Subterranean Homesick Blues

One of the first noticeable steps into Dylan's electric instability is the first song off his first '65 album Bringing It All Back Home, “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. This album was about when Dylan's stability began to deteriorate. He began to walk away from the solo-acoustic-folk direction and bought a nice loud amp that his new makeshift band could hear him bang his guitar through. Subterranean Homesick Blues is sort of a protest song, but more of a warning to the youth about the corruption of the government and how they basically screw the youth over, and he's telling them that regardless of what the government says, you should live freely.

The song starts out with an average Johnny, “in the basement mixing up the medicine”, meaning he's making booze (which is commonly referred to as “grandpa's cough medicine”) in the basement, which an average Johnny has the ability to make, while Dylan's “on the pavement thinking about the government.” Dylan is out on the street with the rest of the young generation as he begins his loud rant about the government's corruption. He talks about “The man in the trench coat”, an off duty cop, with his “badge out, laid off”, coming up to his door, who “says he's got a bad cough”, wants some “cough medicine”, and “wants to get it paid off”, meaning that he wants it free so he's blackmailing them and will arrest them if they don't give it to him. So you better “Look out kid, it's somethin' you did, god knows when, but you're doin' it again.” because even if you didn't really do anything wrong, the cops have the power to get you in trouble. Dylan gives advice that “You better duck down the alley way, lookin' for a new friend”, when you're running away from the cops and just try again. He then describes a cop as “The man in the coon-skin cap”, “In the big pen”, which is jail, and he “Wants eleven dollar bills” to bail you out of jail when he knows that “you only got ten.”, but that's just how it is, because the cop can do that. 

In the second verse, Dylan says, “Maggie comes fleet foot, face full of black soot, talkin' that the heat put plants in the bed but”, Maggie comes running downstairs where they make their booze saying that the “heat” (cops) planted microphones in the bedrooms, which was a common practice for drug busts in the 60's. In the next lines, “The phone's tapped anyway, Maggie says that many say, they must bust in early May, orders from the D. A.” Maggie says that she's heard some of the underground warnings that busts have been ordered in early May by the District Attorney. “Walk on your tip toes, don't try 'No Doz'”, be careful with what you do. Then Dylan warns to “Better stay away from those, that carry around a fire hose”, which are the riot police, and “Keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes”, which are undercover cops, and “You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows.”, meaning that you don't need a random person to tell you what's going on with the world and what to believe when you can figure it out for yourself. 

“Get sick”, when your drug supply is dry, then “get well” when they come back around, “hang around a ink well” is hanging out with other junkies. “Ring bell”, like a service bell at a store, “hard to tell if anything is goin' to sell”, it's really tough to make it as a drug dealer. “Try hard” and put in a lot of effort as a dealer, “get barred”, get busted for dealing. Then you “Get back, write braille, get jailed, jump bail, join the army, if you fail.”, meaning that you should try something new, writing braille is a term for being really drunk, try to do something with your life, and if all else fails, join the army. The next lines, “But users, cheaters, six-time losers, hang around the theaters, girl by the whirlpool, lookin' for a new fool.”, are about drug users and dealers, pimps, and prostitutes that hang out around theaters at night, particularly 42nd street (a street in Manhattan referenced in multiple songs by Dylan which in the 60's to the late 80's was well known for it's low class, ghetto inhibitors). The last line of the verse, “Don't follow leaders, watch the parkin' meters.”, says that instead of worrying about other people so much, you should worry about your own problems, like when your parking meter runs out of time. This verse sums up the life of a person living living in the underground, in a life of drugs, jail, and prostitutes, in complete contrast with the final verse.

The next lines, “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.”, talk about how if you don't live your life (relatively) like the previous verse, you work hard your whole life trying to be a success just to look forward to a boring, average job. “Look out kid, they keep it all hid” - a fair warning to the youth to watch out for the corrupt government. Dylan suggests that you “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” and get yourself away from the corrupt society, and to stay low and keep off of the cops' radar. In the last line of the song, Dylan says that “The pump don't work 'cause the vandals took the handles.” In the 60's and 70's, one of many common ways that people would warn others about upcoming drug raids was by stealing the handles off gas pumps.