Quote:
Originally Posted by The Watchman
Someone explained to me once that Dylan (and some of his imitators) purposely made up a lot of nonsensical lyrics as a mockery or just a break, from the moon-June-spoon romanticism of previous generation pop music.
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Dylan was certainly capable of cynicism, of sending up critics and fans alike. I'm not aware he wrote songs with that purpose, but I wouldn't put it past him.
What is certain, however, is that John Lennon felt that way, and wrote I Am The Walrus as a deliberate parody of nonsensical lyrics, believing (quite rightly) that most listeners didn't care whether Dylan's surrealist lyrics made any sense or not. The psychedelic era was all about pushing boundaries, exploring the arcane and mysterious, and if lyrics made no
literal sense that was all
good - they became like dream images in that sense. It was good brain exercise trying to work out if they actually
might mean something... It's all "wow man, far out!" If you found you could actually understand a lyric, that might make it disappointing!
There are definitely some phrases in Dylan songs which resist any sensible interpretation, and could well be a put-on. "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" has several. Ostensibly about Joan Baez (a kind of oblique love song), it has - among some beautifully evocative phrases - some nonsense ones like "curfew plugs" and "warehouse eyes". it was as if he was writing at the boundary of meaning, and just occasionally stepped across the border...(hey who cares... let the critics chew on those...)