| Bob Dylan – Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word Lyrics | 3 years ago |
|
@[hellopeople:44878] I liked your interpretation of the song but I differ on a couple of points. First of all, I'm inclined to believe the "friend of a friend of mine" means that the narrator (let's call him Dylan), is meeting his friend and his friend's partner ("friend of a friend of mine") at the cafe. When Dylan wrote the song no one even thought mobile phones would ever exist--except in comics, like Dick Tracy; the person she was talking to (the father of her kid) was walking with them. "Love is just a four letter word" was a cynical meme in the post sexual revolution 60s. The pill was available but abortion wasn't legal until 1973. No contraception is perfect, The woman with the baby and her partner didn't get married but stayed together in what has become a loveless marriage. The "cats meowing a the break of dawn" and the "Gypsy cafe" ...I can see this as an early morning breakfast before Dylan leaves to continue his travels, stopping by briefly to check up on his friend. Visiting his friend reveals how naive Dylan feels about love and relationships. Lastly, I just want to say that, after folk waned in the early 60s, the singer-songwriter thing became very popular. Just a voice (some, like Dylan's, are not easy on the ears) with minimal orchestration. The appeal, I'm told, was Authenticity. That being said, I suspect there this song is a bit autobiographical. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.