAN: What’s that? What that insinuation What’s all that shit you sort of slip in. WEBERMAN: That was the second day. That other time, the second meeting man. After I said that you just sat there and looked DYLAN: I was thinking about something man if I ever just sat there. I mean I don’t… WEBERMAN: Cause and effect man. When I say something and all of a sudden you go into a fit of depression man. DYLAN: No man I don’t go into fits of depression. WEBERMAN: Well I figured maybe I said something that hit home. DYLAN: Don’t have em man, don’t have em. You can print it man but it’s a lie. WEBERMAN: No, that’s not true man. After I said it you just sat there and I said Hey Bob what’s happenin’ man. DYLAN: Hey man, haven’t you ever just sat there? WEBERMAN: Not when I’m in a conversation…you ever hear of reaction time man? They do tests with people you know psychological tests they say what do you think of this word boy dog this that then they come out with a heavily weighted word mother’s tits and the guy says oh you know something. DYLAN: Okay go ahead. 933 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: I almost felt sorry for him. Hey Bob you okay man. Like a lot of these cats are full of shit putting you down for not doing anything when they don’t do shit themselves. Remember Al, I’m not like them not fresh out of college. DYLAN: I don’t get that statement at all. WEBERMAN: It doesn’t make sense but that is what you said. DYLAN: I don’t get it. WEBERMAN: You said remember Al, I’m not like them. DYLAN: Let’s just cut it right there. I’m not fresh out of college man that just ah WEBERMAN: But You said fresh out of college the next time. The next day you said a lot of these kids are fresh out of college we were talking about what okay I’ll cut it. DYLAN: I think you took that out of context. WEBERMAN: There’s dots in between it. DYLAN: Okay. WEBERMAN: Man you been telling everyone my interpretations are way off let’s hear you interpret one of your songs then I’ll interpret it and we’ll see whose interpretation is better. How about Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You okay but I feel stupid. Throw my ticket out the window. DYLAN: Okay stop just for a minute. There was another thing back there some place on Rolling Stone? You asked me about Rolling Stone. I think you passed it I don’t think you read it. WEBERMAN: I didn’t get to that yet. DYLAN: You didn’t get to it yet. Okay, I’m sorry. WEBERMAN: But I feel stupid. We were down in Nashville and the train was leaving and I didn’t want to go so I said hey man didn’t you once say hand me 934 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY your money for the line hand me your ticket at a concert in England. Yeah. Doesn’t ticket symbolize money? A ticket is anything you want it to be. You mean your symbolism isn’t consistent. It’s as consistent as me. So isn’t it money. It could be. Dylan than changed the subject. You sure you didn’t write any letters any letters about my race. Like how many times do I have to tell you? Like every letter I ever wrote you was on Dylan Archives stationary. I got it right here. He couldn’t find it. Did you ever write any songs to me? Absolutely not. How about Dear Landlord? DYLAN: Do they know that? (unintelligible) WEBERMAN: It wasn’t written to Grossman as many people think. See I want to get in there were you say Grossman used to speak for me. I wanted to get that in there DYLAN: Yeah but that wasn’t about Dear Landlord that was about something else. WEBERMAN: I’ll say that. DYLAN: He used to act in my behalf. WEBERMAN: Dear Landlord wasn’t about you I didn’t know DYLAN: I wasn’t aware of you then. WEBERMAN: Right wasn’t aware of me. At one point someone came to the door and handed Dylan and fan letter and a book of poems. He read the fan letter right then and there and handed me the book. Take a look at it, tell me what you think advise me you are a knowledgeable cat and I could use some advice even on politics. Bullshit. I should have a book of my poems out in two years and a book containing all my songs should be out soon and I’m planning to release that song you have a record of She’s Your Lover Now you have a tape of as a single. Bullshit. DYLAN: That’s true man. WEBERMAN: I say bullshit we’ll see when it happens. DYLAN: Okay. 935 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: What do you think of my work, man? Your approach is sincere. DYLAN: Why don't you ask them about it? WEBERMAN: Man, they'd deny it cause it's a secret language and 'cause of the controversial nature of your CB, which they sing about. Anyway, it's poetry and it's up to the listener or critic to figure out. DYLAN: I deny it's happening and so do they. [Here the first tape comes to an end. I told Dylan to hang on while I turn over the tape. The second tape begins with some confused noises.] DYLAN: You got this whole thing on tape, huh? uhhh . . .I can't believe you, Weberman, I just can’t believe you. WEBERMAN: Well, I'm not gonna, I didn't, right? I can't do anything with it, man, right? I can't do anything with it. DYLAN: So you got the whole thing on tape, huh? WEBERMAN: No I don't, just a little part of it, the tape machine fucked upDYLAN: What part did you get? WEBERMAN: I don't know, I don't know. DYLAN: So, what, are you gonna play this for your class? I'm never gonna call you again. Ever fucking again. WEBERMAN: I'm not gonna play it in my class, man, I'm not, ya know. Then I began to tell Bob why I feel the way I do about third world liberation. I went into a riff about my visit with a very poor cat in Mexico. Let’s write a song together about your trip and we’ll split the royalties. Send my cut to Caesar Chavez man. That’s not true, I didn’t say that but that’s how I feel now. Just tell me what happened to you and I’ll do the writing. I was down in Progresso in the Yucatan and I stayed with this laborer. Typical third world scene poverty famine disease like being born into a nightmare, prolonged death agony. Anyway the cat became 936 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY a bracero migrant farm worker so that he wouldn’t starve to death. Bracero rhymes with Sombrero. This cat thought the communists were little people, he was brainwashed his pad was next to a garbage dump. Now you gotta convince Americans through this song that they should support wars of national liberation. Dylan came up with a song that went like this. Down Progresso a bracero lived in sombrero full of expresso. You know. How’s that? DYLAN: That’s alright. WEBERMAN: What the fuck is this man, no one is going to be convinced of anything when you write that abstractly. That’s my thing Al. Know anything about the other books being written about me. Well Robert Shelton and Tony Scaduto and Toby Thompson are doing book. I know Tony. He says he’s going around talking to all your friends Jack Elliot, the McKenzie’s etc and your old lovers Suzie Rotolo, Joanie Baez collecting information about you. He said he would have studied your lyrics but he knew he couldn’t get permission to reprint them. That’s not the reason. He can never figure them out. All he can only come up with rumors. He did a pretty good job though. Man, I think you're a fucking reactionary. You don't use your influence to save lives. Man, look at all the death around us. Look at what just happened in Pakistan. That was a result of capitalism. People were so poor they couldn't cope with a natural disaster.' I wonder why the good lord wanted all those people to die.' WEBERMAN: You don't? I do. How 'bout With God on Our Side? I wasn't thinking then. DYLAN: Ahhh I don't think I said that. I think you made that up. WEBERMAN: I said, I made up how about With God On Your Side. I said how about that interview in 1964 with Mr. Jones of Melody Maker magazine is what I said you buy I didn’t but I figured it would be better more people would be hip to With God On Our Side. But you did say I wasn’t thinking then. In other words what you said to Mr. Jones was very esoteric DYLAN: Ah. Let’s see well? 937 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: But that’s what you said man, I wasn’t thinking then. So what should I say? I’ll change it you know. DYLAN: Yeah, I don’t know what to change it to but I didn’t I don’t remember saying that in that context. WEBERMAN: So what should I change it to? You do believe in God, don’t you? DYLAN: Yeah I sure do! WEBERMAN: So evidentially at one time you didn't. Right? That's what you said in some statements, right, you said you didn't believe in God. DYLAN: Yeah, yeah. Ahhh WEBERMAN: Evidently if you do now and you don't then, you weren’t thinking then... DYLAN: I musta then, too. I musta then, too. WEBERMAN: Okay, I’ll put that in. How about using some of your five million dollars to save lives. I don’t have that much. Bullshit. I got inside information you millionaire pig. I didn’t call you a pig but that’s how I felt. And you never do any benefits. Then there’s your apolitical lyrics. Everyone who heard Nashville Skyline said Dylan’s in a mellow head singing about live. You cut your hair, you cut off all your hair. You only help apolitical rock people with their careers. You’re a punk and me and the DLF are going to do a number on you. We got some shit planned that’s gonna blow your mind. Not only that but everyone in rock with a political consciousness is going to come down on you. Lennon started already by calling you Zimmerman. McGuinn just put you down, where in cream How? that’s a little literary man because it’s like that song I’m Not There you know. Where? Downtown. When? Last night. You know. Where? In Cream. How by saying you wrote Ballad of Easy Rider even though you told him not to. What? DYLAN: You can just say FUCK HIM, you don’t have to say the rest of that stuff. WEBERMAN: Okay Fuck him. 938 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: You don’t have to say I want to get him or anything like that. Just fuck him. WEBERMAN: But you went into this whole riff. You said I am going to get these people. That’s what you said. You said it about five times. DYLAN: Okay. You can just add fuck him to it. WEBERMAN: Alright. Well, what I want to know who’s gonna do this cause I’m not going to take it. I am gonna get dem motherfuckers. I’m gonna get them. Hey Bob why not show the people… DYLAN: You can even add it again. Another one. WEBERMAN: Okay a couple of fuck you’s in there. This is the underground press. DYLAN: They’ll never get out of it. WEBERMAN: Hey, Bob why not show the people your heart's in the right place and do a benefit for John Sinclair? But, I don t have my thing together. Bullshit -all you gotta do is show up and plunk your guitar a little and a hundred thousand freaks will come out of their pads and go anywhere you are DYLAN: I-I don’t want to say I don't have my thing together, man. I got my thing together! WEBERMAN: so, why not do the thing? DYLAN: Well, I want to get back to that statement first. WEBERMAN: yeah DYLAN: I don’t want to say that thing that I don't have my thing together. WEBERMAN: right DYLAN: You can make something else up, but, uh don't leave that in there. WEBERMAN: What should I say, then? 939 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: Let's see what's the statement? (pause) How 'bout, uh let's see how 'bout WEBERMAN: You said you don't have your thing together. You said, you know you're not ready to you DYLAN: oh yeah right I m not ready to go play concerts, man. That's the WEBERMAN: All right, I'm not ready. DYLAN: That's not the same thing as saying… WEBERMAN: All right. DYLAN: I don't have my thing together. WEBERMAN: I'm not ready to go play concerts. DYLAN: I'm not about to… WEBERMAN: I'm not about to go play concerts. all right DYLAN: at this time. WEBERMAN: Right I don't blame you, man. You know you, uh you know you don’t want to be part of the scene you know uh, all kinds of terrible things could happen to you in that hour, man know DYLAN: No, man like, what for? Why should I go play for twenty thousand people, man? I mean, what WEBERMAN: it would be DYLAN: you know WEBERMAN: more than twenty thousand. DYLAN: Hey, I've been there before. WEBERMAN: You make people happy, man. DYLAN: I've been there before, I 940 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: You make people happy. DYLAN: I've done it before WEBERMAN: You set the whole trend in rock, man. DYLAN: I did. WEBERMAN: -- if you started doing things like that… DYLAN: You shoulda been at the Isle of Wight, man. I'd just like to see how much you'd still be talking… WEBERMAN: The Isle of Wight… DYLAN: if you were at the Isle of Wight. WEBERMAN: was a capitalist rip-off, man. I'm not talking about that kind of a scene I m talking DYLAN: Were you WEBERMAN: about DYLAN: at Woodstock? (pause) Were you at Woodstock? WEBERMAN: I-I wasn t at Woodstock, man. DYLAN: Well, then you never… WEBERMAN: I'm not talking about Woodstock. DYLAN: seen those kind of things WEBERMAN: I'm not talking about a free concert, man. I'm not talking about that I'm talking about a benefit, you dig at Madison Square Garden, or something like that, man. DYLAN: Go, on let's finish the article. WEBERMAN: (pause) Uh, you know 'but I don t have my thing together. Bullshit. 941 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: Uh, no, no we're going to change that WEBERMAN: Uh, right, right uh, somp'n in what you said before but, you gotta 'all you gotta do is show up and plunk your guitar then a hundred thousand freaks will come hear the duh-duh-duh Sorry, Al I can t do it. But I will write a song about political prisoners on my next album. I don t want promises for nine months later. I wanna see some action, now. See, Bob you set the trends in rock and if you become, like, a human being a lot of other performers will go along. (pause) The sun had set and Dylan's wife had called him for dinner on the phone and… DYLAN: Oh, that that whole last paragraph that, man I didn’t think that was necessary. WEBERMAN: Bob gave me his phone number and asked me to call him when I'm on the radio or if something comes up. Ever hear me on the radio, Bob? Just a couple of times on Alex Bennett's show I dug it when he asked if you had any personal messages for me. What do you think of Bob Fass? He's a revolutionary brother, but he don't dig it when I attack you cause you were an old friend of his. Well, Al, so long Uh, one more thing you’re not gonna get into my life Why? DYLAN: (breath) Those two sentences, man. I don't get them at all. I don't understand them, even… WEBERMAN: why, if you do, I might gain a soul. DYLAN: Yeah, well, that's shit those last two sentences. I don't think I said that. WEBERMAN: Yes, you did. That's just what you said, man. You said, You’re not gonna get into my life I said, Why? then you said, If you do, I might gain a soul. DYLAN: I don't understand that, do you? WEBERMAN: (pause) Uhh I don't know I don't know it could be looked at in a number of ways, man you could DYLAN: Yeah, why don't you d'why don t you take it out of your article and look at it in a number of ways and let s d'uh you know, and roll it around awhile and then 942 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY when you when we know what it means why don't you tell me, and then ah, let's see if it's worth putting in an article WEBERMAN: (pause) Uh -DYLAN: Is that fair? I don t know what it means man. WEBERMAN: So, how would you have me in the article? DYLAN: I don't know. It's your article. (pause) Shit, I mean WEBERMAN: I just lost you. All right, man like, uh DYLAN: I don't know. WEBERMAN: but that's what happened during our… DYLAN: I know that's what happened. WEBERMAN: first conversation DYLAN: But that ain't what happened, man like, that last, uh -- that last sentence don't end any article -- you know that. That didn’t happen like that. I remember WEBERMAN: all right -DYLAN: saying something like that, but it didn't have anything to do with how you're using it -- you're just taking it out of context. WEBERMAN: saytin now… DYLAN: Then you’re like some -WEBERMAN: All right -DYLAN: fucking Look Magazine -WEBERMAN: -- you want me to put it into context -- you wanta do it back kinda -then I say, Is that a threat? -- and then you say, you know -- no, it is, but I know people who can kill you -- that's what I remembered -943 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: Oh no man! WEBERMAN: or something like that, man. DYLAN: No! WEBERMAN: I was very paranoid in a very paranoid mood, man. DYLAN: Well, don't take it out on me, man. I mean, come on. WEBERMAN: Well, that's why I changed it around, man. I don t have you, uh comin' on like that. That's why I took it out, you know so, I left it I left it other interpretation I might gain a soul. You couldn't DYLAN: I don't want to say that, man. WEBERMAN: you couldn’t? DYLAN: 'cause I don't that sounds shitty. WEBERMAN: that DYLAN: what the WEBERMAN: that's so fucking quotable, man DYLAN: W-what does that mean I mean, like, I eh, uh that don't aaoh it leaves me cold, man like, uh it’s, uh doesn’t even sound like me. WEBERMAN: But you said it those are your exact words. DYLAN: I gained a soul uh, what could that mean? WEBERMAN: Man, you know you ought'a stand behind things that you say. DYLAN: (breath) Yeah, man, but I that was taken WEBERMAN: that's the truth DYLAN: right outta, right out of I do stand behind most of what I say, man -- but you know, a lot of times you just say stuff, you know 944 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: No, you don't stand behind anything you say, man. DYLAN: Sure, I do sure, I do. I just don’t dig it WEBERMAN: You don’t stand behind your old songs and that’s for sure -DYLAN: Man, I'm gonna do an article on you, man. I think I'm gonna write a song about you, too. WEBERMAN: Well, I could use the publicity. DYLAN: Yeah, well that s one reason why I wouldn’t, man. WEBERMAN: (laughter) DYLAN: but, uh WEBERMAN: (laughter) DYLAN: I got a good song, man if I ever want to do one WEBERMAN: What’s it called? DYLAN: It’s called "Pig" WEBERMAN: I'm a pig, eh? DYLAN: yeah. WEBERMAN: Aw, bullshit, I'm a -DYLAN: yeah, man WEBERMAN: pig, man DYLAN: yeah, man WEBERMAN: You’re the one who's a pig -DYLAN: Oh, no not at all. WEBERMAN: Oh, yeah 945 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: not at all, (laugh) man not at all. I don't think I'm gonna write it, though just because of that publicity thing. I don't dig that at all. But, I got the song, man. WEBERMAN: You’re killing me. DYLAN: I'll sing it for you. (pause) Well, I don't have it finished, actually -- but, uh WEBERMAN: I'm a pig, man? DYLAN: hey, man WEBERMAN: I don't have a million fucking dollars, man. DYLAN: I does that d'uh wait what does that have to do with it? WEBERMAN: Cause you have a million fucking dollars, man. See, you ain’t you ain't that much better than the cat who -DYLAN: (breath) WEBERMAN: has nothing, man. You dig it the cat who's walking around the bowery, man it s true, like you know DYLAN: (whisper) what WEBERMAN: in some ways you're better, but you ain't a million dollars better worth you know what I mean? Like, in times like this like, you know, when you have a million dollars in this society, man it means, that other people don't have it you know (pause) uh don't you dig what I mean nobody should have, like a million dollars, man nobody should be allowed to accumulate that much wealth you know that much surplus wealth when, uh people, uh, when there are other people around that don t have shit. You know and not 'cause 'cause of their fuckin' skin color, man not because of, uh of anything else 'cause they're despised 'cause they are not like straights like hate anyone who’s different than them in any kind of a way… DYLAN: ay a WEBERMAN: right? 946 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: yeah, man I think you’re over you're overlooking WEBERMAN: no! I’m telling you, man. DYLAN: a lot, man. You're overlooking a lot. WEBERMAN: I've had friends, man I've had friends that got a lotta money together you know and, uh, I told them, man you you should put some of this fuckin' money back in the community most of it enough that, you know keep enough so that you can live decently but don't fuckin' uh you know, they didn't have peanuts compared to you, man. You know, and you I told them to go fuck themselves if they're gonna fuckin' rip off, uh the, you know people not putting anything back but you're just a capitalist that's all, man. 'Cept, instead of producing, uh you know, yah instead of producing, uh uh, cars, or guns you produce, uh you know records music. DYLAN: Hey man, that's, uh that's something, though. WEBERMAN: It’s somp'n, man but lately, it's nothin. DYLAN: (pthtt) WEBERMAN: but not only do you keep the money, but you the lyrics themselves have no kind of, uh redeeming value you're they're just in fact, they're reactionary you know. You're just, uh every all the shit is hitting the fuckin' fan and you're singin' it looks like nothin' but rain you know uh DYLAN: that's a good song, man. WEBERMAN: What are you? DYLAN: like WEBERMAN: a weatherman? DYLAN: a what? WEBERMAN: a weatherman? 947 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: do you mind? WEBERMAN: looks like nothin but rain DYLAN: (laugh) WEBERMAN: but I wanted, uh if I want to fuckin , uh DYLAN: is your tape recorder still on, man? WEBERMAN: and it DYLAN: is it still running? WEBERMAN: yeah. DYLAN: Oh, it didn't break down? WEBERMAN: Uh no, no it's it's a good one. DYLAN: Yeah well, I ain't gonna call you no more, man just because of that. I mean I don't trust yah. WEBERMAN: Why, wuh don't tell me you didn't tape record my conversation? DYLAN: No, man, I would, uh WEBERMAN: any conversations with me, man DYLAN: no, what do I want to do that for? WEBERMAN: You asked your secretary to tape record a conversation with me. DYLAN: She’s not into that. WEBERMAN: She is man. DYLAN: Nah. Come on. WEBERMAN: I heard a click. DYLAN: Oh come on. Well her phone’s probably tapped that’s all. 948 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: Her phone’s isn’t tapped. The government they love you man they love you. I’m surprised Nixon didn’t call you instead of Johnny Cash to ah... DYLAN: I am too man. (laughs) WEBERMAN: It’s like ah DYLAN: Yeah. WEBERMAN: Ah you know I was talking to her she says I call up the television going she says let me get myself together DYLAN: She was probably using another phone. WEBERMAN: I told her we must be on a party line with Jose Greco. DYLAN: She didn’t tape you man. WEBERMAN: Yeah, she taped me, I heard the click she’s incompetent. Then she flipped out thought I was gonna take her to court or something she is so straight. I didn’t do it, I would never do it in a million years cause I caught her committing an illegal act. DYLAN: Oh wow. WEBERMAN: Whatever the scene is man like a there were a couple of women from ah woman’s lib. Ah militant women staying over at my place and I played that tape for them man and they started yelling at me! They said I shouldn’t have attacked Naomi cause she was a woman. DYLAN: That’s true man. WEBERMAN: And it wasn’t her fault if she was a man maybe she would have been Dylan not just Dylan’s secretary. DYLAN: You shouldn’t go round taping people man. I mean that just make you no better, that just puts you in the same league with all the with all the government phone tappers. Not only that but you go through garbage like a pig, you know. 949 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: I don’t go through garbage like a pig, what I was doing was a good thing DYLAN: You tap phones, you go through garbage like a pig you do a lot of things man which really aren’t on the up and up. WEBERMAN: yeah DYLAN: No man they’re not on the up and up WEBERMAN: You pick all these things out. But what did I do with man? I may have gone through your garbage man but I didn’t sell it to Life Magazine. DYLAN: You think Life Magazine is gonna buy my garbage? WEBERMAN: I haven’t printed it up yet and made a book out of it. Dylan’s garbage’s collected works. DYLAN: You must get money from all these magazines that you ah send articles to. WEBERMAN: No, I’m not like you man, I send out all my articles for free ya dig cause I believe things should be free and I’m gonna start the ball rollin’ with my articles. Right. So I send them all out for free. I get all these letters thanks a lot Weberman, we love ya, that’s all I want to hear man. When I’m fucking starving you know then I’ll have to figure out some way to get money. I’d get a fucking job as a dishwasher in the Café Wha or something like that. Man you know and I’ll still send out my articles for free. That’s what I chosen to do. DYLAN: Well God bless you. WEBERMAN: You know how much money I made from Dylanology? Like twentyfive dollars three years ago from EVO around Christmas time. And I’m proud of it man. DYLAN: No reason not to be. 950 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: And like I send out my articles for free and ah. So going through your garbage. What I was trying to do with that man was make you look ridiculous and vulnerable man. Because like there are so many people who are like unhappy with you and what you are doing man. All the people in rock. I listen to the songs over and over again man and you made so many people unhappy. DYLAN: Made them happy too. Made them happy too. I made them more happy than unhappy. WEBERMAN: Yeah that’s what John Lennon says but… DYLAN: What did he say, say that again. WEBERMAN: And in the end the love that you take will equal the love that you make. Or the love that you make will be bigger than the love that you take. Ah that’s true like you never really renounced any of the old songs except implicitly. You know ah what can I tell you man like you know… DYLAN: I think you outta expand your thing man like if you took some of that energy and spread it out a little bit you could get, you know, you could get involved in a whole new thing. WEBERMAN: Dylanology is working out fine for me. DYLAN: I don’t know if there is going to be enough there man. I mean just to be honest with ya I mean there is I mean after you getcha WEBERMAN: I can interpret Creedence man, I can interpret the Beatles, the Stones DYLAN: I’m not trying to tell you what to do but ah WEBERMAN: The only thing is it all fucking comes back to you. To Dylanology. I go into, I play these new records man I hear ah DYLAN: You know why it always come back to me man, because like they’re not doing what I’m doing that’s all it comes back 951 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: Did you hear Creedences new record? DYLAN: No I haven’t. WEBERMAN: They have all these references to you there man. DYLAN: What does he say about that? What is what is What’s his name? WEBERMAN: He’ll deny it man. DYLAN: Why would he deny it? Why…. WEBERMAN: It’s a secret language man. He’s not gonna say it because why because it says you’re a junkie man. Yeah, he’s not gonna say Dylan’s a junkie and we don’t dig it because its informing. DYLAN: Why don’t you go out and meet with him face to face about it. WEBERMAN: Because they won’t see me. DYLAN: Well see him when he comes to the city. Just go up and pound on his door man. WEBERMAN: He can deny his ass off, he can deny his ass off from today until tomorrow DYLAN: What if I deny it all. I’ve denied a lot of it to you too. WEBERMAN: So everybody can deny it. As long as you don’t come up with another system that’s more complicated and makes more sense as far as I’m concerned mine stands. My system stands. You see what I mean? DYLAN: No. WEBERMAN: It’s like you can tell me it doesn’t mean anything but okay I have all this fucking information you know like a and that’s what I work on the information. All this is secondary. I haven’t even read the Lennon interview in Rolling Stone. I don’t take these things seriously. All I do is read, all I do is listen to 952 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the lyrics and interpret them. I know what the fuck is happening man. And it’s a drag. And everybody else thinks it’s a drag and I don’t see how you could like… DYLAN: Who’s this everybody else man? WEBERMAN: Everybody else thinks it’s a drag? DYLAN: Who everyone on your block or? WEBERMAN: Everyone on the street. DYLAN: What street? Second Avenue. First Street? WEBERMAN: The mass media. DYLAN: What mass media man? WEBERMAN: The mass media man. The records. The telephone. DYLAN: Wow. WEBERMAN: Speaking of knocking on someone’s door man. One time I was trying to find John Lennon I knew this woman who works in a booking agency. She says I know where John Lennon is. So we go up there nobody’s home. I leave this note under the door. There’s a friendly stranger would like to talk to you about your dreams. This fucking business man calls up my old lady and says what is this shit, a friendly stranger wants to talk to me about my dreams. My dreams are of a sexual nature. DYLAN: Who said that? WEBERMAN: Just some guy this woman got the room Lennon’s room mixed up. DYLAN: Ah WEBERMAN: It wasn’t Lennon’s room. I stuck this note under his door in what I think is the secret language of rock. This guy didn’t know about it being a conventioneer in the food industry. DYLAN: (bored) Oh Yeah, otta sight. 953 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: It gets you into trouble sometimes. DYLAN: Yeah it must. WEBERMAN: But ah I know its happenin’ man and ah I have so much information… DYLAN: So why don’t you just get a guitar man and write yer songs yourself man. WEBERMAN: Because there’s need for critics like myself man. There is a need for someone like myself. Nobody else is doing it. DYLAN: Ah but you’re so extreme man you’re so extreme. I mean you’re off on one end. WEBERMAN: I consider that a compliment man. DYLAN: There’s no on like there’s no one balancing your other end. WEBERMAN: The other lame rock critics. DYLAN: No man, they are all in the middle man. There’s no one WEBERMAN: Griel Marcus says I’m full of shit. All the other rock critics say I’m full of shit. They’re full of shit. They’re corrupt. DYLAN: Greil Marcus is or isn’t did you say? WEBERMAN: He’s full of shit. DYLAN: Yeah, I think so too. WEBERMAN: Anyway like DYLAN: Did you see the thing he wrote about Self Portrait? WEBERMAN: I didn’t read it. DYLAN: That was really full of shit man. WEBERMAN: Ah, he’s a prick man. He’s in cahoots with Grossman. 954 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: Is he? (excitedly) WEBERMAN: I think so man. I think he gets tapes from I says Greil can I have a fucking tape from you man. I want the outs from the basement tape I’m Not There, Clothes Line. That series. He says ah I have to call Sam Gordon and ask him. I says what? Is this one big fucking conspiracy man, you know? DYLAN: Oh wow. (like he doesn’t really believe it) WEBERMAN: He’s says no no I didn’t get them from Sam Gordon but I got to call him anyway and ask him if I can give them to you. DYLAN: Oh man. WEBERMAN: Finally I got them out of the office by hook or by crook, I got them eventually myself but fucking Greil Marcus wouldn’t give them to me. He’s a cocksucker man. All the tapes he has he hoards his tapes. He hoards em doesn’t give them out to anybody keeps them among the elite whatever he considers to be the elite. So fuck him. He balances me out. Jann Wenner balances me out man. They would never print my stuff in Rolling Stone in a million years. Let’s see who else? David Walley. Every other rock critic is balancing me out man. You know…I’m going up to New Haven, Conn. tonight. DYLAN: Oh yeah for what? WEBERMAN: With David Peel. We’re gonna be on the radio there. DYLAN: On Dylanology? WEBERMAN: Dylanology? Yeah, Dylanology. DYLAN: In New Haven? WEBERMAN: New Haven Yale. I got a lotta friends up there. DYLAN: Jesus man. (fades) WEBERMAN: Any messages for New Haven? 955 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: No man not really but don’t ah don’t get, you know, about ah, I don’t know man, I have no messages really you know not really I don’t really care it don’t matter to me man like it just ah (fades)… WEBERMAN: No more messages anymore. DYLAN: Huh? WEBERMAN: No more messages anymore. DYLAN: Oh. What do you mean? WEBERMAN: Messages you know like message songs you know. DYLAN: Oh well WEBERMAN: Remember those? DYLAN: Yeah man I remember them. Umm. They were just messages to me though. I told Scaduto that. WEBERMAN: You talked to Scaduto. DYLAN: Yeah I did. I told him that. And that knocked, that flipped him out man. He had no idea about that. That just wiped him out. He said he’s gonna have to have to go back and listen to all those songs. WEBERMAN: Well man I wish him luck man. Tell him also to change his lifestyle if he wants to understand em. DYLAN: Yeah I saw… WEBERMAN: Like hat’s the scene man.. DYLAN: How much time you have tonight on Dylanology? WEBERMAN: All night. DYLAN: You got all night. What is it underground radio? WEBERMAN: College No, no it’s a stereo station. Big fuckin Yale Station. 956 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN: Yale College WEBERMAN: last time I was there I was fucking gassed. I was being fucking gassed by the pigs. Wait a minute but I’m a pig. DYLAN: Yeah you are. Is it all on Dylanology man? WEBERMAN: Wait a minute I’m not a pig man. DYLAN: Of course you are man, of course you’re a pig. WEBERMAN: Cause I went through your garbage… WEBERMAN: Cause I vamped on a fuckin pig? DYLAN: More than that. You’re a pig mentality yeah. WEBERMAN: How am I a pig mentality? DYLAN: 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. WEBERMAN: Yeah, sure man. DYLAN: I got em covered man. I had em covered since I was a little kid. WEBERMAN: I’m fighting against the fucking pigs I’m not a pig myself man. DYLAN: You’re a pig mentality man. Mentality is what makes a pig. WEBERMAN: I wouldn’t have gone through your garbage man I told… DYLAN: Shit you might as well just put a badge on you. You might as well just wear a badge. Wear it on your leather coat just a little badge right above your heart there. 957 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: I do man my button that’s my badge. Like ah That’s really not true man. And I’m not gonna take it seriously comin’ from you. Comin from somebody who write songs like you write man. DYLAN: Alright man. Who writes better songs than I do. Name me somebody. WEBERMAN: I can name you a hundred fucking people… DYLAN: Oh come on. Ya can’t ya know you can’t. WEBERMAN: Ah, let’s see ah Creedence Clearwater. DYLAN: Oh bullshit. WEBERMAN: I think Memo to Turner was as good as ah DYLAN: Oh it’s just a bunch of faggot bullshit all wrapped up in about two or three lines and then dumped out. WEBERMAN: You’re the one he calls a faggot in there man. He says there’s a faggy little leather boy with a smaller piece of stick. DYLAN: He’s talking about himself man. WEBERMAN: No he’s not he’s talking about you man. DYLAN: Oh get out of here. WEBERMAN: And ah let’s see Gordon Lightfoot ain’t bad. DYLAN: Huh? WEBERMAN: Gordon Lightfoot aint bad. DYLAN: Yeah. He’s alright. WEBERMAN: He writes good songs. Let’s see there was some cat I was doing my concordance who uses a lot of imagery like Tarantula. Barbara Keith. DYLAN: Ah no. 958 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: Ken Lauber. DYLAN: He’s alright. He’s good. WEBERMAN: Jack Elliot. DYLAN: Jack doesn’t write songs. WEBERMAN: John Lennon. DYLAN: No never. WEBERMAN: George Harrison? DYLAN: mmmm maybe. WEBERMAN: Jim McGuinn DYLAN: Never. WEBERMAN: Procol Harum. Keith Reid. What’s his name? DYLAN: Well there all alright. WEBERMAN: Bunch of fucking junkies. DYLAN: Yeah, I guess so, if you say so. WEBERMAN: How about Grace Slick? Too political. DYLAN: I don’t know. Does she write stuff? WEBERMAN: Sure. Too political man. DYLAN: Probably if you say. WEBERMAN: Country Joe, Phil Ochs too political. They’re lame man. They’re writing songs about what’s going down now, that’s nowhere, that’s a bunch of assholes do that kind of shit man. What you gotta do is write songs about what went down thirty years ago in the fuckin escapist music industry. That’s where it’s at man. Because people dying, being fucked up is really a good thing. They may 959 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY not know it, you know they may not understand it when it’s happening to them but it’s really a good thing and we should let it happen and the last thing in the world that you want to do is say something about it. Because then, especially you know if you have a lot of influence because then people might begin to think you know and ah you don’t want that to happen man because if people begin to think maybe they’ll stop buying your records. Your later records, you know. DYLAN: And that’s gonna make me think? WEBERMAN: Its gonna make people think man. You’re fucking irrational. Nothing is gonna happen to you if you speak out man. You know, nothing is gonna happen to ya. DYLAN: Hey dig it I’ve got to go. WEBERMAN: Okay. DYLAN: Did we get it straightened out about the interview or the article? WEBERMAN: I will change all the stuff you want me to change and then I will mail it out. DYLAN: Where’s it gonna be? WEBERMAN: Where’s it gonna be? DYLAN: Yes. WEBERMAN: It’s going to every underground newspaper in America. For free. DYLAN: Wow. Hye can I When are you gonna mail them out. WEBERMAN: Monday. DYLAN: What time? WEBERMAN: Well I’m not doing it. UPS is doing it. Underground Press Syndicate. They are like a White Panther type operation. DYLAN: Could I see it after you make the corrections. 960 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: Sure, sure. DYLAN: Okay WEBERMAN: Monday. DYLAN: What time? WEBERMAN: Any time that is convenient for you. DYLAN: Could you bring it by like WEBERMAN: I have to pick up some buttons on Monday. DYLAN: Oh yeah. WEBERMAN: I’m getting some buttons printed up. DYLAN: Who? What does it say on the buttons? WEBERMAN: FREE BOB DYLAN DYLAN: That’s far out man. WEBERMAN: DLF DYLAN: I having some buttons made up for you too man. WEBERMAN: “OFF AJ WEBERMAN” DYLAN: No man. WEBERMAN: “A. J. THE PIG” DYLAN: A.J. THE PIG right. WEBERMAN: Well you know DYLAN: I’m just gonna have pig man with a picture of you on it. WEBERMAN: Ha ha where you get the picture of me? DYLAN: I’m gonna take it out of an underground newspaper. 961 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY WEBERMAN: Well… DYLAN: It’s okay man. You’ll live through it. WEBERMAN: You don’t have my permission to use that picture. DYLAN: You don’t have my permission to do any of this shit man. WEBERMAN: I don’t? Holy shit what am I gonna do I gotten fuckin take my bank account out and put it in a safe deposit box in case I get sued. DYLAN: Nah, you don’t get sued. But you’ll live through it. I’m sure you’re gonna live through all of it. WEBERMAN: Ah I hope so man. DYLAN: Yeah, you will it won’t be nothin just you know it’ll be good for you man, it will be good for you. WEBERMAN: What will be good for me? DYLAN: Having your picture with pig written on it. You know, you know. WEBERMAN: I’m not a pig man, I don’t see how you can fucking call me a pig. DYLAN: Ah come on. Don’t give me that. WEBERMAN: I fucking fight man. DYLAN: You fight, you only to go through my garbage man. WEBERMAN: Yeah but a lot of people believe you’ve become a pig man. DYLAN: So. WEBERMAN: And here I am a Dylanologist DYLAN: A Dylanologist pig man. WEBERMAN: In a certain position, in a certain position where I can do a number on a cat who’s become a pig man who’s become a fucking sell out ya dig? Like 962 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY that’s the way it goes man. You write all these songs some jerk is gonna fucking believe them man and he’s gonna get pissed off when he finds out you didn’t believe em or don’t believe them anymore. DYLAN: I believe em. WEBERMAN: Like ah DYLAN: I’ll see you later man. Like Monday. WEBERMAN: Monday. DYLAN: Alright bye . GATES OF EDEN EARLY TRANSLATION Relationships of ownership They whisper in the wings To those condemned to act accordingly And wait for succeeding kings And I try to harmonize with songs The lonesome sparrow sings There are no kings inside the Gates of Eden “Relationships of ownership” the workers owning the factories rather than the bosses owning them “They whisper in the wings” they hardly matter, they are remote “To those condemned to act accordingly” to those condemned to live under a dictatorship and act in accordance with Communism “And wait for succeeding kings” and be forced in a position where their only hope is that the next Communist dictator is more like Nikita Khrushchev than like Joseph Stalin “And I will try to harmonize with songs” but I will only come into agreement with songs “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 “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 963 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 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 Soviet, the Communist, Tarantula 1965, “wonder who ronald reagan talked to about the foreign situation? think about it kid, but dont ask any foreigners” “sun” a personage whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events “it squints upon” it 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 964 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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’ ‘the free world’ “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 as they lacked NATO supplied anti-tank weapons “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. 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” early on in life, at the beginning of the American Republic and the drafting of the Constitution “my lover” the truths that I hold dear and self-evident “comes to me” forms in my mind “and tells me of her dreams” and tells me of her aspirations, 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 unfathomable ideals, into the graves of those who have died to preserve these liberties “of what each one means” of what each of these rights mean, of what each one of those lives given up in the fight for freedom means to preserving our democracy “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 965 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the Gates of Eden” and there is no Bill of Rights outside the borders of the United States of America. “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” In Chronicles Dylan wrote: Someone would come along eventually who would have 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 see it for what it was and reveal it for what it was with hard words and vicious insight. I think I have done just that but of course it is hard for most Dylan fans to understand this or anything for that matter. Could Bob top Gates of Eden’s incomprehensibility? Dylan did in this next poem: 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” well the Communist Party USA controlled by the Soviet Union “had a bloody nose” idiomatic expression, they were defeated and damaged 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 966 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY outlet that entertained Communist thought “Sam said tell me quick man I got to run” the Communist folk singer said tell me quickly as it is urgent I run for office, take over America, run at the mouth “Ol' Howard just pointed” the Depression Era folkie just 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” and Howard told Sam to infiltrate the world of folk music in order to receive mainstream media acceptance. “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 Working for some man who may not know at all who I might be If you ever see me coming and if you know who I am Don't you breathe it to nobody 'cause you know I'm on the lamb “I might be in Colorado or Georgia by the sea” I might be in America or the Soviet Union - 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” If you ever see me in the media or at a concert don’t blow my cover “'cause you know I'm on the lam" because I am trying to escape from these leftist fans who want to keep me in a folk music prison. “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 has branded me with its claws Had to go to Florida, dodgin’ them Georgia laws Poor boy, in the hotel called the Palace of Gloom Calls down to room service, says send up a room 967 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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 the Communist devil “said 'send up a room’” said supply me with a venue, supply me with a successful life. “Gun” as guitar; Take A Message To Mary 1970, Take a message to Mary But don't tell her what I've done Please, don't mention the stage coach And the shot from a carried gun You better tell her that I had to change my plans And cancel out the wedding-day But please, don't mention the lonely cell Where I'm gonna pine away, until my dying-day. “Take a message” take 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” Please, don't mention 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; please don’t mention the Communist 968 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Party Cell “where I’m gonna pine away” sarcastic; where I am going to languish with desire; waste away with longing for folk music and Communism “until my dying day” until my popularity dies out which would have been very 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.” Highway 61 continues: 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” Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie 1962: “Come around you rovin' gamblers and a story I will tell” the speculator, arms makers “he was very bored” he wasn’t producing weapons as there was no war going on so “He was tryin' to create a next world war” so he was trying to start one, to goad America into the Spanish-American War “He found a promoter” he found someone who also advocated war and had much influence – the press “who nearly fell off the floor” whose stock was not trading well on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange “He said” the press, the Hearst media 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 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 969 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Spanish-American War had its day.” In She Belongs To Me Dylan is stating that he does not belong to the Left but the Left belongs to him. 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” communism has things arranged each according to their needs. She has everything she kneads, molds “She's an artist” she is a bullshit artist “she don't look back” doesn’t look back at what she creates “She can take the dark” she can take those having a complexion that is not fair; swarthy “out of the nighttime” out of the ghetto “And paint the daytime black” and make urban neighborhoods into niggertowns lined with liquor stores and pawn shops. She Belongs To Me continues: 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 communist “Proud to steal her anything she sees” proud recruit other Communist Party members “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 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, 970 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Belongs To Me continues: 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, also emotionally affect her. Also sarcastic: If you were a Communist in the 1950’s you had to register as an agent of the Soviet Union or face prison time. 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. “ring” suggestion of a particular quality: Dylan’s offer to employ me as his bodyguard had a suspicious ring to it. “That sparkles” that produces the occurrence of a small flash or spark – Gates of Eden, “Toy guns that spark.” “before she speaks” before a gun gives off a sound on firing, before she shoots you or brings you before a firing squad “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, you are promulgating an antiquated political and economic doctrine. “Egypt” as slavery; Neighborhood Bully 1983, “Every empire that's enslaved him is gone / Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon.” Referring to the slavery of heroin addiction in Tarantula, 971 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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 “Socialism, hypnotism” commie 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 jaws” of free speech, even the most trivial “And the sound of the keys as they clink” and 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. In Angelina Dylan wrote about Communism and Hollywood which happens to be one of the Devil’s favorite places, because its people worked relentlessly to destroy traditional American morality: 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 972 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 artist who aped Woody Guthrie “dances” sings. Also Dylan was duped, the Reds made a monkey out of him and he 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 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” in my political 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 973 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY you've seen me before?” sarcastic; I deliberately imitated Woody Guthrie to get the attention of the leftwing folk community. Angelina continues: 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 the Hollywood valley “of the giants” inhabited by people of exceptional size, ability, and importance “where the stars” where the 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 directors 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” when a critic “sent me down the road” propelled me into a new future, put 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 you are blacklisted in Hollywood “then who will you blame?” will you blame it on your treasonous actions or on the repressive actions of the Capitalists? “I've tried my best to love you” sarcastic; I have tried my best to accept your truth “but I cannot play this game” but I cannot play any more songs advocating the overthrow of the government “game” an illegal 974 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. Angelina continues: 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” there is something 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” tell me impressively difficult strongman, dictator, big man “where would you like to be overthrown / Maybe down in Jerusalem or Argentina?” would you have liked to be overthrown in areas connected to the Nazis, to Adolf Eichmann? Eichmann was born in Jerusalem and captured in Argentina. 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 leftist: Tarantula concerning his folk music days, “Having a Weird Drink with the Long Tall Stranger.” Restless Farewell 1964, But the time ain’t tall, yet on time you depend And no word is possessed by no special friend 975 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY And though the line is cut It ain’t quite the end I’ll just bid farewell till we meet again To his folk fans: “But the time ain't tall” but my current work is not leftwing “Yet on time you depend” yet on LPs like The Times They Are a-Changin’ you depend, yet you depend on the way Time Magazine looks at them “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.” Its meaning alludes me. 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.” I always thought, ‘Wow Dylan wants to be like Woody Guthrie’ when in reality that was the very last thing he wished to be. Look at the original below: “the last thing you know I’d want t do.” This is more explicit. The last fuckin thing in the world that I want to do is to become a scummy folk singer like Woody.” 976 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY In the next poem, It’s All Over Now Baby Blue, Dylan fantasized about the overthrow of Castro’s Communist regime in Cuba although the poem sounded like it was about the overthrow of capitalism in America. 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. 977 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 you wish to forcibly obtain or unscrupulously appropriate in Cuba you better nationalize it fast “Yonder stands your orphan with his gun” not far off waits a Cuban exile who is taking a stand against Communism with a gun supplied to him by the CIA “Crying like a fire in the sun” and he is angry beyond comprehension “Look out the saints are comin' through” look out for your lives 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 says go ask questions my son but the shaggy orphan says that it's all a hype - the bearded soldier says what's a hype? & the shaggy orphan says what's a son? “the soldier with the long beard” the president with the Harvard Degree, with the double life, 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” but someone marked by a lack of performance “orphan” Cuban exile “says that it's all a hype” believes it is just another whitewash “the bearded soldier says what's a hype?” the President claims he doesn’t even know what a whitewash is “& the shaggy orphan says what's a son?” and the Cuban exile replies that the President is no patriot: “son” one closely connected with a certain environment a son of the American Revolution. “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. 978 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” highway as in my way or the highway “is for gamblers” is for those “that want to wheel and deal and shuffle things around” the socialists “better use your sense” better use your American currency to get out of the country, better use common sense “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 lacks 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” the Catholic Church, “sky” as God, is folding Informal - to discontinue operating; closing under the Communist regime “and it’s all over now Baby Blue” and it’s all over for Castro in Cuba. In Tarantula Dylan associated sky with the Vatican “the sky, changing into a sexy spaghetti odor, continues to tremble.” “Painter” as prose writer can be found in 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.” “Sky” as God, Heartlands 1993: “And a hole in the sky where God used to be.” Trails of Trouble 1962, “I walked down by the river” I went to an area of great literary abundance, the folk music scene “I turned my head up high” I thought on a higher level than the one I was on, I shot junk “I saw that silver linin'” I was under a cloud of depression as a folk singer but every cloud has a silver lining “That was hangin' in the sky” that God had put there for me. 979 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 once believed you were telling the truth 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” the 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” think about it but don’t ask because it is useless the carpet has already 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” sarcastic: go ahead, what does it matter if the Soviets 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” 980 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the existence of Communism in Cuba calls for a Soviet presence “Forget the dead you've left” forget the so-called counter-revolutionaries you murdered “they will not follow you” the people of Cuba will not follow Communism “The vagabond” the unpredictable counter-revolutionary Cuban exile, Tarantula, describing his interaction with the pinkos, “entering the pink highway – your black mongrel vagabond” your unpredictable counter-revolutionary “your rat from Delphi - now he shall tattle on your nauseous bra.” Tarantula, “& lenny [Bruce] immune to the mathematics, he the greasy quack - the vagabond god.” Tarantula, “& vagabonds with girlie magazines from Reed College” “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. AS I WENT OUT ONE MORNING 1968 Dylan attended the Communist Party’s Emergency Civil Liberties Union dinner where he was presented with the Tom Paine Emergency Civil Liberties “traitor of the year” award for furthering totalitarian Communism in the United States. 981 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan almost blew the deal with the Devil when he received the award from because that night Dylan told off the Commies with a tasteless speech linking them to Oswald. He did Tom Paine proud but he angered Satan! 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 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 982 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, slavery. In When The Ship Comes In 1964 Dylan paraphrased Marxist rhetoric, “And the chains” the 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 in Communist countries are rigged, you believe in economic determinism rather than free choice, or free will “I beg you, sir, she pleaded / From the corners” I implore you Mr. Zimmerman from a remote, secret place the Kremlin “of her mouth” where the words the CPUSA 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. 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, 983 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY "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” shout down: to overwhelm or silence by shouting loudly “this lovely girl” sarcastic, really this dirty liar “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 she's done.’” I am sorry for how the CPUSA has tried to subvert democracy in America. “Field” as area of human interest and activity; 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 December 13, 1963; 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 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 984 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY friends…I'll stand up and to get uncompromisable about it, which I have to be to be honest, I just got to be, as I got to admit that the man who shot President Kennedy, Lee Oswald, I don't know exactly where --what he thought he was doing, but I got to admit honestly that I too - I saw some of myself in him. I don't think it would have gone - I don't think it could go that far. But I got to stand up and say I saw things that he felt, in me - not to go that far and shoot (boos and hisses). Despite this lapse in ambiguity Dylan continued to secretly berate the Communists: DIRGE 1973 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” he is made the subject of repression until he conforms to the Communists wishes “All for a moment's glory” just to prove the superiority of Communism to Capitalism “and it's a dirty, rotten shame” and it is an obscenity. So 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. 985 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “So sing your praise of progress and of the Doom Machine” so praise your socalled 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 truth is taboo “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 in America “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 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 “Fortyeight hours later” after brief exposure to it “the sun” a person of great influence 986 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 having allowed Communist doctrine to gain momentum “She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking” the left is begging to know what “measures” the metric unit between two bars on the staff; a bar, the Communists want to know what kind of music Bob Dylan will be playing “He's pulling her down” Dylan is attempting to demolish and destroy Communism “and she's clutching on to” and she’s 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 Communists overthrow the democratically elected government of the United States. 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 as in Positively Fourth Street 1965, “I wish there were just one time you could stand inside my shoes and for that one moment you could be me.” “I’ve moved your mountains” I’ve helped with your awesome problems. Blowin In The Wind 1962, “How many years can a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?” “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, addressed at the CPUSA, “What you gonna do when the 987 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Devil calls your cards?” “But Eden” but the United States “is burning” burning, raging with passionate anger at your lies “either brace yourself for elimination” so either take a shot of vodka because you are about to be lined up against the wall and shot “Or else your hearts” or else your innermost feelings “must have the courage” must have the mental strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger “for the changing of the guards” to accept new ideas; “old guard” a faction that is unwilling to accept new ideas. NO TIME TO THINK 1978 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.” Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 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 988 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 become 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” is more impenetrable “than blood” then a young blood nigger “and blacker” and more focused on Blacks “than ink” then integrated schools were “And there is no time to think.” “Magic” as beauty: 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.” 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” 989 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 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 990 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Communists now used against their own people “and rocks” and Communist doctrine “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. 