As an older (if not more 'mature') Dylan admirer, I remember the album from when it first came out, and I have always thought this is one of Dylan's greatest songs. But what is it 'about'? More specifically, who is the 'landlord'? My own first theory (like some of the comments here) was that - in a broad sense - the song was religious, and that the 'landlord' is God. This fits the first verse quite well: 'when that steamboat whistle blows' is when Dylan comes to judgement, and the verse is a plea not to judge him too harshly. But the more I thought about it the less well this theory fits the text. Especially the lines:
"I know you've suffered much
But in this you are not so unique
All of us, at times we might work too hard
To have it too fast and too much
And anyone can fill his life up
With things he can see but he just cannot touch."
These are not words that can easily be applied to God! The first line might of course be applied to the suffering Jesus (though it is awkward that Dylan was not, so far as I recall, a Christian at that time), but the remainder does not fit the interpretation at all.
My second theory was that the 'landlord' is primarily the listener him or herself - in other words the public to whom Dylan addresses himself, and especially those who hung on his every word at that time. I still think that this is the most convincing single interpretation. But I would no longer be confident that everything written by Dylan has to have some consistent, single meaning. There is room for deliberate ambiguity, and we should also accept that Dylan sometimes just used enigmatic, oracular phrases that sound good but don't stand up to close analysis.
The one thing I am fairly sure of is that it has nothing to do with his manager. At least, I hope not, because that would reduce it to triviality, and I don't think it is trivial.
As an older (if not more 'mature') Dylan admirer, I remember the album from when it first came out, and I have always thought this is one of Dylan's greatest songs. But what is it 'about'? More specifically, who is the 'landlord'? My own first theory (like some of the comments here) was that - in a broad sense - the song was religious, and that the 'landlord' is God. This fits the first verse quite well: 'when that steamboat whistle blows' is when Dylan comes to judgement, and the verse is a plea not to judge him too harshly. But the more I thought about it the less well this theory fits the text. Especially the lines:
"I know you've suffered much But in this you are not so unique All of us, at times we might work too hard To have it too fast and too much And anyone can fill his life up With things he can see but he just cannot touch."
These are not words that can easily be applied to God! The first line might of course be applied to the suffering Jesus (though it is awkward that Dylan was not, so far as I recall, a Christian at that time), but the remainder does not fit the interpretation at all.
My second theory was that the 'landlord' is primarily the listener him or herself - in other words the public to whom Dylan addresses himself, and especially those who hung on his every word at that time. I still think that this is the most convincing single interpretation. But I would no longer be confident that everything written by Dylan has to have some consistent, single meaning. There is room for deliberate ambiguity, and we should also accept that Dylan sometimes just used enigmatic, oracular phrases that sound good but don't stand up to close analysis.
The one thing I am fairly sure of is that it has nothing to do with his manager. At least, I hope not, because that would reduce it to triviality, and I don't think it is trivial.