Definitely side with nanukrbsit, but I'm a little biased (I have a dancing bear tattoo).
Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think there are 3 main characters; father, mother and child. I think that the song is about inheriting his fathers fate. Father drinks a lot, has some kids but isn't "there" for them(father is never mentioned in the same verse as his children), mom dies and the kids grow up with a father who couldn't be a positive role model ("never was the same again"). He teaches his kids to "fire the stills," simultaneously teaching them how to make his drug of choice (which they drink) while at the same time warping their respect for law. The last verse is the same as the first, making me think the kid will retrace his fathers steps..... I know that many other Dead songs also have a theme of cycles, things move in circles.....
..... but I could be wrong. Personal interpretation, right?
You are partly right - we hear about Jack Jones, a womanizer in his young days ("Gentle Jack Jones wont you come to me?") and his wife Delilah, who was not a very faithful partner - as half of her eight boys were "sins". The couple makes a living as small scale producers of illegal liqour at desolate places ("Bigfoot county" is hardly a reference to a precise location) - simple, rugged,(Jack Jones would take up the yoke, if the ox collapsed), american folks with a certain contempt for authorities.
You are partly right - we hear about Jack Jones, a womanizer in his young days ("Gentle Jack Jones wont you come to me?") and his wife Delilah, who was not a very faithful partner - as half of her eight boys were "sins". The couple makes a living as small scale producers of illegal liqour at desolate places ("Bigfoot county" is hardly a reference to a precise location) - simple, rugged,(Jack Jones would take up the yoke, if the ox collapsed), american folks with a certain contempt for authorities.
But I definitly...
But I definitly think you are wrong about the father as a role model. Rather the fact, that he "never was the same again" after Deliah's dead suggests, that even if he was fond of other women, and his wife had other men, they were deeply attached to each other - and this ambiguity is very human, even touching.
A note of caution or even irony creeps in, when we are told, that only one of the Jones' eight boys - the narrator of the story -"turned bad", because he wasn't licked. This is the wisdom of the good ol' days, which of course also had a darker side.
The lines "The bottle was dusty, but the liqour was clean" tell us not to look at the surface but at the contents of things. Countless poets have of course offered this piece of advice,but it may be more relevant nowadays than ever. In connection with this song the lines may suggest that we should acknowledge the rugged qualities of the characters: "It looks like the old man's gettin on" - in spite of all.
Definitely side with nanukrbsit, but I'm a little biased (I have a dancing bear tattoo).
Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think there are 3 main characters; father, mother and child. I think that the song is about inheriting his fathers fate. Father drinks a lot, has some kids but isn't "there" for them(father is never mentioned in the same verse as his children), mom dies and the kids grow up with a father who couldn't be a positive role model ("never was the same again"). He teaches his kids to "fire the stills," simultaneously teaching them how to make his drug of choice (which they drink) while at the same time warping their respect for law. The last verse is the same as the first, making me think the kid will retrace his fathers steps..... I know that many other Dead songs also have a theme of cycles, things move in circles.....
..... but I could be wrong. Personal interpretation, right?
You are partly right - we hear about Jack Jones, a womanizer in his young days ("Gentle Jack Jones wont you come to me?") and his wife Delilah, who was not a very faithful partner - as half of her eight boys were "sins". The couple makes a living as small scale producers of illegal liqour at desolate places ("Bigfoot county" is hardly a reference to a precise location) - simple, rugged,(Jack Jones would take up the yoke, if the ox collapsed), american folks with a certain contempt for authorities.
You are partly right - we hear about Jack Jones, a womanizer in his young days ("Gentle Jack Jones wont you come to me?") and his wife Delilah, who was not a very faithful partner - as half of her eight boys were "sins". The couple makes a living as small scale producers of illegal liqour at desolate places ("Bigfoot county" is hardly a reference to a precise location) - simple, rugged,(Jack Jones would take up the yoke, if the ox collapsed), american folks with a certain contempt for authorities.
But I definitly...
But I definitly think you are wrong about the father as a role model. Rather the fact, that he "never was the same again" after Deliah's dead suggests, that even if he was fond of other women, and his wife had other men, they were deeply attached to each other - and this ambiguity is very human, even touching.
A note of caution or even irony creeps in, when we are told, that only one of the Jones' eight boys - the narrator of the story -"turned bad", because he wasn't licked. This is the wisdom of the good ol' days, which of course also had a darker side.
The lines "The bottle was dusty, but the liqour was clean" tell us not to look at the surface but at the contents of things. Countless poets have of course offered this piece of advice,but it may be more relevant nowadays than ever. In connection with this song the lines may suggest that we should acknowledge the rugged qualities of the characters: "It looks like the old man's gettin on" - in spite of all.