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 “reaching for the moon” 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” my faith in 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 achangin’” “all night in my dreams” in the songs that I performed. “Everything was 991 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 leftist ideological perspective in order to succeed “Woke up this morning I looked at the same old page” when I woke up, in the early part of my career, I became aware of what my real role in all of this was and 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 Was to haul your picture down off the wall near the cage where I used to work Was I a fool or not to try to protect your identity? You looked a little burned out, my friend, I thought it might be up to me “Oh, the only decent thing I did when I worked as a postal clerk” the only morally upright; respectable thing I did when I was writing letters, message songs “Was to haul your picture down off the wall” was to “haul off” to draw back slightly, as in preparation for initiating an action and supplant you as an outlaw (Old Jaw Bone: “Your name upon the Post Office wall / But you’re on edge cause they wrote it too small”) in the small venues that I played at – Visions of Johanna 1966, “muttering small talk at the wall” “near the cage where I used to work” near the virtual prison of leftwing folk music I was trapped in. “Was I a fool or not to try to protect your identity?” was I just another corrupt politician when I protected your identity as an agent of the Soviet Union? “You looked a little burned out, my friend, I thought it might be up to me.” You looked a little burned out after the McCarthy era, so I thought it would not have negative repercussions if I kept it a secret. BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND 1962 How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly 992 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 courses or paths in life: the road to riches “must a man” must a Blackman “walk down” take such as the creation of slums, generations of single welfare mothers, dangerous public schools, engaging in rape, murder, theft, corruption “Before you call him a man?” before the Whites realize that the nigger is a genetically challenged individual who can never amount to anything more than a male servant, a subordinate, “man” as in ‘Man Friday’ which in reality is more like a “boy” (unless “man” had two meanings the first two lines of Blowin’ In The Wind are redundant because he is already a man, so why not call him that to begin with?) “Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail” yes and how long will it take before White supremacist apartheid (who ever heard of a black dove?) that brought racial peace and stability to South Africa, sails effortlessly across the ocean to America. “Before she sleeps in the sand?” and becomes a part of America history? “Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannonballs fly” yes and how many times must the niggers become suddenly enraged, commit gun crimes ‘fly off the handle’ “Before they're forever banned?” before they are treated in the same way as South Africa treated its niggers? Under the former system of apartheid, “banned” meant to deprive a person suspected of illegal activity of the right of free movement and association with others “The answer” the answer to the ‘Negro question’ in America “my friend” one who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the civil rights movement “is blowin'” is spreading “in the wind” in something that destroys “wind” as in ‘the winds of war.’ On another level the answer is to treat niggers just as they did in the Old South, the answer is in White vigilantism, lynch ‘em and let ‘em blow (cause to move by means of a current of air) in the wind because that is the only language these vicious animals understand! This is a variation of Billie Holliday’s song Strange Fruit, 993 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Southern trees bear a 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. “Roads” as ways and courses of action; Playboys and Playgirls 1962, “Your insane” your immoderate and wild “tongues” language, rhetoric, “of war talk ain't agonna guide my road.” Song to Woody, 1962 “I’m walking a road other men have gone down.” I am trying to master a path in life of that of a folksinger as so many others have done in the past. Also “roads” as John Cecil Rhodes a mining magnate and politician in South Africa and a violent and brutal racist who used forced labor tactics as a means of founding De Beers Diamonds. Dylan would adopt “diamond” as his symbol for apartheid and South Africa. “Walk” as live; Ballad of Donald White, “But the jails they were too crowded, / Institutions overflowed / So they turned me loose to walk upon / Life's hurried tangled road.” All Over You 1962, “You made me to a walkin' wreck” you made me into a living wreck. “Sea” as America; God Bless America, “from sea to shining sea.” In the Summertime 1981, “By that soft and shining sea.” When The Ship Comes In 1963, “And the chains of the sea would have busted in the night” and the present restraints preventing the American working class from getting it’s just due would be thrown off “and be buried on the bottom of the ocean” and will never return after the Communist revolution. Emmett Till 1962 “While Emmett's body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea” while Emmett is a corpse because of the intense anger and rage of America’s segregated South. Emmett Till came to Mississippi from Chicago only to be mutilated and murdered for ogling a White woman. “Sleep” as co-exist with, be comfortable with; You’re No Good 1962, “You got the ways of a Devil sleeping in a lion's den.” Let Me Die In My Footsteps Before I Go Down Under the Ground 1962, “Let me sleep in your meadows with the green grassy leaves” let me co-exist in America with great books of poetry such as Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass “Let me walk down the highway with my brother in peace.” Tomorrow is a Long Time 1962, “only if she was lying by me I would lie in 994 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY my bed once again.” Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “an' I'm still on that road, Jim / I'm still sleepin' at night by its side.” “Sand” as history; Chronicles, “Ray Gooch 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.” To the Left in Tears of Rage 1968, We pointed out the way to go And scratched your name in sand Though you just thought it was nothing more Than a place for you to stand “We pointed out the way to go” we told you that you should move in the direction of the Right “And scratched your name in sand” and tried to cancel (“scratched” as in the horse was scratched from the race) any major role you would play in history “But you just thought it was nothing more than a place” but you just thought it was nothing more than a suitable setting and occasion “for you to stand” for you to stand the test of time, to endure and to take a stand on certain key issues. “Cannonball” as a “crazy nigger” I’m In The Mood For You 1962, Sometimes I’m in the mood, I’m gonna sleep in my pony’s stall Sometimes I’m in the mood, I ain’t gonna do nothin’ at all Sometimes I’m in the mood, I wanna fly like a cannonball But then again, but then again, I said oh, I said oh, I said Oh babe, I’m in the mood for you “Sometimes I'm in the mood, I'm gonna sleep in my pony's stall” sometimes I am content to be continually drunk in a bar, “stall” booth, cubicle, or stand used by a vendor “Sometimes I'm in the mood, I ain't gonna do nothin' at all” sometimes I am in the mood to be a shiftless urban Negro on welfare “Sometimes I'm in the mood, I wanna fly like a cannonball” sometimes I want to fly off the handle and commit a violent gun crime like the niggers do. 995 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Pony” as intoxicant, a glass for beer and liquor; Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961, “And tomorrow's mornin' seems so far away / And you feel the reins” restraint and control “from yer pony are slippin'.” New Pony 1978, “I had a pony, her name was Lucifer.” More “cannonball” as violence prone nigger: The Weight 1967, “Catch a cannonball now” find a Black heroin dealer, catch a nigger by the toe “t'take me down the line” so I can lay out a few lines of smack to snort “My bag” my glassine bag of dope “is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time.” Mary and the Soldier 1993, “Perhaps in battle I might fall / From a shot from an angry cannonball.” “Blow” as to move along or be carried by or as if by the wind - idiom: it’s in the wind, it’s spreading rapidly; Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961, “You need a cyclone wind” you need a destructive force “on a steam engine howler” that will drown out others songs, howl down a performer “that's been banging” slang: causing a sense of excitement; a thrill “and booming” and suddenly increasing, as in popularity “and blowing forever” and spreading forever. Worried Blues 1962, “I'm going where the chilly winds don't blow.” Go Away You Bomb 1962, “I want it blowin' from every pore.” Brownsville Girl 1986 “And you know it blows right through me like a ball and chain.” Note: when Dylan’s liberal fans heard the word “wind” in Blowin In The Wind it was defined as a tendency; a trend: the winds of change. Blowin In The Wind continues, 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 Pretending he just doesn't see? “How many years can a mountain exist” how much longer can the mountainous problem of the Negro be allowed to exist “Before it's washed” before it is “washed” it is eliminated as unsatisfactory: a football player who was washed out. 996 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Also “wash” as to rid of corruption or guilt; cleanse or purify. Finally to be carried away, removed, or drawn by the action of water “to the sea?” how many years will the problem of the Negro plague America before they are herded on to a boat and forced to make the long voyage across the sea back to Africa where they can join their fellow savages! American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell offered free passage back to Africa for Blacks and created mock one-way steamship tickets to this affect. “Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist” how many years will America allow poor Blacks to live at a minimal wage level; subsist “Before they're allowed to be free?” before they are allowed to receive free money, an allowance, through the welfare system “Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn” yes an how many times can a man change “his head” his leader, the United States President “Pretending he just doesn't see?” fooling himself into believing that this is not the truth about Blacks and electing a liberal Democrat or middle of the road Republican rather than a Dixiecrat or a Goldwaterite Republican. Also “pretend” as one who sets forth a false claim to a throne. “Mountains” as problems: someone who can move mountains can solve a difficult problem. Beyond Here Lies Nothin' 2009, “Beyond here lies nothin' / But the mountains of the past.” In Changin of the Guard 1978 Dylan wrote this to the Communist Party, “I've moved your mountains” I’ve helped you with your problems like gaining acceptance with the American people “and marked your cards” and gotten you members who became card-carrying Communists. Just as he did in Blowin’ In The Wind 1963, Dylan expressed his beliefs about Blacks and welfare in Chronicles. This time he quoted the Nazi David Duke: The ex-Klansman David Duke from Metairie in Jefferson Parish had been elected to the Louisiana State House of Representatives and he was being interviewed. He said that welfare wasn't working and that workfare would be better; make people on welfare work for the community instead of getting a free ride. He also wanted to put prisoners from state pens on work programs. Didn't want them getting a free ride, either. I hadn't seen Duke before; he looked like a movie star. David Duke is still a Klan member so Dylan is whitewashing him. What other things does he agree with Duke on? Judging from his admiration for Klansman 997 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY David Duke Dylan probably agrees with Duke that Emmitt Till got what was coming to him for even thinking of defiling a Southern Belle. Chronicles contains this oblique reference to the Klan, “The past doesn't pass away so quickly here” in Louisiana “You could be dead for a long time” they will still kill you here “The ghosts” the Klansmen “race towards the light” race toward the burning cross “you can almost hear the heavy breathing spirits” “spirits” the essential nature of a group, worked-up crackers “all determined to get somewhere” determined not to let an inferior race bring them down to their level. Dylan expressed similar sentiments about shipping the Blacks back to Africa in Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, but where is the party t' dump the feelings of the fiery cross burners an' flamin' match carriers? if there was such a party they would've been dumped long before this …who is supposed t' dump 'em now? “but where is the party t' dump” but where is the party to discharge, express “the feelings of the fiery cross burners” the feelings of the Invisible Knights of the Ku Klux Klan “an' flamin'” and overt as in “flamin’ faggot” “match” those who are alike with respect to specified qualities “carriers” “carrier” genetics an individual that carries one gene for a particular recessive trait. A carrier does not express the trait but, when mated with another carrier, can produce offspring that do “if there was such a party” if there were such a racist party “they would've been dumped long before this” the niggers would have taken out in a boat and dumped in the middle of the ocean a long time ago “…who is supposed t' dump 'em now?” who is supposed to do this now, in the age of Civil Rights? Blowin’ In The Wind continues: How many times must a man look up Before he can see the sky? Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have 998 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Before he can hear people cry? Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died? “How many times must a man look up” how many times must the Whiteman look to God and pray for a better life “Before he can see the sky?” before God will grant it to him “Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have?” and how much sympathy, as in ‘lend a sympathetic ear’ must “one man” God Almighty have “Before he can hear people cry?” before he can hear prayers of the White people to save them from the Blacks “Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows” yes and how many Black on White homicides will it take until He learns “That too many people have died?” that too many White people, not a bunch of nappyheaded Black gang-banging criminals, have been murdered. The answer my friend is to revert back to the times of vigilantism. Dylan expressed his views on Black on White crime in Chronicles, He [Frank Sinatra Jr.] talked about the Civil Rights Movement, said his father had been active in civil rights and had always fought for the underdog-that his father felt like he was one himself. Frank Jr. seemed pretty smart, nothing faked or puton or ritzy about him. There was a legitimacy about what he did, and he knew who he was. The conversation rolled along. ‘How do you think it would make you feel,’ he said, ‘to find out that the underdog had turned out to be a son of a bitch?’ ‘I don't know,’ I said, ‘probably not so good.’ Satan was happier than Dylan on smack. His flunky had written the National Anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, Blowin’ In The Wind, and had embedded racist thought in it. The Devil feared not that anyone would catch on to this due to the fact it was beyond most ordinary people’s comprehension, including that of this Dylanologist. In 1963 I got hooked on Dylan after listening to this next poem thinking it contained a leftwing anti-racist message. HARD RAIN 1962 Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son? Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? 999 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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, 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 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. 1000 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 antislavery 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 lilywhite 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. “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 1001 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY you want to see for yourself what lies are accepted as truth behind the closed society of the Iron Curtain countries. “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 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 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 had 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. 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 1002 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” “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” as profuse fame; 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).” Hard Rain continues: 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 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 takers whose tongues were all broken I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children 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 niggers “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 1003 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Congress which was composed of almost all White men “with their hammers ableedin'” 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 niggers 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 legislation “an' made t' bleed by rusty nails” and made to suffer by antiquated, gangrenous laws. “Water” as trouble, sorrow; ‘above water’ idiomatic expression for out of trouble. Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 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 permeating a land that should be flowing with milk and honey. 1004 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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, 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” And what did you hear my Aryanthinking 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 ablazin'” 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 niggers 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 1005 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” “Alley” as slum, ghetto; Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 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!” 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” 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 nigger “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 nigger shiftless bums had to be kept on a short leash “I met a young woman whose 1006 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 niggers’ 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. “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 1007 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY married men & governors & shriner conventions go ahead ask her Hard Rain continues: 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'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 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 niggers 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 1008 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 niggers are gonna get what’s coming to them! “Poison” as something murderous, something fatal; Tombstone Blues 1966, 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 hysterical bride in the penny arcade” the White girl in the worthless Black school “Screaming” “scream” being extremely conspicuous “she moans, I've just been made” I missed my period and I am pregnant. Also sarcastic “made” as assured of success: a made man. “Then sends out for the doctor who pulls down the shade” then sends out for the family doctor who tells her she is pregnant with a child that she knows will be partially dark; “shade” “Says, ‘My advice is to not let the boys in’” and he refuses to give her an abortion and advices her to not with Black “boys,” but instead have sex with White men. Now the medicine man comes and he shuffles inside He walks with a swagger and he says to the bride 1009 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride You will not die, it’s not poison” “Now the medicine man comes and he shuffles inside” the nigger who has impregnated a White girl shuffles inside, just like Step N’ Fetch-it shuffled to make sure his victim suffers even more - take one's medicine: to accept a deserved punishment “He walks with a swagger” he is either drunk or proud of himself or both for having impregnated a White bitch “and he says to the bride” and he says to his victim “Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride” stop all of this regret, swallow your racial pride, your arrogance. Tarantula, “tragedy, the broken pride.” “You will not die, it's not poison” having a Black baby is not fatal, at least not for me. Desolation Row 1965; “Then they'll kill him with self-confidence / After poisoning him with words.” Mississippi 1997, “I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past.” So there you have it. Dylan was adept at making you believe his poems were antiracist, when in reality they were just the opposite, even classics like the next one: 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 nigger “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 1010 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Civil Rights nigger agitator Medgar Evers “blood” as national or racial ancestry. “A finger” the Communist Party, a group that designated him as an intended victim, as a martyr for their cause “finger” as to designate as a victim; 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 nigger Evers all fired up about Civil Rights “to his name” and caused him to earn his reputation as a bad-assed darkie “A handle” 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 niggers in line and in their place “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 niggers 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” but two divergent schools of thought influenced Ever’s assassin; that of the outside Communist agitators who got the nigger 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 niggers 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 [Baez] 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” appeared like an illusory rationale. 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 niggers 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 they cut his repertoire as Ed Sullivan did when Dylan appeared on this television show. Tarantula, “manuscript nitemare of cut throat.” Tarantula 1011 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “cook's helper appeared & cleared his throat” 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 nigger; 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 / nigger-slave relationship “of which under present western standards is an impossibility” which is impossible because in the Western World slavery is now universally condemned. “Name” as reputation; Only A Hobo 1962, To wait for your future like a horse that’s gone lame To lie in the gutter and die with no name. “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. 1012 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “A South politician preaches to the poor white man” “a” 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 or the White Citizens Councils “You're better than them, you been born with white skin, they explain” you are genetically superior to colored folk 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” 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” of hate “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 1013 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 niggers 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: 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 too “But the poor white man’s used in the hands of them all like a tool” but even if revenge is exacted these oppressed Whites are still exploited so that they may carry out the designs of others rather than acting in their own self interest because “He's taught” he learns by example and 1014 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 nigger 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 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 1015 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 there like animals in slums they created. To Dave Glover 1962, “The white line on the highway's reflectin” there are many White people in America who are publically reflecting on the Negro question “Behind the ditch broken down empty shacks're still standin’” and they are thinking about the primitive civilization African culture generates. “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’ 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 1016 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. “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 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” today Medgar Evers was buried with the bullet that reached, caught, the nigger 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 1017 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. “Shadow” as government agent, spy; What Was It You Wanted 1989, to the Communists, “Was there somebody looking / When you give me that kiss” was there somebody spying on us 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 Town, Oxford Town Ev’rybody’s got their heads bowed down The sun don’t shine above the ground Ain’t a-goin’ down to Oxford Town Oxford, Mississippi where with the help of U.S. Marshalls, James Meredith enrolled at the University of Mississippi, “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 Blackman 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 for the heroes of the Old South who are in their graves “Never goin’ down to Oxford 1018 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 and I Want You 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. LIKE A ROLLING STONE 1965 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 out just fine “You threw the bums a dime” you casually gave colored folk welfare, such as Aid To Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) wherein mothers were paid by the child thus increasing the Black birthrate but you thought this was insignificant “in your prime didn't you?” and you did it on a federal level as in U.S. Government Grade A Prime or as in ‘The prime rate’ “People'd call” White folks would demand a meeting, ask to 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 1019 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 AFDC “Now you don't talk so loud” now you are not so insistent, no more of your loud denials, Mrs. and Mr. White American? “Now you don't seem so proud?” you no longer seem to have a proper sense of self-respect, now you no longer show racial pride, do you White folks? “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 or pickaninnies. 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 actions and effects are 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 They Are aChangin’ 1964, And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone 1020 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 niggers are being bused in. “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” slang, political power and influence; clout; 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." 1021 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY You said you'd never compromise With the mystery tramp, but now 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” White America, you said you would never make a concession to someone who was detrimental and pejorative; compromise your morality when it came to dealing with certain people such as “With the mystery tramp” with a person that arouses curiosity and suspense because of an unknown, obscure, and enigmatic quality; a racist leader like Adolf Hitler: Charlie Chaplin, known as “the little tramp” played Hitler in the film The Great Dictator “but now you realize” but now, 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 niggers “And say do you want to make a deal?” and say I will give you my vote and financial support in exchange for you exterminating the American Negro insect. Also now 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? “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: 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 1022 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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: 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 city, when they came down on the niggers 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 niggers, like what was done to Emmett Till, that is the only thing that will instill 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” and the cops busting fag joints in Greenwich Village. Tarantula, “the jugglers who call you by the wrong name & title you wounded 1023 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY kitten.” Tarantula, “there are shadows of jugglers on the wall” to shadow is to follow someone surreptiously. 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 on” you used to let it ride, you allowed something to continue without interference, you once voted for “the chrome horse” American political candidates who supported regimes that practiced apartheid such as the Republic of South Africa (South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of chrome) “with your diplomat” and the State Department maintained diplomatic relations with South Africa while the South Africans “carried on his shoulder” shouldered a burden, as in 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 had to deal with the burden of living with niggers “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. 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'” 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 1024 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! “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.” 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 the race mixers want you to be. 1025 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES 1965 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 are low on the bell curve of IQ, namely the niggers “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 in the trench coat” the male servant and subordinate, in a belted raincoat similar in style to a military officer's uniform “Badge out” who is going to enforce a law “laid off” and who is not on his normal job, but in the federalized National Guard “Says he's got a bad cough” says he owes something morally for a past injustice, wants to confess, cough it up “Wants to get it paid off” and he wants to make amends for this “grave injustice” 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 big pen Wants eleven dollar bills You only got ten. 1026 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 darkies “You better duck down” you had best 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 nigger-lovin’ President awarded a special cap as a sign of rank and achievement by a bunch of coons with black skin “with the big” with the liberal Democratic orientation “pen” who has the ability to sign legislation into law “Wants eleven dollar bills” wants to bill the white people for social legislation, wants to introduce bogus bills to Congress to raise taxes and force integration through Civil Rights legislation “You only got ten” and bankrupt the White middle class American both monetarily and racially. 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 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 niggers who are stereotypes actually 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 “but the phone's tapped anyway” but aside from the Electronic Surveillance (ELSUR) the Feds have a legal phone tap which has already provided information on King’s Communist connections “Maggie” the Communists “says that many say” “Many” the majority of the people; the masses: "The many fail, the one succeeds" 1027 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY (Tennyson). “They must bust in early May” King is going to be indicted on May Day, a commie holiday “Orders from the DA” on the orders of United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy who ordered the wiretaps and ELSUR on King in the first place (RFK once worked as an Assistant Counsel to Joe McCarthy). “Maggie” as communism; Of course Maggie’s Farm a variation of animal farm. 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.” “Soot” as “nigger” - Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 Liner Notes 1962 Later yet in New York town On my own terms I said with age "The only beauty's in the cracks an' curbs Clothed in robes a dust an' grime" An' I searched for it in every hole “Later yet in New York town / On my own terms” later yet in New York town in my own language of a certain kind, chosen words: ‘I spoke in poetic terms’ “I said with age” My Back Pages 1964, “I was so much older then.” “The only beauty's in the cracks” the only ones worth writing about are crazy, cracked people “an' curbs” who are deliberately held back from advancing in society “Clothed in robes of” who are really nobility but have the appearance of “a dust” of shit “an' grime” “grime” synonym for “soot” black dirt ingrained in a surface. “An' I searched for it in every hole” and I looked for it in every slum and in every deep or isolated place of confinement; dungeon, where these defectives could be found. “Dirt” and “dust” as slander and excrement; Emmett Till 1962, If you can’t speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that’s so unjust Your eyes are filled with dead men’s dirt, your mind is filled with dust Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains, and your blood it must refuse to flow 1028 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY For you let this human race fall down so God-awful low! “If you can't speak out against this kind of thing” if you can’t speak out against the torture and murder of Emmett Till “a crime that's so unjust, Your eyes are filled with dead men's dirt” your thoughts are filled with derogatory gossip about Blacks from years past “your mind is filled with dust” and your brain is filled with shit “Your arms” all of your powers; Caribbean Wind 1985, “We went into the wall to where the long arm of the law could not reach “and legs” and your ability to move against groups like the Klan “must be in shackles and chains” must be severely restricted “And your blood it must refuse to flow” and you must also be an abject coward “For you to let the human race sink down so god awful low” for you to let these racist scum exist. Although I cannot find racist subcontent in The Ballad of Emmett Till there are a few curious things about this song. Dylan wrote, “Some men they dragged him to a barn and there they beat him up / They said they had a reason, but I can’t remember what.” Everyone knew Till was ogling, flirting or inappropriately touching a White woman. This makes it seem as if Dylan is hesitant to reveal the reason as it might justify the perpetrators actions. Then he wrote, “And then to stop the United States for yellin’ for a trial / Two brothers they confessed that they killed poor Emmett Till / But the jury found them innocent.” “Yellin’ for a trial” yelling is defined as a loud piercing inarticulate cry. Dylan did not want the Feds interfering in a States’ Rights or jurisdictional matter. The two brothers who did Till in were acquitted by an all White jury and then knowing that they could not be re-tried because of the double-jeopardy clause in the U.S. Constitution confessed they did it in a Look Magazine article. They never confessed to the crime before the trial. Returning to Subterranean Homesick Blues 1965: 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 1029 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Watch the plainclothes You don't need a weatherman To know which way the wind blows. “Look out kid” watch out White boy “Don't matter what you did” if you be the big nig like Martin Luther Coon you can get away with anything since the Earl Warren Supreme Court ruled that the FBI’s surveillance was illegal, however, the same doesn’t go for your lawbreaking so you better “Walk on your tip toes” be careful if you have a desire for drugs “Don't try, No Doz” better be cool if you intend to use coke. “No Doz” is a caffeine pill used to stay awake “Better stay away from those / That carry around” best avoid those who conceal on their person “a fire hose” a round barrel from which bullets can be fired, if you are gonna use drugs watch out for the uniformed police “Keep a clean nose” don’t leave any traces of drug use that will incriminate you like powder on your nose “Watch the plainclothes” look out for undercover cops “You don't need a weatherman” you don’t need a prophet, someone who can predict a prevailing trend: the current racial climate as in You’re A Big Girl Now 1974, “A change in the weather is known to be extreme.” “To know which way the wind blows” to know the winds of destruction are spreading to the White race. “Toes” as drugs and the desire for drugs. The Hour That the Ship Comes In 1964, 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’ “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 “toes” in regard to your desire to get high “to be a-touchin'” to obtain without having to shell out a lot of bread. “touch” Slang: to wheedle a handout from: touched Dana 1030 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY for a nickel bag “And the ship’s wise men” and the leadership of the revolution “Will remind you once again” who are opposed to drug use will remind the revolutionaries “That the whole wide world is watchin’” that Moscow disapproves. “Toe” as drug use: 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” his 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.” “Weatherman” as a prophet. Tarantula: bazookas in the nest & weapons of ice & of weatherproof flinch & they twitter, make scars & kill babies “bazookas” a strong arm man, as in ‘Ya big bazooka’ “in the nest” invading people’s homes “& weapons of ice” and weapons of death “& of weatherproof flinch” coming from an unforeseen, suddenly painful political and racial climate “& they twitter” and they 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” and commit genocide. Tarantula, may these teachers of the shade be rot for committing the problems of past & future & omitting the weather, the drunken eagle & the holy present “may these teachers of the shade” may these race mixers “be rot” decay morally; degenerate “for committing the problems of past & future” for not dealing with the Blacks properly in the past and thus causing problems for the future “& omitting the weather” and omitting certain factors such as the true political climate “the drunken eagle” the federal government drunk with power “& the holy present...” and that the status quo must be maintained. Tarantula, 1031 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the dada weatherman comes out of the library after being beaten up by a bunch of hoods inside “the dada” the dada - an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk - so the immature “weatherman” prophet “comes out of the library” graduates from High School – Tarantula “i happen to be a library janitor, so could you please clarify things a little for me.” “after being beaten up by a bunch of hoods inside” after being brainwashed by a bunch of socialist teachers, Robin Hoods, who steal from the rich and give to the poor. “Hood” as socialist; Tarantula, to the Communists “sure, you took a big” sure, you took a leftwing “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.” Tarantula “son of the vampire, who got a divorce from betsy ross & now is with little red riding hood made it into january first carrying some empty stomachs.” Returning to Subterranean Homesick Blues: Get sick, get well Hang around an ink well Ring bell, hard to tell If anything is goin' to sell Try hard, get barred Get back, write Braille Get nailed, jump bail Join the army, if you fail “Get sick get well” get through your childhood diseases, recover but then face more danger “Hang around” sort of attend “an ink” a Black “ink” a dark brown fluid. Tarantula, “reach out, Queenie, reach out – feel for equal saggy skin & believe this dark playboy licking ink from your notebook.” “well” school “well” an abundant source; ‘a well of knowledge,’ get through your childhood hurdles only to end up in an integrated school “Ring bell” something comes to an end and you graduate “hard to tell / If anything is goin' to sell” it is 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 1032 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY against because you are White “Get back” get back to work “write Braille” punch in “Get nailed” keep fixed, motionless, end up in a dead-end job “jump” take prompt advantage “bail” of a student loan and attend a community college “Join the army, if you fail” join the armed forces if you flunk out. “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.’" “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.” 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 “Look out kid” look out White boy “You're gonna get hit” you are going to get hit up for taxes by the IRS “But users” but those with a presumptive right based on long-continued use right of user: welfare parasites “cheaters” who are ablebodied and do not belong on the dole “Six-time losers” sixth generation welfare families “Hang around the theaters” “theatre” (Medicine / Surgery) also called “operating theatre” a room in a hospital or other medical centre equipped for surgical operations – the niggers are always shooting each other with Saturday Night Specials so they end up in hospitals or they are there to give birth to illegitimate children “Girl by the whirlpool” a female voter who is getting sucked into race-mixing insanity “whirlpool” a magnetic, impelling force into which one may be pulled “Lookin' for a new fool” “fool” looking for someone who subverts 1033 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY convention or orthodoxy or varies from social conformity in order to reveal and alleged moral truth: a holy fool. looking for a partner in miscegenation. “Don't follow leaders” don’t just follow the foremost fastest animal in a harnessed team “watch the parking meters” keep an eye on the deterioration of morality as your daughter become a nigger ho. “Parking meter” as prostitute, 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” useless, unable to give blow jobs “parking meter” ho. 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” From birth I have had a particular quality or talent: a born artist. “keep warm” be original - originality as in recently made; fresh: a warm trail. “Short pants romance” a short period of singing rock and roll love songs “learn to dance” learb to sing “Get dressed” get scolded; reprimanded I was dressed down by the other rock and roll musicians. “get blessed” discover that you are endowed with talent for folk music “Try to be a success” try to get gigs in Greenwich Village “Please her, please him” please everyone but yourself “buy gifts” commercialize your gifted talent “Don't steal” sarcastic: don’t steal music from other performers “don't lift” don’t lift, plagiarize lyrics either – this was exactly when Dylan did “Twenty years of schoolin'” this puts the time at 1961 as Dylan was born in 1941 1034 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “And they put you on the day shift” and you end up working the day shift in the Café Wha? in Greenwich Village. There, you are paid practically nothing for performing all day long. “Pants” as sexual desire Tarantula, “we wear” we display in our appearance “choking” “choke” to check or hinder the growth, development, or activity of “pants” sexual development “& are slaves to appetite” and we have an inherent craving an insatiable appetite for sex. Off the Top of My Head 1965, “But then his pants fall down” but then his sexual desires decreases. Tarantula “compared to the big day when you discover lord byron shooting craps in the morgue with his pants off.” Bob Dylan 115th Dream 1965 “they asked for some collateral so 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?” “friend” as “fan” - 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.” 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 1035 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 and grossly improper behavior namley 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 black “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 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 be used to keep the blacks in their place to all his costumers. Lester Maddox subsequently became Governor of Georgia. In Only A Pawn In Their Game 1964, describing the racist who kept the niggers in line by shooting one of their leaders Dylan wrote that “a handle hid out in the dark.” “Vandal” as liberal; Alternatives to College 1965, the vandal from his gamut & baby cupid, the roustabout forcing you to store away velvet bonnet of barbarian funnel “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” the unskilled Negros “forcing you” forcing White women “to store away” to gestate “velvet” gentle “bonnet” mulatto baby, baby bonnet, children’s clothes “of barbarian” of primitive jungle civilization. “Sandals” as “Jesus or Christianity” Tarantula, 1036 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY hallaluyah & bossman of the hobos cometh & ordaining the spiritual gypsy davy camp now being infiltrated by foreign dictator, the pink FBI & the interrogating unknown failures of peacetime as holy & silver & blessed with the texture of kaleidoscope & the sandal girl. “hallaluyah & bossman of the hobos cometh” sarcastic – praise the Lordy and the leader of the freeloading Negros cometh, like in the Eugene O’Neal play The Ice Man Cometh, except this time it is Martin Luther King instead of Hickey “& 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 “the pink FBI” pinko - a person who holds moderately leftist political views; the FBI that refuses to acknowledge the Communist influence within Dr. King’s Movement “& the interrogating” those who question a witness during Congressional Hearings like the Army / McCarthy Senate hearings “unknown failures of peacetime” the Soviet spies “as holy & silver” as sacred and Democratic “& blessed” euphemistic word for damned, used in mild oaths I'm blessed if I know “with the texture of” with the distinctive identifying quality and character of “kaleidoscope” the wide variants of denominations “& the sandal girl” of Christianity 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 1037 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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 1038 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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 1039 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! 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 this their real motivation? “Trying to peel the moon” trying to pull off, effectuate a moon shot “and expose it” and photograph a man on the moon; “expose” subject a photographic film to the action of light “With his business-like anger” with his friends in organized crime, Murder Incorporated, “and his bloodhounds” and his policemen, 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 needs you to spread rumors; gossip about conservative Republicans “or to hand him his chalk” or to get him elected, vote totals are written in chalk “Or pick it up” or 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 1040 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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, niggerized, 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. 1041 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I WANT YOU 1966 The guilty undertaker sighs The lonesome organ grinder cries The silver saxophones say I should refuse you The cracked bells and washed-out horns Blow into my face with scorn But it’s not that way 1042 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I wasn’t born to lose you I want you, I want you I want you so bad Honey, I want you “The guilty undertaker” the Blackman convicted of murder “sighs” vocally expresses unhappiness - Hard Times Come Again No More 1992, “Though her voice it would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day.” “The lonesome” dejected because of a lack of companionship “organ” a euphemistic word for penis “grinder” slang an erotic rotation of the pelvis – the nigger rapist “cries” emits a rallying call or signal: a cry to arms. “The silver saxophones say I should refuse you” the liberal Democratic party hacks say I should be unwilling to accept you “The cracked bells” “cracked” informal crazy musicians “and washed-out horns” the media. In the original lyrics Dylan wrote “crystal horn.” a quartz crystal shaped to vibrate at a particular frequency, used to control the frequency of an oscillator. “Blow into my face with scorn” remind me I am Jewish and reject or refuse me with derision “But it’s not that way / I wasn’t born to lose you” but it’s my destiny to awaken the White race and not lose the superior European civilization it has created! “Undertaker” as murderer: I Wanna Be Your Lover 1965, “Well, the undertaker in his midnight suit / Says to the masked man, "Ain't you cute!" well the murdering communist in his darkest hour appreciates the masked anti-Communist, Bob Dylan. Blind Willie McTell 1983 “I can hear them tribes a-moaning” I can hear the twelve tribes of David being tortured to death “I can hear the undertaker's bell” I can hear the mass murderers toll the bell “(Yeah), nobody can sing the blues / Like Blind Willie McTell” yeah no race has had it worse than the Jews. The drunken politician leaps Upon the street where mothers weep And the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you And I wait for them to interrupt Me drinkin’ from my broken cup And ask me to 1043 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Open up the gate for you “The drunken politician leaps” the politician, intoxicated with power, quickly advances, leaps on his prey, exploits “Upon the street” upon the streets of a city viewed as the scene of crime, poverty and dereliction “where mothers weep” where mother’s mourn for their children deliberately killed by savage Blacks or by stray bullets “And the saviors who are fast asleep” and the George Lincoln Rockwells and other Nazi leaders who lie dormant as fringe group figures “they wait for you” they wait for the White race to awaken “And I wait for them to interrupt / Me drinkin’ from my broken” I wait for them to interrupt me taking in knowledge through my exhausted or weakened, as through genetics or misfortune, “cup” lot in life “And ask me to / Open up the gate for you” and ask me to let the Whites out of the prison they have created for themselves. Well, I return to the Queen of Spades And talk with my chambermaid She knows that I’m not afraid to look at her She is good to me And there’s nothing she doesn’t see She knows where I’d like to be But it doesn’t matter “Well, I return” well I deliver or render a verdict “to the Queen of Spades” to the head nigger “spade” offensive slang used as a disparaging term for a Black person. “And talk with my chambermaid” and end up talking to a female domestic “She knows that I’m not afraid to look at her” she knows that I am not afraid to look down on her - to regard her with contempt or condescension. “She is good to me” the Blacks support Dylan “And there’s nothing she doesn’t see” sarcastic; the Blacks have no idea that he is a racist “She knows where I’d like to be” sarcastic: she knows I would like to be in a lily-white America “But it doesn’t matter” but she is too stupid to understand. 1044 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Spade” as “nigger” Tarantula, “jack of spades - vivaldi of the coin laundry wearing a hipster's dictionary - we see him brownnosing around the blackbelts & horny racing car drivers - dashing to & fro like a frightened uncle remus.” STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN 1966 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 rainman” now a destructive force, Ray Gooch “gave me two cures” gave me two cures to the problem of race relations “Then he said, ‘Jump right in’” then he said jump right into the debate, express your point of view as a Rightist about the Blacks, get it jump started “The one was Texas medicine” one was to employ the methods used by Hitler against the Jews in Germany “The other was just railroad gin” and the other was just civil rights legislation that was suited to colored folk from the South “gin” as in cotton gin “And like a fool I mixed them” and like a make-believe Leftwing politician I added one ingredient or element to another when I composed pro-civil rights songs with racist subcontent “And it strangled up my mind” and it suppressed, repressed, and stifled my true thoughts “And now, people just get uglier” and now the African-Americanss have become even more vicious “And I have no sense of time” and I sense they are going to get away with it and not do hard time - “time” Informal a prison sentence. Also, unlike the darkies, I have no sense of natural rhythm. 1045 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. “Texas” as “Europe” in Blind Willie McTell 1983, Seen the arrow on the doorpost Saying, “This land is condemned All the way from New Orleans To Jerusalem” “Seen the arrow” seen the Mogen David, the Jewish Star resembles two arrowheads placed on top of each other “on the doorpost” on the homes of German 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 Where many martyrs fell And I know no one can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell “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 “Like Blind Willie McTell” than the Jews. See them big plantations burning Hear the cracking of the whips Smell that sweet magnolia blooming 1046 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY See the ghosts of slavery ships I can hear them tribes a-moaning Hear that undertaker’s bell Nobody can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell “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 amoaning” I can hear the 12 Tribes of the Hebrews suffering “I can hear the undertaker's bell” I can hear the finality of death “Yeah, nobody can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell.” Returning to Memphis Blues Again: “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. WHERE ARE YOU TONIGHT 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? 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, your railroad gate, you know I just can’t jump it” well your ramrod legislation to open the gates of the ghetto and let the Blacks loose I can’t, in good conscience, jump start it “Sometimes it gets so hard, you see” sometimes the 1047 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY nigger’s penis gets erect; tumid you see. (Herman Cain, Clarence Thomas) “I’m just sitting here” I am remaining inactive “beating” beating off vulgar slang masturbating, jerking off my audience “on my trumpet” by sounding or proclaiming loudly my love for the coloreds “With all these promises you left for me” with all the Left promises of nice black folk they left for me. “But where are you tonight, sweet Marie?” but where are you tonight Mr. Nice Nigger? “Well, I waited for you when I was half sick” well I waited for a black smack connection when I began to experience withdrawal symptoms “Yes, I waited for you when you hated me” yes I waited for you when you hated me for being white “Well, I waited for you inside of the frozen traffic” Well, I waited for you inside of the frozen narcotics traffic “When you knew I had some other place to be” when you knew I would have liked to be high on dugi “Now, where are you tonight, sweet Marie?” Tarantula, mr. O'toole - falls out of his chair "i must find some railroad tracks - i must put my ear to the tracks - i must listen for train" - the column of faces - all together now a munching chorus "DONT GET KILLED NOW" - repeat - "don't get killed now" yes “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 listen to these tracks, pretend to have sympathy for them “i must listen for train” I must be sure the lyrics are coherent as in “the train of thought of the Civil Rights Movement” “the column of faces” the fifth column, a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger racial order or political system, “all together now” are now working in unison “a munching chorus” a audible steady movement of the jaws preaching to the chorus "DONT GET KILLED NOW" - repeat - "don't get killed now" yes “Train” as coherent thought: Tarantula, 1048 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the peacemonger - Roach - when last seen – was chasing a train - he says that his right hand holds peace but his left hand was seen holding a doorknob & a meathook “the peacemonger – Roach” the lefty folknik who smokes pot: roach as in the butt end of a joint who is basically a cockroach “when last seen” who has disappeared from the scene “was chasing a train” was trying to catch the meaning of my train of thought “he says that his right hand holds peace” he swears under oath he loves me “but his left hand was seen holding a doorknob & a meathook” but his leftist position left him unable to decipher, enter, Dylan’s new poetry and his left hand also has a meathook to hang Dylan from mob style. Desolation Row 1966 regarding Irwin Silber’s Open Letter to Bob Dylan in Communist Singout Magazine “I received you letter yesterday about the time the doorknob broke.” I read your article concerning your inability to get into my lyrics” More “train” as “coherence” in Tarantula: you cant fool me - i'm too smart - you were on that subway train when that kid got knifed - you just sat there - you were on the street when that black car drove up & tossed some form in the river - you turned around & walked to a phone & pretended you had someone to call.. you were also there when they castrated that poor boy in public To the folk community: “you cant fool me - i'm too smart - you were on that subway train” you can’t fool me - i'm too smart you were listening to me sing coherent lyrics in New York City “when that kid got knifed” when I got cut from the bill “you just sat there” you just sat there and didn’t applaud “you were on the street when that black car drove up & tossed some form in the river” you were on MacDougal Street when my calamitous means of getting somewhere almost resulted in my body ending up in the East River “you turned around & walked to a phone & pretended you had someone to call” you changed your opinion of me and pretended other artists could take my place “you were also there when they castrated that poor boy in public” you were also there when I was jeered at my concerts. Returning to Stuck Inside of Mobile 1966: 1049 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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." “Mona” great art as in the Mona Lisa. Tarantula, “a swinging armadillo for your friend, your faithful mob & mona lisa behind you.” “tried to tell me / To stay away from the train” tried in vain to tell me to stay away from the understandable coherent “line” lines of verse in my poetry “She said that all the railroad men” she said that all the Civil Rights Bill advocates “Just drink up” just drink all of something that is on hand “your blood” in this case your descent from a common ancestor; parental lineage “like wine” as if it were entertainment for them “And I said ‘Oh I didn't know that’” sarcastic, I knew that all along “But then again there's only one I've met” sarcastic, Dylan met everyone involved in the Civil Rights Movement “And he just smoked my eyelids” he just made me make my thoughts even more deceptive “smoke” as in ‘all smoke and mirrors’ “And punched” “beat to the punch” made the first decisive move “my cigarette" to popularize my Communist songs. Mona as great art, 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 “Well, the rainman” the troublemaker “comes with his magic wand” comes with his beautiful songs. Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 Liner Notes 1962 “'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” “And the judge says, ‘Mona can't have no bond’” but the Left says Dylan the folk singer cannot have a uniting force or tie to great art “And the walls” and something resembling a wall in impenetrability or 1050 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY strength collides, conflicts in attitude, opinion, or desire; clashes; disagrees “Mona cries” the folk crowd protests “And the rainman leaves in the wolfman’s disguise” and Dylan is demonized. More “railroad” as “civil rights legislation” Tarantula, beneath black flowery railroad fans & fig leaf shades & dogs of all nite joes, grow like arches & cures the harmonica battalions of bitter cowards, bones & bygones “beneath black flowery” beneath the Black leaders ornate and grandiloquent expressions, highly embellished words; ‘flowery speeches’ “railroad fans” about what big fans they are of Civil Rights “& fig leaf” there is something that is concealing something thought to be shameful “shades” which is the degree to which a color is mixed with black “& dogs” and slaves “of all nite joes” of cheap establishments after getting drunk “grow like arches” multiply like America’s chief foe “& cures the harmonica battalions of bitter cowards, bones & bygones” and placates the bitter throwbacks known as the folk crowd. “Wine” as entertainment; Tarantula, “the little old wine maker immediately took off his head & his belt & who do you think it turned out to be but Fabian.” Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts 1974 “The hanging judge” the critic “came in unnoticed and was being wined and dined.” “Judge” as a critic; Tarantula, “the Cream Judge is writing a book on the true meaning of a pear.” “Notice” as review: 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?” In 2011 there were other indications of Dylan’s hatred for the Black man. When Dylan was invited to the White House he snubbed President Barak Obama. The President stated: Here's what I love about Dylan: He was exactly as you'd expect he would be. He wouldn't come to the rehearsal; usually, all these guys are practicing before the set in the evening. He didn't want to take a picture with me; usually all the talent is dying to take a picture with me and Michelle before the show, but he didn't show up to that. He came in and played The Times They Are A-Changin'…Finishes 1051 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the song, steps off the stage — I'm sitting right in the front row — comes up, shakes my hand, sort of tips his head, gives me just a little grin, and then leaves. And that was it — then he left. That was our only interaction with him. ONCE HE WAS A FOLK ROCKER NOW HE’S AN ALTER COCKER From The Devil and Bob Dylan. The Devil sent Beelzebub to Dylan in the form of a beautiful female for the Devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape. She told him that Satan wanted him to revert to rock and roll. Satan suggested he call it “folk rock.” This way Dylan could pollute a wider audience. Dylan, an antiCommunist and racist had become known as the Karl Marx and Martin Luther King of his generation. He and the Devil had everyone bamboozled, in fact they still do today as all of this is just too much for most people to comprehend since it is exactly the opposite of what everyone believes to be the truth about Bob Dylan. But none-the-less when Dylan went electric the leftwing folk community smelled a rat and was not about to take Dylan’s having switched to rock and roll and abstract lyrics sitting down. They stood up and jeered him at numerous concerts calling him “Judas.” Dylan was somewhat disturbed that certain people were on to him for “selling out” but how could it bother someone who furthered a cause like Communism that he considered highly destructive? He responded to the folk community in numerous poems: 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 America’s main highway to fame and fortune, in the dead end world of radical protest songs and folk music, on a 1052 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” well 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” but the audacity of my songs “were kickin'” were becoming operative, “ticking like a clock” and were being covered widely by the press because they were based on news stories. “Clock” as reporter; Simple Twist of Fate 1974, “He hears the ticking” he hears marking, writing ‘tick’ any small mark intended to direct attention to something “of the clocks” of the reporters “And walks along with a parrot” and gets in tight with a person who repeats or imitates someone else's words “that talks” that reveals information concerning others. Music critics. 