Dylanists discussion

Another of the masterworks from Dylan's most fecund period. This analysis, by Herb Bowie at reasontorock.com focuses on the rhetorical devices and poetic metre of LaRS, inferring meaning from there.

Not certain that I agree entirely with the conclusions, but a good close reading nonetheless.

I like it where Paul Rothschild says "we were making music that could compare with The Beatles and the Stones and the Dave Clark Five!" Steady on there Paul - the Dave Clark Five? Are you sure?

hehehe.

So many of the articles about Dylan and his songs are hyperbolic. At the end, the author claims: "“Like A Rolling Stone” is a song about values, about meaning, about the transformative nature of art, about human development, and about the complex fabric of human existence."

Jeez, is that all?

And then people wonder why Dylan chooses not to discuss much (at all) the meaning of his songs. With people willing to make such grandiose claims on his behalf, it'd be kind of hard to come back with: "no man, it's about a spoiled girl I knew once."

Somewhere in the middle is likely the meaning. I often think Dylan stumbled upon connections and allusions, 'happy accidents' of phrasing that others took far beyond where he may have ever intended it to go.

Then again, maybe not. That's the delicious mystery at the root of many of these songs.

Lovely analysis. Most people seem to ignore the underlying idea of liberation that's present in the last verse of the song which also drastically alters the message of the chorus. The song's tone and message differ completely - yes, the language is directly mean and the voice is snarling, because after all, Miss Lonely's own naive attitude and arrogance has led her into a life of poverty and solitude. Yet again, Dylan ends the song with these two lines: "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose / You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal" - despite the awfulness of Miss Lonely's fate, this is the greatest gift she could have ever received, an absolute sense of liberation where she does not have to hide behind veils and can be herself and free, whereas "all the pretty people / they're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made" - this is really the key to comprehending the song, which is more multi-faceted than people tend to think. In a way, it's almost Buddhist.

New release for Dylan fans,

Dylan & Me: 50 Years of Adventures
by Author, Rolling Thunder Revue Producer and Friend Louie Kemp
Dylanandme.com