I think in the rush to discover the "hidden" meaning of this song, people are looking past some of the more obvious stuff. While there do seem to be some lyrics alluding to homosexuality, there are whole sections of the song that have nothing to do with this. Plus, the hostility displayed towards Mr. Jones would hardly indicate a sympathetic commentary on homosexuality. I find the hostile tone more consistent with the critical character assassination of Like a Rolling Stone and much of the Highway 61 album.
The meaning is closer to what people were saying about criticism of the establishment. I've always thought of it as having a bit of a generational meaning as well. F Scott Fitzgerald was popular primarily in the 20's - a generation or two before Dylan's. The youngest people to have read Fitzgerald in the 20's would have been about 60 when this song was released. Add this to all the contacts, professors, charities, great lawyers, etc that Mr. Jones consorts with, and it suggests that he's an older, educated, upper class individual who, despite all his knowledge and power, can't comprehend the changes happening in society in the 1960's - namely the youth 'counter-culture.'
I suspect that the nonsensical verses are deliberately designed to confuse us and thus put us in Mr. Jones' shoes, and little more. You have to be careful not to read TOO much into lyrics sometimes, especially Dylan's. Not every line has an explicit and carefully constructed meaning. He used to write songs like this in about 15 minutes.
@ND14 Your suggestion that only people reading when a book is published read a book is ridiculous. " The GREAT GATSBY" is considered an American classic and was assigned reading when I was in high school in the early 70's. It is partly about the corruption of materialism and undo status. But I do think you are right, that some of the lyrics are surrealistic and in some ways meaningless, which allows each of us to impart our own meaning. That is the geinious of Dylan.
@ND14 Your suggestion that only people reading when a book is published read a book is ridiculous. " The GREAT GATSBY" is considered an American classic and was assigned reading when I was in high school in the early 70's. It is partly about the corruption of materialism and undo status. But I do think you are right, that some of the lyrics are surrealistic and in some ways meaningless, which allows each of us to impart our own meaning. That is the geinious of Dylan.
@ND14 The biggest problem with that is that when F. Scott Fitzgerald died in 1940 he was considered a failure. He had made a grand total of $13 in royalties from his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, at the time of his death. His first book had been a successful debut, his second also did modestly well. But after that he fell out of favor with critics and the buying public.\r\n\r\nOnly after WWII was he acknowledged as the writer we know him to be.
@ND14 The biggest problem with that is that when F. Scott Fitzgerald died in 1940 he was considered a failure. He had made a grand total of $13 in royalties from his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, at the time of his death. His first book had been a successful debut, his second also did modestly well. But after that he fell out of favor with critics and the buying public.\r\n\r\nOnly after WWII was he acknowledged as the writer we know him to be.
I think in the rush to discover the "hidden" meaning of this song, people are looking past some of the more obvious stuff. While there do seem to be some lyrics alluding to homosexuality, there are whole sections of the song that have nothing to do with this. Plus, the hostility displayed towards Mr. Jones would hardly indicate a sympathetic commentary on homosexuality. I find the hostile tone more consistent with the critical character assassination of Like a Rolling Stone and much of the Highway 61 album.
The meaning is closer to what people were saying about criticism of the establishment. I've always thought of it as having a bit of a generational meaning as well. F Scott Fitzgerald was popular primarily in the 20's - a generation or two before Dylan's. The youngest people to have read Fitzgerald in the 20's would have been about 60 when this song was released. Add this to all the contacts, professors, charities, great lawyers, etc that Mr. Jones consorts with, and it suggests that he's an older, educated, upper class individual who, despite all his knowledge and power, can't comprehend the changes happening in society in the 1960's - namely the youth 'counter-culture.'
I suspect that the nonsensical verses are deliberately designed to confuse us and thus put us in Mr. Jones' shoes, and little more. You have to be careful not to read TOO much into lyrics sometimes, especially Dylan's. Not every line has an explicit and carefully constructed meaning. He used to write songs like this in about 15 minutes.
It's perhaps even a more subtle continuation of the "times they are a changin" theme.
It's perhaps even a more subtle continuation of the "times they are a changin" theme.
@ND14 Your suggestion that only people reading when a book is published read a book is ridiculous. " The GREAT GATSBY" is considered an American classic and was assigned reading when I was in high school in the early 70's. It is partly about the corruption of materialism and undo status. But I do think you are right, that some of the lyrics are surrealistic and in some ways meaningless, which allows each of us to impart our own meaning. That is the geinious of Dylan.
@ND14 Your suggestion that only people reading when a book is published read a book is ridiculous. " The GREAT GATSBY" is considered an American classic and was assigned reading when I was in high school in the early 70's. It is partly about the corruption of materialism and undo status. But I do think you are right, that some of the lyrics are surrealistic and in some ways meaningless, which allows each of us to impart our own meaning. That is the geinious of Dylan.
@ND14 The biggest problem with that is that when F. Scott Fitzgerald died in 1940 he was considered a failure. He had made a grand total of $13 in royalties from his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, at the time of his death. His first book had been a successful debut, his second also did modestly well. But after that he fell out of favor with critics and the buying public.\r\n\r\nOnly after WWII was he acknowledged as the writer we know him to be.
@ND14 The biggest problem with that is that when F. Scott Fitzgerald died in 1940 he was considered a failure. He had made a grand total of $13 in royalties from his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, at the time of his death. His first book had been a successful debut, his second also did modestly well. But after that he fell out of favor with critics and the buying public.\r\n\r\nOnly after WWII was he acknowledged as the writer we know him to be.