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!’” Another poem about this period was entitled: IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH A TRAIN TO CRY 1965 Well, I ride on a mail train, baby Can't buy a thrill. Well, I've been up all night, baby Leanin' on the window sill. 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, babe” I thrive on writing message songs that are easily understood “Can't buy” so I can’t accept the truth or feasibility of “a thrill” a source or cause of excitement or emotion like a poem “Well, I've been up all 1053 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY night” well I have been singing all night “Leanin' on the window sill” depending on my faith in the future “If I die on top of the hill” if I die out after reaching stardom, if I am crucified “If I don’t make it” if I don’t make a success out of my life “my baby will” my poetry will. 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” now a time of coldness is coming. “Wintertime” as when I first arrived in New York City; Talkin’ New York 1961, “Wintertime in New York town / The wind” a destructive force “blowing snow around” disseminating flattering reviews, snow jobs to other artists, or spreading heroin around “snow” slang for heroin. “Walk around with nowhere to go / a man could freeze right to the bone / I froze right the bone” Dylan’s career remained frozen “The windows are filled with frost” people put their faith in poets like Robert Frost, a favorite of John Kennedy “I went to tell everybody” I went to tell all the White Americans that they have been sold down the river “But I could not get across” but I could not say what I wished to in words that would be universally understood unless I wanted to crucify myself “Well, I wanna be your lover, baby” I wanna be your truth baby “I don't wanna be your boss” I don’t want to force you to do something that you do not wish to do, boss you around like the Democratic political bosses do “Don't say I never warned you” sarcastic, few can understand what Dylan is saying “When your train gets lost” when your train of thought gets lost listening to my poetry. VISIONS OF JOHANNA 1966 Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet? 1054 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “Ain't it just like the night” ain’t it just like the entertainment industry “to play tricks” to give airplay to folk music “when you're tryin' to be so quiet?” sarcastic when you want to play rock and roll “Tricks” folk songs; Tarantula, to the folk community “yowee i'm here because i'm starving” yowee i'm here because I am desperate “& swallowing” and believing and accepting without questioning or challenge “your tricks” your folk songs “into my stomach” even though a lot of it is difficult to stomach, bear, tolerate. “we sit here stranded though we're all doin' our best to deny it” we, the folk music community remain in the same place, cut off from the mainland, cut off from the mainstream, although we have been performing as best we can. Frankie Lee and Judas Priest 1968: Well, Frankie Lee, he sat back down Feeling' low and mean When just then a passing stranger Burst upon the scene Saying, "Are you Frankie Lee, the gambler Whose father is deceased? Well, if you are There's a fellow callin' you down the road And they say his name is Priest". "Oh yes, he is my friend" Said Frankie Lee in fright "I do recall him very well In fact, he just left my sight" Yes, that's the one", said the stranger As quiet as a mouse. "Well, my message is, he's down the road Stranded in a house". “Well, Frankie Lee, he sat back down” well after being approached by Judas Priest, who represented Dylan’s desire to betray the folk community, Dylan 1055 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY continued playing folk music “Feeling' low and mean” but was not happy about it, he felt like a varmint. “When just then a passing stranger” when just then a leftist who would be leaving him soon “Burst upon the scene” made a scene at his concerts “Saying, "Are you Frankie Lee, the gambler” are you Bob Dylan the socialist folksinger “Whose father is deceased?” are you the new incarnation of Woody Guthrie? “Well, if you are there's a fellow callin' you down the road” if you are there is a fellow calling for you as you traverse the road of life “And they say his name is Priest” and they say his name is betrayal of the religion of the Left "Oh yes, he is my friend said Frankie Lee in fright” Dylan, afraid he had been exposed as a fraud, admitted that Judas was a fan of his “I do recall him very well” I do remember him from when I started out as an entertainer who played rock and roll “In fact, he just left my sight" in fact he just disappeared from the foreseeable future; from my prospects, I had him in my sights and was about to shoot him – to placate the Left “Yes, that's the one said the stranger” yes that is the son of a bitch said the folk fan “As quiet as a mouse” sarcastic: the manifestation of this was that they jeered Dylan at his concerts "Well, my message is, he's down the road” well my message to you as you have been singing “message songs” for me is that he is coming up in your life however from my point of view he is “Stranded in a house" stuck with a crappy audience. Visions of Johanna continues: “And Louise holds a handful” and prose, folk song lyrics, contains a handful of trouble – “handful: as in “the brat is a real handful” “of rain” of a destructive philosophy like communism, race-mixing etc. “temptin' you to defy it” daring you to find a covert way to speak out against 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 “Lights flicker” a prominent and distinguished person gives off a brief and faint indication of talent after briefly appearing “from the opposite loft” from a place 1056 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY that houses a large audience, the opposite of the venues I have been playing at “In this room” but in my small venue “the heat pipes” the angry songs from a folksinger “pipes” the vocal cords; the voice, used in singing “just cough” are almost inaudible “The country music station” the conservative Bob Dylan “plays soft” is toned down beyond comprehension “But there's nothing, really nothing to turn off” sarcastic, overstatement, there is plenty in the world that people should be turned off to, starting with folk music “Just Louise and her lover so entwined” just Dylan the leftist prose writer and Dylan’s truth twisted “twist” a distortion of meaning: gave my words a misleading twist. “And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind” while visions of my conservative rock and roll poetry and music they 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 “In the empty lot” in an empty lot in life “where the ladies” where a bunch of faggots as in ‘okay ladies, time to play football’ “play blind man's bluff” are deprived of perception and insight and grope around in the dark pretending to be folksingers “with the key chain” while chaining themselves to traditional folk music. “Key” as ‘the pitch of a musical instrument’ and “chain” as bondage “And the all night girls” and the folk singers who get to currently play all night and head the bill “whisper of” say or tell privately to small audiences about “escapades” wild and exciting unlawful undertakings “out on the D train” in New York City – since they are urban folksingers, in the Civil Rights Movement “You can hear the night watchman” one can hear the media critic, the reporter “click” make the noise that occurs when you press a shutter button “his flashlight” and the subsequent burst of light from a flash attachment “ask himself if it’s him or them that’s insane” ask himself what the Hell is going on here? “Whisper” as say, or tell privately; Changing of the Guard 1978, 1057 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The empty rooms where her memory is protected Where the angels’ voices whisper to the souls of previous times “The empty rooms” the unfulfilled lives lacking in purpose and substance “where her memory is protected” where the experiences of the Communists are shielded from danger, injury, destruction and damage “Where the angels' voices” where the expression of the ideas of the guiding influences of the Left “whisper” say or tell privately to a small number of people “to the souls of previous times” to those who live in the past. To Dave Glover 1962, “The hobo poet's whisperin.’” “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. 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 leftist songs into people’s lives and playing in leftwing venues. Visions of Johanna continues: 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 “Louise she’s all right” sarcastic, my prose is all filled with rightwing sub-content “she’s just near” and is just near and dear to me and to few others “she is delicate” she is well written, “delicate” prose “and seems like the mirror” and although my prose was not a true representation and depiction of things it seemed to be for many “But she just makes it too concise” but my prose is not ambiguous enough “and too clear” or abstract enough “that Johanna’s not here” and so it indicates that my poetry just ain’t here! 1058 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The ghost of 'lectricity howls in the bones of her face Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place “The ghost of electricity” the remnants of Dylan’s early rock and roll days “howls” plays electrified rock and roll “in the bones” in the essence “of her face” of her pride “Where these visions of Johanna” where Dylan’s seemingly unintelligible poetry “have now taken my place” have now supplanted his prose-like poems such as Blowin’ In The Wind. 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 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, little boy lost” now the loser in the folk music world “he takes himself so seriously” he is convinced of his self righteousness “He brags of his misery” he brags that he hates Dylan much more than the other folkies do “he likes to live dangerously” but don’t mess with Bob Dylan “And when bringing” and when causing to become apparent to the mind “her name up” the name Johanna, poetry “He speaks of a farewell kiss to me” his old folk fans or folknicks say they are through with Bob Dylan and are going to kiss him goodbye “He's sure got a lotta gall to be so useless and all / Muttering small talk at the wall while I'm in the hall” the folkies have a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will because they are ineffective muttering aged lyrics at the wall most people have against folk music while Dylan is giving concerts in packed halls “How can I explain? Oh, it's so hard to get on” how can I make them understand that it is hard, difficult to achieve the degree of fame that I did and “get on” stage “And these visions of Johanna, they kept me up past the dawn” and these visions of poetry they kept me on the charts past the early part of my career. 1059 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “Inside the museums” inside the folk clubs where musical artifacts of the past are kept: Chronicles, “I had too long been frozen in the secular temple of a museum.” “infinity” endless fame and fortune “goes up on trial” is looked at critically “Voices” singers “echo” endlessly repeat to each other “this is what salvation must be like after a while” this what deliverance from the power or penalty of sin; redemption is really like after being there for awhile. “But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues” but great art longs for a wider variety of experience than is found in America’s folk clubs “You can tell by the way she smiles” you can tell by evaluating my art, since how you process Mona Lisa’s smile is entirely subjective. Infinity as fame: Tarantula, “Autumn, with two zeros above her nose arguing over the sun being dark or Bach is as famous as its commotion.” Tarantula, “Lear looking in the window dangerous & dragging a mountain & you say "no i am a mute" & he says "no no i've told the others you were Charlie Chaplin & now you must live up to it - you must!" & aretha saying "split Lear - no of us got the guts for infinity.” “Blues” as in “highway blues” as a longing for; Living The Blues 1969: 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 1060 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. Visions of Johanna continues: See the primitive wallflower freeze 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 “See the primitive” see a performer lacking classic artistic ability like Grandma Moses “wallflower” who is unpopular. Tarantula, “Sphinx & the tango partner, her professor busy writing a book about the bums, sit like wallflowers & you being taught by Felix the Cat.” “freeze” get nowhere “When the jelly faced women” when the expressionless critics “jelly” a body part that has suddenly become limp or enervated: His knees turned to jelly when he learned he was HIV Positive. “all sneeze” all sneeze at their work and reject it “Hear the one with the mustache say Jeeze I can't find my knees” hear the folk singer: Tarantula “write books about other people's masters - - each one in a mustache & wishing he was Frank Buck” say I can’t wait to submit, I can’t wait to get down on my knees and suck the critics dick “Oh, jewels” oh brilliance “and binoculars” and the ability to make distant objects look nearer that critics are supposed to have “hang from the head of the mule” are relegated to the intellects of fools “But these visions of Johanna” but my ability to write poetry that should be ranked among the classics “they make it all seem so cruel” they make it all seem like a punishment. The peddler now speaks to the countess Who's pretending to care for him 1061 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Sayin', Name me someone that's not a parasite And I'll go out and say a prayer for him But like Louise always says Ya can't look at much, can ya man? As she, herself, prepares for him “The peddler” one who deals in or promotes something intangible (as a personal asset or an idea) influence peddler “now speaks to” now speaks directly to “the countess” the Russian autocrat “who's pretending” who’s making pretensions “to care for him” to appreciate his songs, to support him “Saying, ‘Name me” name names as in the McCarthy hearings “someone that's not a parasite” name Bob Dylan as someone who is a Communist and not a social parasite “and I'll go out and say a prayer for him” and I will pray for his salvation “But like Louise always says” but like my prose always says “‘Ya can't look at much, can ya man?” you can’t claim innocence, you can’t claim you didn’t write leftist songs “As she, herself” as Louise “prepares for him” puts these ideas into written form as in prepare a report. 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 “And Madonna” and an innocent person “she still has not showed” showed up for her show trial “We see this empty cage now corrode” prisoners in Russia are kept in a cage in the courtroom, we see the prisoners cage call into disuse “Where her cape” where her prayer shawl, where Jews “of the stage” of the early stages of the Bolshevik Revolution “once had flowed’ once were profuse “The fiddler” someone who alters or manipulates deceptively for fraudulent gain as in Stalinist fiddling with Marxist-Leninism “now steps to the road” now enters people’s lives “He writes ev'rything's been returned which was owed” he writes everything the 1062 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Communists owed the Jews has been repaid “On the back of the fish truck that loads” at the expense of the Jewish dissidents and refusenicks who are being arrested loaded on to police vans “While my conscience explodes.” “Cape” as tallis or Jewish prayer shawl; Romance In Durango 1975, Hot chili peppers in the blistering sun Dust on my face and my cape Me and Magdalena on the run I think this time we shall escape “Hot chili peppers” strong Mexican heroin “in the blistering” in an atmosphere of harsh reproves “sun” by someone prominent in a field such as Dylanology “Dust on my face” rumors, disgrace, excrement on my race “and my cape” and religion “cape” a sleeveless outer garment fastened at the throat and worn hanging over the shoulders, a Jewish prayer shawl “Me and Magdalena on the run” me and my addiction are being tracked down like fugitives “I think this time we shall escape” however I think this time I will be able to get high. “Fish” as Jew; Tarantula, “Talks like a fish & is already starting to look like a cigar” a Communist “see you on your birthday big brother Dunk p.s. adolph got you a trick piece of puke which you put on the table & just watch the girls throw up…” Tarantula, “cut him with a fish knife blam de lam!” circumcise him! Liner Notes to John Wesley Harding 1968, “along came three bachelors sprinkling the sidewalk with fish they spot the mess. first bachelor, Constantine, he winks at second bachelor, Luther.” During the reign of Emperor Constantine Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire and Martin Luther was a Jew hater. The Times They Are A-Changin’ 1964; “Oh the fishes will laugh / As they swim out of the path” the Jews will ridicule the revolution as they attempt to avoid its consequences “and the seagulls they’ll be smiling” but the Jews will be picked off. After Newsweek Magazine exposed his racial identity by revealing his real name, Dylan wrote this in Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “skull caps climb by themselves out of manholes an' shoeboxes ride the cracks of the sidewalk fishermen” Jewish “i've suddenly been turned into a fish” i've suddenly been 1063 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY turned into a Jew “but does anybody wanna be a fisherman” but is there anybody in the world who really wants to be Jewish “any more 'n I don't wanna be a fish” anymore than I don’t want to be a Jew? The harmonicas play the skeleton keys in the rain And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain “The harmonicas play” the folkies sings about; “the skeleton keys” a key to solving all the world’s problems; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “a tune, a story, a line / keys in the wind t' unlock my mind.” “and the rain” their hatred for America “And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain” and these visions of being a poet are now all that remain. “Harmonica” as the early folksinger Dylan; Talkin’ New York 1961, “Well, I got a harmonica job begun to play / Blowing my lungs out for a dollar a day.” Tarantula, “cures the harmonica battalions of bitter cowards, bones & bygones.” To his folk fans in Up To Me 1974, And if we never meet again, baby, remember me How my lone guitar played sweet for you that old-time melody And the harmonica around my neck, I blew it for you, free No one else could play that tune, you know it was up to me “And if we never meet again, baby, remember me / How my lone guitar” solo acoustic guitar “played sweet” played pleasing to the senses; agreeable, on high moral ground “for you that old-time melody” outdated folk music “And the harmonica around my neck” the sound of folk music that hung on my neck like an albatross “I blew it for you, free” I embedded words of freedom in the songs “No one else could play that tune” no one else could transform songs that on their surface were leftwing into rightwing songs by utilizing various ‘plays on words.’ “You know it was up to me.” Several verses of Stuck Inside of Mobile dealt with the fact that folk musicians will never reach a mass audience: 1064 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN 1966 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” well 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. 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. “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. They also put a curse on Dylan, a stigmata. Just Like A Woman 1966, “Your long time curse hurts but what’s worse is this pain in here” is this self pity you caused me at my concerts “I can’t stay in here / Ain’t it clear / Yes I just don’t fit / I believe it’s time for us to quit.” “Then I whispered” then I told him privately, secretly, in poetry “Not even you can hide” not even someone like yourself who lacks stature really wants to remain hidden forever. In She Acts Like We Never Have Met Dylan wrote this to the folkies: 1065 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY If I was with her too long Or have done something wrong I wish she'd tell me what it is, I'll run and hide “You see you’re just like me” you see you want to be rich and famous too “I hope you’re satisfied” sarcastic: in Positively Fourth Street 1965 Dylan told the folkies “I know you are dissatisfied with your position and your place but don’t you understand that’s not my problem.” 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” well Dylan the folksinger felt fear and anxiety about his role “He soon lost all control” he soon threw off his association with the Communists, “control” a controlling agent or organization “over ev'rything which he had made / While the mission bells did toll” over all the music and words he had written when he was pretending to be a Left wing folk singer on a mission to save the world, something that would have put his career to a premature end “Bells” as music; Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 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 awestruck by “that big house” by a bigger audience, bigger venue “as bright” as intelligent “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 faithful fans “And a woman's face in ev'ry one” and a White face in everyone. Dylan also made reference to his switch to folk-rock in: 1066 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” for very little money “and a place to hide” and place to stay out of sight, remain obscure, shoot smack “But I can get another one” but I can get another ax, another bag of dope “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” she pierces and makes a hole with a sharp pointed instrument “she pours salt” she pours, is if a liquid 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 an electric guitar? “Come let us fly, my Magdalena” come 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. 1067 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” sarcastic: well, the last thing I remember before I stripped myself of my virtue “and kneeled” and became subservient to the Communist Party “Was a trainload of fools” was a shitload of the 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 in a magnetic field” and had all recorded the same stuff “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” and an ostentatious, one that would appeal to Blacks “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 a song anymore, this is not just an I Have A Dream speech, this is the real thing - this is race-mixing. “Train” as a series of thoughts; Iron Train A-Travlin’ 1962, “There's an iron train atravelin'” there is a series of authoritarian thoughts going around in the company of a particular group “that's been a-rollin' 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 hatred. 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.” “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 folk music any longer “finger” to play a stringed instrument. Senor continues: 1068 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” let’s 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 a reference to Pete Seeger’s 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 leftwing politics doesn’t make sense, cents, to me anymore can you get me out of there Senor? 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’ve 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 began to wonder if my songs would pass muster as genuine Leftist thought? “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. 1069 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “I'm hungry and I'm irritable” I am hungry for fame and frustrated “And I'm tired of this bag of tricks” I am bored with these folk 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. 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 the masthead of a newspaper. “But the time has come / And I'm seeing the real you at last.” ARTHUR McBRIDE 1992 But, says Arthur, I wouldn't be proud of your clothes For you've only the lend of them, as I suppose But you're dare not change them one night, for you know If you do, you'll be flogged in the morning “But says Arthur, I wouldn't be proud of your clothes” Dylan’s early fans tell him that he should not take pride in the words of 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’” if you do you will suffer the consequences. And Arthur and I, we soon drew our hogs And we scarce gave them time to draw their own blades 1070 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY When a trusty shillelagh came over their head And bid them take that as fair warning. “And Arthur and I, we soon drew our hogs” and Arthur and I, we soon drew selfindulgent, gluttonous, filthy fans. Also “pig” as journalist: Hurricane, “the trial was a pig circus” a media circus. Finally “hog,” as 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. Gates of Eden “with a time rusted compass blade.” Also they could not draw an audience of young men, “blade” as in dashing youth. “When a trusty shillelagh” when a wooden instrument, an electric guitar “came over their head” played music that was way over their heads “And bid them take that as fair warning” 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 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’ll make them more temperate, acceptable, and suitable by dulling them when you first begin to sing them. 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 1071 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “And the little wee drummer” and extremely insignificant little folk musicians trying to drum up some attention “we flattened” we made them sing and play below the proper pitch “his bow” with his music bow; an instrument used to play the fiddle “And we made a football” we made a “football” informal: a problem or issue that is discussed among groups or persons without being settled “of his rowdy-dow-dow” of his booing and name calling at Dylan concerts such as when Dylan appeared at a tennis stadium in Forest Hills, Queens in 1965 “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 have to play tedious boring folk music again. CANDADEE-I-O 1992 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 the 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 willing to engage” willing to enlist it’s help. “Saying, ‘We'll tie her hands and feet, my boys’” we will determine Dylan’s hand, his style of writing and his ambitions “foot” as ambitions as in to get a foot in the door of show biz. “Overboard we'll throw her” and make him go overboard in the political spectrum by being a Red “She'll never see that seaport 1072 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY town / Called Canadee-i-o” we will make darn sure Bob Dylan never realizes his sweet ambitions in America! DELIA 1993 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 folk 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.” 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 actually thought like a Confederate, he thought like a blue-eyed Aryan “His voice was low” the true 1073 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY expression of his feelings were kept to himself “with pain” and he felt self-pity and sorrow 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 leftwing point of view “You'll do as much for me” this will be a reciprocal arrangement “Mother you know, must hear the news” your conscience dictates that you hear songs of a topical nature “So write to her tenderly” so I will write songs to assuage her guilt. “Ride” as advance one’s career; Long Time Comin’ 1962, Many times by the highwayside I tried to flag a ride With bloodshot eyes and gritting teeth I’d watch the cars roll by The empty air hung in my head I’s thinkin’ all day long I’m a long time a-comin’ I’ll be a long time gone “Many times by the highway side” often when I performed before the American 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'” I's thinkin' all day long 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. 1074 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Straight” straight away “was the track” the 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” they 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” and 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, those 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 the folk rock music Dylan had invented. 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 1075 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY contempt for leftist and liberal politics “The tall” the teller of tall stories, the towering Leftist figure “dark” sinister and evil “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 blue-eyed girl” sarcastic: there’s no Bob Dylan to write for the favorite; "the fair-haired folkies of the folk music set" “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 by Frank Norris is critique of capitalism “when the four star colonels come in & everybody says yankee doodle.” “Tall, dark and handsome” as a rich liberal; Watered Down Love 1981, Love that’s pure hopes all things Believes all things, won’t pull no strings Won’t sneak up into your room, tall, dark and handsome Capture your heart and hold it for ransom “Love” religious truth “that's pure” that is not polluted like Judaism “hopes all things” has aspirations for others, not just for its adherents “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” won’t move in a quiet, stealthy manner “up into your room” into your life “tall, dark and handsome” with tall tales about Blacks that come from wealthy Jewish liberals, not poor Whites “Capture your soul” steal your soul from Christ “and hold it for ransom” and prevent you from converting to Christianity and attaining redemption from sin and its consequences. HIGHLANDS 1997 I'm listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound Someone's always yelling turn it down 1076 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Feel like I'm drifting Drifting from scene to scene I'm wondering what in the Devil could it all possibly mean? “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 then 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 his 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, and I helped put them there in order to become rich and famous. 1077 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY JOANIE AND THE PHONY Working for the Devil meant a lot of sacrifices for the young Bob Dylan. It even meant balling a chick he really didn’t dig, Joan Baez, but he did so anyway so that the legend would emerge that Joan was the Queen of Folk Music and Bob was the King further enhancing Bob’s stature. 1078 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN 1965 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." “When Ruthie” when Joan Baez who is half Mexican; Tarantula, “now Ruthy she was different - she always wanted to see a cock fight & went to Mexico City when she was 17” “says come see her” invites me to one of her performances “In her honky-tonk” sarcastic; in an establishment catering to the working class “lagoon” that takes place in a protected area like a concert hall “Where I can watch her waltz” where I can watch her move briskly and purposefully; waltz through her repertoire “for free” sarcastic, for freedom, for the price of admission “'Neath her Panamanian” beneath her leftist Central American “moon” unattainable goals “An' I say, ‘Aw come on now, / You must know about my debutante’" tell the truth for once, you must know that I aspire to become a member of the upper economic class and that I don’t believe any of this leftwing crap “An' she says, "Your debutante just knows what you need” the upper economic class just knows what you need to be happy, just some insignificant things like a townhouse in Greenwich Village, a sports car, a Harley, an ex-Playboy bunny wife “But I know what you want" but I know better and it is not wealth but ideology that you are in want of! Oh, Mama, can this really be the end To be stuck inside of Mobile With the Memphis blues again. “Oh, Mama can this really be the end” I have to ask my conscience what did I do to deserve this living death; “end” the termination of life or existence “To be 1079 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY stuck” to be defeated, beaten “inside of Mobile” in one losing battle; in the Battle of Mobile Bay (1864) the Union Army defeated a major Confederate flotilla and secured control of the area. Tarantula, “ZING & they throw him thru the door & he lands in truck - he gets out somewhere on the Mobile line & says ‘the war's going fine - aint it paleface?’” “With the Memphis blues again” while thinking about another defeat at Memphis which became an important Union base after its capture by federal troops in 1862. Tight Connection 1985, to my Heart, “There's just a hot-blooded singer / Singing Memphis in June while they're beatin' the Devil out of a guy / Who's wearing a powder-blue wig.” OUTLAW BLUES 1965 Ain't gonna hang no picture Ain't gonna hang no picture frame. Well, I might look like Robert Ford But I feel just like a Jesse James. “Ain't gonna hang no picture” I am not going to make a movie like Birth of a Nation glorifying, in no uncertain terms, the lynching in the Old South carried out by the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction Era “Ain't gonna hang no picture frame” I am not going to make a single picture on a roll of movie film about this “Well, I might look like Robert Ford” well I might look like a race traitor due to my association with the Civil Rights movement, “But I feel just like a Jesse James” but I feel just like a racist outlaw folk hero. Oh, I wish I was on some Australian mountain range. I got no reason to be there, but I Imagine it would be some kind of change. “Oh, I wish I was on some / Australian mountain range” I wish I was in a country where only Whites were allowed to immigrate to like Australia where the range of societal problems are less “I got no reason to be there” I have no business there 1080 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “but I imagine it would be some kind of change” but anyway it would be quite a change from the immigration and race mixing policies of the United States. I got my dark sunglasses, I'm carryin' for good luck my black tooth. Don't ask me nothin' about nothin', I just might tell you the truth. “I got my dark sunglasses” I am seeing things through a black perspective “I'm carryin' for good luck my black tooth” I am getting into Black culture “Don't ask me nothin' about nothin'” but don’t ask me what I think about Negroes “I just might tell you the truth.” “Sunglasses” as Black perspective: Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961, No you'll not now or no other day Find it on the doorsteps made out - a paper mache And inside it the people made of molasses That every other day buy a new pair of sunglasses “No you'll not now or no other day / Find it” happiness, success “on the doorsteps” on one's doorstep very close or accessible “made out - a paper mache” made out of a composite of genetic material “And inside of the people made of molasses” and you won’t find it inside the slow moving and thinking brown skin people – idiom slow as molasses “That every other day buy a new pair of sunglasses” who view each new event through a Black perspective. Liner Notes to Desire 1976, describing his poetry “seen at times through dark sunglasses” through a Black perspective “an' other forms of psychic explosion” and other means of insanity. I got a woman in Jackson, I ain't gonna say her name. She's a brown-skin woman, But I love her just the same. 1081 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “I got a woman in Jackson” I have a woman who accompanied me to Mississippi to sing at a voter registration rally “I ain't gonna say her name” you would recognize it if I did “She's a brown-skin woman” she’s a light skinned beaner named Baez “but I / Love her just the same” sarcastic, why even bring this up if the color of her skin was not significant. JOHN WESLEY HARDING 1967 John Wesley Harding 1967 “It was down in Chaynee County” Chainy County, land of slavery - Mississippi “A time they talk about” Dylan’s performance of Only A Pawn In Their Game in Mississippi was featured in the film Don’t Look Back “With his lady by his side” with Joan Baez ostensibly on the same political side “He took a stand” he ostensibly took a stand against racism “And soon the situation there” and soon the predicaments, plights and problems “was all but straightened out” was worse: integration and Negro voter registration were wrong things to impose on the Old South “He was always known to lend a helping hand” he helped screw things up or sarcastic: he was doing this for himself and not for the Blacks. JOLENE 2009 Well you're comin' down High Street, walkin' in the sun You make the dead man rise, and holler she's the one Jolene, Jolene Baby, I am the king and you're the queen “Well you're comin' down High Street” you are at or near the peak of your career Joanie, “you are walkin' in the sun” you are living in the public eye ‘in the sun’ “You make the dead man” you make someone not commercially productive; idle “rise” become more popular, get an erection “and holler she's the one” and sing with her and have sex with her “Jolene, Jolene Baby, I am the king” I am the male considered as the best or most important of its kind in the field of folk “and you're the queen” and you are the queen, you have female eminence and supremacy in the domain of folk music. 1082 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Well it's a long old highway, don't ever end I've got a Saturday night special, I'm back again I'll sleep by your door, lay my life on the line You probably don't know, but I'm gonna make you mine Jolene, Jolene baby, I am the king and you're the queen “Well it's a long old highway, don't ever end” it was really rough when I first came to New York City and associated myself with the Old Left; Standing On The Highway 1962 “Well, I'm standin' on the highway / One roads goin' to the bright lights, / The others goin' down to my grave” “I've got a Saturday night special, I'm back again” I had a harmonica gig on Midnight Special thanks to Harry Belafonte, I am a back-up musician again “I'll sleep by your door” I am comfortable awaiting for the opportunity you will provide me with “lay my life on the line” and travel to a voter registration drive in Mississippi “You probably don't know, but I'm gonna make you mine” you didn’t know it back then but your association with me rather than vice versa will further your future career. I keep my hands in my pocket, I'm movin' along People think they know, but they're all wrong You're something nice, I'm gonna grab my dice I can't say I haven't paid the price Jolene, Jolene baby I am the king and you're the queen “I keep my hands in my pocket” I keep my musical compositions confined to a small, isolated group “I'm movin' along” they dig my riff “People think they know, but they're all wrong” people think they know what side my songs are on politically but they are wrong, not Right “You're something nice, I'm gonna grab” you're something nice, I'm gonna take and grasp suddenly “my dice” my protest songs, Tarantula, “malnutrition & thinking they're too smart & you with the dice & forever uniform ... receiving some degree & while giving it to your wall” “I can't say I haven't paid the price” I had to further an ideology that is repugnant to me. 1083 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Well I found out the hard way, I've had my fill You can't find somebody with his back to a hill Those big brown eyes, they set off a spark When you hold me in your arms things don't look so dark Jolene, Jolene baby I am the king and you're the queen “Well I found out the hard way” I found out from first-hand experience “I've had my fill” I have plugged up your vagina with my pecker “You can't find somebody with his back to a hill” you will never find a lover in someone who has turned his back on your brand of politics, “hill” as in Capitol Hill “Those big brown eyes” those high falutin’ race mixin’ idealistic leftwing thoughts “they set off a spark” they were responsible for murders such as that of Medgar Evers; Only A Pawn In Their Game 1964, “A hand set the spark” “When you hold me in your arms things don't look so dark” sarcastic: when I am in your power I forget about the darkies and I forget about your dark skin. DESOLATION ROW 1965 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” a Shakespearian character who suffers from a broken heart, Joan Baez, who wanted to marry Bob Dylan “she's 'neath the window” she is under the 1084 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY influence of and has placed her faith in the Communist Party “For her I feel so afraid” I have feelings of aversion for her “On her twenty-second birthday” when Dylan met her in 1962 she was 22 years old “She already is an old maid” she was already a ‘union maid’ as in the Communist folk song Union Maid “To her, death is quite romantic” for her the death associated with Communism is attractive “She wears an iron vest” she places authority, property, or rights, in the ironclad control of a person or group whose headquarters is in the Kremlin, behind the Iron Curtain “Her profession” her folk singing career “is her religion” is all about her leftist politics “Her sin” her error, tragic flaw “is her lifelessness” is that she lacks vitality and animation; she is dull and she is on the side of death “And though her eyes” and although her thoughts “are fixed upon” are falsely directed upon “Noah's great rainbow” the illusory hope of Communism “She spends her time peeking” she wastes her time being the best know female folk singer, peaking, “Into Desolation Row” in the esoteric depressing leftwing world of folk music where everyone preaches to the choir. Communism and leftist politics as a religion; Tarantula, “Sick so Sick of these lovers in Biblical roles - so you're out to save the world are you? you impostor you freak! you're a contradiction! you're afraid to admit you're a contradiction you're misleading! you have big feet” your ambition is to further Communism “& you will step on yourself. all the people you mislead will pick you up! you have no answers!” To his former leftwing folk fans; Tarantula, “watcha doing? how's the new religion? feel any different? gave it up myself.” “Rainbow” as an illusory hope; Father of Night 1970, “Builder of rainbows up in the sky” builder as in ‘builder of hopes’ that soar to the highest level and degree in the heavens above; Sign On The Window 1970, “Build me a cabin in Utah” sarcastic; build up my hopes for a room aboard the ship of revolution (Utah was the State where the radical Joe Hill was executed) “Marry me a wife” get married to an ideology “catch a rainbow trout” begin to understand something fishy like a false hope. Tarantula, “somewhere over the rainbow” lyrics to this song, “Someday day I’ll wish upon a star etc.” 1085 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY LITTLE SADIE 1970 Went out last night to take a little round. I met my little Sadie and I brought her down. I ran right home and I went to bed With a forty-four smokeless under my head. I began to think what a deed I'd done, I grabbed my hat and I began to run. I made a god run but I ran too slow; They overtook me down in Jericho Standing on a corner ringin' my bell, Up stepped the sheriff from Thomasville. He said "Young man is you name Brown? Remember the night you blowed Little Sadie down." "Oh, yes sir, my name is Lee. I murdered little Sadie in the first degree. First degree and second degree, If you've got any papers will you serve them to me?" Well they took me down town and they dressed me in black. They put me on a train and they brought me back. I had no one for to go my bail; They crammed me back into the county jail. The judge and the jury they took their stand. The judge had the papers in his right hand. Forty-one days, forty-one nights; Forty-one years to wear the ball and the stripes. “Went out last night (during a previous period in my life) / to take a little round (do something in a roundabout way that some would consider morally unrestrained) / I met my little Sadie (I found my audience) / and I brought her down (I brought down the house - I became extremely popular) / I ran right home (I reached my goal) / and I went to bed (and built my easy or comfortable place or 1086 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY situation) / With a forty-four smokeless (with something that was not smoky - did not obscure its meaning) / under my head (generated by my imagination) / I began to think what a deed I’d done (I began to realize that I had committed a crime against myself by singing easily understandable lyrics and playing folk music) / I grabbed my hat (my real role in life captured my imagination) / and I began to run (escape) / I made a good run (Dylan had a good run - a good number of performances) / but I ran too slow (something hindered my rapid progress or action) / They overtook me down in Jericho (where the walls – the barriers came tumbling down) / Standing on (depending on) / a corner (a group of fans who were in some far off corner of the world, out of the mainstream) / ringin’ my bell (playing folk music in a leadership role, leading my blind, unquestioning followers) / Up stepped (progressed from fan to enforcer) / the sheriff from Thomasville (the enforcer of the law that said Dylan must play folk music) / He said “Young man are you the one with all these new ideas?) / is you name Brown? (is your reputation that of some who wants to be free from the slavery of having to play folk music and write literal lyrics?) / Remember the night you blowed Little Sadie down” / (remember that period of darkness when you played for a different audience) / "Oh, yes sir, my name is Lee (Frankie Lee - see PARADISE) / I murdered little Sadie in the first degree / First degree and second degree (sarcastic: the degree of the sophistication of Dylan’s poetry become more intense. Also degree as premeditated intent. Dylan had to think about, mediate on, his poetry before he composed it) / If you’ve got any papers (if you have any theories about my new poetry) / will you serve them to me? (instead of to ourself - they must be self-serving)” / Well they took me down town (they cast me out as their entertainment) / and they dressed me in black (and prepared their audience to view me as hopeless) / They put me on a train (they viewed me as part of a band of renegades) / and they brought me back (made me aware of my failings which brought me back to reality when it came to my thinking about the Left) / I had no one for to go my bail (no one came to my defense) / They crammed me back (they hastily examined me and deemed me a failure) / into the county jail (then put me in the same place they did other rock and roll singers - there is a similar theme in the Dylan poem Drifter’s Escape. 1087 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY BELLE ISLE 1970 One evening for pleasure I rambled to view The fair fields all alone Down by the banks of Loch Eiron Where beauty and pleasure were known “One evening” during a later concluding time period; ‘the evening of my career in rock and roll music’ Tell Old Bill 2009, “The evenin' sun is sinkin' low” “for pleasure” sarcastic; to please myself, to satisfy my desires, to be self-indulgent “I rambled” I changed my focus “to view” to conduct a systematic survey; a view of American Folk Music “The fair fields” leftwing, equitable area of specialization, the folk music world “all alone” without a band backing me up “Down by the banks” down by the record companies “of Loch Eiron” located in some obscure place like folk music “Where beauty” where something deserving of a high level of respect gained by impressive development and achievement “and pleasure” and the pleasure that it brings “were known” were recognized and appreciated by the folk crowd. “Fair” as equitable, in accordance with relative merit and significance. Marx, “To each according to his needs” As I Went Out One Morning 1968, “I spied the fairest damsel that ever did walk in chains.” I spied a fair maid at her labor Which caused me to stay for a while And I thought of a goddess to beauty Blooming' bright star of Bright Isle. “I spied” I spied, as if I was an undercover FBI Agent, “a fair maid” a Communist woman, “maid” as in the Communist song Union Maid and as in “old maid” as in Desolation Row 1966, “at her labor” singing songs that favored the working class “which caused me to stay for a while” which caused me to pretend to join the Left for a short while “And I thought of a goddess to beauty” I devised a plan to use 1088 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY this woman with a beautiful voice in my rise to fame “Bloomin’” Joan Baez who was growing and flourishing with youth and vigor “bright star” who was the brightest star, the most popular, yet not the brightest when it came to intelligence “of Bright Isle” of the folk music world. I humbled myself to her beauty Fair maiden, where do you belong? Are you from heaven descended Abiding in Cupid's fair throne? “I humbled myself” sarcastic; I formulated a low opinion of myself compared “to her beauty” to her beautiful operatic voice, her songs “Fair maiden where do you belong?” Joan what century do you belong in? Your songs are certainly not from this one “Are you from heaven descended” are you a freakin’ reincarnation of some old English balladeer “Abiding in Cupid’s fair throne” still singing morbid love songs like Barbara Allen? Young man, I will tell you a secret It's true I'm a maid that is poor And to part from my vows and my promise Is more than my heart can endure. “Young man” young Bob Dylan “I will tell you a secret” I will tell you the secret formula of my success “It’s true I’m a maid that is poor” it’s true that I am folksinger and a supporter of the Left which is not the best thing to be in the world “But to part from my vows and my promise” but to break my promise to perform a specified act and behave in a certain manner that I made to the Left “Is more than my heart can endure” is more than my true, innermost feelings can tolerate. Therefore I remain at my service And go through all my hardship and toil And wait for the lad that has left me All alone on the banks of Belle Isle" 1089 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Therefore I remain at my service” therefore I remain at the disposal of the Left including the Communist Party and its intelligence service “And go through all my hardship” and go through something that causes suffering or privation “and toil” and labor with difficulty “And wait for” and eagerly anticipate the return of “the lad that has left me” the young Bob Dylan, who was never a leftist or liberal and ain’t comin’ back because he wasn’t there to begin with “All alone” indifferent to the approval of a wider audience “on the banks” in the recording companies “of Belle Isle” of folk music. Young maiden I wish not to banter It's true I come here in disguise I came here to fulfill our last promise And hope to give you a surprise. “Young maiden” Dylan tells gullible Joanie “I wish not to banter” I am not trying to trick you with my protest songs “It’s true I come here in disguise” it is true that I hate folk music, I hate the Left and I am here pretending to be one of you because I harbor ulterior motives “I came here to fulfill our last promise” I came here to fulfill the promise of using folk music as a backdoor to enter the real world of rock and roll “And hope to give you a surprise” and I am going to surprise the bejesus out of you someday when I leave this sick world of commies and comsymps behind and start singing rock and roll songs. ROLLING AND TUMBLING 2006 Well, I get up in the dawn and I go down and lay in the shade 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 “Well, I get up” I get an erection “in the dawn” when I first begin to appear and develop; emerge “and I go down and lay in” and I have sex with “the shade” translated into Dylan’s bitter thoughts, a beaner, a Hispanic, a half-breed, “shade” the degree to which a color is mixed with black; gradation of darkness. Dylan described Joan Baez in Tarantula, “on sweet mermaid she sings of ideals, different 1090 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY formulas & wild cookbooks / dark Scary…crippled mermaid singing & listen that's her singing now & she meows too.” Rolling and Tumbling continues, “I ain't nobody's house boy” I ain’t a native boy who helped a soldier perform basic responsibilities; I am not helping the Kremlin achieve its goals. Also I am not being kept around to be used by Baez as a sexual object “I ain't nobody's well trained maid” I am not a card-carrying obedient Communist like Baez who was taught to sing by a voice trainer and sung in a well-trained three octave soprano voice. Note use of “maid” in all three poems. So many people believed Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands was written to Joan Baez that Dylan had to insert a line in Sara 1975 that made it clear that Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands was written to Sara Dylan. SARA 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” going through cold turkey in 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 New York City. Sara, Sara, Wherever we travel we're never apart. Sara, oh Sara, Beautiful lady, so dear to my heart. 1091 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 “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” How did I meet you? 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. “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.” Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands 1966, is not about Sarah, and it is not about Joan. It is about New York City. This was not an easy poem to translate: 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” the American Mercury, a magazine published by the neo-Nazi mouthpiece George Lincoln Rockwell and published in New York City “in the missionary times” in the Cold War times; John Birch was a missionary killed by 1092 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the Red Chinese. His death sparked the formation of the ultra-rightwing John Birch Society “And your eyes” and your thoughts “like smoke” that conceal your real thinking “and your prayers” and your newspaper 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” and 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 stated: 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 The American Mercury; No Time To Think 1978, 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 “China doll” heroin “alcohol / duality” using both heroin and alcohol at the same time “mortality” this could lead to death “Mercury rules you” Nazi thought rules you “and destiny” the inevitable fate to which a particular person or thing is destined; Dylan would have been destined to die under a Nazi regime “fools you” eludes you “Like the plague” like this mass murder “with a dangerous wink” wink at to pretend not to see: winked at the agenda of the American Nazi Party. “And there's no time to think” and I made the wrong decision. “China doll” as heroin; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964, “an' the woven' spell of Paul Clayton” a White folksinger who introduced Dylan to Ray Gooch “entrancin' me like China's plague unescapeable.” 1093 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” sad said of a color lacking brightness; dark “eyed” thinker; nigger-loving “lady” aristocrat “of the lowlands” of New York City, New Amsterdam, the lowlands of Holland “Where the sad-eyed prophet” where a person gifted with profound moral insight and exceptional powers of expression when it comes to darkies “says that no man comes” says no man is ever going to evolve from the ape-like creatures “My warehouse eyes” my thoughts about warehousing or institutionalizing niggers in deportation camps “my Arabian” my racist “drums” my desire to promote and support sending Blacks back to Africa “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 niggers and their Communist controllers destroy New York City? “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 “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” is a comin’ 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 become 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 who received a lot of publicity at this time “& behind him the hundred Inevitables” and backing him up the early small band of Storm Troopers invariably appearing; predictable “made of solid rock” 1094 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY composed of doctrine suggestive of a mass of stone in stability, firmness and dependability. Christian poem, Solid Rock 1980 “I’m hanging on to solid rock” “& stone” and composed of punishment, reaction. “Arabian” as racist; Tarantula, & 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 are 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! " “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 “‘& dont tell someone what you know they already know. that makes them think that you’re just like them & you aint!” don’t tell this to your fellow Jews because they already know it but will not admit it to themselves. If you do they will think that you are also a Zionist when you are not “but then you take gwendeline” but then you take Chloe Kiel “the different story” who had a different story about Jews and Israel “& rides with lawrence o Arabia” and lives with someone who is a racist, who is pro-Arab, Ray Gooch “& plays with” receives or accepts “her mercury” her copy of George Lincoln Rockwell’s American Mercury “mumbling crummy world & ‘oh, the sadness!’” oh the niggers. Tarantula, “Twinkle Clown” Ray Gooch who was a soldier for a brief time “with arabic lettering on his forehead” with his racism clearly displayed “wanting everybody to experience his fright” wanting everyone to experience his fear, his hatred of the Black Race. 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? 1095 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “With your pockets” with your wealth “well protected at last” no longer at risk thanks to economic reforms after the Great Depression “And your streetcar visions” and your Works Progress Administration projects “which you place on the grass” in which you employ grassroots, ordinary people “And your flesh” and your family; kin “like silk” wealthy as in the ‘silk stocking district’ “and your face” your 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? “Glass” as illusory; Man Gave Names To All The Animals 1979, “He saw an animal as smooth as glass” Bob saw a person who behaved in a bestial or brutish manner who was 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. Dylan was referring to the Communists. “Grass” as grass roots Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 Liner Notes 1962 “An' yank the grass outa the ground / An' rip savagely at its roots.” I Wanna Be Your Lover 1966, Well, Phaedra with her looking glass Stretchin’ out upon the grass She gets all messed up and she faints – That’s ’cause she’s so obvious and you ain’t “Well, Phaedra” well the Left “with her looking-glass” with her fantasies and illusions right out of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland or Through the LookingGlass wherein Carroll will play with different kinds of reversal, reflection, and opposition. Sometimes it's time that seems to work backwards, such as when the White Queen bleeds first and then pricks her finger. “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, obviously wrong “and you ain't” and mine ain’t. Sad Eyed Lady continues: With your sheets like metal and your belt like lace 1096 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “sheet” preparations for race riots as in the sheet metal used to cover store windows “and your belt” Slang a powerful blow; a wallop “like lace” like a sissy “And your deck of cards” and your collection of Black characters “missing the jack” lacking those who do important jobs “and the ace” and the ace – someone who is highly skilled. “Deck of cards missing the jack and the ace” is found in Tarantula, “a few Baby Huey for President buttons” a few buttons indicating support for a Southern politician, Huey Long and not the cartoon character pictured on the right “a deck of cards with the aces missing” a bunch of unskilled niggers “some empty deodorant bottles” who are adverse to working up a sweat. Sad Eyed Lady continues “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” and your race which has 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 gain the advantage over America by cleverness or forethought? 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 when the sunlight dims” with your darkies “Into your eyes” into your brain, your thoughts “where the moonlight” where insanity “swims” makes your head swim, confuses and overwhelms you “And your match-book songs” and your literature wherein Blacks closely resemble or harmonize with Whites “and your gypsy hymns” and your New York State anti-slavery laws “Who among them would try to impress you?” but who among the other states of the 1097 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY union would compel New Yorkers to serve in a military force? Not the Confederacy? “Silhouettes” as colored people; Chronicles, “He was noir all the way - dark sombrero, black britches, high boots, slip-on gloves - all shadow and silhouettedimmed out, a black prince from the black hills.” The kings of Tyrus 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 Tyrus” 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” gives you 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 and 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 the inquisition that was conducted after this incident “and your mother's” 1098 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY and your conscience’s “drugs” ability to stupefy and dull with or as if with a drug “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 plugs” and your police force to keep the new immigrants in line or put them to sleep for good if they happened to get plugged, wounded; Gates of Eden 1962, “Its curfew gull just glides” “Who among them do you think could resist you?” which new immigrant group can resist getting exploited? 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” oh 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, that they used as a front man so that they could keep a low profile, out of sight “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” you may be a communist or some thief who nationalizes vast amounts of property. Summer Days 2001, “what good are you anyway if you can't stand up to some old” what good are you anyway if you can't stand up for human rights to some antiquated out of date, Old Left “businessman” communist. 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, 1099 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY How could they ever, ever persuade you? “They wished you'd accepted the blame for the farm” they wished you'd accepted the blame for the prison farm where corrupt New York City politicians were sent “But with the sea at your feet” but with immigration from Italy “and the phony false alarm” and real intimidation by gangsters. Changing of the Guard 1978 in regard to the repression inherent in Soviet communism: “Empty eyes disguised by false pride and false alarms / and all of mankind rising from her empty arms.” “And with the child of the hoodlum” and with the Mafia “wrapped up” bound or obligated, as under a pledge to a particular cause “in your arms” in an administrative or functional branch, as of an organization such at the New York City Police Department “How could they ever, ever persuade you?” how could these hoods have persuaded you into tolerating their presence? 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” with your history of rioting - 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 lynchings and beatings occurred “of Cannery Row” of Catholic immigrants. Cannery Row is a book about the lives of Catholic immigrants by John Steinbeck “And your magazine husband who one day just had to go” and the federal troops who quelled the riot - 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 1100 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY contemporary attempts to avoid a repetition of these riots “Who among them” what other state in the union “do you think would employ you?” “employ” to use as a means to employ secret measures to get one's ends. 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 “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 Blacks just as the Southern cops who were members of the KKK would “Oh, who among them do you think could destroy you?” what other criminal could destroy you? “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. DYLAN AND THE MEDIA Dylan, a crypto-conservative, always had contempt for the liberal media but could not criticize it from a rightwing viewpoint. Instead Dylan accused the media of vacuous reportage, like being interested in what cereal he had for breakfast. Some segments of the media picked up on this and had its doubts about Dylan’s authenticity. As a result in 1963 Dylan was the recipient of an expose done by a reporter at Newsweek Magazine. Dylan responded in verse: 1101 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” to deprive me of favor or good repute “distract” to disturb in my mind or make me uneasy or cause me to be worried or alarmed “and bother me” and intrude on me without invitation or warrant; disturb “And the dirt of gossip blows into my face” and my value and standing in the eyes of others; my prestige is undermined by unsubstantiated libelous reportage that is rapidly spreading. Also derogatory gossip engulfs my race, having been exposed by Newsweek as Robert Allen Zimmerman, a Jewish kid from Hibbing, Minnesota, and not a Protestant as most folksingers were “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. Newsweek had run a story that sparked a rumor that Dylan had stolen Blowin in the Wind from another folksinger (Lorre Wyatt) which, judging from its racist subcontent, is impossible. “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. 1102 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “But if the arrow” but if the direction my career takes “is straight” is characterized by undeviating support for conservative political principles “And the point is slick” and if 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” so 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. THE WICKED MESSENGER 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” there was a slang; strikingly good, effective, and skillful, articulate; 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, he thumbed his nose at them “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. 1103 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 in 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, an encore “Until one day he just appeared / With a note in his hand which read” until one day he just 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. 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” you 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?” something new is happening - a real American is running for President. 1104 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” well 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, dogmatic ideas “he comes up to you” he approaches the reporter while he is operating on a journalistic level writing topical songs based on news stories “And then he kneels” and then he pretends to be subservient to the reporter “He crosses himself” he reaffirms his allegiance to the religion of the Left double-crossing himself “And then he clicks his high heels” but composes poems that contain racist sub-content. Nazi officers would click their heels when called to attention. “And without further notice” and without an actual written or printed review – as in the play received favorable notices “He asks you how it feels” the sword swallower asks the critic if you like his songs? “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 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 1105 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Now you see this one-eyed” now the reporter sees a single minded “midget” a 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’" demanding 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 nigger 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 nigger, this an extortionist “And he screams back, ‘You're a cow’” and he reiterates his demand 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 and file an unfavorable story about Blacks – fat chance “Because something is happening here / But you don't know what it is / Do you, Mister Jones?” because the Blacks are putting one over on you and your support of the Civil Rights Movement is misguided and unwarranted. DYLAN AND VIETNAM The Vietnamese might have to be straightened out - might have to send some Americans over there - Chronicles 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. Instead he had himself classified 4-F because of his heroin addiction. ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO 1964 I don't want to meet your kin 1106 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” I don't want to make you spin a yarn about why you should not be inducted “or do you in,” or get you locked up for Draft Evasion, get you killed on the battlefield “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.” MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN 1965 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” now 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” however his son was getting married in order to obtain a hardship exemption and beat the draft and so Barry was handing out his 1107 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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; and 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.” I PITY THE POOR IMMIGRANT 1968 I pity the poor immigrant Who wishes he would've stayed home, Who uses all his power to do evil But in the end is always left so alone. That man whom with his fingers cheats And who lies with ev'ry breath, Who passionately hates his life And likewise, fears his death. “I pity the poor immigrant” I pity the North Vietnamese soldier who infiltrates into South Vietnam “Who wishes he would've stayed home” and regrets having done so “Who uses all his power to do evil” who uses all his firepower to further Communism “But in the end is always left so alone” but in the end, like other leftists, is defeated “That man whom with his fingers cheats” the man who with his informants within the indigenous populations cheats American soldiers out of their lives “And who lies with ev'ry breath” and as a result has to take cover when his fire is returned “Who passionately hates his life” who is convinced that he is a victim of an unjust economic system “And likewise, fears his death” and as a result is willing to support a totalitarian regime under which he could be summarily executed. I pity the poor immigrant Who tramples through the mud Who fills his mouth with laughing 1108 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY And who builds his town with blood, Whose visions in the final end Must shatter like the glass. I pity the poor immigrant When his gladness comes to pass. “I pity the poor immigrant” I pity the poor North Vietnamese soldier “Who tramples through the mud” who tramples, treads and stomps heavily and roughly across the jungles of Vietnam “Who fills his mouth” who fills his empty conviction-less talk “with laughing” with derision for America, with a feeling of a triumphant sense of well-being and who can exist on a very small amount of rice “And who builds his town with blood” and who attacks strategic hamlets set up by the United States “Whose visions in the final end” whose dreams for a Communist Vietnam after the war has ended “Must shatter like the glass” must shatter like any other illusion “I pity the poor immigrant / When his gladness comes to pass” I pity the poor North Vietnamese soldiers when his willingness to fight dissipates and he finds that he has no choice but to go on fighting. “Mud” as battlefield; Long Ago, Far Away, “The war guns they went off wild” the war guns they went off freely “The whole world bled its blood / Men's bodies floated on the edge” human lives hung in the balance as men were on the very edge of the abyss of death “Of oceans made of mud” in vast battlefields. TOMBSTONE BLUES 1965 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” the 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 and flatters their graves” tries to influence 1109 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY and pressure the public through strong persuasion that Blacks, because of their military service and their sacrifice for their country, deserve civil rights “Puts the pied pipers in prison” locks up the conscientious objectors; Tarantula, “& the insane” immoderate and wild “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 who will kill regardless of the cause “Then sends them out to the jungle” then sends to Vietnam. 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 Viet Cong 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” with something strange and exotic in appearance “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. (The key to this poem was the use of the word “gypsy.”) 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 1110 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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 1111 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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! 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? 1112 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Something there is about you” there is some indefinable spiritual quality about Israel and Judaism “that strikes” that produces as if by playing a musical instrument “a match in me” a counterpart, a song, a poem in me “Is it the way your body moves” is it the way your Torah moves me because it is great literature? “Body” as body of work “or is it the way your hair blows free?” or is it because of your politics that spreads freedom? “Or is it because you remind me of something that used to be / Somethin' that crossed over from another century?” or is it because Israel was once a sovereign kingdom or is it something I inherited genetically? 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 Israel 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 hand's 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 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” 1113 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 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 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, 1114 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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! THE DYLAN WOMEN In Chronicles Dylan proclaimed his love for Suzie Rotolo but in Ballad in Plain D 1964, he accused her of having sex with African-Americans behind his back. From silhouetted anger to manufactured peace Answers of emptiness, voice vacancies Till the tombstones of damage read me no questions but, “Please What’s wrong and what’s exactly the matter?” “From silhouetted anger” from anger about the woman Bob loved having sex with Black men (see “silhouette” in Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands) “to manufactured peace” to having to make up something artificial and untrue, to going into denial about it “Answers of emptiness” answers about why Suzie Rotolo cheated on me had no substance “voice” and 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? Rotolo’s parents were Joachim Rotolo and Mary Pezzati Rotolo, members of the American Communist Party. At about the time she met Dylan, Rotolo began working full time as a political activist in the office of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and for the Communist front group SANE. In 2004, she participated in a street-theater group called "Billionaires for Bush" and attended 1115 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY demonstrations at the Republican National Convention outside Madison Square Garden. If she were alive today she would be occupying Wall Street. Suzie would prove to be invaluable to Bob in fabricating his leftist bona fides – Bobby was so deep cover he even had a Communist lover! Dylan revealed his “love” to the world by putting her on the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, (long after they broke up) and singing about her “I got a woman five foot short, yells and hollers, screams and snorts.” Wow, I thought, Dylan is a real human being. This relationship added to his persona as a romantic Greenwich Village character. He wrote of the demise of his relationship with Suzie in Ballad In Plain D and he seemed as if he was baring his soul to his fans. How could he write songs wherein his true thoughts, as evidenced in his subcontent, were racist and antiCommunist and make love to what he viewed as an evil person at the same time? Bob Dylan had gotten so deeply into his undercover role that he forgot which side he was on. But ultimately he used Suzie in his climb to fame and of course didn’t show up at her funeral. SHIRLEY NOZNISKY Sara Dylan born October 28, 1939 in Wilmington, Delaware as Shirley Marlin Noznisky to Isaac and Bessie Noznisky and later known as Sara Lowndes, after she married Hans Lowndes, born January 1, 1911. Sara was married to Bob Dylan 1116 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY from November 1965 until their divorce in June 1977. Sara was a tough cookie. She was a former Playboy bunny, not a debutante. When I spoke with Dylan he was always alluding to the fact that “his wife might hit him” and I witnessed her attack two reporters. When Sara came to her children’s private school to regain their custody, she assaulted one of their teachers. Al Aronowitz reported that her father Isaac, a scrap metal dealer and first generation Jewish immigrant, was killed on November 20, 1956 in the course of a robbery. I know from the research I did into the life of Jack Ruby that the mob controlled the scrap metal business on the East Coast in the 1950’s and that many an incriminating vehicle was disposed of by mob associates in this field, but I could not link Mr. Noznisky with organized crime. Her mother would die five years later leaving her to be raised by an aunt. Sara Dylan bore Bob’s children during a period of relative normalcy in his life. But in Malibu Dylan drifted back to his rakish ways and Sara was not about to sit back while her husband cheated on her with his Black back-up singers! Not to mention the fact that this normal Jewish mother had a junkie poet who called himself Hector Schmector (schmeck is Yiddish for heroin) for a husband. So they got divorced. It was inevitable as Dylan’s loyalty was to the spirit that owned his soul, Satan, and not to his family. WE BETTER TALK THIS OVER 1978 I think we better talk this over Maybe when we both get sober You'll understand I'm only a man Doing the best that I can. “I think we better talk this over” I think we should reconsider our decision to get a divorce “Maybe when we both get sober” maybe after you stop drinking and I stop using dope. “You'll understand I'm only a man / Doing the best that I can” you will understand that I am subject to the temptations of the flesh and I am doing the best I can to keep my dick in my pants under unfortunate circumstances where women throw themselves at me nightly. This situation can only get rougher 1117 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Why should we needlessly suffer? Let's call it a day go our own different way Before we decay. “This situation” this critical, problematic, and striking set of circumstances “can only get rougher” can only get more violent: it was alleged that Dylan hit Sara in the face after she found him having breakfast with his children along with one of his ho’s. Sara cited domestic violence in her suit to dissolve the marriage. “Why should we needlessly suffer?” why go through all of this “Let's call it a day go our own different way” let’s get divorced and separate “Before we decay” before we get too old to find new spouses. You don't have to be afraid of looking into my face We've done nothing to each other time will not erase. Oh child, why you wanna hurt me? I'm exiled you can't convert me I'm lost in the haze of your delicate ways With both eyes glazed. “You don't have to be afraid of looking into my face” you don’t have to fear that your violence has left me permanently scared “We've done nothing to each other time will not erase” the wounds from our violent encounters will heal in time “Oh child, why you wanna hurt me?” oh Sara why did you want to punch me in the face? “I'm exiled” I am a person banished or living away from his home “you can't convert me” you can’t get money from me “convert” to exchange for something of equal value: convert assets into cash “I'm lost in the haze” I took a beating, a hazing “of your delicate ways” sarcastic: from your violent ways “With both eyes glazed” with two black eyes. I feel displaced, I got a low-down feeling You been two-faced, you been double-dealing. I took a chance, got caught in the trance Of a downhill dance. 1118 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “I feel displaced” I had to move like a refugee and I have been displaced as your husband “I got a low-down feeling” and everyone knows it since it is all over the press “low down” as in inside information given to a reporter “You been twofaced” you have been deceitful “you been double-dealing” you been cheating on me bitch “I took a chance” I knew I took a chance marrying you “got caught in the trance / Of a downhill dance” but I was caught in web of drug addiction. In Mr. Tambourine Man 1964, in relation to Dylan’s love for heroin he wrote, “Cast you dancin’ spell” or trance “my way I promise to go under it” I will go under it as someone goes under the narcotic effects of a drug. But I don't think it's liable to happen Like the sound of one hand clappin'. The vows that we kept are now broken and swept 'Neath the bed where we slept. “But I don't think it's liable to happen” it is unlikely that we will reunite “Like the sound of one hand” like an old hand at something “clappin'” getting the clap, “clap” a common venereal disease aka gonorrhea. Tarantula has numerous passages where Sigmund Freud, who linked sexuality with almost everything, is linked to “Mr. Clap,” “Freud paces back & forth - struggling with his boot & trying to finish his Vermouth – ‘fraid you got the wrong idea Mr. Clap.’” “The vows that we kept” the marriage vows we once kept “are now broken and swept” are now broken and have been swept under the rug, deliberately forgotten about “'Neath the bed where we slept” because of both of our cheating on one another. Don't think of me and fantasize on what we never had Be grateful for what we've shared together and be glad. Why should we go on watching each other through a telescope? Eventually we'll hang ourselves on all this tangled rope. “Don't think of me and fantasize on what we never had” don’t carry all this bitterness and resentment around just because I could not be loyal to you “Be grateful for what we've shared together and be glad” be happy you got to spend some time with someone of my caliber and be glad “Why should we go on 1119 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY watching each other through a telescope?” why should we hire private eyes to spy on one another? “Eventually we'll hang ourselves on all this tangled rope” eventually we will destroy one another in divorce court, “tangle” something jumbled and confused; ‘a tangle of divorce law.’ Oh, babe, time for a new transition I wish I was a magician. I would wave a wand and tie back the bond That we've both gone beyond. “Oh, babe, time for a new transition” oh beautiful Sara time for a change “I wish I was a magician” sarcastic: I wish I was a creator of great beauty “I would wave a wand” perform a miracle, whip out my dick “and tie back the bond” and renew our marital ties, screw your brains out “That we've both gone beyond” that we’ve both left irrevocably behind. CHRISTIANITY Dylan’s Judaism did not last long. Nothing ever does in his life as Bob’s brain is bozofied and constantly in need of medication of one sort or another. Dylan went back to the Devil’s drug and started shootin’ and a-tootin’ once again. Once a junkie, always a junkie. By 1975 Dylan was totally disillusioned with the Jewish religion and looked for some stronger medicine to cure his heroin addiction and negate his pact with the Devil. He needed someone who could perform miracles, someone who could bring people back from the living dead; he needed “the Naz” - Jesus of Nazareth to help him kick his drug habit and find a way to break his pact with the Devil. On November 24, 1978, in Fort Worth Texas, Dylan was seen wearing a large metallic cross. Two days later in Houston he altered four lines of Tangled Up In Blue, “She opened up the Bible and started quoting it to me / Gospel According to Mathew Verse 3 Chapter 33.” Christianity, however, had taken hold of Bob Dylan much earlier: 1120 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ONE MORE CUP OF COFFEE FOR THE ROAD 1975 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” the 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. “He oversees his kingdom” Judaism keeps watch over its belief in the eternal spiritual sovereignty of God “So no stranger” so that someone alien to 1121 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Judaism’s ways - someone 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 chance to sober up and not convert to Christianity “One more cup of coffee 'fore I go” one more shot of something to counteract what I am doing 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.” Dylan was upset that because of Jewish pressure Nazi Rudolph Hess, the only prisoner remaining in Berlin’s Spandau Prison, was not going to be released. Tarantula, burn him in the coffee blam de lam! cut him with a fish knife blam de lam! send him off to college.” MICHAEL CANFIELD 1122 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY On November 22, 1973, I made what was perhaps the most significant discovery of my lifetime. I was able to identify CIA Official E. Howard Hunt and CIA contract employee Frank Sturgis as the tramps who were picked up a few hours after the Kennedy assassination. Their pictures had appeared in press as a result of their having been arrested in the Watergate Affair. 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. I teamed up with social activist Dick Gregory, who got the tramp shots on the front pages of numerous American newspapers and on national television. In 1974, in the midst of this research, I met a hippy minister Michael Canfield in front of Dylan’s townhouse. I invited him back to 6 Bleecker Street where I showed Mike the shots of the three tramps. Canfield and I began to work together and Mike convinced 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 JFK assassin E. Howard Hunt sued us. Just before he died Hunt confessed to his involvement in the big 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 told Canfield he was always welcome at his recording studio and at his home. Canfield became a pain in the Devil’s ass. During Dylan’s recording sessions Canfield would come in and both men would get down on their knees and pray. The Devil did not dig this at all and when Canfield came to Bob’s Malibu crib and wanted to wait there until Dylan returned, Dylan’s greedhead accountants had him arrested. Despite Canfield’s efforts, the Devil still played a role, albeit in the background, in Dylan’s life. Dylan began to write songs that implied the Jews were children of the Devil for not accepting Jesus and for turning the Son of God over to the Romans for execution. 1123 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER AN OBITUARY FOR MICHAEL CANFIELD, “CO-AUTHOR” OF COUP D’ETAT IN AMERICA WHO BECAUSE BOTH JUDAS AND ESAU, SELLING HIS INTEGRITY AND HIS BIRTHRIGHT. Michael Canfield died December 26, 2015 but news of his death didn’t surface until April 1, 2016. When Canfield was a young boy and he left the door open and people would ask him “What do you live in a barn?” he would answer that he did. Mike was brought up in an unheated barn in rural Illinois. When he was a baby the drool would freeze as it dripped from his mouth. Mike learned to drive when he was six years old – his daddy would hold him in his lap and let him steer his car. Mike never had much of a formal education; he could read but he couldn’t spell the simplest word. He was beaten up in High School for sticking up for African-Americans and being part of the Civil Rights Movement. After his father passed away his mother moved to Chicago where she became a ward leader in the Daley Democratic machine. Canfield and I stayed with her when we visited Chicago. She was the salt of the earth. Mike attended a college for a spell but left after Jesus appeared to him in his dorm room and advised that he drop out and preach. According to the Jewish traitor Steve Lamb Mike had been a devil worshipper: “Mike was a Medium speaking to spirits of the dead when he became radically saved through an encounter with Jesus Christ.” I met Michael while I was hanging outside Dylan’s townhouse on McDougal Street circa early 1974. He wanted to get Dylan to do some sort of benefit concert for George McGovern who he said that he had served as art director for. Bullshit. Never happened. I invited Canfield to my loft at 6 Bleecker Street and showed him the tramp shots – photos of Hunt and Sturgis disguised as tramps on the scene of the Kennedy assassination. Canfield studied them and immediately came to the conclusion that this was the key to the “Big Event.” Since Mike was virtually homeless I let him crash on the second floor of Bleecker Street and introduced him to all of the Yippies including 1124 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dana Beal and Aron Kay who lived across the street at 9 Bleecker. Despite the danger Canfield became my Chief Researcher. I flew the boy down to Miami where he camped out in front of Frank Sturgis’s home for several days until Fat Frank showed up. He conned Frank into believing he was a student doing a term paper on Watergate and got loads of good info out of him. Like Mike looked like the all-American boy next door, and the stubble bum Frank got conned good. Canfield returned with the tape, found a publisher for my book, namely the Nigerian Joe Okpaku of Third Press and the research continued. We both moved to D.C. where I worked at the National Archives while Mike visited various members of Congress and displayed the Tramp Shots to them. A neo-con turd bag who worked for Scoop Jackson called the FBI and volunteered to spy on Canfield. When Canfield displayed the tramp shots to Congressman Henry Gonzalez the populist honest Congressman flipped and invited Mike to lunch. It was that Canfield suggested the Congressman introduce a bill to investigate the Kennedy assassination that lead to the formation of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Canfield also showed the tramps shots to Ben Bradley who was going to send a team to investigate but FBI Director Clarence “the Bozo” Kelly contacted Bradley and convinced him that a scummy Communistic rioter with connections to terrorist groups like the Weather people was behind Canfield and Bradley quashed the investigation. After Coup D’Etat in America was published Howard Hunt sued me and Canfield for libel. I started the Weberman Commission as I had subpoena power because the suit was filed in Federal Court. Mike and I went on a tour of America appearing on various TV and radio programs and doing newspaper interviews. We ended up in LA for the book fair. It was an experience I will never forget as we slept in the van and stopped making payments for it causing Hunt to call Mike a car thief. On the way back we got caught in an ice storm and had to stop periodically to get the ice off the engine. Canfield moved to LA where Dylan contacted him because he was curious what my Christian Minister friend was like. Dylan’s Jewish accountants had Mike arrested when he showed up at Dylan’s crib in Malibu despite Dylan having given him permission to visit and hated Mike because Dylan’s Christian music wasn’t selling. Mike and Dylan were both in the Vineyard Christian Fellowship where Mike ran the suicide hotline where he would find desperate people and get them to accept the false 1125 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Messiah JC. There is no such thing as a Messiah. It is fantasy land. Mike visited me in New York City with his new bride, a Christian soap opera star and showed me a photograph of Bob Dylan at his wedding. He seemed to be doing well but he didn’t realize that the FBI and CIA would exact a price for our having instigated the HSCA. My phone was tapped and all my bookings got mysteriously canceled and my articles suppressed. Later I found that NY-T1 was a tap on my phone when I applied for the FBI under FOIA and Jimmy Carter was in power. So the possibility exists that Canfield’s income was adversely affected and his wife divorced him. Dylan felt sorry for him and financed Indigo Motors, an antique car restoration business. According to Canfield Dylan’s accountants designed the business to fail but if you asked me Canfield screwed it up as he never had a head for business. He did have a head for chicks and would pick them up by saying he was a Hollywood Scout. Many a pretty woman almost caused Canfield to have an accident as he yelled at them from the van. He liked Black chicks. So the business failed and Canfield was exiled to Demming New Mexico where he became a licensed medical marijuana grower. The idiot also let some his dogs get run over but that was an accident. I called Canfield periodically and he was always interested in saving my soul. He hated Nazis and wanted America to finish the job begun during World War II. The dude didn’t have an anti-Semitic bone in his entire body. The last time I heard from my called ID read PRIVATE CALLER. I wondered what the fuck is this about. Canfield had an attitude. I told him I had given out a lot of money to various people for Christmas and he said Why didn’t you give me money? He babbled on about the doorman in the Dakota being a Cuban refugee and for this alone he blamed him for Lennon’s assassination. I asked him if he really believed Dorothy Hunt was in Dealey Plaza as he had been posting in Facebook and pointed out to him that Paul Kangas was the Depperman of the West Coast. William Depperman was a Nazi hired by the FBI to discredit the tramp shots. Kangas had said Sturgis confessed in the Realist so I contacted Krassner and he ran a retraction. I asked Canfield why he worked with Kangas. “He is the only one who buys books from me.” “But he buys them to discredit them.” Canfield was alone an in a wheel chair and his niece Julie Ann Canfield1126 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Steinbeck never visited him. After this phone call he would take my calls. Judging from the time Mike’s death and when he buddy Lamb wrote about Lamb had abandoned Mike. STEVEN S. LAMB Interior Decorator 2450 N LAKE AVE STE 327 ALTADENA, CA steve_lamb57@sbcglobal.net Phone - (626) 797-6464 like Kangas Steve described as a Left wing activist when in reality he was an infiltrator and a Christian Reconstructionist. Lamb, if he was telling the truth, proved Canfield to have turned into a liar: So my favorite Michael Canfield story (of hundreds) is this: For years Mike told me that he went to James Jesus Angleton's resignation during the whole Watergate House select committee on Assassinations era. I remembered Angleton resigned suddenly but that was about it, Mike always said that in the middle of Angleton's speech Angelton looks down at Mike and out of the blue says "I know not who slayeth John" Mike's story was that he then screamed Liar You're a Liar" at Angleton who looked shocked and befuddled. I never knew Mike to lie, but I always suspected he over blew the story. So Mike and I go to see this movie about the CIA called the "Good Shepherd". Turns out at the end its based ENTIRELY on Angleton. The last scene of the movie is the news recording of Angleton's resignation press conference. You see him reading along his speech then look across and stop for a nano second and say "I Know not who Slayeth John." and because he is not miked, you can hear what sounds like muffled screaming young Mike Canfield "Liar! You're a Liar YOU Killed Him." I looked over at Mike who was giggling as my jaw dropped. I said "Dude why did you live long enough for me to ever meet you?" Mike said "Man I pray the 91st Psalm over myself every day and YOU should too." I was with Mike on a daily basis at this time and this simply never happened. I asked Angleton about his statement about who killed John during a deposition where Mike was not present. Lamb continued: 1127 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Mike, as a College Student published the famous underground Newspaper, the "Iconoclast", (the paper was out of Dallas Mike was in Wisconsin) organized protests that cleaned out University of Wisconsin corruption (never mentioned this to me). After working with Congressman Gonzales Mike moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a manager for several Rock and Roll groups and with Kleg Seth helped found CENTRUM of HOLLYWOOD, a ministry to street people, run aways and sex workers in Hollywood. For many years Mike ran the Hollywood Lifeline, a suicide intervention line that was a part of the ministry of Centrum. Mike ministered to the poor the down and out the powerful and the rich and famous, including many Johnny Rivers, Bob Dylan and many others, with the same love, compassion, humility and humanity. At the time of his death on last December 26, Mike was working on a new book tying the Assassination of Robert Kennedy to the CIA, and the Assassination of John Lennon to a CIA sub group Alpha 66. AJ Mike was broke this no one can deny. He was always the FIRST to credit you and ALWAYS admitted the vast majority of the book was yours. Always. He never got a dime from Kangas and in fact his speaking for Kangas usually cost him or me money. He never for a second disbelieved the tramp photos were genuine and that Hunt was one tramp and Sturgis another. Now who was "Frenchie" that was a ongoing unresolved question.But AJ Michael never betrayed you for a second, even when you attacked him on the internet. The minute this scumbag used the word Frenchy for the third tramp tells me that he has studied the disinformation disseminated regarding the tramp shot by Richard Sprague and Bernard Fensterwald or he learned it from the Greek nazi Kangas. Mike let me down and I hope he rots in Hell because if there is a God he is going to feel God’s wrath. But there isn’t so he just a bigger nothing than he turned 1128 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY into. Without me taking him in you would never have heard his name nor would he have met Bobby D. IN THE GARDEN 1980 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 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? 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 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? 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, 1129 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 alcohol “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! I don't need no alibi when I'm spending time with you I've heard all of them rumors you have heard them 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. 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, 1130 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 knew him was afraid to broach the subject except for A. J. Weberman “I was going down for the last time” I was on the verge of overdosing “But by His mercy I've been spared” but Jesus got me off the hook “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 unto 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 fooled by a ruse and tactic used to mislead and delay, the false, Satanic religion of the Jews. 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 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 my 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 1131 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 my last statement “What can I do for You?” 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 whipped “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. 1132 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” constantly 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’” they say prove to me that He is the Lord show me a sign from God, a miracle “What kind of sign they need” what kind of miracle do those evil Jews need “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. 1133 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Shake the dust off of your feet” Jews, 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 is not an easy thing to overcome “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 that 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 having been part of a religion that included 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. 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 1134 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. DYLAN AND THE JEWISH DEFENSE LEAGUE Dylan’s Christian period lasted from 1975 to 1982. He left Christianity after he felt it failed him just as Judaism had. But in reality our sleazy friend had failed Christianity and not visa versa. There was no way Dylan could resist the Devil’s drug, and as usual he fell back into addiction. I will say it again, Once a junkie, always a junkie. I have been told that he also had objected to being constantly asked to donate money to Christian groups. The Devil appeared and warned Dylan: You better stop giving Christian groups money Bob. We mustn't let people see any softness in you. People take advantage of softness, you know. Dylan thought: Hmmm. Softness? Oi vay, maybe it’s true and I am a wimpy Jew? Maybe I am a little soft in the head, a meshugana, going from Judaism to Christianity then back to Judaism who knows where I will end up next? Maybe that is why I am in this fix. Wait, wait, it all comes back to me - in the early 1970’s I attended a lecture by Rabbi Meir Kahane, the National Director of the Jewish Defense League. He said, For every Jew, a 22. Jews did not come any harder headed or tougher than those in the JDL. Perhaps the JDL can find a way to get me out of this pact with the Devil. But my Christian stuff alienated them. Hmmm what I am going to do is this, I’ll make it clear that I am no longer a Christian by blaspheming the Christian God. I’ll write a song accusing Jesus of the being the Devil! 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 1135 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 catchs 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 1136 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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! “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.” After denouncing Christianity Dylan began to write some pro-Israel, pro-Jewish songs. That is why, by 1983, Dylan was, to paraphrase an old Gene Autry song, Backin’ the Sabbath Again. He wrote I and I, a poem about the Hebrew God. I AND I 1983 Been so long since a strange woman has slept in my bed 1137 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, 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 songs “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 in a theocratic relationship “To some righteous king who wrote psalms” with King David who wrote the 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” where 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 insignificant conversion to Christianity “Besides, if she wakes up now, she'll just want me to talk” what is worse if Judaism is awakened 1138 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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.’” HITLER AND HOLOCAUST REVISIONISM Robert Allen Zimmerman was born in May 1941. If Nazi Germany had triumphed over the Allies the Zimmerman family would all have been rounded up and systematically murdered. You would think self-preservation, the first law of nature, would have made Robert Zimmerman hate Nazis and Nazism. But for most of his life this sick puppy admired Adolf Hitler. Dylan’s beliefs were reinforced or inculcated by his benefactor Raymond Gooch who was born on February 16, 1931 and died on October 15, 1991. Gooch’s SS #224-38-4122 was issued in Virginia. Gooch was a follower of neo-Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell and a member of the American Nazi Party. Chronicles, “I was in New York City, 1139 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY communists or no communists. There were probably plenty around. Plenty of fascists, too. Plenty of would-be left-wing dictators and right-wing dictators. Radicals of all stripes…” Dylan kept his association with Gooch secret for decades. He told reporters that in 1961 he crashed in doorways and was a street person. Dylan, however, would have frozen to death. He wrote that he lived with Dave and Terry Van Ronk, in their roach infested 15th Street pad. He also stated that he crashed at the Hotel Earle, a flea bag hotel located not far from Washington Square Park. Then he wrote that he moved in with McKenzie family on West 30th Street. Maybe he crashed in all these places but in his autobiography Chronicles he revealed for the first time that spent most of his time in the far West Village pad of Ray Gooch. Chronicles, Ray was maybe ten years older than me - from Virginia he was like an old wolf, gaunt and battle scarred - came from a long line of ancestry made up of bishops, generals, even a colonial governor. He was a nonconformist, a nonintegrator and a Southern nationalist. He and Chloe lived in the place like they were hiding out. Ray was like a character from out of some of the songs I'd been singing, someone who had seen life, done deeds and lived romances-had traipsed around, had a broad grasp of the country, its conditions. Though there was an undercurrent of upheaval reverberating, and in a few years the American cities would tremble, Ray took little interest, said the real action was "in the Congo." “Ray was maybe ten years older than me - from Virginia he was like an old wolf, gaunt and battle-scarred” old wolf sounds like Rommel, the Nazi desert wolf “came from a long line of ancestry made up of bishops, generals, even a colonial governor” his ancestor, Sir William Gooch was a colonial governor of Virginia. He was a real American, not some child of second generation immigrants like Dylan “He was a nonconformist” he did not go along with the liberal orientation of New York City “a nonintegrator” he believed in the separation of the races, he was a racist “and a Southern nationalist” and he believed the South should succeed from the Union rather than give up Jim Crow “He and Chloe lived in the place like they were hiding out. Ray was like a character from out of some of the songs I'd 1140 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY been singing, someone who had seen life, done deeds and lived romances-had traipsed around, had a broad grasp of the country, its conditions” he was unhappy with the way Whites were being treated “Though there was an undercurrent of upheaval” though there was an undercurrent of a great change and disturbance “reverberating” which would have a prolonged and continuing effect “and in a few years the American cities would tremble, Ray took little interest, said the real action was ‘in the Congo’” if you really want to kill niggers become a mercenary in the Belgian Congo. Ray had an elite background, even studied at Camden Military Academy in South Carolina, which he had left with ‘sincere and utter hatred.’ He'd also been ‘expelled with gratitude’ from Wake Forest Divinity School, a religious college. 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. He had blood in his eyes, the face of a man who could do no wrong---total lack of viciousness or wickedness or even sinfulness in his face. He seemed like a man who could conquer and command anytime he wished to. Ray was mysterious as Hell. Had Gooch been expelled because of his Nazi beliefs? Dylan wrote that “Ray wasn't somebody who would leave any footprints on the sands of time” Ray would not make history “but there was something special about him” yet he had an amazing influence on me, more so than anyone else “He had blood in his eyes” “blood” descent from a common ancestor; parental lineage was apparent in his thoughts “the face of a man who could do no wrong” he was a White American Protestant Southerner, the pride of the White race “total lack of viciousness or wickedness or even sinfulness in his face” and his race manifested the highest qualities of America “He seemed like a man who could conquer and command anytime he wished to” it was men like Ray Gooch who made America a world power “Ray was mysterious as Hell” mysterious, Satan is also mysterious. Remember the “the mystery tramp?” as Hitler from Like a Rolling Stone. Dylan described Ray’s arms cache “Everything in plain sight. A lot of firearms, too. You'd think that Ray was part of the police force or a licensed gunsmith or something. There were different parts of guns - of pistols, large frame, small 1141 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY frame, Taurus Tracker pistol, a pocket pistol, trigger guards, everything like in a compost heap, altered guns” semi-automatics converted to machine guns “guns with shortened barrels” sawed-off shotguns “different brands of guns - Ruger, Browning, a single-action Navy pistol, everything poised to work, shined out. You'd walk into this room” you would enter his life “and feel like you were under the vigilance of some unsleeping eye.” Gooch was a vigilante “It was weird. Ray was anything but a macho tough guy. I asked him once what he did with all this stuff back there, what it was for. ‘Tactical response,’ he said.” A tactical response is an armed response involving paramilitary operations that are small, close to base, and of short-term duration, like shooting a nigger that riots. Ray Gooch was a walking time bomb as many Nazis are. Chronicles continues: “Ray was a Southerner and made no bones about it, but he would have been antislavery as much as he would have been antiunion. ‘Slavery should have been outlawed from the start,’ he said. ‘It was diabolical. Slave power makes it impossible for free workers to make a decent living-it had to be destroyed.’” Gooch did not look at slavery in terms of racism but from the point of view of a poor White competing with the Blacks for jobs and even Dylan had to admit: “Ray was pragmatic. Sometimes it was as if he had no heart or soul. Ray was not a guy who had nothing on his mind. He knew what he thought and he knew how to express it, didn't make room in his life for mistakes. The mundane things in life didn't register with him. He seemed to have some golden grip on reality, didn't sweat the small stuff, quoted the Psalms and slept with a pistol near his bed. At times he could say things that had way too much edge. Once he said that President Kennedy wouldn't last out his term because he was a Catholic. When he said it, it made me think about my grandmother, who said to me that the Pope is the king of the Jews.” Not only did Gooch hate Blacks, he hated Catholics just as the Klan once did. Dylan’s remark about his grandmother makes me wonder if he inherited some particular gene from her? Dylan didn’t hate Catholics and thought this remark 1142 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY could be a self-fulfilling prophecy and that Gooch was a potential assassin of President Kennedy. Chronicles continued: How much did I know about that cataclysmic event [the Civil War]? Probably close to nothing. There weren't any great battles fought out where I grew up. No Chancellorsvilles, Bull Runs, Fredericksburgs or Peachtree Creeks. What I knew about it was that it was a war fought about States' Rights and it ended slavery. “States Rights” is a dog whistle phrase meaning racism and segregation. Ray had said that New York City was the city that won the Civil War came out on top that the wrong side had lost that that slavery was evil and that the thing would have died out anyway Lincoln or no Lincoln. I heard him say it and thought it was a mysterious and bad thing to say but if he said it, he said it and that's all there is to it. “Ray had said that New York City was the city that won the Civil War came out on top” Ray blamed the Jews for starting the Civil War so that they could benefit economically “that the wrong side had lost” that the Confederacy should have won “that that slavery was evil and that the thing would have died out anyway” after how long? “Lincoln or no Lincoln” and that Lincoln was evil “I heard him say it and thought it was a mysterious.” it created a feeling of strangeness, curiosity, and wonder, again the word “mysterious” in connection with a racist leader “and bad thing to say” and was a bad thing to express; but not to think about “but if he said it, he said it and that's all there is to it” but if the great Raymond Gooch said it, it was true! Chronicles: Ray was working in a tool-and-die factory in Brooklyn, but before that had drifted around, had been employed at the Studebaker plant in South Bend and also at an Omaha slaughterhouse on the kill floor. Once I asked him what that was like. ‘You ever heard of Auschwitz?’ Gooch compared the slaughter of animals to the slaughter of Jews; if Gooch would have known that Dylan was Jewish he would probably not have asked him if he ever heard about Auschwitz. What Jew hadn’t? Dylan responded: 1143 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Sure I had, who hadn't? It was one of the Nazi death camps in Europe and 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. His trial was a big deal. In other words the Eichmann trial was blown out of proportion; Tarantula, “so i shoot dope once in a while. big deal.” On the witness stand Eichmann declared he was merely following orders, but his prosecutors had no problem proving that he had carried out his mission with monstrous zeal and relish. The Israeli prosecutors failed to prove that Eichmann was not just following orders and all they could prove was that he just got overly enthusiastic in doing so. Eichmann had been convicted and his fate was now being decided. There was a lot of talk about sparing his life, even sending him back to Argentina, but that would have been foolish. Even if he was set free he probably wouldn't last an hour. No one talked about freeing him and sending him back to Argentina except Dylan. Setting him free was the wrong thing to do not because it was immoral, but because it would be impractical. In 1964 in Some Other Kinds of Songs, Dylan had also expressed sympathy for Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann: irma goes t' Israel an' writes me that there, they hate nazis much more 'n we over here do. eichmann dies yes, an' west germany sends eighty-year-old pruned-out gestapo hermit off t' the penitentiary. In Alternatives To College he wrote of, “a wailing farewell to releasing the hermit.” Dylan was upset that Rudolph Hess, the only prisoner remaining in Berlin’s Spandau Prison, was not going to be released. Chronicles continues, “The State of Israel claimed the right to act as heir and executor of all who perished in the final solution” it claimed the right to do this 1144 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY only so that it could receive reparations from Germany “The trial reminds the whole world of what led to the formation of the Israeli state” it was a show trial to justify the existence of the Zionist entity. It comes as no surprise that Dylan was an admirer of Adolf 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. Newsweek Magazine asked Dylan “Do you remember images of Hitler from growing up?” “No, not growing up. He was dead by the time I was four or five. I never had a real understanding of that.” Dylan is implying that he never “had a real understanding” of what the Nazi’s and Hitler were about. Perhaps the official version he learned in school or from the media was unreal and hadn’t given him a true picture of Nazism? Tarantula, down with you sam. down with your answers too. Hitler did not change history. Hitler WAS history Dylan is questioning Uncle Sam’s version of the events of World War II and is making a positive statement about Adolf Hitler. The Newsweek reporter was somewhat taken aback by Dylan’s “never had a real understanding” response and asked “Never had an understanding of what?” How you take a failed landscape painter and turn him into a fanatical mad man who controls millions. That’s some trick. I mean the powers that created him must have been awesome. Is “awesome” the right word to describe the powers that “created” Hitler? Wouldn’t “evil” have been a better adjective? “Awesome” Slang remarkable; outstanding: "a totally awesome arcade game." We can only assume Dylan was 1145 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY referring to those powers who financed the National Socialist Movement because Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany. But I get the feeling that “the powers” Dylan was referring to was some LaRouche-like conspiratorial cabal. The Newsweek reporter thought that the powers Dylan made reference to were the leaders of the Weimar Republic who caused the economic and social chaos in Germany that brought Hitler to power. Dylan: Yeah sure, looking back in hindsight, you can see that someone would have to take control. But still, it’s so perplexing. Like why him? You could see that the man’s a total mutt. No Aryan characteristics whatsoever. You couldn’t guess his ancestry. Brown hair, brown eyes, pasty complexion, no particular type of stature, Hitler mustache, raincoat, riding whip, the whole works. Dylan answered the reporter by saying ‘sure the Weimar Republic is yet another reason he came to power’ but added, “But still, it’s so perplexing” but it is still confusedly intricate; complicated. Then Dylan complained that Hitler wasn’t Aryan enough? That Hitler was of mixed-race genetic ancestry? A total mutt? Dylan can’t be serious. Everyone knows Hitler was pure Austrian. Dylan wanted a blonde-haired blue-eyed German to lead the Nazis to victory not a banal looking Adolf Hitler? Is he nuts? Hitler knew something. Hitler knew that people didn’t think. Look at the faces of the millions who worshipped Hitler and you see that Hitler inspired love. It’s scary and sad. The torch of the spoken word. They were glad to follow him anywhere, loyal to the bone. Then of course, Hitler filled up the cemeteries with them. Except for the last, these were all positive statements about Hitler. “Hitler knew something” “millions worshipped Hitler” “Hitler inspired love.” What was both scary and sad? “Scary” if Hitler wasn’t defeated Dylan would be dead. “Sad” if he was defeated it would be sad because the world would be worse off? Hitler held “The torch of the spoken word.” “torch” something that serves to illuminate or enlighten. Finally Dylan’s sole complaint about Hitler was the toll he took on the noble German people. Despite his being a Jew Dylan said nothing of the Holocaust 1146 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY during this part of the interview. There was more indication that Robert Allen Zimmerman is an admirer of Hitler in 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?” Could Hitler have been an advocate of freedom? Why even ask this question? In Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1964 Dylan wrote “I talked with one of the sons of Germany” I spoke with a Nazi “while walkin' once on foreign ground” while visiting Germany “an' I learned that he regards Adolf Hitler as we here in the states regard Robert E. Lee.” General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate army he commanded were also racists, so Hitler was as American as apple pie. Never a bad word about Hitler or the Nazis from Bob Dylan! You know what that means. Bob Dylan, a Jew, admires Adolf Hitler, who would have the insect Dylan exterminated. This kind of thinking would lead to Bob Dylan becoming a Holocaust revisionist. The Holocaust Revisionist Movement is merely a Nazi front. Its members know there was a Holocaust and they know that at least 6 million Jews perished but they deny it so that there can be another Holocaust which they can also deny. But Dylan is a special kind of Holocaust denier: while these men are not Jewish, Dylan is. He joins the ranks of Jews like Norman Finkelstein and Alfred Lilienthal. These scums either deny the Holocaust ever occurred at all or claim that the number of Jews killed was exaggerated in order to justify the establishment of the State of Israel. By Bob Dylan saying that hundreds of thousands of Jews died rather than millions of Jewish people died this scum bears some of the guilt of the mass murderers. Robert Allen Zimmerman, a Jew on both sides of his family, is shtick dreck, a piece of shit, who sure gave the Devil his due. As a researcher for the Jewish Defense Organization I have witnessed a progression that Jews like Zimmerman make from anti-Zionism to Holocaust revisionism. Alfred Lilienthal was the first Jew to come out against the State of Israel in a piece for Readers Digest Magazine. From there Lilienthal went on to claiming that the Diary of Anne Frank was a forgery and speaking at Holocaust revisionist meetings of the Institute for Historical Review, a Nazi front group. I have witnessed the same progression take place in Bob Dylan. First he protested against Israeli suppression of the intifada in Under the Red Sky then went on to 1147 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY compare Israel to Nazi Germany and finally wrote that hundreds of thousands, not millions of Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. DYLAN AND THE INTIFADA How are thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! - Isaiah Dylan supported the intifada - a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule that took place from 1987 to 1993. Over the course of the first intifada, an estimated 1,100 Palestinian terrorists were killed by Israeli forces and 160 Israelis were killed by Palestinians. Dylan also opposed the settlement of the West Bank by religious Zionists. In Under the Red Sky Dylan sarcastically assured the Israelis, “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 a segregated area as large as its ambitions. I would have never caught on to the subcontent of Under the Red Sky thinking that Dylan was a Zionist, however, my wife had worked on a United Nations Committee investigating Israeli abuses against Palestinian terrorist prisoners and pointed out that these poems were about the Palestinians. THE CAT’S IN THE WELL 1990 The cat's in the well and grief is showing its face The world's being slaughtered and it's such a bloody disgrace. The cat's in the well, the horse is going bumpety bump. The cat's in the well, and the horse is going bumpety bump. Back alley Sally is doing the American jump. “The cat’s in the well” the Jews are poisoning the well in the Middle East just as they did to the Christians’ wells during the Middle Ages “and grief is showing its face” and intense sorrow caused by the loss of a loved one is prevalent in the countenances of many Palestinian Arabs, and the cause of the grief is the Jewish 1148 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY race “The world’s being slaughtered” the Palestinians are being exterminated “and it’s such a bloody” “bloody” accompanied by or giving rise to bloodshed “disgrace” and it is bringing disfavor and discredit to Israel and to Jews in other countries “The cat’s in the well, and the horse” the Jews are in the Middle East and the rightwing revisionist Likud candidate Yitzhak Shamir “is going bumpety bump” is assigning peace to a lower position and priority “Back alley Sally” Israel, a country that engages in back channel, back alley, diplomacy “is doing the American jump” is eagerly going along with American foreign policy. The cat's in the well, and papa is reading the news. His hair is falling out and all of his daughters need shoes. The cat's in the well and the barn is full of bull The night is so long and the table is oh, so full “The cat’s in the well” the Israelis are polluting the Middle East and “and papa” and an American worker “is reading” learning from, understanding, deciphering “the news” the news about Israel “His hair is falling out” he losing his political strength “and all of his daughters need shoes” and all his children need jobs, positions; in other words the money spent on foreign aid to Israel that is used to suppress the intifada would be better spent domestically “The cat’s in the well and the barn” Israel is polluting the Middle East and the “barn” a building located in the country: Camp David “is full of bull” is considered to be a load of bullshit by Israel “The night is so long” the absence of morality of the present time persists much longer than it should “and the table” and the negotiating table “is oh, so full” sarcastic: is filled with delegates. Also is oh so full of shit. 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 leaves are starting to fall The cat's in the well, leaves are starting to fall Goodnight, my love, may the lord have mercy on us all. “The cat’s in the well and the servant” the Jews are polluting the Middle East and the Israeli soldier “is at the door” is guarding the borders “The drinks are ready” 1149 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Israel has been drinking in military knowledge from the United States “and the dogs” and the Israelis, the slaves of the United States, the dogs of war “are going to war” are going to war “The cat’s in the well, leaves” the Jews are polluting the Middle East and the leafs, entire pages of the Bible “are starting to fall” are beginning to fail and fall into disfavor with the Israelis “Goodnight, my love” goodbye my truth “may the lord have mercy on us all” and may God forgive Jews for their sins, including Bob who once supported Israel. “Goodnight” as good-by, Ten Thousand Men 1990, “10.000 women all dressed in white” numerous religiously ultraconservative, fundamentalist Israeli Arabs “Standing at my window” taking aim at my faith, “wishing me goodnight” wishing to see the State of Israel destroyed, hoping to wish it goodbye and good riddance. 2X2 1990 One by one, they followed the sun One by one, until there were none. Two by two, to their lovers they flew Two by two, into the foggy dew. Three by three, they danced on the sea Four by four, they danced on the shore Five by five, they tried to survive, Six by six, they were playing with tricks. “One by one, they followed the sun” one by one the majority of Palestinians were turned into refugees after the 1948 Israeli-Arab war and followed a person whose actions and opinions strongly influenced the course of events, the Chief Mufti of Jerusalem who told the Palestinians to flee for their lives “One by one, until there were none” one by one until there were no Palestinians left in the State of Israel just ‘Israeli Arabs’ “Two by two, to their lovers they flew” many went to refugee camps in the West Bank, many to refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon, and others to an Egyptian run camp in the Gaza Strip “Two by two, into the foggy dew” two by two they went into an uncertain future “Three by three, they danced on the sea” three by three the Palestinians danced the dance that Israel had choreographed for them. Also danced at weddings and reproduced in Gaza which is on the Mediterranean Sea “Four by four, they danced on the shore” four by 1150 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY four they began to multiply in the West Bank “Five by five, they tried to survive / Six by six, they were playing with tricks” eventually they became terrorists “trick” an artifice or stratagem; a cunning contrivance; a sly procedure. How many paths did they try and fail? How many of their brothers and sisters lingered in jail? How much poison did they inhale? How many black cats crossed their trail? How many tomorrow's have are they given away? How many compared to yesterday? How many more without any reward? How many more can they afford? “How many paths did they try and fail?” how many other ways did the Palestinians try to get their land back before resorting to terrorism? “How many of their brothers and sisters lingered in jail?” how many Palestinians were jailed for something as petty as the possession of a Palestinian flag? “How much poison did they inhale?” how much teargas did the Israelis use to quell the rioting and rock throwing? how much fatal nerve gas did they inhale as the PLO accused Israel of employing? “How many black cats crossed their trail?” how many informants, cultivated by the Israelis, have spied against them? “black” as clandestine. “How many tomorrows have they given away?” how many human lives have they sacrificed? “How many compared to yesterday?” how many deaths compared to the time they lived in what was once Palestine? “How many more without any reward?” how many more deaths without a homeland? “How many more can they afford?” how many deaths can they bear without disadvantage or risk? UNBELIEVABLE 1990 It's unbelievable, it's strange but true It's inconceivable it could happen to you. You go north and you go south Just like bait in the fish's mouth. Ya must be livin' in the shadow of some kind of evil star. 1151 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY It's unbelievable it would get this far. “It's unbelievable” it’s terrible and shocking “it's strange” it’s something so new that I am unaccustomed to it “but true” but true none-the-less “It's inconceivable” it is so unlikely or surprising as to have been thought impossible “it could happen to you” that Israel would turn into a repressive state “You go north” you occupy the Syrian Golan Heights in the North “and you go south” and you occupy Gaza in the South “Just like bait” and, as a result, Israel is responsible for Jew-baiting, anti-Semitism “in the fish's mouth” as Israel has become the Jewish people’s spokesperson, a mouthpiece for most of the world “Ya must be livin' in the shadow” you must be living under the influence of a dominating presence that has shadowed you for 2,000 years “of some kind of evil star” and be cursed ‘in the stars’ in relation to your future, your destiny. Additionally this is a reference to the Mogen David, the Star of David on the Israeli flag “It's unbelievable it would get this far” it’s unbelievable that Israel still exists. It's undeniable what they'd have you to think It's indescribable it can drive you to drink. They said it was the land of milk and honey now they say it's the land of money. Who ever thought they could ever make that stick. It's unbelievable you can get this rich this quick. “It's undeniable” it’s impossible to deny “what they'd have you to think” what the Israelis would have American Jews believing about the Palestinian uprising “It's indescribable” it’s exceeding description “it can drive you to drink” it can force the American Jewish community to drink in a lot of information about Israel “They said it was the land of milk and honey” the Zionists said Israel was a land flowing with milk and honey as it says in the Bible “now they say it's the land of money” now all the Israelis have talent in one area “Who ever thought they could ever make that stick?” who ever thought that the Jews, who in the past had never produced their own weapons, could do so now? “It's unbelievable you can get this rich this quick” it is beyond comprehension that you could become wealthy 1152 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY by selling these arms on the world market to every tin-horned dictator in Central America. Every head is so dignified, every moon is so sanctified Every urge is so satisfied as long as you're with me. All the silver, all the gold, all the sweethearts you can hold That don't come back with stories untold, are hanging on a tree. “Every head is so dignified” many people wear knitted yarmulkes on their heads as a mark of distinction to indicate they are Jews “every moon is so sanctified” the Jews go by the lunar calendar and special prayers are said when there is a new moon “Every urge” every instinctive motive to kill “is so satisfied as long as you're with me” is approved by the religious parties who are part of the government’s coalition “All the silver, all the gold” all the valuable information you have received from spies “All the sweethearts you can hold” all the spies cherished for their excellent qualities; Time Passes Slowly 1970, “Once I had a sweetheart, she was fine and good-looking.” “That don’t come back with stories untold, are hanging on a tree” that don’t come back with secrets are allowed to be executed. This is a reference to The Lavon Affair, a false flag operation Israel ran against the Egyptians. Israeli spies, who had carried out terrorist acts in Egypt and blamed them on the Moslem Brotherhood, were allowed to be hung in Cairo, after Israeli military intelligence disowned them and refused to exchange them for Egyptian spies in Israeli custody. HANDY DANDY 1990 Handy dandy, controversy surrounds him He been around the world and back again Something in the moonlight still hounds him Handy dandy, just like sugar and candy “Handy dandy” Israel, America’s flunky who is much concerned with appearances and who is handy to have around in the Middle East “controversy” a dispute, especially a public one, between sides holding opposing views “surrounds him” 1153 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY literally surrounds Israel as Israel is surrounded by its enemies who believe that “the Zionist entity” should not exist “He’s been around the world and back again” the justification for Israel’s existence is based on the persecution Jews suffered during the Diaspora “Something in the moonlight” some form of lunacy “that still hounds him” still pursues him relentlessly and tenaciously; Neighborhood Bully, “Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn” “Handy dandy, just like sugar and candy” the existence of Israel is predicated on “sugar” slang for money and “candy” spoon fed news stories. “Candy” as spoon fed news stories; Eleven Outline Epitaphs, “I don't like t' be stuck in print starin' out at cavity minds who gobble chocolate candy bars quite content an' satisfied their day complete at seein' what I eat for breakfast.” Handy dandy, if every bone in his body was broken he would never admit it He got an all girl orchestra and when he says ‘Strike up the band’ they hit it Handy dandy, handy dandy “Handy dandy, if every bone in his body was broken he would never admit it” if every one of Israel’s core beliefs in its body of thought were broken, even if the Israelians break all 613 commandments of the Torah by mistreating and repressing the Palestinians, Handy Dandy, Israel, would never cop to it “He got an all girl orchestra” Israel has an army partially made up of women “and when he says” and when the Israeli Government gives an order to “Strike” to launch a military attack on; as in a missile strike or artillery strike “up the band” using a group of people; ‘a band of soldiers’ “they hit it” they hit their target and totally destroy it. Handy dandy, he got a stick in his hand and a pocket full of money He says, Darling, tell me the truth, how much time I got? She says, You got all the time in the world, honey. “Handy dandy he got a stick in his hand” Israel has a weapon backing up its sovereignty and as a result can negotiate from a strong hand “and a pocket” and a 1154 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY small, isolated, and protected area “full of money” full of talent used to extract money from wealthy American Jews “He says, ‘Darling, tell me the truth, how much time I got?’” Israel asks the United States how much time does it have to solve the Palestinian question “She says, ‘You got all the time in the world, honey’” and the United States responds, take your time baby, it’s only been 42 years that the Palestinians have been in refugee camps, honey, as in a land flowing with milk and honey, Israel. 10,000 MEN 1990 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 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 Improvised Explosive Devices “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 All clean shaven, all coming in from the cold. 1155 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Ten thousand men looking so lean and frail Each one of 'em got seven wives, each one of 'em just out of jail “Ten thousand men digging” ten thousand men 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 that sanctions polygamy “each one of 'em just out of jail” and have just been released by the Israelis. MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS 1997 Next animal that he did meet Had wool on his back and hooves on his feet Eating grass on a mountainside so steep. "Ah, think I'll call it a sheep." “Next animal that he did meet” next bestial human Dylan came into contact with “Had wool on his back” had a Jewish prayer shawl or tallis on his back “and hooves on his feet” and ate only animals that chewed their cud and had split hooves. Also the cloven hoof is traditionally associated with the Devil “Eating grass” destroying the grass roots or indigenous people “on a mountainside so steep” by living on a hilltop settlement in the occupied West Bank “Ah, think I'll call it a sheep” Ah, think I'll call it a mindless follower of Judaism, a settler. LONESOME DAY BLUES 2001 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 1156 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. My captain, he's decorated - he's well schooled and he's skilled He's not sentimental - don't bother him at all How many of his pals have been killed “My captain” the Israeli General Arial Sharon “he's decorated” he has been awarded a mark of honor, as a medal “he's well schooled” he has received extensive military training “and he's skilled” and he's well skilled in the art of killing “He's not sentimental” he is not effusively and insincerely emotional “don't bother him at all / How many of his pals have been killed” it doesn’t bother him how many Palestinians he has killed in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN 2006 I was thinkin' 'bout Alicia Keys, couldn't keep from crying When she was born in Hell's Kitchen, I was living down the line I'm wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee “I was thinkin' 'bout Alicia Keys” I was thinkin’ about the situation in Israel - Alicia Keys is an arbitrary metaphor for Israel discernible only through context although the word “key” might have played a part in Dylan’s choice of words “Couldn't keep from crying” couldn’t keep myself from protesting publically about Israel’s conduct “When she was born in Hell's kitchen” when Israel was born after the Nazis cooked up a living Hell for the Jews of Europe by putting them in ovens, crematoriums “I was living down the line” I was on their death list if they took over the United States “I'm wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be?” I 1157 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY wished there was a country I could flee to “I been looking for her even clear” I been looking for her free from guilt; untroubled “through Tennessee” even if the country had to become a nuclear power to survive. Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was one of the cities in which the atomic bomb was developed. Gonna raise me an army, some tough sons of bitches I'll recruit my army from the orphanages I been to St. Herman's church and I've said my religious vows I've sucked the milk out of a thousand cows “Gonna raise” gonna cause to assemble, draft “me an army, some tough sons of bitches” I will recruit the men and woman who survived the Holocaust as soldiers in the Israeli Defense Force. “I'll recruit my army from the orphanages” Israel will also take boys and girls who have been raised on Kibbutzim, collective farms, where they were separated from their parents and raised in a communal area as an experiment in Socialism, and draft them into the Israeli Defense Forces. “I been to St. Herman’s church” I have been to a country that resembled Russia; Saint Herman was a Russian saint born in Moscow and Mt. St. Herman is in Israel “said my religious vows” made a solemn promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order such as those of the socialist Labor Party, again, “religion” as politics “I've sucked” and as a result I have attracted by using an inducement, suckered “the milk” the money “out of a thousand cows” out of innumerable American Jewish cash cows both conservative and liberal. “Vow” as a promise of fidelity; My Back Pages 1964, “equality” integration, the equality of the White and Black races “I spoke the word” I preached it as if it were the word of God, I wrote it my poetry “as if a wedding vow” as if I was forever wedded to these ideas as if they were religious ideas “But I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” Thunder on the Mountain continues: I got the pork chops, she got the pie She ain't no angel and neither am I Shame on your greed, shame on your wicked schemes I'll say this, I don't give a damn about your dreams 1158 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “I got the pork chops” Israel has the pork, money from pork barrel legislation, special pet projects “she got the pie” and as a result Israel has gotten a big piece of America’s world economic pie (Israel is the largest recipient of American foreign aid). “she ain't no angel” America is not a guiding moral influence who is giving the aid out of the goodness of its heart “and neither am I” and neither is Israel who is using the money for nefarious purposes. Additionally Dylan is not going to be an “angel” and donate money to Israel “shame on your greed” shame on Israel for taking this money from the United States in return for carrying out its policies “shame on your wicked schemes” shame on the Israel Lobby for taking over Congress by making large campaign contributions that are in reality bribes. Shame on men like Jack Abramoff! Shame on Israel for committing genocide against the Palestinians “I'll say this” I will say this at the risk of hurting my career since the entertainment industry is controlled by Zionist Jews “I don't give a damn about your dreams” I don’t give a damn about your Zionist ideals, I don’t give a damn about your visionary schemes; your imaginary or anticipated state of happiness, dream of bliss; ‘the dream of a Jewish State.’ “Wicked schemes” as bribery and genocide; Psalms 26, “Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes.” “Wicked schemes” also appears in The Book of Ester and means genocide, “But when it came to the king's attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.” Thunder on the mountain heavy as can be Mean old twister bearing down on me All the ladies of Washington scrambling to get out of town Looks like something bad gonna happen, better roll your airplane down “Thunder” a fast moving “on the mountain” big problem “heavy as can be” ponderous as it can be “Mean old twister” an unforeseen development; officers of AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby were arrested for receiving classified information on Iran “bearing down on me” exerting its full strength on Israel “All the ladies of 1159 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Washington” all the Israeli spies in Washington “scrambling to get out of town” leaving rapidly; also making their communications unintelligible; ‘scramble the message so that the National Security Agency can’t decode it “Looks like something bad gonna happen, better roll your airplane down” looks like a big espionage trial is in the works so you better get your unmanned spy plane out of its hanger because your HUMINTELL (human intelligence) is drying up. THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK 2006 If it keep on raining, the levee's gonna break Everybody’s saying this is a day only the Lord could make “If it keep on raining” if the hatred in the Middle East continues “the levee's gonna break” the security barrier or wall that the Israelis constructed to keep out the Arabs and establish a state of apartheid is gonna be rendered useless and inoperative “Everybody” orthodox Satmar Jews “is saying this is a day only the Lord could make” believe that the State of Israel should not exist until the Messiah comes and leads the Jewish people to the promised land. In fact, according them, its very existence is an impediment to this ever happening. Well, I look in your eyes, I see nobody other than me I see all that I am and all I hope to be If it keep on raining, the levee's gonna break Some of these people don't know which road to take “Well, I look in your eyes” well I examine your thoughts and “I see nobody other than me” and I see an Israel that is entirely populated by Jews, as the Israeli Arabs have been expelled “I see all that I am” I see all that I give rise to and are characterized by “and all I hope to be” sarcastic, and all that I aspire to “If it keep on raining, the levee's gonna break / Some of these people don't know which road to take” some of “these people” the Jews, the Israeli Right would take the road to war rather than the road to peace. Some people on the road carrying everything they own 1160 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Some people got barely enough skin to cover their bones Put on your camp clothes, mama, put on your evening dress Few more years of hard work Then there'll be a 1,000 years of happiness “Some people on the road carrying everything they own” the Palestinians were forced out of Israel in 1948 and had to leave behind whatever they couldn’t carry with them “Some people got barely enough skin to cover their bones” and this dastardly act was perpetrated by half-starved to death survivors of Nazi death camps. “Put on your camp clothes mama” put on your death camp Nazi SS uniforms rather than putting on your striped death camp prisoners uniforms because you stinking Israelis have become modern day Nazis. Alternate translation camp clothes are a prisoner’s uniform - a textile design consisting of lines or bands against a plain background as in those worn by death camp inmates. Bring up words (clothes) about the Holocaust again and again in order to justify your own Nazi-like actions and use this to raise money from rich American Jews “put on your evening dress” arrange your troops in ranks; prepare for the battle in the later period of your existence that will signal your demise “Few more years of hard work” sarcastic: a few more years of repression of the indigenous Palestinian population, a few more years of emulating the Nazis whose slogan was “Freedom Through Work” originally in German: Arbeit macht frei. This motto above the main gate greeted all who entered the Auschwitz “then there'll be a 1,000 years of happiness” also sarcastic: then Israel will enjoy the “Thousand Year Reich” the thousand years of Nazi rule that Hitler never lived to see. DYLAN AND NETUREI KARTA 1161 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The Devil was certainly getting his due. Bob Dylan had become the lowest scum on earth, a Jewish Holocaust revisionist. If Dylan had any second thoughts about the course he was taking Satan put an end to them by introducing him to his Jewish stooges, the screwballs of the Satmar spinoff, Neturei Karta, the “Guardians of the Wall. The only walls these Jews guard are those surrounding the mental institutions they belong in. Bob Dylan had appeared on several Chabad telethons to help raise money for this Hasidic organization. Chabad is a part of the Lubavitch sect who don’t make a career out of trashing Israel as the Satmar sect does. Just as the Weather Underground emerged from the more moderate Students for a Democratic Society a group of nut jobs emerged from the Satmar known as the Neturei Karta. The members of Neturei Karta believe that the existence of Israel is preventing the Messiah from arriving. This is based on a passage from the Talmud that teaches that Jews shall not use human force to bring about the establishment of a Jewish State before the coming of the 1162 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 modern day Israel is an abomination in the eyes of God and 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 fulfill his deal with Satan and still convince himself that he had a Jewish soul. 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 the 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” oh 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 lost sheep” with 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 1163 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 static “For the child that cries” for the Palestinian child that suffers “When innocence dies” when he is forced to join the Palestinian Liberation Organization and go up against the Israelis. SHAKE MAMA SHAKE 2009 I'm motherless fatherless almost friendless too It's Friday morning on Franklin Avenue “I'm motherless fatherless” I am orphaned, lacking support, supervision, and care “almost friendless too” and voluntarily excluded from a society, the Lubavitch Sect although I have found new co-religionists in Neturei Karta. “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 headquarters. Dylan is no longer praying with 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 1164 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” If there is a sick component to something, Dylan will find it. HECTOR SCHMECKTOR Dylan told New York Times journalist Robert Shelton: 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. The Devil, through Raymond Gooch, turned Dylan on to heroin in 1961. Bobby even sang its praises back then 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?” In 1979 in Troublin’ Mind, Dylan recalled that day, “Satan will give you a little taste, then he'll move in with rapid speed / Lord keep my blind side covered and see that I don't bleed.” In Chronicles Dylan wrote: Ray was an opium smoker; smoked opium in a bamboo pipe with a mushroom bowl. They had cooked it up once in the kitchen, boiling little kilos of bricks until they became like gum. Boiling and re-boiling and draining liquid through filtered cloth-the kitchen smelled like cat piss. They kept it in a crock jar. He wasn't like a slob junkie from the junkyard, though, not in any way, not like somebody who uses dope just to get normal - not a part time junkie, he's not even addicted. He's not someone who would rob anybody to pay for a habit. He's wasn't like that. There's a lot of things I didn't know about Ray. I didn't know what saved him from arrest, either? “Ray was an opium smoker; smoked opium in a bamboo pipe with a mushroom bowl.” these pipes were sold in Chinatown as cigarette holders. I could never figure out why someone would want to smoke a cigarette vertically. “They had 1165 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY cooked it up once in the kitchen, boiling little kilos of bricks until they became like gum. Boiling and re-boiling and draining liquid through filtered cloth-the kitchen smelled like cat piss. They kept it in a crock jar.” They cooked it up only once? Unlikely. Note that a kilo brick of opium is not “little” it is a large quantity (2.2 pounds) and Dylan wrote “bricks” rather than “brick.” Dylan’s description of this operation sounds seems to indicate Gooch was making the opium into heroin rather than making a stronger preparation of the raw opium. Opium gum is first converted into morphine, an intermediate product. This conversion is achieved primarily by chemical processes and requires several basic elements and implements. Boiling water is used to dissolve opium gum; a large pot can be used as a boiling vessel; and burlap sacks are used to filter and strain liquids. When dried, the morphine resulting from this initial process is pressed into bricks. The conversion of morphine bricks into heroin is primarily a chemical process. The main chemical used is acetic anhydride, along with sodium carbonate, activated charcoal, chloroform, ethyl alcohol, ether, and acetone. Gooch also worked for the Mafia processing raw opium into heroin at a laboratory in Brooklyn on a much larger scale. Gooch’s platonic old lady, Chloe Kiel, acted as mule and brought the opium to the lab: 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 “& she wears a sheet” Kiel had been in the Klan “she takes many penicillin shots” and she was a doper. “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” and 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 was popular around this time. It made Whites look Black. Some Other Kinds of Songs, “white as a sheet.” Chronicles continues, “He wasn't like a slob junkie from the junkyard, though, not in any way” he wasn’t like some nigger doper from the slums, in fact he hated nigger junkies “not like somebody who uses dope just to get normal” he was not a hardcore junkie “not a part time junkie” not a skin popper weekend addict “he's 1166 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY not even addicted” bullshit, with access to all that dugi who wouldn’t be? “He's not someone who would rob anybody to pay for a habit. He's wasn't like that.” He didn’t have to – I know for a fact he was a heroin and speed dealer. In 1965 when I lived at 146 Sullivan Street my next door neighbor, Dave Moore, copped speed from Gooch. When he found out I was a Dylan fan he told me he knew “Ray” Dylan’s smack connection who lived in the far West Village. I didn’t believe him at the time but I do now. “There's a lot of things I didn't know about Ray. I didn't know what saved him from arrest, either?” What did Dylan mean by this? Was Dylan hinting that he was a snitch for the New York City Police Department narcotics cops? If Dylan suspected this why did he continue to live with a rat? Or did Gooch use his connection to Organized Crime to make sure the local narcs were on the pad? At least two Greenwich Village narcs active at that time, Imp and Koch, were accused by the Knapp Commission of taking money from West Village drug dealers. Thanks in part to Gooch for making dope accessible Dylan became addicted to heroin and wrote songs glorifying its use. He encouraged numerous rock musicians who picked up on the subcontent of his poetry and who idolized him to become addicted to heroin. Dylan did the work of the Devil willingly and with a smile on his face. Why? The receptors in his brain were permanently altered by smack leaving his mind in a state of disorder. Dylan was in love with Gooch’s platonic old lady Chloe Kiel and wrote this next poem 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 1167 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Ramona, come closer shut softly your watery eyes” Chloe 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” “pangs” as in ‘birth pangs’ “of your sadness” of your unhappiness about the mulatto babies that will be born as a result of race mixing. Chronicles, “A bunch of monkeys in this town, Chloe’d say. Talking to her you'd get the idea right away” “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 such as the Ku Klux Klan that attract poor Whites “Still capture the minutes I'm in” are still what I am writing about in the sub-content of my songpoems “But it grieves my heart, love, / To see you tryin' to be a part of / A world that just don't exist” it deeply hurts me to see you trying to fit into the New York City race-mixin’ nigger lovin’ scene “It's all just a dream, babe” the equality of the 1168 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Black man to the White man is only a pipe dream “A vacuum” a state of being sealed off from external and environmental influences such as having to live with niggers “a scheme babe,” a plot against the White Race “That sucks you into feelin' like this” that has you so demoralized. 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 niggers but just mouth it “I can tell you are torn / Between stayin' and returning back to the South” I can tell you want to make it in New York City yet something tells you you should return to the South “You've been fooled into thinking / That the finishing end is at hand” you have been fooled by the liberal community into thinking it’s all over for you “Yet there's no one to beat you” yet there's no one better than you “No one to defeat you” no one better to defeat your own purpose “'Cept the thoughts of yourself feeling bad” except your own self-pity and demoralization. “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 1169 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY midnight creep.” After Dylan lost touch with Chloe and Ray, or after he dumped them, he copped dope on the street in Spanish Harlem: 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 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: 1170 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” a “rattlin’ drum” is another way of saying 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 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 nigger 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 niggerhood “come an’ make my / Pale face fit into place, ah, please!” so you might as well label me a White nigger and allow me to fit into the scheme of things “Let me know babe I am nearly drowning” my coming to you 1171 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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 have slayed me” you have made me happy as in ‘this joke really slays me’ although you might kill me “you have made me” you have 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 1172 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 evenin's empire has returned into sand, Vanished from my hand, Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping “Though I know that evenin's empire” though I know that last night’s heroin high, obtained via a criminal empire “has returned into sand” is history “Vanished from my hand” and has disappeared from my possession “Left me blindly here to stand” and has left me here to endure the agony of not knowing where my next fix is coming from, left me so freakin’ straight it isn’t even funny “but still not sleeping” and still jonesing for smack rather than being wasted on it. “Sleep” as heroin or high on heroin; 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” someone is getting in the way of people’s desire to get high “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” the grandfather of Kubla Khan and the subject of poem written by Samuel Coleridge while Coleridge 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. 1173 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me” Hey Mr. Dope Connection sell me some smack “I'm not sleepy” I’m not high “and there is no place I'm going to” and I got no other place to score “Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me in the jingle jangle morning” Hey Mr. Dope Connection get me some junk and in the disturbing, disconcerting first early signs of withdrawal symptoms, when I am chippying “I'll come followin' you” I’ll cop from you. 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” my patience with this has worn out and this is something that even flips me out “I'm branded on my feet” I have a burning desire to cop some junk “I have no one to meet” but I have nowhere to cop “And the ancient empty street's” and the decrepit streets in Spanish Harlem where heroin is sold openly “too dead for dreaming” is so devoid of dealers I can’t even dream of getting a fix. Allen Ginsberg, Howl, “I’ve seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness… dragging themselves through Negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix.” 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” 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 1174 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY step” my desire to get drugs is overcome by my inertia “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 “Into my own parade” into a visible display of intoxication, drooling, scratching, nodding out “cast your dancing spell my way” throw a little heroin my way “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” down (smack is a downer) the dazed, stupefied “ruins of time” total destruction of any sense of mortality “far past the frozen leaves” transcending the unchangeable leafs, pages of a book of written laws “The haunted” the continually present in, all pervasive “frightened 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 and depression. 1175 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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 America and the freedom it affords the individual “circled” surrounded “by the circus sands” by the uncontrollable chaos of history. 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 overpowered by the depths, the extent of the waves of happiness; 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. On another level Dylanology detects certain dog whistle words in this verse such as diamond, free and silhouette. There is also some similarity to Blowin’ In The Wind with words like sky, sea, sands, however I don’t see Dylan bringing race into a poem about skag. 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. JUST LIKE TOM THUMB’S BLUES 1966 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 1176 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 cartel members in the Mexican Police Force “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 Mexican customs official “Into leaving his post” into working for them and looking the other way when a shipment of heroin came in “And picking up Angel” and picking up the shipment “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 copping weak smack in Juarez, Mexico “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.” DOWN ALONG THE COVE 1968 1177 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” sarcastic: I saw from a far off vantage point “a bundle of joy” a “bundle” street drug slang for 10 glassine envelopes of heroin tied together with a rubber band “She said, ‘Lord, have mercy, honey” Lord have mercy on your soul Bob Dylan “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 intravenous 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 Bob Dylan lived together fates intertwined, my style of writing reflected my love of smack “Ev'rybody watchin' us go by” everybody watching me go 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 your eyes” ignore your thoughts about race, communists etc “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. 1178 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” well that singer who imitated, counterfeited being a civil rights advocate. Also a reference to To Kill A Mockingbird, a movie about Blacks in the Jim Crow South “gonna sail away” is going to effortlessly disappear “We're gonna forget it” we’re gonna scrap that plan “That big fat moon” my longing 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: 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, Kick your shoes off, do not fear Bring that bottle over here I’ll be you your baby tonight. “Kick your shoes off” get rid of your position as a pop star and protest singer rather than kick your habit, “do not fear” do not worry about ODing “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 The Devil and Bob Dylan to show that Dylan had wrote this poem as he did many other Band songs. 1179 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” 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, 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 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 1180 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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: 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 1181 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” 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 picked 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 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.” WINTERLUDE 1970 Winterlude, winterlude, oh darlin' Winterlude by the road tonight Tonight there will be no quarrelin' Ev'rything is gonna be all right 1182 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Winterlude, winterlude, oh darlin'” heroin oh heroin 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 as I am building up a tolerance for the drug “Then winterlude, this dude thinks you're fine” 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 (sarcastic) minor temptation “Winterlude by the corn in the field” 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 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. 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 1183 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” in a prominent or favorable position place in the sun “near the old crossroads sign” during a time when I am 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 don’t be in a crude, rough, unfinished and in a dangerous condition “please be mine.” heroin, heroin please be 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 of a reason “I treated her” I provided treatment for; ‘The doctor treated my addiction’ “like a fool” like a stupid person “I threw it all away” I tried to kick my long term heroin habit. 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. 1184 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 Dylan told me he was “all tied up for the weekend.” He was hinting that it was only on the weekends that he would have a tourniquet tied around his arm and would be shooting dope. One More Weekend: 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” 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. I Threw It All Away continues: So if you find someone who gives you all of her love 1185 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 (Dylan didn’t know about Ibogaine, an addiction interrupter) “If you throw it all away” if you try to kick junk. COUNTRY PIE 1969 Saddle me up my big white goose Tie me on and turn her loose 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” and shoot me up “Oh me, oh my love that country pie.” ain’t no drug better than smack. 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 as one builds up a tolerance to smack “Ain't runnin' any race” sarcastic; I am not running a race against death “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 1186 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 and didn’t overdo it this no longer was a problem for 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, they ain’t got nothing, squat, on me “Oh me oh my, love that country pie.” 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 “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 when 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', 1187 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, beneath it “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 telling me to stop, I can sense disaster coming “I see that stationmaster, too” I see the one who determines if someone gets somewhere or not “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 In Trouble In Mind 1979, written during his Christian period, Dylan wrote, 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 for ya 1188 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY But by October 1983 the latest, judging from Man Of Peace 1983, Dylan was still in his anti-Christian phase and had returned to what he described as his “rakish ways.” Christianity had been a good moral influence on Bob but from my point of view there is nothing wrong with schuping, no matter how many times, as long it is not with underage kids and is consentual. A new factor, however, had entered the picture, and the picture became a picture from life’s other side. Unbeknownst to Bob Dylan the newly liberated gay community caused a little known esoteric disease to go viral. This afflication would find its way to IV drugs users and heterosexuals. 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 this acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS that gave every opportunistic infection a license to kill. Since HIV has a long period of dormancy no one knew who was infected in 1983. This disease was so spooky even the Devil feared it. It was a confluence of events involving this STD that proved to be Bob’s undoing. At this time in sexual history the more different sex partners Dylan exchanged bodily fluids with the greater the odds were he would be infected with the newly emergent virus, especially if he rode 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 chain of events; despite the crypto-racist content of his previous poetry Dylan had developed a taste for African-American women. This can be looked at as part of his fixation with race. This group accounted for a disproportionate number of female human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections transmitted by IV drug users. I estimate that Dylan became infected with the HIV virus 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 or was tested. The first poetic reference to Dylan’s affliction appeared on Empire 1189 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Burlesque recorded between July 1984 and March 1985 released on June 8, 1985. It was in a poem entitled, 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. 1190 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. “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, 1191 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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? THEY TOOK A CLEAN CUT KID AND MADE A KILLER OUT OF HIM THAT’S WHAT THEY DID To reiterate: The first reference to Dylan’s affliction appeared on Empire Burlesque recorded between July 1984 and March 1985 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. Dylan’s daughter, Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan, assuming she was full term, was conceived early in May 1985. Assuming the month of March comes before May Desiree was conceived at a point in time when Dylan already knew he was HIV Positive. 1192 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY There is no way to tell how many times Dylan had unprotected sexual intercourse before conception took place. Desiree was born January 31, 1986. AfricanAmerican 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. 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. What is happening here? You tell me! Did Dylan deliberately attempt to infect a Black woman with HIV because of his racism? Is this the kind of sickness Hollywood breeds? If this is true it would make Fatty Arbuckle look like a Boy Scout. There have been reports that Dylan has numerous love children scattered throughout the United States. Is he paying hush money to their mothers? Is this why he continues to tour? One would think he would be sick of it by now. Or is his touring part of the deal with the Devil? In Chronicles Dylan put the date of detection of his infection allegorically circa 1987 however poetic evidence reveals he was writing about his affliction in 1984 and 1986. The weasel 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. It was 1987 and my hand, which had been ungodly injured in a freak accident, was in the state of regeneration. It had been ripped and mangled to the bone and was still in the acute stage - it didn't even feel like it was mine. I didn't know what had befallen me, and this was a bizarre shift of fate. All potentialities had gone to pieces. “It was 1987 and my hand” it was [January] 1987 and the cards I play the game of life with, the hand fate has dealt me “which had been ungodly injured” which had been harmed by something morally bad in principle and practice “in a freak accident” in an accident that occurred as a result of my sex addition; I was a “sex 1193 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY freak” a person who was obsessed with sex “was in the state of regeneration” was at a point where 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 sequence of events beginning in Hibbing, Minnesota “and this was a bizarre” and this was a conspicuously and grossly unusual “shift of fate” a change in direction of my fate downward, I had it made in the shade and blew it! My hand had been gashed pretty good - no feeling in the nerves. Maybe it might not heal, never be the same, and the sooner I believed it, the better. Oh, the wicked ironies of life. I'd gotten a cosmic kick in the pants. I probably should have been wearing steel underwear. “My hand had been gashed” my fate, the cards I was holding in life 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” “I ain’t never gonna be the same again” and 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” embarrassing rude awakening beyond belief caused by desire. Subterranean Homesick Blues, “Short pants, romance.” “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. 1194 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY No accident occurred in January 1987, as Dylan claimed in Chronicles. Dylan had used a similar metaphor, in a different context, in Tarantula, “outside, however after the tear gas disappears” after the songs about Civil Rights disappear (Oxford Town 1962 “Me and my gal my gal's son / We got met with a tear gas bomb”) “we find that the leprechaun's” we find that Bob Dylan’s “got his hand in a bandage & his beard's gone” his “beard” as in slang for someone who accompanies another person to give the impression that the other person is something other than what he really is e.g. Joan Baez accompanying Dylan on tour. 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 Grateful Dead in January 1987. No bandage, no cast. 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 playing guitar on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame television show. 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 had taken Dylan’s reality and cast it to the wind. Dylan wrote another poem about his affliction in 1986: 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. 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. 1195 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “I was knocked out” I was down for the count as they say in the sport of boxing, in Dylan’s case 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” when I was extremely vulnerable to infection “When my last dream exploded” when my last foolish hope of a cure was shown to be false and unreliable “I noticed your light” “notice” I gave you notice that your cure was bogus “notice’ as in advance notification of intention to end an arrangement or employment. “Baby, oh what a story I could tell” Baby I could write an expose about your 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 1196 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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 “that you cannot comprehend” that is incomprehensible to you “Just remember that death is not the end” just maintain your belief in God “And all your dreams have vanished” and 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. Oh, the tree of life is growing Where the spirit never dies 1197 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” oh the knowledge about how immune system that provides protection against foreign organisms can be rescued 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 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! CAN’T ESCAPE FROM YOU Oh the evening train is rolling Oh the evening train is rolling My life is going by Roll: To go by; elapse: The days rolled along. All along the homeward way Wayward Following no clear pattern; unpredictable: "events that were often thought to be wayward, capricious, and inexplicable" (Marq de Villiers). All my hopes are over the horizon All my dreams have gone away His dream of ever getting rid of the HIV virus are beyond the range of one's knowledge, experience, or interest. 1198 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY The hillside darkly shaded Stars fall from above All the joys of earth have faded The night's untouched my love There is no joy left in life for Bob as doom descends upon him and his untouched state unfolds – touch: A mild attack: a touch of the flu. I'll be here 'til tomorrow Beneath a shroud of gray I pretend I'm free of sorrow My heart is miles away Even his is still kicking death will always leark in the background. The dead bells are ringing My train is overdue To your memory I'm clinging I can't escape from you The death toll bells are ringing I should have been dead long ago but I remain close; resist separation and I can’t get rid of this virus. Well I hear the sound of thunder Roaring loud and long Sometimes you've got to wonder God knows I've done no wrong Well I hear the sound of thunder Roaring loud and long Sometimes you've got to wonder God knows I've done no wrong You've wasted all your power You threw out the Christmas pie Now you're withering like a flower You'll play the fool and die 1199 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I'm neither sad nor sorry I'm all dressed up in black I fought for fame and glory You tried to break my back In the far off sweet forever The sunshine peeking through We should have walked together I can't escape from you I cannot grasp the shadows That gather near the door Rain falls round my window I wish I'd seen you more The path is ever winding The stars they never age The morning light is blinding All the world's a stage Should be the time of gladness Happy faces everywhere The mystery of madness Is propagating in the air I don't like the city Not like some folks do Isn't it a pity I can't escape from you We ploughed the fields of heaven Right down to the end I hope I can be forgiven If any words of mine offend All our days were splendid 1200 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY They were simple, they were plain It never should have ended I should have kissed you in the rain I've been thinking things all over All the moments full of grace The primrose and the clover Your ever changing face Can't help looking at you You made love with god-knows-who Never found a girl to match you I can't escape from you 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 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. 1201 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Comes right down the highway” comes right out of the American public where it first reached epidemic proportions “Straight down the line” from a series of persons who succeed each other. Walkin Down the Line 1962 “I am walkin’ down the line” I am following a succession of folk singers “Tell about my troubled mind” who sing protest songs “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 “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. 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 1202 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 count 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 - 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 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 1203 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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” that 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 1204 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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” Weberman and Dylan. In You Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go Dylan wrote this about our recorded telephone conversation, “Crickets talking back and forth in rhyme” this time crickets “are chirping” ghetto slang for to talk on the phone. So once again Dylan is conversing with Weberman “the water is high” and this time he is in some deep water that might prove fatal: Highwater; “Highwater rising, six inches above my head / Coffin's dropping in the street like balloons made out of lead.” “There's a soft” there is an unprotected against or vulnerable to attack: a soft target “cotton dress” bandage, medication “on the line” on the battle area closest to the enemy HIV virus, also telephone line “hanging” remaining unresolved or uncertain: His future hung in the balance. Also “hang on” as remain on the telephone “dry” and lacking involvement as in ‘the actor gave a dry reading of his lines.” “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. Also “you have to bend over backwards. As in anal intercourse, to get AIDS” “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 even a poem that would be my own epitaph not 1205 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” Weberman “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 versus wrong conduct “is vile” is not only wrong but it is repugnant to the senses, and turns your stomach and makes you want to 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” he could not depend on an addiction for moral guidance “When it's you who must keep it satisfied” since you will always rationalize your own pathological behavior because of the power the drug 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 1206 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, walk the straight and narrow “path” a way especially designed for a particular use “I can read the signs” and sometimes I cannot detect the tell tale signs of the 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 1207 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” But what about some 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 up anything in the world to change my status. “I can't make it all match-up” I can’t make my T cell count match my viral load. A Tcell count tells the number of CD4 cells in your blood. A "normal" T-cell count falls somewhere between 800 and 1200 CD4 cells per micro liter of blood. Viral load testing tells how much of the virus is in someone’s bloodstream. When viral load goes up, T-cell count goes down. A rising viral load means that HIV is multiplying quickly and may be destroying more of the CD4 cells that protect one from infection. “I can hold my own” sometimes I cannot get my white blood cell count up. “I can deal with the situation” sometimes 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 1208 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” Also “I can hold my own” hold my own pecker, masturbate “I can deal with the situation right down to the bone” right down to the boner or erection sometimes. 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” sometimes I kid myself that the HIV virus will somehow disappear from my body “'till it makes me sick” until it returns and makes me sick once again “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” I can ignore the approbation of most of humanity as HIV carries a stigma with it “Don't even remember what her lips” sometimes I don’t even remember what her vagina “felt like on mine” felt like on my penis. Liner Notes to Desire 1976, “Furious gals with garters & smeared lips on bar stools that stank from sweating pussy” – The implication here is that Dylan did not contract the disease through homosexual activity. 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 1209 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 with her? Adage: “If you don’t have your health you don’t have anything.” 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. The Weight “I picked up my bag, went lookin’ for a place to hide.” “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 myself 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 1210 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 again see a healthy time in my life. 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 ignore 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?” 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 and never make mention of it “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? 1211 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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?” 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 was included with Time Out Of Mind contained small bottles of his anti-viral medication. TRYING TO GET TO HEAVEN 1997 People on the platforms Waiting for the trains I can hear their hearts a-beatin' Like pendulums swinging on chains “People on the platforms” patients on a raised horizontal surface like an operating table “Waiting for the trains” waiting for a series of consequences wrought by an event; ‘HIV led to a train of disasters’ “I can hear their hearts abeatin'” I can sense fear in them “Like pendulums” like something that swings back and forth from one condition to another “on chains” in captivity or oppression; bondage, in a state of suspended animation swinging between life and death. When you think that you lost everything You find out you can always lose a little more I'm just going down the road feeling bad Trying to get to heaven before they close the door “When you think that you lost everything” when your T-cell count is down to zero “You find out you can always lose a little more” you find out there is 1212 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY worse in store, you always can lose your life “I'm just going down the road feeling bad” I’m going down the path of life and into the future with an incurable illness “Trying to get to heaven before they close the door” trying to find some kind of contentment here on earth before I die, before I lose the opportunity. 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 “time is running away” and my life is being drained away “Feel like 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, scars from diseases like Kaposi’s sarcoma “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 get anywhere to be successful “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” my kindness or mercy “has gone down the drain” has vanished irreparably “Behind every beautiful thing” behind every 1213 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY alleged cure “there's been some kind of pain” there has been something that made me pity myself even more about being taken in when I found that I still had HIV “She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind” the Doctors informed me that I still had the HIV virus in my bloodstream and they did it in the most unhurtful way they could “She put down in writing what was in her mind” they put down in writing that the HIV virus still was in Dylan’s brain “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 traveled to London looking for a cure “and I've been to gay Paree” and I even went to Paris hoping to find a Doctor who could cure me of this gay disease “I've followed the river” I studied the medical literature “and I got to the sea” and arrived at a sea of controversy “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 veracity of the ideas of these charlatans regarding my condition “Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear” sometimes I 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. 1214 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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, when I was convinced I would not get a sexually transmitted disease like HIV “pride” or “conceit” as in The Disease of Conceit, “are high and wide” are impenetrable, impossible to overcome “Can't see over to the other side” because HIV is incurable I have no hope that things will reverse themselves “It's such a sad thing to see beauty decay” it’s tragic to see the qualities that give pleasure to my senses 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. In Disease of Conceit 1989 HIV is described as “Rip[ing] 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 I feel that the unknown world is so near Pride will vanish and glory will rot But virtue lives and cannot be forgot 1215 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 glorified persona of Bob Dylan “will rot” will be recognized for what it is, “rot” pointless talk; nonsense. “But virtue” chastity “lives and cannot be forgot” but and its wisdom will always be remembered by me. Cold Irons Bound continues: 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, I lose authority over my physiology: regulation and maintenance of a function; ‘he had lost control of his sphincters’ “Like the universe” like God’s domain, like God “has swallowed me whole” has subjected 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.” Chronicles, “When Frank sang that song, I could hear everything in his voice-death, God and the universe.” Cold Irons Bound continues: 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” Oh something that disrupts and destroys “in Chicago” of corruption “has torn me to shreds” has destroyed me. Disease of Conceit 1989, 1216 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 “Some things last longer than you think they will” understatement; HIV is an incurable disease and lasts forever “There are some kind of things you can never kill” and you can never kill the HIV virus because it mutates, 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. 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? 1217 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 This kind of love I'm so sick 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, being “love sick” but I am in the most active or intense part of it “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; something looming: a threat hanging over Dylan “to a shadow” and turn him into an imperfect 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. “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, 1218 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Black crows in the meadow Across a broad highway Though it’s funny, honey I just don’t feel much like a Scarecrow today “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 an advocate of Civil Rights “I just don't feel much like a scarecrow today” I do not share the feelings of those opposed to Jim Crow such as Freedom Riders, those involved in integrating public facilities like Woolworth’s lunch counter today. Returning to Love Sick: 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” sometimes the protests of the AIDS activists; “SILENCE=DEATH” was the motto of the AIDS activist group ACT UP “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 1219 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, to be in a grey area “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 death coming I probably would 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. 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 am your servant, I am beholden to you “man” as in Blowin in the Wind, “before you call him a man.” “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” you understand the HIV virus will be with me until the day I die “Well your loveliness has wounded me” well a beautiful person, a woman has caused physical damage to my body by accident or infection “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” I wish I knew the truth about you “I'm breathing hard” I am panting, longing demonstratively; yearning “standing at the gate” waiting, enduring 1220 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 graveyard 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” the truth of the matter is that you are a terminal disease “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 disease “and all the places we could roam together” and all the places we can wander in search of a cure “It's mighty funny” super sarcastic “the end of time has just begun” the end of life started when I became infected “Oh, honey, after all these years you're still the one” Oh, honey after the incubation period I discovered you were the one “While I'm strolling” while I’m 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 those of my former sexual escapades “I left my life with you somewhere back there along the line” I left my life with you when the HIV virus was passed down the line to me “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 I don't know how much longer I can wait” but I don't know how much longer I can wait for a cure. 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 1221 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 than 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” that's all right mama, I told myself I could eradicate the virus and be cured so we are even “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. 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 not being 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.” 1222 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” turn on 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.” This poem also has overtones of the divorce from Sara such as you took the silver – the silverware – you told the public everything you knew about me during our divorce etc. DYLAN’S HIV BECOMES FULL BLOWN AIDS AND AS A RESULT HE CONTRACTS DISSEMINATED HISTOPLASMOSIS Shortly after recording the preceding series of poems Dylan was hospitalized in London on my 52nd birthday May 26, 1997, with disseminated histoplasmosis, a disease that often afflicts AIDS patients with CD4 cell counts below 100/mm3. Bobby came very close to death. Histoplasmosis is an infectious disease caused by inhaling the microscopic spores of the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. This sometimes fatal opportunistic infection comes from contact with dry bird droppings - just a walk on the street could do it! Bob’s office said he 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 1223 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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” I know you are a pretty sorry bunch of writers “I'm sorry too” and I am also unhappy that this is where it’s at. 1224 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” been 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 Sara 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. WHO SAYS I CAN'T GET HEAVENLY AIDS? 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” and 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 1225 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Isaac 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 mostly in the summer or spring, 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. On Thursday July 23, 2009 Patrolwoman Kristie Buble responded to a 5 p.m. call at Franklin Avenue and Third Avenue in Long Branch, New Jersey where 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 “eccentriclooking 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 1226 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. No one in the mainstream media attributed Dylan’s Big Adventure in Long Branch, New Jersey to the side effects of an anti-viral drug or long term mental deterioration due to HIV/AIDS. In 2010 it was time for Dylan to give the Devil his due. In 1961 he had written What You Gonna Do? seemingly to journalists but it might also be applied to himself. Tell me what you're gonna do When the devil calls your cards. O Lord, O Lord, What shall you do? THE IDIOT WIND There is no doubt that the Dylan/Weberman association is unprecedented in literary history. It all started in September 1962 when my parents had me shipped out of New York City to Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, to get me away from the bad influences I had cultivated at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York. My mom Sara Weberman discovered roaches under my bed and knew I was smoking pot. I received a warm welcome at MSU, when the first thing I did there was start playing my bongo drums and reciting 1227 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY beat poetry. Then I disassembled my bed and put my mattress on the floor, like in a beatnik pad I saw on the Armstrong Circle Theatre TV production of Raid In Beatnik Town, where cops dressed up like beatniks, let their beard grow and made buys of marijuana. That was how the word “fuzz” as slang for undercover cop arose. At MSU I associated with folknicks Larry Kopp and Doug Messenger. We would sit around and sing Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston songs. One night, while in the common room, these guys told me, "Weberman, there's this folksinger in Greenwich Village named Bob Dylan who looks just like you." Like me? Kinky hair? Hook nose? Skinny Jew? They gave me Dylan's first LP, CL1776, entitled Bob Dylan and said they would introduce me to Dylan at Gerdes Folk City, when we got back to New York City. The night my friends took me over to Gerdes, Dylan was gone. I often wonder if my life might have been different had Dylan been there that night? I first began to decode Dylan in the fall of 1966 when Irvin Dana Beal and I dropped acid and realized there was sub-content in Dylan’s poetry. In mid 1967 the first article about Dylanology appeared in the Queens College school newspaper. It was written by Larry “Ratzo” Sloman who later became part of Dylan’s entourage. An article about Dylanology appeared in the July/August 1968 issue of the highly respected Broadside Magazine, the first periodical to publish Dylan’s lyrics. By the winter of 1969 I had typed up a manuscript that Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner wanted to copy so that his buddy Bobby Dylan could see it. In November 1969 after reading my articles in the underground weekly the East Village Other Bob told Wenner, I bet that Weberman’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 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 Freud …doing a really big analysis of somebody who has countless volumes of writings. But here’s me, just a 1228 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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? Circa 1970 I ran a series of operations against Dylan as my writing was not enough to scourge, what appeared to me to be the Devil, from his soul. 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 voluntarily thrown it out, 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 (or anals) 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 Pig but the embedded meanings, the sub-content of numerous Dylan poems deal with the Dylan / Weberman episode and events that preceded and followed it; assuming this were the case wouldn’t I be in the best position to detect it? Additionally without my translations of the Dylan-Weberman material all the energy Dylan put into crafting this poetry would be for naught for no other writer has attempted to do what I did here. That is why Dylan lets me publish books like this – he’s interested in how close I am coming to fully understanding his poetry. You see, it’s not so 1229 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY much Dylan who hates me, as he knows I am not making shit up about him, it’s Dylan fans who hate me because they have no idea of what is going down with their idol and think that I sit around and say to myself, ‘What kind of B.S. can I make up next about Dylan?’ My knowledge about the life of Bob Dylan is from his poetry. Dylan knows a lot about me as we shared many mutual friends. Our relationship has become cinematic thanks the movie The Ballad of A. J. Weberman, which has won numerous awards and it was shown on the BBC 4 around the time of Dylan’s 70th birthday. In December 1967 Dylan released John Wesley Harding which contained a poem entitled Dear Landlord. I said, “Holy shit, this poem is about me and Dylan! How did he find out about me? The only publicity I had was in a college newspaper.” Later on I thought Dear Landlord was about Albert Grossman due to a remark Dylan made during one of my visits to his studio. During our telephone conversation Dylan told me that the song was not about Albert Grossman, “it wasn’t meant for anybody man; it was an abstract song it sure as Hell wasn’t meant for you. I was not even aware of you at that time.” “Isn’t ‘landlord’ your symbol for critic?” “No man like I wasn’t aware of you at that time.” Dylan was aware of what I was up to at the time. The fact that Dylan wrote this poem tells me he had an uncanny ability to sense who would finally be able to decipher his poetry to some degree or another. DEAR LANDLORD 1968 Dear landlord, Please don't put a price on my soul. My burden is heavy My dreams are beyond control. When that steamboat whistle blows, I'm gonna give you all I got to give, And I do hope you receive it well, Dependin' on the way you feel that you live. “Dear” sarcastic: Dylan is threatening my ass in this poem “Landlord” critic with a leftwing bias, Weberman, “Please don't put a price on my soul” don’t try to 1230 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY collect a reward for the capture or killing of my poetry, don’t denigrate it by turning it into a commodity “My burden is heavy” my “burden” the central meaning or theme of my poetry and its effect, essence, core, gist “is heavy” is laden with meaning, ponderous, “My dreams” my songs “are beyond control” are beyond translation, beyond singing the praises of totalitarianism, authoritarianism, communism “control” “When that steam” “steam” Informal To become very angry; fume “boat whistle” a whistling sound, such as that made by a bullet or projectile “blows” demolishes by the force of an explosion: A .38 blew Weberman’s head clean off this shoulders “I'm gonna give you all I got to give” you are going to die “And I do hope you receive it well” “receive” to experience, undergo, or meet with to receive incoming fire “Dependin' on the way you feel you live” you might be happy that I put an end to your miserable existence. Hey in 1968 I was too young to die. The least Dylan could have done was to have made his threat in prose because it took me 42 years to figure out the meaning of these lines. What if he was serious? Dylan told the One-Legged Man “Killing AJ is like committing suicide. You think about it a lot but you never do it.” “Landlord” as leftist critic, She’s Your Lover Now 1971; The pawnbroker roared Also, so, so did the landlord The scene was so crazy, wasn’t it? Both were so glad To watch me destroy what I had Angel sure brings out the best in people, doesn’t it? Why didn’t you just leave me if you didn’t want to stay? Why’d you have to treat me so bad? Did it have to be that way? Now you stand here expectin’ me to remember somethin’ you forgot to say “The pawnbroker roared” the CPUSA, an entity that makes people into pawns and uses them thought Dylan was a roaring success “Also so so did the landlord” and so did the leftwing critics “The scene was so crazy, wasn't it?” the scenes that I portrayed in my poetry were foolish or impractical; senseless “Both were so glad” both the CPUSA and its running dog folk critics were happy “To 1231 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY watch me destroy what I had” to watch Dylan take up their cause and contribute to the destruction of freedom in America “Angel” a political guiding influence; watching over others “brings out the best in people, doesn't it?” sarcastic, it brings out the worst in people doesn’t it? “Why didn't you just leave me if you didn't want to stay?” why didn’t you just not show up at my concerts if you didn’t dig the new Dylan? “Why'd you have to treat me so bad?” why did you have to disrupt my concerts; Sooner or Later One Of Us Must Know 1966, to his folk fans sarcastically, “I didn’t mean to treat you so bad” “Did it have to be that way? / Now you stand here” now you take a political stand here “expectin' me to remember somethin' you forgot to say” and you still expect me to articulate your leftist thoughts? You gotta be kidding? Tarantula; the harmonica battalions of bitter cowards, bones & bygones while what steadier louder the moans & arms of funeral landlord with one passionate kiss “the harmonica battalions of bitter cowards” the militant folk musicians afraid to enter the mainstream “bones & bygones” clinging to remnants of the past “while steadier” while free from change, variation, or fluctuation; uniform “louder” clamorous and insistent “the moans” the complaints, the reviews “& arms” and powers “of funeral” deadly “landlord” leftwing folk critics “with one passionate kiss” who can kill your career with one passionately bad review. Dear landlord Please heed these words that I speak. I know you've suffered much But in this you are not so unique. All of us, at times, we might work too hard To have it too fast and too much And anyone can fill his life up With things he can see but he just cannot touch. “Dear” sarcastic “landlord” Weberman “Please heed” please pay close attention to a warning “these words that I speak” that I am about to issue. You know the old saying Al, a word to the wise is sufficient. “I know you've suffered much” I understand that you were busted at Michigan State University in 1964 for 1232 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY selling pot and endured a lot of hardship “But in this you are not so unique” but in the drug world it is par for the course “All of us” sarcastic: just me “at times,” more sarcasm only once and a while, there is no compulsive behavior involved “we might work too hard” sarcastic my poetry might be just a tad to difficult to resolve, accomplish, or finish “To have it too fast” to make some fast money “and too much” and a lot of it “And anyone can fill his life up” and anyone can fill a void in his life “With things” with poems “he can see” he can read “but he just cannot touch” but just cannot translate properly nor express their true value, or even come close to equaling and touching their greatness. Dear landlord, Please don't dismiss my case. I'm not about to argue, I'm not about to move to no other place. Now, each of us has his own special gift And you know this was meant to be true, And if you don't underestimate me, I won't underestimate you. “Dear landlord, Please don't dismiss my case” Weberman don’t summarily dismiss the arguments I make in favor of conservatism “I'm not about to argue” I am not about to put forth reasons for or against; debate politics with you “I'm not about to move to no other place” I am not about to be moved to some other place on the political spectrum. “Now, each of us has his own special gift” now you have a gift for translating poetry and I have a gift for writing it “And you know this was meant to be true” and God made things this way “And if you don't underestimate me” and if you don’t underestimate the depth and profundity of my poetry “I won't underestimate you” I won’t underestimate your ability to translate it into prose. In 1969 in Nashville Skyline Dylan wrote that he didn’t want me translating his poetry and putting it in book form… TELL ME THAT IT ISN'T TRUE 1969 I have heard rumors all over town 1233 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 “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 “leftist” Bob Dylan of the days of yore “That he's tall” that he is a leftwing folk musician teller of tall tales. Tarantula in reference to folk music “having a weird drink with the long tall stranger” “dark and handsome” sinister; evil a dark purpose such as furthering communism and liberal “and you're holding his hand” and you are retaining your attention and interest in the writing of the old Bob Dylan, since you 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. “To know that some other man” to know that the Bob Dylan who you believed to be a leftwing revolutionary “is holdin' you” is confining you, “tight” and constricting you to one way of thinking “It hurts me” is detrimental to me, 1234 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY hinders and impairs me “all over” at many different levels “it doesn't seem Right” because it makes me seem as if I am 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 from others and all of your articles in the East Village Other, “I don't want to believe them” I don’t even want to believe they exist man, I don’t want to have people believing that the crap you write is what I really believe “all I want is your word” all I want are your words as opposed to my lyrics: words music; The text of a vocal composition; lyrics. “So darlin', you better come through” so Al you have no choice but to abandon your project or else there will be consequences “Tell me that it isn't true.” By 1970 I realized that despite my notoriety 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. 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 wouldn’t 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 current bag was a bag of skag. I knew what it was like to be busted and didn’t want to rat anyone out, even Bob Dylan. 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. 1235 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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, Goldwaterite etc. “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.” 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 the socalled truth of 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 ever since you began studying it, “Take me as I am or let me go / If you cannot overlook” if you cannot deliberately ignore and indulgently disregard “my faults” my racism, heroin addiction, anti-communism, things you consider bad “forget me” purge my poetry from your mind “Take me as I am or let me go.” 1236 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY THE DYLANOLOGY CLASS FIELD TRIP I needed to recruit soldiers for the Dylan Liberation Front so I took over a class on Bob Dylan’s poetry offered at the Alternate University of Manhattan and turned it into Dylanology 101. My class took place at a loft on 14th Street and Sixth Avenue. One evening I took the entire class, maybe 50 people, on a “field trip” to 94 MacDougal Street, right in the heart of Greenwich Village where Dylan’s crib was located. 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. Dylan escorted me around the block to the steps of his studio on Houston Street, rolled up his sleeves and said, “No tracks man.” At this time in his life Dylan was snorting smack on weekends, trying to avoid addiction. When he had used needles he didn’t use dull ones that left tracks, Dylan was a gentleman junkie. Doctor Arlen and his wife from The Free Clinic on Saint Marks Place went swimming with Dylan and examined his entire body (other than his privates) for tracks. No tracks. 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 1237 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 nigger lovin’ commie “Stayin' in a big hotel” who had adopted a far leftist-revolutionary position in life “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? Or Mr. Livingston I presume. “Hotel” as position in life, Dirge 1974: I hate myself for loving you and the weakness that it showed You were just a painted face on a trip down to suicide road The stage was set, the lights went out all around the old hotel I hate myself for loving you and I'm glad the curtain fell. “I hate myself for loving you and the weakness that it showed” I hate myself for taking up the cause of the Left and the moral weakness that it showed “You were just a painted face” you were just a whore, a harlot as in Jokerman “take the motherless children off the street and place them at the feet of a harlot” “on a trip down to suicide road” on a course in life that would have destroyed me, where I would have ended up taking my own life “The stage was set” a level, degree, or period of time in the course of a process had been predetermined “the lights went out all around the old hotel” the lights as one's individual opinions, choices, or standards: acted according to their own lights all around that previous station in life “I hate myself for loving you and I'm glad the curtain fell” I hate myself for loving you and I am glad I no longer have to be a shill for the Iron Curtain countries. Returning to Went To See The Gypsy: His room was dark and crowded Lights were low and dim. "How are you?" he said to me I said it back to him. 1238 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “His room was dark” Weberman’s life was lacking enlightenment, knowledge, or culture “and crowded” and was filled to such an extent with my words as to be detrimental to me “Lights” prominent or distinguished persons; luminary “were low” were inferior in culture or status “and dim” Slang: dull; dimwitted “‘How are you?’ he said to me” I hate people like you he said to me “I said it back to him.” I hate you too man. “How are you?” as I hate you; to his former folk fans Positively Fourth Street 1965, 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 Why don’t you just come out once And scream it “You see me on the street” you see me on MacDougal 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 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?” Went To See The Gypsy continues: 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 1239 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” “shout” as protest, Ballad of a Thin Man 1966, “You see this one eyed midget shouting the word now.” “Go on back to see the gypsy” Go on back to being the old Dylan I knew and loved “He can move you from the rear” doing this can propel you from the rear to the vanguard of the revolution, also doing this can get you fucked up the ass “Drive you” force you “from your fear” from your fear of the narcs “Bring you through the mirror” take you to a country worthy of imitation. “He did it in Las Vegas” sarcastic; he did it in Moscow “And he can do it here" and it could happen 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: prominent and distinguished people; luminaries “were shining” were distinguishing themselves 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. 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. 1240 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” “gone” Slang in an exhilarated state, as through music or the use of drugs real gone. Weberman was out there - a real nut job. 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” sitting pretty Informal: well placed or established financially, socially, etc. “dancing girl” singing superstar “She could not be found” she could not establish a foundation or basis for a relationship that would co-opt A. J. Weberman “So I watched that sun” so I watched that son-of-a-bitch - so I watched that person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events A. J. Weberman “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. I dropped a few caffeine pills before truckin’ the ten blocks to Bob’s Houston Street storefront. 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 is a recipe for madness. The only true knowledge for Balzac seems to be in superstition. Everything is subject to analysis. Horde your energy. That's the secret of life. You can learn a lot from Mr. B. It's funny to have him as a 1241 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY companion. He wears a monk's robe and drinks endless cups of coffee. Too much sleep clogs up his mind. One of his teeth falls out, and he says, "What does this mean?" He questions everything. His clothes catch fire on a candle. He wonders if fire is a good sign. Balzac is hilarious. “Balzac was pretty” Weberman was to a fair degree; moderately “funny” strangely or suspiciously odd; curious “His philosophy is plain and simple, says basically that pure materialism” his philosophy is plain and simple, says basically that 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” the only true knowledge for Weberman seems to be in the false religion of 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 versus 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. “It's funny” it is odd, out of character for me “to have him as a companion” to have him as someone to hang out with. “He wears a monk's robe” he dresses in the same 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 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 ostensible left-winger “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. 1242 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 was right to his face no matter what might be the consequences. Despite Dylan’s bitter recollections we like did a routine where I would like 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 is this? It makes no sense?” Dylan said, “That’s my thing, Al.” Later I discovered that sombrero was a word Dylan used to represent something else in his poetry and that on a subcontextual level his poem made sense. 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 or read the entire transcript in this book. There was only one very minor problem with the Dylan/Weberman visits, probably not even worth mentioning. As dusk fell on Houston Street Dylan let the studio grow dark. By this time I was crashing from the caffeine pills I had popped. Then, in the gray, spooky, twilight Dylan said, Al you’re not going to get into my life because if you do I might gain a soul. I suspected that this guy had the Devil living inside of him and might gain my soul after he killed me. 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 1243 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY understand that do you? Why don’t you take it out 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 I am not 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? Psycho! 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.” In this next poem Dylan tacitly admits he made a pact with the Devil. He calls the Devil “the man” - THE MAN IN ME OCTOBER 1970 The man in me will do nearly any task, And as for compensation, there's little he would ask. Take a woman like you To get through to the man in me. “The man in me will do nearly any task” the Devil in me will do anything I ask him to do except if the task involves doing good because that is where he draws the line “And as for compensation” and as for something given as payment for a service “there's little he would ask” sarcastic; and all the Devil wants is Dylan’s soul, no big deal, so what if his disembodied spiritual essence rots 1244 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY eternally in Hell? “Take a woman like you” takes a scumbag like A. J. Weberman “To get through to the man in me” to reach the Devil, the murderer in me. Storm clouds are raging all around my door I think to myself I might not take it anymore. Take a woman like your kind To find the man in me. “Storm clouds are raging all around my door” heavy dark clouds presaging rain or a storm are erupting violently around the perimeter of my home, trouble is brewing due to Weberman publicizing the fact I like to get high on smack, he is stirring up hatred against me, it’s the latest rage “I think to myself I might not take it anymore” I think to myself maybe this is a good time to stop taking heroin until the heat dies down or maybe this is the time to have Al whacked and not have to take his stupid shit anymore “Take a woman like your kind” take a sick bastard like A. J. Weberman “To find the man in me” to find the Devil in me. But, oh, what a wonderful feeling Just to know that you are near Sets my a heart a-reeling From my toes up to my heels. “But, oh, what a wonderful feeling” but oh what a great high “Just to know that you are near” just to see that blood rushing up the droppers neck “Sets my a heart a-reeling” it sets my innermost being a-dancin’ “From my toes” from my desire to take drugs “up to my heels” Mr. Tambourine Man 1964, “wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin.’” I can’t wait to boot up! The man in me will hide sometimes to keep from bein' seen But that's just because he doesn't want to turn into some machine. Took a woman like you To get through to the man in me. 1245 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “The man in me will hide sometimes to keep from bein' seen” the Devil in Dylan will use a cut out to put a contract out on Weberman, he will remain unseen “But that's just because he doesn't want to turn into some machine” but that is just because Dylan doesn’t want to have to turn to Organized Crime for help in solving the Weberman problem and be blackmailed for the rest of his life. “Machine” organized group of people whose members are, or appear to be, under the control of one or more leaders “Took a woman like you” took a douche bag nozzle like A. J. Weberman “To get through to the man in me” to get through to the Devil in me. There you have it. A poem in which Dylan admits selling his soul to the Devil. During one of our meetings Dylan said he wanted me to hear his latest single. WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW 1971 What's the matter with me, I don't have much to say, Daylight sneakin' through the window And I'm still in this all-night cafe. Walkin' to and fro beneath the moon Out to where the trucks are rollin' slow To sit down on this bank of sand And watch the river flow. “What's the matter with me” something has gone wrong, I might get popped “I don't have much to say” I don’t have much to say in this matter “Daylight” exposure to public notice: his heroin addiction was finally brought into the daylight. “sneakin'” a person who acts in an underhand or cowardly manner, especially as an informer is sneaking around “through my window” during an interval of time during which an activity must take place, like shooting up “And I'm still in this all-night café” and I am still using drugs. Tarantula: “Roger, the owner of Cafe de la All Nite - a spanish all nite restaurant.” Spanish as in Spanish Harlem Incident, a poem about heroin. 1246 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Walkin' to and fro beneath the moon” secretly going out and making sure I am not being followed “Out to where the trucks are rollin' slow” out to where drugs are easily obtainable, the connections crib “To sit down on this bank of sand” in order to make myself comfortable with this line of dope: bank as in a mound or pile raised above the surrounding level and sand as material consisting of small grains “And watch the river flow” and watch a river of drugs flow into my bloodstream. “Truck” as drug; In Ballad for a Friend 1962, Dylan wrote about his buddy who OD’d: A diesel truck was rollin' slow Pullin' down a heavy load It left him on a Utah road They carried him back to his home town, His mother cried, his sister moaned, Listen' to them church bells tone “A diesel truck was rollin' slow” a powerful drug was looking weak “Pullin' down a heavy load” but was really the equivalent of 25 bags of heroin, a load “It left him on a Utah road” it left him dead. (Utah was the State where the radical Joe Hill was executed) “They carried him back to his home town, His mother cried, his sister moaned, / Listen' to them church bells tone.” 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 the Greenwich Village of the old days: Dylan told me, “Al, you’ve been in the city too long.” “Instead of this old bank of sand” sarcastic; instead of being high on dope “With 1247 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY the sun” with the newspaper music critics “beating down” beating off vulgar slang: masturbating “over the chimney tops” over a bunch of faggots “And the one I love so close at hand” and fame and fortune I desire so close at hand, yet unattainable “If I had wings and I could fly” if I was a fucking fairy “I know where I would go” I would go straight to Hell because God considers homosexuality an abomination “But right now I'll just sit here so contentedly” but right now I shall accept my life with equanimity and satisfaction as I “watch the river flow.” “Chimney” as queer, faggot: Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues 1962 “I looked way up my chimney hole” Tarantula, “‘shouldn't done that’ said a very manly girl who came down the chimney” Tarantula, “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 ex faggot g.i.” People disagreeing on all just about everything, yeah, Makes you stop and all wonder why? Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street Who just couldn't help but cry. “People disagreeing on all just about everything, yeah” Dylan and myself having opposite views on heroin use “Makes you stop” sarcastic; makes you want to stop using it “and all wonder why” and wonder why you used it in the first place? “Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street” very recently I saw someone in Greenwich Village, “street” a particular area of a city as in Wall Street “Who just couldn't help but cry” who told everyone I was using junk like he was the fucking town crier. Oh, this ol' river keeps on rollin', though No matter what gets in the way and which way the wind does blow, And as long as it does I'll just sit here And watch the river flow. 1248 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Oh, this ol' river keeps on rollin' though” as long as smack keeps getting me high “no matter what gets in the way” no matter what media articles orchestrated by Weberman say “and which way the wind does blow” and no matter what the destructive political climate is like, and no matter how far his ideas spread “And as long as it does” but as long as smack gets me high “I'll just sit here / And watch the river flow.” I will shoot or snort it. People disagreeing everywhere you look Makes you wanna stop and read a book. Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street That was really shook. “People disagreeing everywhere you look” Weberman has put a bootlegged edition of my book Tarantula in all the bookstores in my neighborhood despite the fact I did not want it published “Makes you wanna stop” makes you want to stop him “and read a book” and re-read the book then publish it “Why only yesterday” why only recently “I saw somebody on the street” I saw Weberman in the Village “That was really shook” and he was wanting for money as his income had been cut off after I published Tarantula. “Shake down” Slang To extort money from. Dylan told me the reason he published the book was because he didn’t want to see me make money from it. By 1971 with articles about me appearing in Rolling Stone, Glamour, Ingénue, the Associated Press along with numerous radio and television appearances Dylan was willing to do anything to get me off his case, even writing a song praising George Jackson, an armed robber who became a Black Panther and Marxist theoretician. Jackson had the Panther “off the pig” mentality and murdered numerous prison guards. But Dylan said he loved him “I woke up this mornin’ there were tears in my bed / They killed a man I really loved shot him through the head.” What followed next sounded more like Dylan was rejoicing “Lord, Lord they shot George Jackson down, Lord Lord they laid him in the ground.” 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. He refused to meet with George Jackson’s mother. It was a great song however, 1249 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY all it proved was that Dylan was willing to sell out any beliefs he held if it meant he could shoot junk in peace again. So George Jackson was still was not good enough for the Dylan Liberation Front to abandon its holy 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. THE DYLAN 30th BIRTHDAY PARTY MAY 24, 1971 Dylan told me if I went through with his birthday party he would never talk to me again. I would be purged, and banned from his studio. 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. But I was the one person Dylan could not buy off and co-opt simply because I was totally nuts. Anyone else would have jumped at this opportunity. But having grown up in a orthodox Jewish household then having given up the Jewish religion I had adopted some strange form of Communism as my new religion, wherein one of the commandments was “Thou shalt not be co-opted.” In any event 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 would alter and illuminate our times. I told the police “I live on Bleecker and Bob lives on MacDougal 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 that served as candles. I had heard rumors that Dylan had gotten the Mafia on my case because his 30th Birthday Party was going 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 down the block from Dylan’s crib. 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 1250 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY witness then released. Abbie Hoffman was present at the bash 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 as a provocateur. 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. Ha! Ha! Ha! 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 footprints are everywhere” archeological artifacts taken from my garbage “footprint” as in a marked effect, impression, or impact left behind are on everyone’s mind thanks to Al. For me this sounds more like “AJ’s footprints are everywhere” when Dylan sings it but it really doesn’t matter as it works either way “You can almost think that you're seein' double” you can almost think that there are two of this maniac, 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 1251 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY When I paint my masterpiece. “Got to hurry on back to my hotel room” got to go to a private place “Where I've got me a date” where at a particular point or period of time something is expected to happen “with Botticelli's niece” with a hit or line of smack “She promised that she'd be right there with me” she promised that I would be wasted “When I paint” when I vividly depict in words, formulate “my masterpiece” something superlative of its kind: a masterpiece of criminal ingenuity. 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 hours of press conferences where the press tried to savage me “Dodging” trying to avoid these “lions” persons of outstanding interest or importance: a literary lion “and wastin' time” and devoting my time to a useless activity, attacking the media such as Time Magazine “Oh, those mighty kings” oh those that hold a preeminent position “of the jungle” in a place of ruthless struggle for survival like the media “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 seemingly sang the praises of the civil right struggle but on their subcontextual level were opposed to it “running” moving without hindrance or restraint “through the back” through the part opposite to that adapted for view or use “of my memory” of a particular recollection of an event, of a topical song “When I ran” when I had a good run “on the hilltop” on 1252 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY stage “following a pack of wild geese” after a group of often stupid folkies of the same kind preceded me “Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody” someday, but not today, everything is gonna be free from difficulties or impediments like when the folk fans jeered me, or when Al got on my case. There will be no discordant notes “When I paint” when I depict vividly in words “my masterpiece” my poetry “Wheel” as record; Lo and Behold 1967, 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! Lookin' for my lo and behold, Get me outta here, my dear man!” “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 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 “Goin' back to Pittsburgh” sarcastic, I’m goin’ back to my folk music protest song days “Count up to thirty” sarcastic, sing to an audience that is under 30. “Round that horn” make the rounds of the media “horn” a device for projecting sound waves, as in a loudspeaker “and ride that herd” sarcastic, be sustained by the Communists “herd” as in the multitude of common people regarded as a mass “Gonna thread up” this is going to be a continuing element in my life, going to have to shoot up in order to tolerate this 1253 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Lo and behold! Lookin' for my lo and behold, Get me outta here, my dear man!” “Thread” as consistent pattern: 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 At six-thirty flat I found myself a vacant seat An’ I put down my hat “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." “Geese” as deluded liberal and leftwing fans; 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. When I Paint My Masterpiece continues: Sailin' 'round the world in a dirty gondola. Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola! 1254 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 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, 1255 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Bob 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. Dylan wanted me to be his chauffeur – well I drove him out of New York. 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 are other writers and musicians “aimin' at ya” writin’ songs about you “Lawman on your trail, he'd like to catch 1256 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY ya” Al the Pig would like to catch Bob 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 you. In 1971 Scaduto’s biography of Bob Dylan was published. Dylan told me he 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” Dylan’s house was surrounded by fans on the day of the birthday party. 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 Bob’s address to most of the world his fans would camp outside his townhouse 24/7 “Walking in the streets down by the hacienda” and would follow him and hassle him when he went outside his Greenwich Village townhouse “Up to Boot Hill they'd like to send ya” and many of them expressed hostility to him “Billy, don't you turn your back on me” because Bob 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” “chamber” an enclosed space in the bore of a gun that holds the charge “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. 1257 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Sweet Senorita” as strong smack; Tom Thumb’s Blues 1966, Sweet Melinda The peasants call her the goddess of gloom She speaks good English And she invites you up into her room And you’re so kind And careful not to go to her too soon And she takes your voice And leaves you howling at the moon “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 Spanish “And she invites you up into her room” “invite” to entice; tempt you to enter a place where she will entertain you “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. Billy continues: 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” there’s 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 niggers “Bullet holes and rifles in their cases” and these niggers were bad with numerous charges lodged against them including homicide, they caught numerous cases “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 1258 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY was lucky enough to get the chance “Billy, and you're playing all alone” Bobby, 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 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 someone rifling through my trash now “Some trigger-happy fool” some journalist and photographer - trigger, the button that activates a camera “willin' to take chances” willing to incur my wrath, willing to take chances “And some old whore” and then there is some liberal journalistic hack “from San Pedro” from Saint Peters in Italy, an Italian “to make advances” who is going to make money. “Advances” money paid in advance of the publication of a book. “Advances” incursions “on your spirit” on my essential nature; ‘The spirit of Bob Dylan’ “and your soul” and my poetry as in Dear Landlord 1968 “please don’t put a price on my soul.” This was another reference to Tony Scaduto. The businessmen from Taos want you to go down 1259 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 once was 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, your addiction 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…‘maria needs a shot’ says King Villager” Dylan or Chloe Kiel needs a fix 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” I always thought you were straight, pure, unadulterated “baby.” Guitars will play your grand finale Down in some Tularosa alley 1260 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. He told his son Jesse Dylan “Whatever you do don’t grow up and be like Weberman. He was ashamed of being Jewish so he had a nose job.” Dylan who already wanted to have me murdered from the get-go needed some type of catharsis, some kind of relief, as he never carried his desire to fruition, so he wrote: IDIOT WIND 1974 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 media campaign against me “Whoever it is?” sarcastic; everyone knows these stories emanate from A. J. Weberman “I wish they'd cut it out quick” I wish the editors and publishers like Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner would cut these stories out of their music publications quick “but when they will I can only guess” but there is so much interest in this Weberman that I cannot influence them to kill these pieces and things have gone out of control. “They” the Dylan Liberation Front “say I shot” say I made pointed or critical remarks at “a man named Grey” at a 1261 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Confederate soldier, someone who was against the Civil Rights Movement “and took his wife to Italy” and then took the ideology he was wedded to, racism, to its logical extreme, fascism “She inherited” this racist ideology had inherited the problem of “a million bucks” of a million buck niggers loose in America “and when she died” and when this racist ideology died out in the South “it came to me” I adopted it “I can't help it if I'm lucky” I can’t help it if I am lucky to be White. 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 wanted to and yet he wasn’t grateful and subservient “Their minds are filled with big ideas” their brains are filled with leftist 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 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” sarcastic: unpleasing, repulsive individual. 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. 1262 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth” Weberman you 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. 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. 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 “I woke up on the roadside, daydreamin' 'bout the way things sometimes are” when I became politically aware in rural America my ideal was to preserve America the way it always has been “Visions of your chestnut mare” so the visions of your Red candidate; a mare is a ‘horse’ as in a “dark horse candidate” “shoot through my head and are makin' me see stars” go in one ear and out the other because they make me see Red Stars, the symbol of Communism. 1263 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, you bring a mob around and frighten my children “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 “flies buzzin'” the sound of zippers on pants opening “around your eyes” around your corpse as people piss on your grave. “Blood on your saddle” bloodthirsty people wanting to destroy your dead body. “Saddle” defined as both sides of the unsplit back of a carcass including both loins as in, “a saddle of beef.” 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 their highest development; the Russian dissidents imprisoned “on your tomb” in 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. 1264 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “It was gravity” it was Weberman’s desire to drag me down to his level Some Other Kinds of Songs 1964, “he wants t' drag / me down there / i realize gravity is my only enemy” “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 the lion” Weberman reduced from a wild to a civilized state a person who wanted to see him 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” now all the wealth is in the hands of a few “as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped” as a matter of fact, statistics, an imaginary turning wheel symbolizing the inconstancy of fortune has stopped for Weberman “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 on 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 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 1265 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. 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 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 / Stone-cold dead / As I stepped out of the womb.” THE ELIZABETH STREET MASSACRE 1266 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY In the preceding verse of Idiot Wind Dylan made reference to the Elizabeth Street Massacre; It was Spring 1972 and I was entering into a relationship with an Associated Press wire service reporter who was a Southern belle and a great lady. 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. When Sara returned home, she saw us, and made a big scene. She really got violent. Dylan warned me about messing with his wife and I called his secretary to apologize. That afternoon I was on my way to an anti-Vietnam war riot in Madison, Wisconsin, and I was securing my loft at 6 Bleecker Street. This required a dangerous maneuver that had to be performed in a dingy yard behind the building. As I was coming out of the alleyway that led to the yard, dazed and freaked out from the mission 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. I said, “Hey how you doing?” But my happiness was short-lived. Dylan knocked me down to the ground, got on top of me. I felt like Sara Dylan. Then he started basically banging my head against the sidewalk rather than throwing punches. He never said a word. Some hippies stumbled on the scene and pulled Bob off because Dylan was trying to seriously injure me and would not quit. As I got up trying to make sense of what had just gone down Dylan grabbed my FREE BOB DYLAN button, plucked it off my shirt, and threw it to the ground. I had been court martialed, convicted and in a public display of disgrace my medals had been stripped from me. Since all this went down one block from the Bowery, two Bowery bums approached me and asked, “Did he get much money?” They thought I was a fellow bum who had been robbed by one of the predators who prowled the Bowery looking for drunks to roll. I said, “That’s Bob Dylan man, he got millions of dollars, he doesn’t have to come down to the Bowery and roll drunks.” Then suddenly I realized what had gone down. Dylan had beaten the crap out of me and I did not put up any resistance as I knew I had broken my own rules of conduct. But who really cares what is right and wrong? I grabbed one of the numerous wine bottles that lined the street and ran to the corner of Elizabeth and Houston. Dylan was on his bike waiting for the light to change. I crouched behind the space between two cars and having had plenty of experience throwing 1267 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY rocks at cops at anti-Vietnam war demonstrations I was going to bean him with the bottle and hopefully Bobby Dylan would fall off his 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” A. J. Weberman “blowing” slang spoiling or losing through ineptitude “like a circle” like someone going around in circles engaging in energetic but fruitless activity “around my skull” around my thoughts, my intelligence “From the Grand Coulee Dam” from when I was a Woody Guthrie clone. Grand Coulee Dam is a song by Woody. “to the Capitol” to when in August 1963 I played at the Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C. “Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth” Weberman, 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 Weberman 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” I can’t even test or explore with caution the possibility of suing you “I can't even touch” I can’t get a lien against you “touch” the act of approaching someone for money “the books you've read” the financial records “books” financial or business records considered as a group that you keep “Every time I crawl” every time I proceed or act in a servile manner “past your door” past this opportunity “I been wishin' I was somebody else instead” I am sorry I am Bob 1268 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan and suing A. J. Weberman would be out of character for me and what’s more would give Weberman publicity. 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” down a direct path or course in America “down the tracks” to heroin use – tracks - slang needle marks on the skin from multiple intravenous injections, considered an indication of habitual drug use “down the road to ecstasy” down the path in life to a heroin high “I followed you beneath the stars” you preceded me beneath the stars the future; destiny, possibly death “hounded” followed by someone who was like a pig, a cop “hound” a large breed of dog much used in tracking and police work “by your memory” by your ability to memorize my poems and put various key words together “And all your ragin'” and your popularity you were the “rage” and you spread your ideas forcefully: The plague of Weberman raged for months. “glory” and at 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 been double-crossed by the Communists many times before “and now I'm finally free” and now I am an exponent of freedom and free market economics “I kissed goodbye the howling beast” I kissed goodbye to the Russian Bear “on the borderline” on the difference between the America and Soviet Union political and economic systems. Borderline as demarcation between nations “which separated you” which separated you a supporter of Soviet repression “from me” from someone who vehemently opposed it. You'll never know the hurt I suffered 1269 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” you'll never know the “hurt” to have or produce a feeling of physical pain or discomfort “I suffered” I underwent because you created a set of circumstances that forced me to go cold turkey “nor the pain I rise above” nor the self pity and depths of depression I must rise up from “And I'll never know the same about you, your holiness” and I will never know the same about you and your sacrament marijuana “or your kind of love” or your kind of drugs “And it makes me feel so sorry” totally sarcastic. 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 of our coats” Weberman, manifesting his destructiveness by creating FREE BOB DYLAN buttons to pin to his coat buttons a usually round flat badge that bears a design or printed information and is typically pinned to a garment: a campaign button. During our taped telephone conversation Dylan said I had a pig mentality for exposing his heroin use: “You outta wear a badge. Pin it to your leather coat.” “Blowing through the letters that we wrote” spreading heat through the articles Weberman wrote “Idiot wind, blowing through the dust” Weberman spreading lies through the shitty “upon our shelves” out of circulation “on the shelf” articles you wrote “We're idiots, babe” we are both idiots, “It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves” it’s a wonder we are not retarded. The blood in Blood on the Tracks, was supposed to be my blood on the tracks of this LP. 1270 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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, what truthfully needed to be done “It's never been this close before” but this time I am closer than ever before to actually doing it “Never been so easy or so slow” it has never been easier to have 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 miss Weberman when he’s gone. 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 cloud so high above” there is a cloud of suspicion hanging over me as to my heroin use thanks to Weberman “dragon” as in ‘chasing the dragon’ slang for smoking opium. There’s a similar use of cloud in The Man In Me 1970 1271 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” i.e. a dose of a narcotic drug below the lethal level “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, “I can smell” I can 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?” can you turn me on to your connection, 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” symbol of academia, Michigan State University “clover” hippy lifestyle in clover living a carefree life of ease Take Me As I Am Or Let Me Go 1970 “White lilies never grow on stalks of clover” segregationist thinking will never take root on a hippy “Queen Anne lace” married to a radical artist who he met at MSU “Crimson hair” communist politics “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 turn my abstract words into protest songs “cry” demand or require immediate action or remedy: grievances crying out for redress. “Can't remember what I was thinkin' of” sarcastic; can’ remember what I was thinking of when I 1272 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY embedded meaning into my poetry “You might be spoilin' me too much, love” sarcastic: you might be doing harm to my character, nature, or attitude by oversolicitude, overindulgence, or excessive praise “Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go” I ain’t gonna miss you one bit. “Purple” as symbol of academia. 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 snow-packed black Mercury Montclair. Behind him, a priest in a purple cloak was slipping through the courtyard of the church through an opened gate on his way to perform some sacred duty. Nearby, a bareheaded woman in boots tried to manage a laundry bag up the street. There were a million stories, just everyday New York things if you wanted to focus in on them. It was always right out in front of you, blended together, but you'd have to pull it apart to make any sense of it. “Across the way a guy in a leather jacket” Weberman - during our telephone conversation Dylan told me that I should wear a badge on my leather jacket “scooped” uncovered information especially of immediate interest from “frost” poetry as in Robert Frost. Tarantula, “who has a feeling for the most lost pieces of frost…people continue drawin’ noses on robert frost books” “off the windshield” “shield” to cover up; conceal “of a snow-packed” of a high on heroin “snow” slang heroin “black” attended with disaster; calamitous “Mercury Montclair” Bob Dylan whose politics were similar to those found in the American Mercury. “Behind him” in the background of; underlying: Behind your every action is self-interest. “a priest in a purple cloak” a radical “priest” as in Idiot Wind 1273 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “The priest wore black on the seventh day” who was hidden or disguised as a scholar, a Dylanologist, “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 “bareheaded” nearby, exposed to view; undisguised: bare fangs “woman in boots” someone who is too big for their boots, someone who behaved as if they were more important or more clever than they really were “tried to manage” tried to exercise executive, administrative, and supervisory direction of “a laundry bag up the street” money he had laundered “There were a million stories” there were a million stories in the naked city – this was the introduction to a television series on crime in New York City “just everyday New York things if you wanted to focus in on them” sarcastic: totally off the wall things if you wanted to write a poem about them “It was always right out in front of you” I knew about Weberman’s operation “blended together” and I merged descriptions of it with my poetry “but you'd have to pull it apart to make any sense of it” but Weberman would have to tear it apart in order to translate it and that would a drag. “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. I’m Gonna Miss You When You’re Gone continues, 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 Folkways Records Dylan v. Weberman LP captured during the finest most vigorous period “bloomin' crazy” that were bloomin’ mad are being distributed in record stores and they are recordings of “Crickets” sarcastic: two men engaged in fair and honorable behavior, Weberman was recording the conversation “talkin' back and forth in 1274 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY rhyme” discussing the various words in Dylan’s poems “Blue river” a large number of dirty words “runnin' slow” not having intellectual and mental quickness “and lazy” and slow-moving; sluggish “I could stay” I could issue a stopping or suspension of procedure or execution by judicial order “with you forever” against you time and time again “And never realize” and never convert into actual money as in realized assets “the time” an hourly pay rate as in “straight time.” In other words Dylan can sue me to try to shut me up but it will get him nowhere fast. 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, trying, or unusual state of affairs: problems with Weberman “have ended sad” have ended sadly for me as he got one over on me with his shenanigans but they might also end sadly for Weberman, in fact he might meet his end “Relationships have all been bad” my personal relationship with Weberman turned out badly for me. I was nice to the guy and he screwed me over “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” boy will I be happy when Al is dead. 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. 1275 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” about being alive far after you, Weberman, are dead “Yer gonna make me wonder what I'm sayin'” you are going to make me wonder what I am saying when I arrange for your demise since I have never done anything like this before “Yer gonna make me give myself a good talkin' to” sarcastic: my conscience is going to bother me for having had you offed. 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” sarcastic: we will meet again in Heaven above “In the tall” in the lefty “grass” poems as in Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman “in the ones that I love” and in the other poems that express what I believe to be true “Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go” boy am I gonna miss Weberman! If Dogs Run Free 1970, contains similar elements “True love can make a blade of grass” truth can make a poem “Stand up” stand up to, endure, the test of time “straight” not bent nor bowed, undefeated “and tall” yet seem to be leftleaning. Dignity 1994, “Wise man lookin' in a blade of grass” wise man looking to the power of literature. 1276 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY All this murder talk was just that, talk; Dylan never acted on any of it because he didn’t want the Mafia blackmailing him for the rest of his life, but he sure thought about it a lot. After I told Dylan that I was having Free Bob Dylan buttons printed up he assured me, Dylan: You’ll live through it, I’m sure you will live through all of it AJ: Oh man I hope so man. Dylan: You will it won’t do nothing, it will be good for you man it will be good for you. AJ: What will be good for me? Dylan: Having your picture with pig written on it, you know AJ: I fight pigs man Dylan: Come on don’t give me that. You only fight to go through my garbage man. Dylan still couldn’t let it go and forget A. J. Weberman so he wrote this highly impenetrable poem: ISIS 1975 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. Cinqo de Mayo is a 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 my judgment, conviction and point of 1277 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY view this repulsive Communist ideology for very long “So I cut off” so I got rid of “my hair” my leftwing politics “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 got hitched to a candidate, “horse” as in dark horse “to a post” who held a post, a position “on the right” on the political right - Senator Barry Goldwater “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, tried to convince 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 was not the garden variety of revolutionary “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 or talent that works in that direction “He said, “That ain't necessary” who needs imagination, with Communism it is all cut and dry. 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. 1278 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “We set out” we set out ideas “that night” during that period of darkness “for the cold” for the deaths “in the North” in the Soviet Union; Seven Days, “My beautiful comrade from the north” “I gave him my blanket” I gave him my overall evaluation of Communism “blanket” covering all members of a group or class as in a blanket wage increase “he gave me his word” he gave me what he wanted my poetry to be about, and not the meaning that I intentionally embedded. Tell Me That It Isn’t True 1968, “All I want is your word” “I said, ‘Where are we goin'?’” I asked Weberman where is this relationship going? “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” it would be worth it not to have to see this asswipe anymore. I was thinkin' about turquoise, I was thinkin' about gold I was thinkin' about diamonds and the world's biggest necklace. As we rode through the canyons, through the Devilish cold I was thinkin' about Isis, how she thought I was so reckless. “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 niggers who put burning tires around the necks of informants working against the African National Congress “As we rode” as we were sustained and supported “through the canyons” by the crater, the 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. 1279 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Canyon” as “vacuous” Let Me Die In My Footsteps “Go out in your country where the land meets the sun / See the craters and the canyons where the waterfalls run.” 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 Weberman told me he would bring over the interview he did with me for editing “And things would be different the next time we wed” and he would make certain changes the next time we were joined together in print “If I only could hang on” if I only could hang on while he changed the tape he used to record a phone call between us “hang on” as to keep a telephone connection open “and just be her friend” and continue to talk “I still can't remember all the best things she said” I still can't remember all the best things Weberman said because he was a fucking idiot. 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 the hieroglyphics – Dylan’s poetry “all embedded in ice” which contained pro-apartheid embedded meaning. “ice” slang diamonds the major export of South Africa “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 publisher “'Twas then that I knew what he had on his mind” it then that I knew he was just another dude with making a lot of money on his mind. The wind it was howlin' and the snow was outrageous. We chopped through the night and we chopped through the dawn. 1280 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 idiotic destructive force was a howlin’ down the thoughts of other rock critics. Also I 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” and 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” a first appearance; a beginning “When he died I was hopin' that it wasn't contagious” after Dylanology, garbology and Al died out in popularity I was praying that his ideas would not spread to others causing the same reaction or emotion in my audience; Al’s stupidity was contagious catching; infectious “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 by writing a song about George Jackson as Johnny Cash did with his song Stuck in Folsom Prison. “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 a poem about Black Panther George Jackson “When I saw that my partner” when I realized that my partner in 1281 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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.” 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” long distance - a telephone call made outside the local calling area, a telephone call between two people who are far apart politically “train” train of thought “rolling” starting to move or operate “roll” as in the tape was rolling throughout our conversation “through the rain” through the period of destruction instigated by the Dylan Liberation Front “tears on the letter I write” and I express my emotions in the poems I write. Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie 1961, “And yer eyes get swimmy from the tears in yer head.” “There’s a woman I long to touch” there is a person I wish to how shall I say physically affect with a projectile (Weberman) “and I miss her so much” but I fail to reach her almost completely “but she’s drifting” and as a result she’s making the underlying meaning, import, or purport of what is written by me as in the drift of a poem “like a satellite” sound like someone under the influence of Soviet Communism. “Long-distance” as telephone call. Long Distance Operator 1962, Long-distance operator Place this call, it’s not for fun 1282 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Long-distance operator Please, place this call, you know it’s not for fun I gotta get a message to my baby You know, she’s not just anyone “Long-distance operator” I am speaking over the phone with a shrewd and skillful person who knows how to circumvent restrictions or difficulties and get someone on vinyl “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 Whites comprise a majority of the population does not mean they should be forgotten. 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 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’. Her father would emphasize you got to be more than street-wise 1283 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” would emphasize you have to be more than adept at surviving in an urban, poor and often criminal environment, you have to fight back “but he practiced what he preached from the heart” but Terry, unlike Weberman, carried out in action what he deeply believed in as he deserted his Army unit in Germany to fight in the Suez war. “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 onstage 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” there’s a really good looking reporter, a Southern Belle “in the arms of a woman in a rage” being beaten up by Sara Dylan, feeling Sara 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 Sara winds back and clocks the reporter “and she turns back” and she changes the direction of, the speed of, slows down, or stops entirely the efforts of “the page” a noteworthy or memorable event: a new page in literary history “of a book that no one can write” of a book translating my poetry into prose that Weberman is incapable of writing “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, 1284 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Sacrifice was the code of the road “The truth” the actual reality of the situation “was obscure” was not readily noticed or seen; inconspicuous “too profound” too thoroughgoing; far-reaching “and too pure” too complete; utter “to live it you have to explode” to experience it you have to show conventional thinking to be false and unreliable; ‘explode the hypothesis that murder is evil’ also explode as in become extremely angry and explode “In that last hour of need” in somebody's hour of need at a time when someone needs help to stop a Birthday Party “we entirely agreed” the Mafia and I made an agreement “sacrifice” killing Weberman “was the code” was the code as in the Mafia’s code of silence Omerta, “of the road” of the course or path: the road to peace and quiet.. 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 Weberman was going to go through with the Birthday Party “with Marcel and St. John strong men belittled by doubt” with two made men, strong arm men, from the Italian Mafia who had come under police and FBI suspicion because of their Organized Crime connections “I couldn’t tell her what my private thoughts were” I couldn’t tell Al that I wanted to have him beaten or whacked “but she had some way of finding them out” but I got the word that because the event was going down in Little Italy the mob had an interest in it. 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 1285 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “He took dead-center aim” the bullet was going to hit Al dead center – I did all I could to eliminate Weberman “but he missed just the same” but the bullet metaphorically missed him, I failed in my mission “She was waiting” Weberman had anticipated my move “putting flowers on the shelf” and announced that he was aware of it while he was in the midst of taking the best examples of my work and putting them on public display. I went on Bob Fass’s WBAI radio show and accused Dylan of trying to put out a contract on me. That put an end to that. If anything happened to me suspicion would fall on Bob. “She could feel my despair” Weberman could sense that I had become overcome by a sense of futility or defeat “as I climbed up her hair” sarcastic: as I descended in social position because of Weberman’s bizarre fixation regarding my politics “And discovered her invisible self” and discovered a part of Weberman kept hidden from public view; the secret, clandestine part wherein he was able to gather intelligence information. 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” there’s a fierce bestial human being “in the road” who has injected himself into the course I take in my life “there’s a demon escaped” there’s a persistently tormenting person, force, or passion escaped from some mental institution (perhaps from one for the criminally insane)? “There’s a million dreams gone” there’s millions of songs that could have been written that have been destroyed, “there’s a landscape being raped” someone is going through my trash “As her beauty fades” as anything I found interesting about Weberman fades “and I watch her undrape” and I fantasize about the unveiling of Weberman’s tombstone, a Jewish tradition “I won’t, but then again, maybe I might” I won’t kill Weberman but then again maybe I just might “Oh, if I could just find you tonight” if I could get my hands on Weberman, I would strangle him. I fought with my twin, that enemy within, 'til both of us fell by the way 1286 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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” the 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, 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 talent for something original rather than parasiting off of me. 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 1287 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “I bit into” tasted “the root” the starting product – raw opium “of forbidden fruit” of heroin “With the juice” slang; with its 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 a drug dealer “who'd never known about loss” sarcastic: who was unfamiliar with death and murder “And who always was too proud to beg” and who would come after you if you didn’t pay him. 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’s a belief in White supremacy and apartheid and an unhappiness that this system is not in place in America “on the dark side of this room” on what you would consider the dark side, the evil, sinister side of my life, my personality “And a pathway” and a genetic inheritance “pathway” a sequence of reactions by which one biological material is converted to another “that leads up to the stars” that leads to intelligence and Nobel Prize winners rather than a bunch of dumb, violent niggers “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 this “moral” race-mixers paradise “Just remind me to show you the scars” just remind me show you all the people who have been scarred by Black crime. 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 at dawn” when I first began to think I envisioned a different kind of revolution ‘new day’ as in the Communist song, I Can See A New Day “and I’ve finally arrived” and I have finally arrived at the truth “If I’m there in the morning” if I was there at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement “baby, 1288 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY you’ll know I’ve survived” you know that no critic has caught on to my racism “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe I’m alive” I can’t believe that I am still a viable commodity, alive in the music world “But without you it just doesn’t seem right” but without Weberman characterizing me as a leftist who sold out perhaps someone might have caught on that the subcontextual meaning is rightwing “Oh, where are you tonight?” After he publically converted to Christianity - I know it is hard to believe - but Dylan seems to have actually expressed gratitude for my attempts to get him to stop using dope. 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 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 1289 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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” Dylan observed 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 about me. Also from an Orthodox background, ‘curly tail’ as in side locks. “He wasn't too small” he was not limited in importance or significance; trivial Went to See the Gypsy 1970 “I went down to the lobby / To make a small call out” “and he wasn't too big” Informal, widely liked, used, or practiced; popular "Ah, think I'll call it a pig." “Pig” as journalist, critic and A. J. Weberman; during a tape-recorded telephone conversation between myself and Dylan, Dylan jokingly stated that he was going to write a song about me, and many a true word is said in jest. I told him, “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 1290 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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…” By 1980 I had less contact with the Youth International Party and more with the Jewish Defense Organization. I began to participate in the fight against Nazism, which was what drew me to the Left in the first place, having been born a Jew in 1945 right after the Holocaust. 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? Dylan was convinced that he would soon be rid of me once and for all: 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 in prison for quite a while. 1291 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” well I have never gotten busted for years “walk” to avoid criminal prosecution or conviction – I walked on a technicality “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 authority of the highest order, God, reeks His vengeance upon 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 and security, your wall of silence “and I know you're hurting” I realize you are still hurting for revenge “Sorrow covers Europe like a cape” Nazism covers Europe as if it were one country jutting out into the Atlantic “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 “that you managed” that you made submissive to your persuasion, kept things in check “to escape” and was able to avoid it. 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. 1292 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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, 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 1293 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. When The Night Comes Falling From the Sky continues, 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 Negro “For the love of a lousy buck” but because the one who translated my poetry was a dirty buck nigger-lover “I've watched them die” I've watched these thoughts die out in America “Stick around, baby, we're not through” Weberman continue to take 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 caused me cross certain moral demarcations and 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 1294 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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. 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” someday I will forget about “That icy” that murderous “ice” slang, to kill; murder “wind” that which disrupts and destroys “that's howling” that’s making a loud derisive call: the howls of an angry mob. “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. T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound: Desolation Row 1965 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 1295 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Praise be to Nero's Neptune” praise be to Capitalism. Tarantula, “look down oh great Romantic. you who can predict from every position, you who know that everybody's not a Job or a Nero nor a J.C. Penney.” “The Titanic sails at dawn” the disastrous Communist revolution is beginning to sweep through the world “And everybody's shouting ‘Which Side Are You On?’" and everyone is moving to the Left. Which Side Are You On is an old union song. “And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot” and two Jew hating Fascist poets “Fighting in the captain's tower” are towering figures leading the fight to preserve Western culture and the White race “While calypso singers laugh at them” while a bunch of niggers ridicule them “And fishermen hold flowers” and Jews display the best examples of their leftist or liberal art “Between the windows of the sea” and win the faith of a great deal of humanity “Where lovely mermaids flow” where leftist singers like Joan Baez enjoy popularity “And nobody has to think too much about Desolation Row” and no one gives serious consideration to the fact that folk music is furthering Communism. “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.” “Neptune” as Capitalism; Tarantula, & into the march now where tab hunter leads with his thunderbird / pearl bailey stomps him against a buick & where poverty, a perfection of neptune's unused clients plays hide & seek & escaping into the who goes there? “& into the march now” into the truth about the Freedom Now! Civil Rights Movement “where tab hunter” where a freeloading nigger “tab” informal as in bill or check, such as one for a meal in a restaurant. “Hunter” as someone who seeks something. Tab Hunter was also an actor “leads with his thunderbird” is in charge and is carrying a bottle of cheap Thunderbird wine, a typical drunken bum “pearl bailey stomps him” a rich nigger convinces him through song and dance “against a buick &” into buying a Cadillac on credit “& where poverty” and where welfare “a perfection of” perfected by “neptune's unused clients” capitalisms superfluouos people who become welfare clients “plays hide & seek” becomes a mugger “& 1296 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY escaping” as a result there is a gradual outflowing of the Black community “into the who goes there?” into prison. Who goes there? Mostly Blacks. 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” well 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 When the night comes falling from the sky “This time I’m asking for freedom” this time it is I, instead of the AfricanAmericans, who is asking for liberation from oppression. I also hear “this time 1297 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY arrested for freedom.” This time arrested for the freedom sell pot “Freedom from a world that you deny” freedom from a world, the drug world, that you deny to me; I Threw It All Away 1969, “Love is all there is” junk is all there is “Love and only love it can’t be denied” heroin and only heroin you cannot deny yourself its pleasure “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 as is God’s wish. Dylan knew me better than I knew myself. He knew I lived on the edge. In order to prevent the night from fallin’ from the sky in October 1985 I went into exile in the Land of 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 Jewish Defense Organization, of which I was a founder, 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. Bruce 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 United States 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. 1298 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 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. When I returned from Israel I found that Dylan had composed this song: 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 1299 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Congratulations for breaking my heart” mazeltov for “breaking” for 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 beauty of the poetry “Tear” is a recurrent word when Dylan makes reference to my work, but he fails to provide me with a viable 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 could 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 of your life a mutual friend provides me with and I discovered “A bluebird singing” a performer was singing “but there was no one around” but Weberman was no longer around to listen to him! “At night I lay alone in my bed” when I get high, Lay Lady Lay 1969, “Lay Lady Lay, lay across my big brass bed, stay lady stay, stay while the night is still a head” “With an image of you” with some poem I wrote about you “goin' around in my head”. “Bluebird” as singer; to the Left in Up To Me 1974, “Everything went from bad to worse, money [my talent] 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 1300 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Congratulations for bringing me down” thanks for being a total buzz kill and returning to the United States “Congratulations now I'm sorrow bound” congratulations 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” congratulations 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” now I can only conjecture “that I must have loved you more than I ever knew” that it was a mistake to have let you live “My world is empty now cause it don't have you” my entire life lacks substance, meaning and purpose since it don’t have, in the sense of have at to attack Weberman “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” congratulations now it’s all water under the bridge and nothing can change the past, 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” congratulations you never knew when to stop dealing reefer, stop fighting Nazis, stop being an extremist. Also stop and not have the 30th Birthday Party. TWEETER & THE MONKEY MAN 1988 Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash 1301 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 folksinger who imitated Woody Guthrie “monkey” to imitate or mimic; ape “were hard up for cash” wanted to be like Johnny Cash but could not be so “They stayed up all night” so they played in underground Greenwich Village venues “selling cocaine” selling songs like Cocaine Blues “and hash” and re-workings and restatements of already familiar material that would appeal to the folk music crowd “To an undercover cop” whose members including one A. J. Weberman, a pig “who had a sister named Jan” who was part of the Civil Rights Movement “sister” a African-American woman or girl involved in 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 that she believed were anti-racist. 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 rock and roll musician without a baseline “was a boy scout” was a patriotic nationalist Tarantula “he'll be teaching a boy scout the Ten Commandments” “before she went to Vietnam” before he came to Communistcontrolled New York City “And found out the hard way” and learned through his own experience “nobody gives a damn” that no one cared what he was as long as he entertained them “They knew that they found freedom” Tweeter and the Monkey Man; Dylan the civil rights advocate Communist cow-tower and his cheap Woody Guthrie knockoff 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 do this was in the North, in New 1302 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY York City “So they hopped” jumped on the bandwagon “into a stolen car took Highway 99” and publically hooked up with the domestic Communists. “Vietnam” as a communist controlled area; 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 singing militant in the mythical streets of a hot New York entertainment scene filled with hatred for Bob Dylan then suddenly filled with 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 icon Woody Guthrie knockoff “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” he also wanted Dylan locked up “Jan got married at fourteen” the leftist Civil Rights Movement became closely associated with the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution that 1303 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 was often controlled by Organized Crime in urban areas and 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 Woody Guthrie clone “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. 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 on a perilous course to oblivion Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 (liner notes) “Hangin' heavy like a thunder cloud / In the dawn a t'morrow's rain” “Tweeter at the wheel” Dylan the folksinger making the records, promoting revolution, in charge “They crashed into paradise” they moved noisily so as to cause damage to Socialist thinking as in ‘workers paradise’ “they could hear them tires” they could hear them records “squeal” betray this fact: On their superficial level Dylan’s poem advocated “peace” and “civil rights” but in their subcontextual they advocated just the opposite “The undercover cop pulled up and said ‘Everyone of you's a liar’” Weberman came on the scene after he thought Dylan had sold out principles he never had and in a Brooklyn accent said you didn’t really believe in what youse was singing cause if you really believed it you would have acted on it “If you don't surrender now” and if you don’t give over and resign yourself to something, as pertains to your politics, be what I perceived as a left-winger again “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 1304 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” great literature (Ernest Hemingway was an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I) “rolled up” ended as in roll up an 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 Commissar types “The undercover cop was left” Weberman was left to pursue his Leftist agenda “tied up” tethered “to a tree” to his punishment rather than “tied up” with a belt around his arm. When I asked Bob if I could drop off a copy of an interview I did with him on a Saturday he told me “I’m all tied up for the weekend.” “Near the souvenir stand” near Dylan’s old relics and keepsakes, his protest songs, where he took a leftist political stand, near his garbage can where Weberman dug up souvenirs, keepsakes “by the old abandoned factory” next to where Dylan once mass produced on an assembly line basis, cranked out, these Old Left classics. “Ambulance” as great literature; Tarantula, “the lawrence welk people. under the window, they're running the city planning division & they hibernate” & feeding their summers by conversing with poor people's shadows & other ambulance drivers.” Desolation Row 1966 “And the only sound that's Left” and the only music that is left “After the ambulances go” after the true literary geniuses have left the scene “Is Cinderella sweeping up” is Bob Dylan enjoying an overwhelming victory or success “On Desolation Row” in the desolate word of folk music. Pledging My Time 1966; Well, they sent for the ambulance And one was sent Somebody got lucky But it was an accident Now I’m pledging my time to you Hopin’ you’ll come through, too 1305 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Well, they sent for the ambulance” the Left sent for someone who could create great literature like Ernest Hemingway “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” but was a result of a lack of intention; purely chance, not because he believed in the ideas of the Left “Now, I'm pledging” now I am guaranteeing by a solemn binding promise; ‘a 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 affects “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 liberal New York City “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” was a 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 1306 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Someplace by Rahway prison” some place near the prison where Rubin Hurricane Carter was incarcerated. Dylan wrote a song about Rubin Hurricane Carter in 1975 however this is a reference George Jackson 1971 “they ran out of gas” slang they ran out of rightwing revolutionary spirit “The undercover cop that cornered them” Weberman who put Dylan in a dangerous position from which escape is difficult a tight corner “said Boy, you didn't think that this could last” said you didn’t think you could go on with this con, exploiting the Blacks and not doing anything for them in return “Jan jumped out of bed” the Civil Rights Movement came to life again and “said there's someplace I gotta go / She took a gun out of the drawer” she took a guitar out of the formula she used to draw a crowd “and said it's best if you don't know” and said it is best that you don’t know the truth about George Jackson. “Gas” as revolutionary spirit. Tarantula, proper hitchhiking with the gas mask on & thumbing the queens, the paul reveres & meet Nick the Nail for he exists & he's real like Sing Sing & “proper hitchhiking” catching a ride to success the traditional folk musician way “with the gas mask on” by pretending to possess a leftwing revolutionary spirit “& thumbing the queens” and ridiculing the establishment. Tarantula, “she turning into twenty-three” Dylan in 1962 “& you concluding that even gas masks can be worn in freedom” and Dylan concluding pretending to be a revolutionary was compatible with America values “but who are you really talking & thinking about when you discuss your destiny? your problem? your freedom?” Tarantula, outside, however after the tear gas disappears, we find that the leprechaun's got his hand in a bandage & his beard's gone & the mayor, we find out, is home making urgent phone calls to cardinal Spellman Returning to Tweeter And The Monkey Man, 1307 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” Dylan outdid Weberman when it came to the field of revolutionary Blacks, Weberman was found “in a ditch, flies buzzin’ round his eyes” as in Idiot Wind “The monkey man was on the river bridge” the Woody Guthrie knockoff was up to his old literary tricks once again “using Tweeter as a shield” using his folk music credentials as a decorative emblem that served to identify an organization “Jan said to the Monkey Man” the anti-racist figure told Dylan “I'm not fooled by Tweeter's curl” I am not fooled by Dylan the folksinger’s contempt for the pigs “I knew him long before he ever became a Jersey girl” I knew him when he was still living in Hibbing, Minnesota, before he came to New York City, when he was a racist. 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 back in a folk club “called the Lion's Den” which is a place or state of extreme disadvantage, antagonism and hostility. Chronicles, “I wanted to tell him that life itself has turned into a prowling lion.” “The TV set” the topical song about George Jackson has “been blown up” caused a flap, a full blown scandal “every bit of it is gone” every short scene or episode in that theatrical performance, such as the use of the word “shit” caused it to be real gone, far-out “Ever since the nightly news show that the Monkey Man was on” ever I brought this case to national attention. 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 1308 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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.” Georgia as a Republic in the Soviet Union. Also this has shades of Ratso Rizzo from the movie Midnight Cowboy “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 everything's been done” I did what I could to get the undercover cop off my back “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 character that obsesses me the most is the Monkey Man. 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. These lyrics, with just a few very minor changes, fit into the system of lesser used meanings of words and symbolism Dylan 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 1309 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Diamond Joe” and his name is A. J. Weberman, some average 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 talent “In a diamond-studded jar” in way that he hopes will jar people’s thinking about racism. 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” and he never took much trouble with a summons or writ ordering a defendant to appear in court. Weberman was not afraid of being sued or arrested. 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 1310 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. 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” it was corny, dated “dodger” small yippie, zippie, leftist printed handbills, underground newspapers “And his meat” and the essence, substance, and gist of his translations “you couldn't chaw” you couldn’t even meditate on, ponder on, because 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, where is it you belong? Boostin' and goin' out on the lam, Ya know that you'll steal anything that you can. Temptation stands just behind the door, So what you wanna go and open it for? “Oh, jawbone, why dont'cha go home?” Oh Weberman, why don’t you reach your goal? “Oh, jawbone, where is it you belong?” Weberman you belong in the nuthouse “Boostin’” shootin’ dope; boost, slang to inject a drug “and goin’ out on the lam” and escaping, hiding “Ya know that you’ll steal” you know you will present or use my words or ideas as your own “anything that you can” with 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 1311 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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’” Weberman, you keep on 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” Oh Weberman, revenge for what in your mind is my having abandoned the Left causes you to obsess. “Oh, jawbone, you been doin’ too much time” Weberman you have listening to The Times They Are A Changin’ too often, you have imprisoned yourself in the Left for too long. In The Hitter, an allegorical autobiography of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen also used the “jaw” metaphor writing from the first person point of view as Bob Dylan: I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud Rain poured through the tent to the canvas and mixed with our blood In the twelfth I slipped my tongue over my broken jaw I stood over him and pounded his bloody body into the floor Well the bell rang and rang and still I kept on 'Till I felt my glove leather slip 'tween his skin and bone “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, destruction 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, it became part of history “and mixed with our blood” and became part of both of our Jewish heritages that two Jews would go at it “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 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 1312 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 Now he's got a broken jaw 'Cause she let fly with an iron toe And kicked him back to Buffalo “I had a friend who once got a song” I had a fan named Weberman who caught on to the meaning of one song “Now he's got a broken jaw” and now Weberman 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. Diamond Joe continues: 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 lie like like Weberman 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 1313 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I'm still punchin' cattle In the pay of Diamond Joe. “Now, I tried three times to quit him” I often tried to release Weberman from the burden and responsibility of translating my poetry into prose “But he did argue so” but he continued to believe I was a left-winger. 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. 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 I am admitted to heaven “And it's my time to go” and it’s my time to die “Give my blankets” give the generalizations I have made in my poetry “to my buddies” to the White Americans “Give the fleas to Diamond Joe” and give the parasites that I write about, the colored people on welfare, to A. J. Weberman. One of the last times I saw “Cracker Boy” was at One-Legged Terry’s apartment. Dylan was sitting on the bed playing shesh pesh (backgammon) with the OneLegged Man. When Terry opened the door and Dylan saw it was me he scrambled to the doorway to attack me. He had blood in his eyes and was declaring aloud that his intent was to murder me. Terry held the door shut so Dylan couldn’t leave apartment and chase after me and shouted run! run! run! He’s serious! Terry and Bob had bonded because they were both righteous Jews. They even went on a mission together during which they invaded the offices of the Village Voice carrying a video camera. I called Terry from a nearby bar where I had gone to use the Men’s Room, having nearly pissed in my pants. I told him that his friend was dangerous! Dylan hated my guts back then but by 1997 Dylan had changed his tune. He had been suffering from HIV during a time when the disease was 1314 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY terminal, not manageable. He realized that I had warned him that one day his addictive personality was going to get him into some deep do-do. This next poem is much more conciliatory than any previous one. 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” I am 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 as it has become an ordeal “I got no place left to turn” there is nothing I can turn to which will cure me, there is no place on the Left that interests 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/ crystal jukebox queen of hymn & him diffused in drunk transfusion wound would heed sweet soundwave crippled “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” 1315 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Woody Guthrie clone “queen” having eminence and supremacy in a given domain “of hymn” of politics, political songs “& him” Dylan “diffused” immersed “in drunk” in drugged “transfusion wound” the transfer of 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 “would heed sweet soundwave crippled” would invent folk rock while crippled and needing a crutch like smack. 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. This is the representation of Communism as a harlot found in Jokerman. “Over to the jukebox” over to the Woody Guthrie human jukebox “playin' deaf and dumb” pretending to ignore the evils of Communism. Standing in the Doorway continues: 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” Weberman, 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 what phenomenon you really represented? “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 1316 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 as in the Long Branch, New Jersey incident. “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” the outstanding and famous, ‘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 on my gay guitar” I am suffering from a disease that normally strikes homosexuals “Smoking a cheap cigar” congratulating myself for just being able to stay alive “Gay” as queer; 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 effeminate. “The ghost of our old love” the faint image of truth implanted during of our prior relationship “has not gone away” is still lodged in my brain “Don't look like it will anytime soon” and it will be there until the day I die “You left me standing in the doorway crying” 1317 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY you left me standing in Terry’s doorway screaming murderous threats “Under the midnight moon” during the worst part of my insane existence. 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 and maybe it won’t “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 like Magic Johnson warning kids about HIV “I know the mercy of God must be near” but I know after I die God will forgive me for not doing this. 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’ve 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 as in a fool for love. When the last rays of daylight go down Buddy, you'll roll no more I can hear the church bells ringing in the yard 1318 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 of daylight go down” when the final slight indication, or ray of hope vanishes; Don’t Fall Apart On Me Tonight 1983, “You know, the streets are filled with vipers / Who've lost all ray of hope” “Buddy” A. J. who ingratiated himself, as by presuming friendship, buddying up “you'll roll no more” you will not get rolled by me, as the Bowery 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 were the one” but all it did was remind me that you were the one who warned me against doing dugi “You left me standing in the doorway crying” Weberman, 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 1319 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “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 “I know someone will be there to care” Al will still stick with me to the end because he actually had some human feeling for me and was not just trying to advance his career. “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.” Standing in the Doorway continues, 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 Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat 1966, “with my belt wrapped 1320 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY around my head.” Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat 1966 also contained 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” I think what I need might be something of the original length; not abridged “leather coat” Nazi uniform “Somebody just asked me” Al just asked me “If I registered” if I registered as a Communist - the McCarran Act required that all Communist organizations register with the attorney general as agents of a foreign power “to vote” so that I could vote for Communist candidates. In June 2000 my luck changed. The FBI had nothing better to do than close out old marijuana cases as the Soviets were no longer considered a threat. The Islamist terrorists were ignored because they had helped defeat the Evil Soviet Empire. The FBI got involved in drug busts and this lack of focus on terrorism lead to 3,000 American death. The Feds squeezed an associate of mine who I had known for 30 years. This man worked with me at the underground newspapers The East Village 1321 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Other and The New York Ace. He had also been an editor at High Times Magazine. The 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 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. After 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 slide Hayden-Guest’s having gotten one over on me years ago. 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 conducted this interview on behalf of Dylan. 1322 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. HaydenGuest: 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 for 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. The next poem came out of this interview. 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 recovery or redemption; fallen or destroyed: a lost soul “John” a man who is a prostitute's customer “sittin' on a railroad track” railroaded, sentenced to life without a fair trial “track” as a course of action; a method of proceeding “Something's out of whack" something is coming out of sex - whack 1323 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY off vulgar slang: to masturbate “Blues this morning” depression starting at an early time in life “falling down” “fall” having given in to temptation; sin “like hail” as a result of having been greeted or acclaimed enthusiastically “Gonna leave a greasy slippery” gonna leave a untrustworthy; elusive or tricky “trail” a succession of things that come afterward or are left behind: left a trail of a false death certificate. 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 tour the world is what I’m going to do “Then come back and see you” then return to the United States and see how far you have gotten into my poetry “All I ever do is struggle” all I ever do is become strenuously engaged with a problem: struggled with being HIV Positive “and strive” and fight against my disease “If I don't do anybody any harm” if I don’t spread this disease “I might make it back home alive.” “Struggle” Tarantula, to the Left “& struggle - struggle & your weapons of curls” scorn, contempt “blowing” spreading. Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence 1970 “Well I struggled through barbed wire” I became strenuously engaged in composing message songs with cutting remarks, “wire” a Western Union telegraphic message “felt the hail fall from above” I was greeted and acclaimed. Nettie Moore continues: 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 son” I am the old left idol, My Back Pages 1964, “I was so much older then” “of a crazy man” of someone intensely involved preoccupied: Al is crazy about Dylan “I'm in a cowboy band” I am in a group of people who are heroic Americans, that would be the Goldwaterite Republicans as in “cowboy 1324 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY angel” from Gates of Eden. “Got a pile of sins to pay for” got a pile of papers with the songs I wrote praising communism and race mixing “and I ain't got time to hide” that I am ashamed of. “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 on the side of the Communists! 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 and my research firm, Independent Research Associates “has gone berserk” has gotten totally out of control, gone bonkers “Too much paperwork” the Dylan to English Dictionary 2005 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” Weberman is getting closer to translating my poetry correctly. Scripture; a statement regarded as authoritative. “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. Won't be gone for long. Don't wait for me. A-worry about me when I'm gone." He was her man but he done her wrong. “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” 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. 1325 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Frankie pulled out a pistol. Pulled out a forty-four. Gun went off a rootie-toot-toot And Albert fell on the floor. He was her man but he done her wrong. “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-toot-toot” Dylan started playing rock and roll on his guitar “And Albert fell on the floor” and Dylan the folknick became the subject of political debate, “floor” as in “floor of the House of Representatives since many in the folk community felt he had betrayed them. “He was her man but he done her wrong” Dylan was the “man” of the Left but he double crossed them. Nettie Moore continues, 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 Democrats, leaders of the minorities “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 both of them. She says, look out daddy, don't want you to tear your pants. 1326 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” Weberman says look out Bob Dylan, take heed Bob Dylan “don't want you to tear your pants” you don’t want to give into all of your desires do you now son? “You can get wrecked in this dance” you can get really wasted off of smack but you can also end up a shipwreck. “Dance” as in “cast your dancing spell my way” in Mr. Tambourine Man. “They say whiskey will kill ya, but I don't think it will” Weberman 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 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 you Weberman “And my happiness is o'er” and I am happy no more “Winter's gone” a period of time characterized by barrenness has passed into a new phase “the river's on the rise” and there is an abundance of drugs available “I loved you then and ever shall” contrary to popular belief I loved you back then and ever shall “But there's no one here that's left to tell” but the old Bob Dylan can’t say it publically “The world has gone black before my eyes” as it cannot be disclosed, for reasons of security, only to an extremely limited number of authorized persons; it is very highly classified. 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 1327 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Don't know why my baby never looked so good before” sarcastic: don’t know why my poetry never looked so good before “I don't have to wonder no more” more sarcasm: I don’t have to be filled with doubt any longer about its value and meaning. “She been cooking all day” Weberman been cooking up its meaning all day “and it's gonna take me all night” it’s gonna take me all night “I can't eat in a single bite” cause I can’t read it in a single byte. 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 on the water / Darkness on the face of the deep” this is from the first page of Genesis. It is also a reference to the Progressive Bible Readers, a beatnik act that I told Bob about when he hung out with me at his studio. In 1960 I read from Genesis to the accompaniment of bongo drums in beatnik cafes in Brooklyn, “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 keep thinking about you baby / I can't hardly sleep” I keep thinking about you and this keeps me alive – sleep as death “put a pet cat to sleep.” I'm traveling by land Traveling through the dawn of day You're always on my mind I can't stay away 1328 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “I'm traveling by land / Traveling through the dawn of day” I am touring in a private bus “You're always on my mind” you still interest me “I can't stay away” and I evaluate your work. 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 2005 “I always knew / That we were meant to be more than friends” I always knew that there was more to the Dylan Weberman 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” I am deviating greatly from an intended course about Weberman “You ought to be a fool about me” you ought to get off my case already. 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” what causes, creates, or initiates; a maker: Liner Notes to John Wesley Harding 1968 “Getting down to the source of 1329 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY things, he proudly boasted” “of this hidden pain” of this concealed self-pity “You burned your way into my heart” you engraved and made indelible as if by burning your connection to me “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” you have a value and standing in the eyes of others; prestige “that begs for” that earnestly asks “for love” for truth. 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 “Life without you” my poetry without Weberman trying to translate it “Doesn't mean” doesn’t act as a symbol of; signify or represent “a thing to me” anything to me “If I can't have you” sarcastic: if I can’t have you as a my Verlaine “I'll throw my love” I would throw my truths “into the deep” into a difficult to penetrate or understand; recondite area “blue sea” sad state of confusion or perplexity; at a loss as in “at sea.” 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” 1330 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 on the same page poetically with me “I'm a thousand times happier than I could ever say” I am much happier than I could ever reveal in public where I have to pretend to be displeased with you “What does it matter” sarcastic: 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. I'm pale as a ghost Holding a blossom on a stem You ever seen a ghost? No But you have heard of them 1331 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I'm pale as a ghost” my poetry is as White as any Klansman – the Invisible Empire of the KKK. The Ballad of Emmett Till “the ghost robbed Klu Klux Klan.” “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 ape-like nigger “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 2005 “I'm blinded” I am 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 contains similar sentence structure: Well I knew when I first laid eyes on her I could never be free One look at her and I knew right away She should always be with me “Well I knew when I first laid eyes on her” well I knew when I first layed 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. Spirit on the Water continues: 1332 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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” I hear the name A. J. Weberman, your reputation “Ringing up and down the line” thanks to the telephone conversation you recorded, “ringing” “line” are both words that are related to telephones “I'm saying it plain” I am saying something in plain prose for a change “These ties are strong enough to bind” the recording of this telephone conversation linked us together inextricably. 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 opinions, not spoiled, sour, or decaying; fresh expression “Calls out” challenges me “from some old familiar shrine” from a container or receptacle for sacred relics like Dylan trash “I got no choice” I have no alternative but to hide my trash “Can't believe these things would ever fade from your mind” I can’t believe by trash 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 A. J. Weberman perfecty however, 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. 1333 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Fuss” as show concern; Working Man’s Blues #2 2006, “Now they worry”now 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 (a fret is part of an acoustic guitar) “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.” Spirit On The Water continues: 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 true believer in Capitalism and freedom. “Ever since the world began” ever since my world of poetry began “I only mean it for the best” my 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. 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 1334 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “High on the hill” to those high up in literary world “You can carry” you can transmit and convey “carry” as in a voice that carries well “all my thoughts with you” the subtextual meaning of my poems with you “You've numbed my will” you’ve made me think twice about using junk – “numb” as in Mr. Tambourine Man 1965 “my toes too numb to step” and in Eleven Outlined Epitaphs 1963 Dylan described his early experience with smack as making him “ragged wild / numb wild” “This love could tear me in two” my love for heroin could destroy me as could your tearing my poetry apart when you attempt to translate it “Tear” is a recurrent word in reference to my analysis. 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” sarcastic: I want to be with you in your version of a socialist heaven “And it seems so unfair” also 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 stopped writing message songs based on newspaper articles, “kill” as in mark for deletion; rule out: killed the story. 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 hanging over boot hill “You think I'm past my prime” you think I am past the age of ideal physical perfection and intellectual vigor? “Let me see what you got” let me see if you have perfected your art “We can have a whoppin' good time” we can have another Elizabeth Street Massacre. 1335 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY On April 28, 2009 Dylan released 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, and we can have some real fun “I got the blues for you baby” I miss you Weberman “when I look up at the sun” when I look at Christopher Ricks whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events of my literary career as he is the author of Dylan’s Vision of Sin in which Rick’s compares Dylan’s poems to that of the classical poets. This was supposed to help win Dylan the Nobel Prize for Literature “Come back here” keep coming back to my poetry “we can have some real fun” you can have some real fun expressing my thoughts! Same as Spirit on the Water, “We can have a whoppin' good time.” “Blues” as missing something or someone; Living the Blues 1970, 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 you been gone” since I stopped using dope “I been walking around” I have been living “with my head” with my desire to get a head on smack “bowed down to my shoes” overpowered by ambition to kick junk. Also I have been vomiting as a result of withdrawal from junk “I been living the blues every night without you.” Shake Mama Shake continues: Well it's early in the evening and everything is still One more time, I'm walking up on heartbreak hill 1336 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “Well it’s early in the evening” it is not yet the latter or concluding period, the evening of my life “and everything is still” and everything remains the same “One more time I’m walking up on heartbreak hill” one more time I am heartbroken having not won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Shake shake Mama like a ship going out to sea You took all my money and you gave it too rigidly “Shake shake Mama” “shake” disturb, agitate, unnerve: The Times They Are AChangin’ 1964 the revolution “will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls” “like a ship” like a revolutionary as in The Hour That The Ship Comes In 1964, “going out to sea” preaching to the people of America. “sea” is also found in The Hour That The Ship Comes In 1964, “and the chains of the sea would have busted in the night and be buried on the bottom of the ocean” and the chains of the American worker would be irretrievably cast off “You took all my money” you took all my imagination, all of my value, all of my talent “and you gave it too rigidly” and you gave it out in a rigid, Puritanical Marxist distorted fashion (“rigid” as in incapable of compromise or flexibility). The official lyrics read “you gave it to Richard Lee.” Down by the river judge Simpson’s walking around Nothing shocks me more than that old clown “Down by the river” in the area of great literature “judge Simpson” “judge” to act as one appointed to decide the winners of - judge a poetry contest such as the Nobel Prize Committee does “Nothing shocks me” “shock wave” a largeamplitude compression wave, as that produced by an explosion of dynamite invented by Nobel “more than that old clown” more than those antiquated idiot judges because they have not awarded me a Nobel Prize for Literature. In October 2011 British bookmakers named Dylan as an odds on favorite to win, however he lost. Some of you women you really know your stuff Some of you women you really doll your stuff 1337 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 especially about “stuff” junk. “Some of you women you really doll your stuff” some of your translations add embellishing details to my poems in order to make them more attractive. “But your clothes” but your words, sounds like “prose” when Dylan sings it “are all torn” are all divided by the lines of my poetry. This is the repetitive theme of “tear,” tearing Dylan’s poetry apart and destroying its overall value “and your language” your rhetoric and profane language “is a little too rough” is a little too macho, too rough on me or is it too rough around the edges, unrefined but shows promise and would tend to alienate the Nobel Prize Committee. “Language” as rhetoric; The Girl from the Red River Shore 2008, Now I've heard about a guy who lived a long time ago A man full of sorrow and strife That if someone around him died and was dead He knew how to bring him on back to life Or if they do that kind of thing anymore Sometimes I think nobody ever saw me here at all 'Cept the girl from the red river shore “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 a leftist message to his rightwing poetry, by going through his trash, forming the Dylan Liberation Front etc and rekindling an interest in Bob Dylan whose career was on the wane at that time “Well I don't know what kind of language he might-a used” sarcastic, I know that he used Marxist rhetoric “Or if they do that kind of thing anymore” or if anyone does that kind of thing after the fall of the Soviet Union “Sometimes I think nobody ever 1338 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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. Tarantula, “& green maggie pushing you into hotrod driver's eyes & he's lisping & he has no money to pay for his language.” 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. ARTHUR MCBRIDE 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'. “Oh, me and my cousin, one Arthur McBride (Dylan and his close relative, folk music) / As we went a-walkin’ (advancing in life) / down by the seaside (trying to get into the psyches of the masses of humanity) / Mark now what followed (take note of what followed) / and what did betide (when a trend did come to pass) / For it bein’ on Christmas (when peace reigned) / mornin’ (at the beginning of my career) / Now, for recreation, we went on a tramp (just for the hell of it Dylan began to sing the songs of Woody Guthrie. Also he became militant. See FRIEND) / And we met Sergeant Napper (nap - wooly surface - derogatory way of describing Afro-Americans hair - we joined the Civil Right Movement) / and Corporal Vamp (and the revolution - vamp – terminology used by Black Panther 1339 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Party as attack - the cops vamped on the demonstrators) / And a little wee (a small group) / drummer (of people trying drum up support) / intending to camp (a party or side in a dispute - intending to fight the good fight) / For the day (for the prominent period in history) / bein’ pleasant and charming (being conducive to revolution and engrossing people totally in this) "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 morning, good morning,” the Sergeant he cried (good to see you take part in the early phase of our struggle) / “And the same to you, gentlemen,” we did reply (we are glad to part of it) / Intending no harm (we had nothing against the Left at that time) / but meant to pass by (to identify ourselves or be identified as something we were not and intended to eventually move on to something else) / For it bein’ on Christmas mornin’ (for I believed in peace at the early stages of my life) / “But,” says he, “My fine (who have reached their peak performance as topical song writers) / fellows, if you will enlist (if you will become part of our Movement) / Ten guineas in gold (the best feeling of its kind for humanity) / I’ll stick (put in a specified place or position) / to your fist (into your intellectual grasp) / And a crown in the bargain (and make you the crown prince of folk music) / for to kick up the dust (so that you can expose deceit and wrong-doing and humiliate those who perpetrate it) / And drink the king’s health (and assist and facilitate the flourishing and productivity of the leaders of the Left) / in the morning (at the beginning of your career) / "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, 1340 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 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 soldier (colloquialism: soldier - to make a pretense of doing something, or of performing any task) / he leads a very fine life (sarcastic: free from impurity) / And he always is blessed with a charming young wife (fortunate enough to have a new born faith that has him spellbound. Also in my opinion, wedded to heroin that charms him - puts him under its dancing spell) / And he pays all his debts (and he returns the commitment that the Left has to him with equal commitment to them) / without sorrow (a feeling of sadness that arises from loss of his ambition to do something else) / or strife (or conflict with them) / And he always lives pleasant and charmin’ (as he is often gets pleasure from the substance that has charmed him) / And a soldier, he always is decent and clean (as someone who is making pretense of doing something, or of performing any task he never makes reference to this other side of Bob Dylan) / In the finest of clothing he’s constantly seen (and he expresses himself in a highly articulate fashion close to his limit of efficiency) / While other poor fellows (folksingers) /go dirty (expressing ideas they do not believe in, are subject to hostility) / and mean (and as a result become mean spirited) / And sup (and take in knowledge) / on thin (lacking substance or strength) / gruel (a thin porridge - porridge - a soup made of grist - or grain - grist for the Left’s mill) / in the morning (at the beginning of their lives) / "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. 1341 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY “But,” says Arthur, “I wouldn’t be proud of your clothes (but don’t brag about how much more worthy of admiration your words are when compared to the other folksingers) / For you’ve only the lend of them, as I suppose (for they are only temporary) / But you dare not change them one night, for you know (and you better not switch to poetry during this current period in your career) / If you do, you’ll be flogged in the morning (if you do your fans will punish you at the earliest possible time) / And although that we’re single and free (sarcastic: and although Dylan has chosen to play without others out of his own free will) / We take great delight in our own company (sarcastic: and is happy doing this since he is not controlled by an ideology or organization) / We have no desire strange places to see (and he has no desire to maintain the status of being estranged from the mainstream and being designated to a niche, cubby-holed) / Although that your offers are charming (can be addicting and have consequences if I withdraw) / "And we have no desire to take your advance, 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." “And we have no desire to take your advance (but honestly we do not wish to progress in this direction, to take an advance - a down payment - for another folk music concert) / All hazards and dangers we barter on chance (and we will take our chances in the world of rock and roll) / For you’d have no scruples for to send us to France (for if we left it up to you I would just be an ordinary, vulgar, commonplace protest singer) / Where we would get shot (reduced to a state of ruin, prostration, or uselessness, cast off forcefully, where he would get shot down, destroyed and humiliated, through the strength of argument, by the critics and subsequently die out in popularity) / without warning (without the Left calling this to our attention) / “Oh no,” says the Sergeant “I’ll have no such chat (no idle 1342 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY small talk that does not deal with social problems) / And neither will I take it from snappy (who will soon undergo a sudden and rapid change for the better) / young (younger than those in the Communist Party. Those formulating and promulgating new ideas - young blood) / brats (son of a career military person – offspring of a militant like Woody Guthrie) / For if you insult me with one other word (for if you start using words to mean something other than their prima facia definition) / I’ll cut off your heads in the morning” / (I will terminate my relationship with your imagination, what your intellect produces immediately) / 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 (the pigs - the journalists reported on Dylan having ‘sold out’ in the Leftwing press and in folk music publications) / And we scarce gave them time (a period where they could imprison themselves with their own thinking. Also airtime) / to draw their own blades (to draw in, attract, their adventurous audience who would jeer Dylan) / When a trusty shillelagh (a cudgel - to think hard for a solution to a problem, such as what Dylan’s poetry now means) / came over their head (imposed itself on their way of thinking, their power of reasoning that was way over their imaginations, beyond their comprehension) / And bid them take that as fair warning (and reminded them that Dylan had them outsmarted) / And their old rusty rapiers that hung by their sides (their out-of-use, outdated weapons that still remained on their side of the argument - in My Back Pages he sang of Left’s desire to “meet on edges”) / We flung them as far as we could in the tide (in When The Ship Comes In “the tide will pound” means a sudden trend that will hit hard, have a significant impact, work hard and continuously and educate by constant repetition, so Dylan threw the farflung arguments of the folkies into the rising tide of folk rock) / “Now take them 1343 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY up, devils!” cried Arthur McBride (now take up writing your own songs on topics that are extremely controversial and difficult to deal with) / “And temper (harden) / their edge in the mornin’!” (and increase their militancy – again similar to My Back Pages’ “[meeting] on edges” dueling with the opposition, when you begin again in a new morning. Also get an edge, an advantage in competition, over Dylan’s topical songs if you can) / 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 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 the little wee drummer (the insignificant one who recruited Dylan) / we flattened his bow (defeated him. Also lowered the pitch of his musical instrument) / And we made a football (a political football - a program or issue used to get votes) / of his rowdy-dow-dow (folk music) / Threw it in the tide for to rock and to roll (and discarded folk music for the rising tide - popularity - of rock and roll) / And bade it a tedious returning (and hoped that it never returned) / And we havin’ no money (sarcastic: having no political power) / paid them off in cracks (taught them a lesson after we became very highly rated rock musicians who had broken barriers in the entertainment world) / We paid no respect (had no regard for their position or standing) / to their two bloody backs (because of their efforts to destroy our lives in the pop music world and their failures that they were well aware of) / And we lathered them there (got them extremely agitated and excited) / like a pair of wet sacks (fans who had been anticipating being dismissed, fired. They also sacked, plundered Dylan’s concerts) / And left them for dead in the morning (and started a new beginning, leaving this community, that was no longer functioning, no longer connected to a source of power for ever).” Note: Dylan made a few changes from the original to make this song an allegory. This is the first verse of the original classic Irish anti-recruiting 1344 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY folksong: “I had a first cousin called Arthur McBride / He and I took a stroll down by the seaside / Seeking good fortune and what might betide / It was just as the day was a’dawnin’ / After restin’ we both took a tramp / We met Sergeant Harper and Corporal Cramp / Besides the wee drummer who beat up the camp / With his row-dee-dow-dow in the morning.” (Arthur McBride 1992 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'. 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' THE MONKEY TASTER “Dylan addresses music critics who have a Leftwing perspective) look you asshole tho i might be nothing but a butter sculptor (producer of works of art made by shaping things that are abstract) i refuse to go on working with the idea of your praising as my reward (who cares what you think?) like what are your credentials anyway? (can you produce poetry of this quality?) excpt for talking about (trying to influence, affect and convince) all us butter sculptors (artists that deal in abstractions) what else do you do? (what do you create? In Miscellaneous Advice to Geraldine Dylan wrote, “do not fall in the trap of criticizing people who do nothing else but criticize”) do you know what it feels like to make some butter sculpture? (abstract art) do you know what it feels like to actually ooze (to overflow with a quality or feeling - to exude) that butter (abstraction) around & create something of fantastic worth? you said that my last year’s work (something I created that you believe functions or operates according to the plan or design of the Left) / “The King’s Odor” (the stinking standing, repute, of the leaders 1345 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY of America) was great then haven’t done anything as great since - just who the hell are you talking to (trying to influence, affect and convince) anyway? (you couldn’t be trying to influence me as you have no understanding of my new poetry) you must have something to do in your real life (not your fantasy life that is filled with misinterpretation. In Advice to Geraldine On Her Miscellaneous Birthday Dylan wrote, “do Not create anything. it will be misinterpreted”) i understand that you praised the piece (the work of art, the poem) you saw yesterday entitled “The Monkey Taster” (the addict, the person with a monkey on his back tastes - heroin - “taste” - a small sample of drugs) about which you said meant “a nice work of butter (nice creation of abstraction) carved into (made into an inscription, dedicated to, commemorating) the shape (the form, the outward shape) of a young (by a man with new ideas) man who likes only african women” (who now has a taste for black women - monkey’s are associated with Africa and also with Black people but in a negative way as in “jungle monkey” or “porch monkey”) you are an idiot - (someone who does not understand what my poetry is about) it doesn’t mean that at all...(your interpretation is filled with distorted facts) I hereby want nothing to do with your hangups (your menacing, burdensome and oppressive nature, your problems, and your projection of them on my works of art) I really dont care what you think of my work as i now know you dont understand it anyway / I must go now - i have this new hunk (a large piece of something without definite shape) of margarine (artificial substitute for butter) waiting (that I am eagerly anticipating) in the bathtub (and I am ready to glory in it, take pleasure from it because it makes me feel good) - yes i said MARGARINE & next week i just might decide to use cream (the best people in a group) cheese (who are important) - & i really dont care what you think of my experimenting (new poetry) - you take yourself too seriously - (Dylan said the same thing about his former folk fans in Visions of Johanna - “Now, little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously” See WALL) / you’re going to get an ulcer (you are going to assume the characteristics of those in the rat race) & go into the hospital (like Brooklyn State Hospital where Dylan visited Woody Guthrie) - they’ll put you in a ward where you cant have any visitors - you’ll go right off your nut - i really dont care anymore (I don’t care for the Left anymore) / i am so bored with your rules (criteria as to what constitutes good art) & regulations (restrictions on my 1346 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY art requiring me to write understandably and play acoustic music) that i might not even talk to you again - (sarcastic: that I might not try to have an influence, affect or attempt to convince you again. Actually Dylan did so in numerous poems) just remember tho, when you evaluate a piece of butter (when you pass judgment on one of my abstract pieces of poetry that you do not understand) you are talking about yourself (you’re interpretation is entirely subjective and you are trying to convince yourself into believing something) so you’d just better sign your name (and it is something that you have created so you might as well take credit for it).” (Tarantula 1966) DYLAN’S GARBAGE 1347 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1348 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY THE DISCOVERY OF GARBOLOGY One day in September, 1970, Ann Duncan and I were on our way to the Cafe Gaslight on MacDougal Street and we happened to pass Bob Dylan's townhouse. For four long years I had been studying Dylan's poetry, trying to crack the code of his symbolism. As I eyed the home of the reclusive poet I wondered what went down behind the door that Dylan had slammed in my face when I had tried to discuss my work with him. Just then I noticed Dylan's shiny new steel garbage can. My mind flashed back to a Lord Buckley riff from Johanna and Whale: "I ain't out side anymore, I'm inside now." and said to myself, "Now, there's something that was inside and it's outside now." I lifted the lid, I opened Pandora's can, I reached in and the first thing, THE FIRST THING, that I pulled out of Dylan's garbage was a half-finished letter written by Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash. Click here to see a recreation of the discovery of garbology and the letter to Cash. "Holy Moley, " I 1349 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY said, "Ann, this is no ordinary garbage-can, this is a gold mine! " Thus at that moment the clandestine trade craft of non-governmental garbology was founded. 1350 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Garbology, in its pure form, is the study of human personality and contemporary civilization through the analysis of garbage, or "garbanalysis." The basic premise is "You Are What You Throw Away." Garbage is a macrocosmic reflection, a mirror on life. The unassailable reality is that every living being makes waste. Excretion is both natural and universal, a process in which all life forms participate; the more 1351 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY sophisticated the organism, the more sophisticated the waste it produces. The garbologist, however, does not study feces. We leave this to the medical profession and to the CIA, which has been known to analyze the excretions of foreign leaders in order to get an accurate picture of their health. Garbologists stick to other types of human trash for subjects of study: refuse, garbage, junk, trash, etc. Archaeologists sift through this kind of stuff, too, but only if it is ancient. The garbologist finds his research material on the street today (or, usually, early in the morning) and from it he derives a mirrored image of human behavior and the modern world in which we live. After my initial discovery in Dylan's garbage I realized that this method of research had great potential as a clandestine method. The lives of the rich, famous and powerful could be penetrated, great secrets revealed, plain truths brought to light from beneath the glittery facade. Garbology was a new weapon in the war against lies, injustice and faceless bureaucracy. The study and analysis of garbage could possibly alter the course of history! I resolved at once that aided by this valuable science I would leave no stone unturned, no garbage can lid unturned, in my quest for truth. Yet, certain thoughts crossed my mind as my career in garbology blossomed. Was I trampling on other people's rights? Was I becoming the very sort of secret police that I had always opposed? Had I earned the epithets people threw at me "snoop" and "sneak'" Was Bob Dylan right when he told me, "A. J., you go through garbage like a pig, man"? I wondered long and hard about this. But history will absolve garbology for it is nothing less than a journalistic technique and, in this post-Watergate world, the public's right to know is far more important than the privacy of a public figure. The ethics of garbology are parallel to the basic ethics of journalism as put forth in the libel laws; if you are a public figure, you are fair game. I only garbanalyze the rich, famous and powerful. It is beneath the dignity of a distinguished garbologist such as myself to dig through the refuse of just any average bozo. When people ask me, "Hey, A.J., when are you going to analyze my garbage?" l often reply, "Just as soon as you stop being a non-entity." How did I come to garbology? I guess you could trace it back to my early childhood. My father was an Orthodox Jew, however my mother was not. Occasionally she would purchase non-Kosher food items. My father would go through the garbage and read the ingredients on the disgarded packing. 1352 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Immediately, I fell victim to the garbage stigma. People began automatically to associate the name A. J. Weberman with "Dylan's garbage." Clearly the public did not realize that people who work with garbified or semi-garbified matter should not be made fun of, nor should they be held in low esteem. The fact is, however, that America is starting to wake up to garbage. With many of our natural resources rapidly disappearing, garbage, be it ever so humble, is on its way to becoming a highly valuable commodity. It won't be long before the Commodities Exchange institutes are trading in garbage futures. Garbology is now taught as a course at several universities. REMEMBER: This is the pure garbology. I am just a spy, sticking my nose where it should not be, and engage in garbology as part of my tradecraft. Garbology, the first science of garbage, has elevated the status of trash collecting and related occupations. Garbage men throughout this land are demanding a reappraisal of the profession. The Associated Press reported that when a sanitation man is East Moline, Illinois, was awarded a "Municipal Employee of the Year Award" the City's public works director called him Garbologist of the Year rather than Garbage Collector of the Year. The fact is that the term "garbage collector" is a misnomer anyway. Sanitation workers do not collect garbage; they merely remove it. Only garbologists actually save and catalog it. Distinctions like this are important, and I have used them in an attempt to raise the public consciousness. Surprisingly, the media has been very helpful. Shortly after discovering garbology, the media discovered me. Esquire magazine hired me to do a cover story on garbage. Articles began appearing in Glamour, Ingenue and Rolling Stone. The Associated Press did a feature story that appeared in hundreds of newspapers across the country. I began to develop a nationwide network of garbology "stringers" who sent me local trash. I was imitated by Jack Anderson, Robin Moore, and other journalists. In order to stay ahead of the competition I was forced to train an associate garbologist Aron Morton Kay (who would later achieve notoriety as the man who throws pies at celebrities Click here to go to the PieMan's WebSite. (Kay's notoriously effective pie "hits" include, among others: Gordon Liddy; E. Howard Hunt; former New York Mayor Abe Beame, Senator Daniel P. Moynihan; and William F. Buckley.) With Special Agent Kay in the field I could devote my time to setting up the National Institute of Garbology, where advanced research and development could be facilitated. The Institute is located at 318 3rd Ave Suite #520, New York City 1353 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 10010 and is not open to the general public although inquiries are welcome. Some of the most significant garbage on file at the Institute has been scanned and reproduced on this site. Each individual collection of garbage represents months of study and research. But more than that, each is the result of action, sometimes perilous, sometimes hilarious, but always adventurous. BOB DYLAN’S GARBAGE After recovering from my shock and joy at finding an actual hand-written letter by my favorite poet in the trash can, I pulled myself together and began digging deeper, just barely aware that I was opening up the first chapter of a brand new science. I confess, though, that the overpowering odor of decaying food, raw onions, dirty diapers and dog shit was a strong argument for turning back. Nevertheless, I pushed onward because I knew that "the answer was blowing in the wind." There was so much stuff in that can that Ann and I decided to go back to our Bowery loft and get the car. On the way I wondered out loud if our treasure would be safe on MacDougal Street? Despite the current rash of rip-offs in the West Village, Ann assured me, "It hasn't got so bad that the junkies rip off garbage. Anyway, they don't know what it's worth." Sure enough, when we drove back the garbage was still there and we loaded it into the back seat. My fantasy was that I would find first drafts of Dylan's poetry (Dylan eventually published some stained fast drafts in his book Poetry & Drawings, published by Knopf) or a Rosetta stone that would unlock the secrets of his symbolism. But the reality, as I began sorting through the bags, was a harsh one, especially when I hit a layer ofdisposable diapers. It reminded me that Dylan and his wife Sara had just recently had their fourth child. I made my way down through a layer of kitchen refuse vegetable cans, Blimpie wrappers, coffee grounds. His eating habits seemed normal enough. No evidence of "brown rice, seaweed or a dirty hot-dog." Underneath the kitchen stuff a new layer came to light composed of rock-and-roll magazines. There was Rock, Rolling Stone and even an issue of Crawdaddy which contained an article that I had recently written. I was deeply hurt by this. Why had Dylan insulted me by throwing it away rather than filing it in his "Weberman" file? 1354 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Further on, I discovered a form letter to the Dylans from the Little Red School House (around the corner on Bleecker Street) thanking parents for contributing to one of the school's funds. Click here to see this and other Dylan garbifacts. 1355 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1356 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY That was nice of Dylan, who is basically a confused, but really nice guy. Next, I stumbled upon a fragment of a fan letter to Dylan from someone in California that read, "...Marie will turn to the wind and ask where heroin is available." Very strange indeed. My next big revelation was that Dylan and I both shopped at the same Grand Union supermarket! A secondlayer of kitchen cast-offs contained the packaging from Grand Union brand sweet butter and Grand Union brand eggs, as well as a Grand Union shopping bag, chicken bones, an empty milk carton, green peas, an empty Balance apple juice bottle, and some balled-up aluminum foil. Dylan's dog, Sasha, was evidently fed a diet of Gainesburgers and Ken-L Ration. And that was literally the bottom of that first barrel. Frankly, I never imagined that I would stoop so low in my quest to understand Bob Dylan, the poet and the man. However, my efforts were immensely fruitful and justified further exploration. After about ten excursions through Dylan's garbage can over a twoweek period in September1970, I began to piece together a very clear picture of the person he really is and the life he was living at that time. Essentially, the mythic Bob Dylan romantic, revolutionary, visionary was dispelled forever by thorough garbanalysis. Instead, he was revealed to be a typically upper middleclass family man with very ordinary day-to-day household concerns. From his pail I gathered bills from the vet concerning treatment of Sasha's upset stomach; invitations to Sara to attend private sales at exclusive department stores; dozens of mail-order cosmetic offers; all the high fashion magazines, addressed to Sara; a package from Bloomingdale's addressed to one of Dylan's many pseudonyms, and charged to Sara Dylan's account. I also found a bill from the Book-of-the-Month Club, and a memo to Bob Dylan regarding the upcoming monthly meeting of the MacDougal Street Garden Association. His family life, at that time, seems to have engrossed him totally. There were Polaroid negatives of Dylan's youngest child, one with a maid giving the kid a bottle. I found a color print of one of his older children and a very clear negative of the poet himself giving his kid a bottle. 1357 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY There was a card from Dylan's mother in Fort Lauderdale wishing a happy birthday to one of the kids: "Darling grandchildren, I miss and love you all very dearly. Hope to see you soon. All our love always, Grandma and Joe." Like everyone else, Dylan probably doesn't visit his mom as often as she'd like. Click here to see this and other Dylan garbifacts. 1358 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Apparently, Dylan does not have much regard for his fans. I could tell this from the way he seemed to rip all his fan mail into tiny shreds. Some quotes from 1359 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY fragments of two different letters: "Thank you for helping me learn to think." "You abomination, you're responsible for my kid growing his hair down his back." The day after Jimi Hendrix died I found a photo of Jimi that somebody had mailed to Dylan. It was ripped to pieces. It seemed pitiful to find a poem from a fan named Harry Stitz, titled "Decency," which had been mailed to Dylan only to end up among the slimy coffee grounds and diaper dung at the bottom of the poet's trashcan. It went, "Let's show the world how things can be/ Why we will fight for decency? Cause we believe all that's fair/ All that's just everywhere." Just for the hell of it, I looked up Harry in the telephone directory and called him up using my Bob Dylan voice. "Hello, Harry, this is Bob, I got your poem, man. I want to use it on my next record." "But, Bob, I thought you only did stuff that was, you know, far out." I said, "Hey, man, my last record had 'Blue Moon' on it. You call that far out?" But nowhere did I find any evidence that Dylan was at all interested in politics, causes, activism or world affairs. And at that time, you'll recall, the war in Vietnam was still raging. Nixon was in office four students had been killed earlier in the year at Kent State and the six o'clock news made it difficult to escape the endless stream of atrocities and injustices. Yet, it seemed to me that Dylan had come a long way from the days when he wrote "Gates of Eden," "Masters of War," and "Blowin' in the Wind." The only remotely political piece of trash I was able to find in his garbage was a poster from upstate New York with a personal note on it from a local folk-singer in Woodstock, asking Dylan to please vote in the upcoming election for this particular Democratic county committeeman. It was true, though, that despite the fact that he was a millionaire, Dylan's garbage was not extravagant. There were no empty caviar tins, no drained bottles of rare wines. The typical shopping list for the Dylan household included items such as cookie mix, liverwurst and granola. For those two weeks in September, Dylan's garbage was dynamite. But by October, he got wind of something happening to his trash and began to expurgate his garbage-can. It was only years later that I found out (from Dylan himself) how he knew. It seems that Bob was in the habit of rising early, before the garbage men arrived, to walk his children to school. One morning he picked up an empty wine bottle some bum had left in his doorway and proceeded to dispose of it in the can by the curb. But when he lifted the lid he discovered that the garbage the 1360 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY maid had tossed there the night before was missing. Later one of Dylan's friends suggested, "lt's Weberman." Said Dylan later, "It crossed my mind that it was you, A.J. But in case it wasn't suppose someone was planning to kidnap one of my childrenI put the house under twenty four hour surveillance." The photographs he obtained from the surveillance must have been pretty funny, but perhaps not to Dylan. Despite my suspicion that Dylan was aware he was being garbanalyzed, I continued my work in the field. The pickings were slim. The only significant find was a prescription from his doctor for a strong muscle relaxant for Dylan. From this I was able to conclude that three years after his mysterious motorcycle accident, Dylan was still feeling the effects. But the effects of my garbological research were also telling on Bob. For three weeks straight his cans were totally dried up. I decided that that was all I was going to get from that mother lode, and set forth to tell the world about garbology. It began with my article in the East Village Other, titled "Dylan's Garbage's Greatest Hits." It became an instant classic and my rifling of Dylan's garbage entered the folklore of rock 'n' roll. From there it was onward and upward on the ladder of media exposure. Rolling Stone produced a cover story on the subject, called "In the Alley with Bob Dylan." Unfortunately for me they let Dylan edit it and as a result I was made to look like a complete idiot. The stories that appeared in Newsweek, Time, Newsday, Ingenue and Glamour were more favorable to my garbological investigation of Dylan than was the one in Rolling Stone, because the other publications are less dependent on the music industry for advertising revenue. Eventually, Esquire jumped on the garbage wagon and commissioned me to do an article on other famous people's garbage. Pretty soon my interest in garbage began to outweigh my fascination with Dylan and I stopped visiting the curb where he lived. Up to this point I had considered myself essentially a Dylanologist. But now I was fully devoted to this new science and became exclusively a garbologist. As my investigations took me further and further afield, the fetid smell of Dylan's trash can faded into memory, lost amid the exotic odors of more recent, more famous garbage from the Upper East Side, Washington, Watergate and Hollywood. 1361 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN MAKES THE RIGHT MOVE I ventured into the poet's slimy pail, one last time as it happened, a climactic event that became known as "The Time Dylan Stomped A.J." Dylan defending his can. The incident occurred in September, 1971, about three months before the Esquire article appeared. Ann Garcelon, reporter and friend from the Associated Press doing a feature story on garbology wanted to see garbology in action, so we took a cab up to the town house owned by banker David Rockefeller where we picked up a small greasy bag of trash. We took it over to Ann's nearby apartment where garbanalysis revealed nothing more than a few chicken bones. So as not to 1362 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY disappoint the reporter, I made a date with her for the next day to meet in front of what I considered to be the best garbage can in New York City Dylan's. I can see now, in retrospect that this was sheer idiocy on my part. I should have stayed far away from Dylan's can, because in 1971 I'd started the Dylan Liberation Front (D. L. F.). Its purpose was to remind Dylan about his failure to contribute money or energy to anti-war and civil rights organizations, and his lack of support for political prisoners despite the fact that he'd built his career singing songs about their struggles. Many others, along with myself, were concerned about his refusal at that time to perform at political benefit concerts, the lack of social commitment in his song lyrics and the fact that he owned stock in companies that produced weapons used in Vietnam. Dylan met with me on a number of occasions, but he never seemed to understand. To make our point, the D.L.F. held a party on May 24, 1971, Dylan's thirtieth birthday, right in front of his house on MacDougal Street. About a thousand angry fans were in attendance. Samples of Dylan's garbage were handed out and we presented Bob, in absentia, with a padlocked, concrete-filled, garbologist-proof trash can. Things almost got out of hand, however, when Bob McClain, a provocateur hired by the New York City Red Squad, began messing up Dylan's doorway with fake money and then refused a cop's order to pick it up. Instead, he started inciting the crowd to riot. The cops who were watching the whole thing began to look nervous. I began to look nervous. The crowd started to get nervous. But before anything could happen, my co-host, Abbie Hoffman, was able to calm everybody down, after I told him that the cat was an undercover pig. The Dylan Birthday Party turned into a legendary event. The international press picked it up, and even in Israel, on his first trip to the Holy Land, the Poet was haunted by it. Perhaps the demonstration had the desired effect, though, because a few months later, Bob Dylan showed up and performed at George Harrison's benefit to aid the starving people of Bangladesh. But the D. L. F. did nothing to endear me to Dylan. Just the opposite, in fact. So, although I'd declared publicly, after the Bangladesh Concert, that I'd leave Dylan alone, there I was again in front of his house with the AP reporter and a photographer digging through his trash can. I pulled out a crate that had held Israeli oranges, a bag of dirty diapers, and an unsmoked cigar. I was posing with my finds, but as the photographer focused, I heard the door behind me open. The camera clicked just as I heard someone scream, "Get the hell out of my garbage! You filthy animal! I can't throw anything away anymore without you pawing through it!" 1363 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY IT WAS SARA DYLAN She went after Ann, scratching at her face, then attacked the photographer (a sixty-year-old wire service veteran). I tried reasoning with Sara. "If you get so upset about me taking your garbage," l said, "why do you throw it away?" This only pushed her into a greater fury. It was like trying to talk integration to a lynch mob. "Give me that camera or I'll put you in the hospital," she threatened. I urged the photographer to get a picture quick. "She's a nut," I said. But the reporter and photographer were halfway down the block. "You garbage-picker," said Sara, "You're filth compared to Bob." She walked off into the house. On my way home my conscience began to bother me. Why had I gone back to Dylan's garbage? Could it be that I was hopelessly addicted to his junk? Was I hopelessly addicted to publicity? I tried to call up Sara to apologize and left a message with her secretary. That afternoon I was walking down Elizabeth Street with my head bowed down to my shoes trying to figure out where I was really at, when I heard a bicycle stop a few feet in back of me. I thought nothing of it. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, an arm clasped around my neck. I wrenched it loose, turned around and saw it was Bob Dylan, my former idol, the man who'd written all the symbolist poetry I meticulously studied. My thoughts were interrupted by a punch in the head. Could this actually be happening or was it a bad dream? Perhaps it was a combination of both. I didn't fight back. Instead I tried to calm Dylan down and block his punches. But he was having too much fun to stop. He threw me down on the ground and he began to knock my head against the pavement. Finally some local freaks pulled Dylan off. We both got up and I was speechless. Dylan ripped the D.L.F. button from my shirt, got on his bicycle and rode off into the sunset. I stood there for several seconds trying to figure out why Dylan didn't use karate on me. "Maybe that story about his taking lessons from the Jewish Defense League is a lie?" l wondered. The next moment I picked up an empty wine bottle and started running after Dylan. Seconds later I spotted him on his bike, waiting for a light. I sneaked up behind him and was ready to let him have it with the bottle, Brooklyn-style, but couldn't do it. Dylan was right. I shouldn't have messed with his junk. So I slunk back to the scene of the crime. A Bowery bum who'd witnessed the entire episode shamed up to me and asked, "Did he get much money?" I told him, "Man, that's was BOB DYLAN, he doesn't have to roll hippies on the Bowery." 1364 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Seven years later Dylan remained obsessed by his victory. In Street Legal Dylan wrote: "There's a neon light ablaze in this green smoky haze/ Laughter down on Elizabeth Street/And a lonesome bell tuned in that valley of stone/ As he bathed in a l stream of pure white heat/it felt out of place with my foot in his face/ But he should have stayed where his money was clean!!" A lot of insanity went down in front of those cans that year. As Bob put it, during one of the frequent meetings we had prior to the Birthday Party, "You know, Al, you started a fad. That's right. All these college kids come down to steal my garbage. Fraternity types. You wouldn't like these kids, either. Dylan referred to garbology in a phone conversation which I recorded: "Al, you know a lot of people want to hurt you after that garbage thing.... It's not my garbage, anyway it all gets mixed together in my building. You shouldn't go through garbage like a pig, man, that puts you in the same class with the government phone-tappers . . . you do a lot of things that aren't on the up and up . . . you don't fight pigs, man, you fight to go through my garbage." Although I haven't been near Dylan's cans in years, Special Agent Aron Kay went through it about 14 years ago (without prior clearance from headquarters). Aron was actually able to come up with an unfinished poem and a few other goodies. Here is what Special Agent Kay found. But now that Dylan has broken up with Sara, and moved out of the Village to Malibu, things just "ain't the same." Dylan has installed a cyclone fence and guard towers to foil garbological attempts on his trash. 1365 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1366 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1367 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1368 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1369 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY BOB DYLAN’S ARTWORK When I hung out with Dylan in his studio on Houston Street he took him to the back of the storefront and showed me his artwork for Self Portrait. I told him he was better off writing poetry. I have always believed artistic talent is innate, it is something you are born with. But observing Dylan’s artwork over the years I have noticed a remarkable improvement to the point where sometimes I wonder if Dylan was the artist that painted his later works. If you visit this website you can see the jump he makes in his art from 2015 to 2016. http://www.castlegalleries.com/artists/bob-dylan/#collection Dylan hints at the fact that some are forgeries. “Some of these works have much more complexity of detail. Some are less demanding...in some cases my hand couldn’t do what my eye was perceiving.” 1370 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I know Dylan is a genius as having been the first to recognize the complexity of his poetry. But why the disparity in detail? And why the apology? Dylan has already been accused of copying from a Japanese photographer. He always wanted to be a great artist and perhaps couldn’t make the grade so he had someone ghostpaint his paintings? In the 1920’s Picasso was a classicist. When he changed his style he never went back. Looking at Bob’s paintings in chronological order I notice a monumental jump from 2015 to 2016. Perhaps Dylan had someone ghost-paint the more detailed works in order to convince the Nobel Prize Committee that he was a genius. Or maybe he is an artistic genius. From: Lucinda Timmins [mailto:LTimmins@castlegalleries.com] Sent: Monday, December 05, 2016 5:54 AM To: ajweberman@verizon.net Subject: RE: New Website Product Enquiry Hi Alan, Thank you for getting in touch, I hope you’re well. It is great to hear of you interest in Bob Dylan’s artwork, Dylan’s original Drawn Blank sketches date from 1989 to 1992, he drew them as a way of relaxing and refocusing his mind while touring America, Europe and Asia these were then published in a book entitled ‘Drawn Blank’ in 1994. In his 2004 memoir, Chronicles, he writes: “What would I draw? Well, I guess I would start with whatever was at hand. I sat at the tale, took out a pencil and paper and drew the typewriter, a crucifix, a rose, pencils, knives and pins, empty cigarette boxes. I’d lose track of time completely....Not that I thought I was any great drawer, but I did feel like I was putting an orderliness to the chaos around.” Ingrid Mössinger came across Dylan’s sketches during a visit to New York in 2006, she then was thrilled to learn that Dylan would agree to have these exhibited for the first time. When Dylan had created the sketches he had intended to create paintings based upon them. Ingrid’s proposed exhibition encouraged him to now do this using watercolour and gouache, these paintings formed a collection 1371 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY entitled ‘The Drawn Blank Series’. Unlike the delicacy of the drawings, the paintings are expressive and vibrant. Dylan paints several versions of the same image, using different colours and tones to result in a dynamic variety of impressions, feelings and emotions. This choice and skill in applying different colour arrangements to the same original drawing enables Dylan to express his feelings and perceptions of an idea or view – continually evoking different feelings and reactions and thereby creating evolving works of art. In 2010 Dylan exhibited his first ever paintings in acrylic, this new medium opened up to Dylan during an intensive burst of artist activity, he completed a significant new group of 50 paintings, The Brazil Series. In the subsequent exhibition at Copenhagen’s Statens Museum for Kunst from September 2010 to April 2011, visitors saw how Dylan had developed preliminary studies into richly coloured depictions of countryside, cityscape and, above all, characters. With the latest collection, The Beaten Path, the common theme of these works was to have something to do with the American landscape – how you see it while crisscrossing the land and seeing it for what it’s worth, staying out of the mainstream and travelling the back roads, free born style. Dylan explains in the Forward of the brochure to this collection, “My idea was to keep things simple, only deal with what is externally visible. These paintings are up to the moment realism – archaic, most static, but quivering in appearance. The contradict the modern world.” “Some of these works have much more complexity of detail. Some are less demanding...in some cases my hand couldn’t do what my eye was perceiving.” He has created this collection using watercolours and acrylics and wanted to strip the consumer culture, mass media, commercial art, celebrities etc out of these landscapes so that if the viewer visited where the picture actually existed, they will see the same thing. If you look at the different collections you can see the progression from Dylan to where he has come to now. The 15 pieces chosen for the first ‘Beaten Path’ collection are a mix of watercolour pieces and acrylic pieces. I hope this has helped even slightly? Let me know what you think. 1372 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1373 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1374 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1375 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1376 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Above are some of Dylan’s earlier works. The first Self Portrait painting makes him look like he’s on the nod. The Big Pink cover looks like the works of a child. Dylan starts to improve circa 1998. 1377 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1378 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1379 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1380 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1381 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1382 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY DYLAN IMPROVES IN 2015 IN BRAZIL SERIES 1383 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1384 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1385 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1386 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1387 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1388 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1389 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1390 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1391 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1392 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1393 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1394 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1395 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1396 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1397 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY BOB DYLAN REVISIONIST ART There is only one way to describe Dylan’s revisionist art. Sick. First of all Revisionism is assocated with Historical Revisionism, or Holocaust denial which Dylan engaged in. One of his photomontages labels American politicians Nazi war criminals, other use the word faggot a negro. The Magazine covers are full of half naked guys and women and demonstrate what a perv Dylan is. 1398 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY HIDDEN PICTURES IN JOHN WESLEY HARDING LP COVER One of the ways this Dylanologist reinvigorated Dylan’s fading career was to point out the the JOHN WESLEY HARDING LP contained hidden pictures. Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone put this in random notes and interest was rekindled in this off the wall LP. Dylan superimposed the Beatles and a gunman holding a rifle to the cover. 1399 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1400 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY 1401 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Of course there is symbolism in Dylan’s sculpture. One side of this artwork depicts his folk career. The spring represents the spring upward in Dylan’s career while the monkey wrench is the Newsweek Magazine article that almost destroyed him. The meat grinder represents the Woody Guthrie songs he had to grind out like and organ grinder. This left him in the chains of the communists as he said in As I Went Out one Morning – to breath the air around Tom Paine. I saw the fair damsel that ever did walk in chains” in relation his award by the Communist front group titled the Tom Paine Civil Liberties Award. The guitar and the G symbolize playing acoustic and GUTHRIE. On the other side the vice, the spikes, the gripping pliers and the sun could point to heroin but it is pretty ambiguous. BACKWARDS MASKING 1402 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY TRIPLICATE sloppy thirds picking Sinatra songs again that when looked at through a certain perspective mirror parts of Dylan’s life. When I hear these songs I can’t wait for them to be over. It is like enhanced interrogation. I don’t have to hear all of them and can get the lyrics online. Stormy Weather Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky Stormy weather Since my man and I ain't together Keeps rainin' all the time Life is bare, gloom and mis'ry everywhere Stormy weather Just can't get my poor self together I'm weary all the time, the time So weary all the time When he went away The blues walked in and met me If he stays away, old rockin' chair will get me All I do is pray, the Lord above will let me Walk in the sun once more Can't go on, ev'rything I had is gone Stormy weather Since my man and I ain't together Keeps rainin' all the time Keeps rainin' all the time When he went away The blues walked in and met me 1403 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY If he stays away, old rockin' chair will get me All I do is pray, the Lord above will let me Walk in the sun once more Can't go on, ev'rything I had is gone Stormy weather Since my man and I ain't together Keeps rainin' all the time Keeps rainin' all the time It's Funny To Everyone But Me It's funny how you loved me Then forgot so suddenly It's funny to everyone but me (It's the talk of the town) They told me this would happen Now they're laughing secretly It's funny to everyone but me (Gosh, he's crying again) I should shrug my shoulders and say Good riddance to a bad affair But how can I do, but my head tells me to When my heart tells me how much I care It's so funny, I still love you It's the joke of the century It's funny to everyone but me (I have the right to think of you) It's so funny, I still love you It's the joke of the century Ah, but it's funny to everyone but me 1404 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY It Gets Lonely Early When you're all alone All the children grown And, like starlings, flown away It gets lonely early, doesn't it? Lonely early, doesn't it? Ev'ry single endless day When your twilight nears And one face appears Turning winter years to May It gets lonely early, doesn't it? Lonely early, doesn't it? Still the old heart's young enough to say "It was really more than lovely, wasn't it? "Truly lovely, wasn't it?" Strings Ev'ry single lovely day As Time Goes By You must remember this A kiss is still a kiss A sigh is still (just) a sigh The fundamental things apply As time goes by And when two lovers woo They still say: I love you On that you can rely No matter what the future brings As time goes by Moonlight and love songs - never out of date Hearts full of passion - jealousy and hate 1405 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Woman needs man - and man must have his mate That no one can deny It's still the same old story A fight for love and glory A case of do or die The world will always welcome lovers As time goes by Here's That Rainy Day Maybe I should have saved those leftover dreams Funny but here's that rainy day Here's that rainy day they told me about And I laughed at the thought That it might turn out this way Where is that worn out wish that I threw aside After it brought my love so near Funny how love becomes a cold rainy day Funny that rainy day is here It's funny how love becomes a cold rainy day Funny that rainy day is here I Couldn't Sleep A Wink Last Night I couldn't sleep a wink last night Because we had that silly fight I thought my heart would break the whole night through I knew that you'd be sorry And I'm sorry too I didn't have my favorite dream The one in which I hold you tight 1406 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY I had to call you up this morning To see if everything was still all right Yes, I had to call you up this morning 'Cause I couldn't sleep a wink last night The moment of glory I nor Bob will never forget. That silly fight and his laughter on Elizabeth Street. He knew that I would be sorry for having messed with his wife. He said if you mess with her you will be sorry. He didn't have favority fantasy that he was strangling me, holding me tight that night. I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO CHANGE MY PLANS I guess I'll have to change my plan I should have realized there'd be another man I overlooked that point completely Until the big affair began Before I knew where I was at I found myself upon the shelf and that was that I tried to reach the moon but when I got there All that I could get was the air My feet are back upon the ground I lost the one girl The one girl I'd found My boiling point is much too low For me to try to be a fly Lothario The September Of My Years One day you turn around and it's summer Next day you turn around and it's fall And the springs and the winters of a lifetime Whatever happened to them all? 1407 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY As a man who has always had the wand'ring ways Now I'm reaching back for yesterdays 'Til a long-forgotten love appears And I find that I'm sighing softly as I near September, the warm September of my years As I man who has never paused at wishing wells Now I'm watching children's carousels And their laughter's music to my ears And I find that I'm smiling gently as I near September, the warm September of my years The golden warm September of my years It Gets Lonely Early When you're all alone All the children grown And, like starlings, flown away It gets lonely early, doesn't it? Lonely early, doesn't it? Ev'ry single endless day When your twilight nears And one face appears Turning winter years to May It gets lonely early, doesn't it? Lonely early, doesn't it? Still the old heart's young enough to say "It was really more than lovely, wasn't it? "Truly lovely, wasn't it?" Strings Ev'ry single lovely day 1408 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY As Time Goes By You must remember this A kiss is still a kiss A sigh is still (just) a sigh The fundamental things apply As time goes by And when two lovers woo They still say: I love you On that you can rely No matter what the future brings As time goes by Moonlight and love songs - never out of date Hearts full of passion - jealousy and hate Woman needs man - and man must have his mate That no one can deny It's still the same old story A fight for love and glory A case of do or die The world will always welcome lovers As time goes by Here's That Rainy Day Maybe I should have saved those leftover dreams Funny but here's that rainy day Here's that rainy day they told me about And I laughed at the thought That it might turn out this way Where is that worn out wish that I threw aside After it brought my love so near Funny how love becomes a cold rainy day 1409 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Funny that rainy day is here It's funny how love becomes a cold rainy day Funny that rainy day is here You go to my head You linger like a haunting refrain And I find you spinning round In my brain Like the bubbles in a glass of champagne You go to my head Like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew And I find the very mention of you Like the kicker in a julep or two The thrill of the thought That you might give a thought To my plea, casts a spell over me Still I say to myself Get ahold of yourself Can't you see that it never can be You go to my head with a smile That makes my temperature rise Like a summer with a thousand Julys You intoxicate my soul with your eyes Though I'm certain that this heart of mine Hasn't a ghost of a chance In this crazy romance You go to my head, you go to my head Though I'm certain that this heart of mine Hasn't a ghost of a chance In this crazy romance You go to my head, you go to my head You go to my head 5. Slang 1410 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY a. A habitual drug user. Often used in combination: a dopehead. You linger to persist or continue, esp in the mind like a haunting refrain A repeated utterance or theme in this case shooting up And I find you spinning Though you might hear laughin', spinnin' swingin' madly across the sun It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run And but for the sky there are no fences facin' And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're Seein' that he's chasing. round In my brain Like the bubbles I reach for Nicky's lighter, flick it on, and move it evenly back and forth under the cooker until the heroin begins to bubble. in a glass of champagne You go to my head Like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew Something produced as if by brewing; a mix: And I find the very mention of you Like the kicker a stimulating or intoxicating quality in alcoholic drink or certain drugs. In a julep or two The thrill of the thought 1411 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY That you might give a thought To my plea, casts a spell over me 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' 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. Still I say to myself Get ahold of yourself Can't you see that it never can be You go to my head with a smile That makes my temperature rise 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 Like a summer with a thousand Julys You intoxicate To impair the physical and mental faculties of (a person) by means of alcohol or a drug or other chemicalsubstance: my soul with your eyes Though I'm certain that this heart of mine Hasn't a ghost of a chance In this crazy romance You go to my head, you go to my head 1412 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DYLANOLOGY Dylan might take too much smack and his heart would stop beatin’ and his mind grow cold, then he’d believe what AJ told. 1413