{"id":331,"date":"2010-05-20T07:57:34","date_gmt":"2010-05-20T14:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nothingtoreadhere.com\/?p=331"},"modified":"2010-05-20T07:57:34","modified_gmt":"2010-05-20T14:57:34","slug":"lyrical-breakdown-bob-dylan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/?p=331","title":{"rendered":"Lyrical breakdown: Bob Dylan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bob<\/a>I don’t know what is stronger, my love of well-written lyrics or my disgust for poorly-written ones.\u00a0 Either way, lyrics to songs play a big role in my life (too large a role, some might argue).\u00a0 So when I had an interesting experience regarding lyrics recently, I wanted to commemorate that here.\u00a0 Does that sound ok to you?\u00a0 Excellent.<\/p>\n

If I learned a song as\u00a0a kid, I’ve probably never given the lyrics enough serious thought.\u00a0 I tended to accept things much more easily at a young age (like the fact that Sigourney’s an acceptable first name), so revisiting them as an adult can be an interesting experience.\u00a0 Today’s example of that has to do with a song by Bob Dylan.\u00a0 More specifically, a song he penned and sang as part of the first album by Traveling Wilburys.\u00a0 It’s called “Tweeter and the Monkey Man,” and even though my friend Melissa burned the cd for me years ago, I was still stuck in my 1988 mindset as I listened to the familiar tunes…until last week.\u00a0 Where was once a song that I’d written off as “a weird but catchy Bob Dylan ditty” is now a song that I intend to dive into head first.<\/p>\n

Before I do that though, let me acknowledge my thoughts on Bob Dylan.\u00a0 He’s not famous for his voice, people.\u00a0 The man can write some unbelievable songs, including “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” and many more.\u00a0 He’s also a strange dude, throwing out some bizarre lines from time to time.\u00a0 In “I Want You,” he finds it appropriate to sing, “Now your dancing child in his Chinese suit\/He spoke to me, I took his flute\/You know I wasn’t very cute to him, was I?”\u00a0 Oh yeah, that clears it up, Bob.\u00a0\u00a0 Anyway, the dude’s great and strange, and “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” has elements of both.\u00a0 Here goes…something.<\/p>\n

Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash.
\nThey stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash
\nto an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan.
\nFor reasons unexplained, she loved the Monkey Man.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ok, this is a great start.\u00a0 In four lines, we get a shitload of plot and backstory.\u00a0 We have established “bad guys” in the titular characters, and they are unwittingly dealing with the police.\u00a0 We also get some family history of the cop, though I don’t know why his sister gets a name but he’s just “the undercover cop.”\u00a0 (Oh yeah, something needed to rhyme with “Monkey Man.”)\u00a0 I think that’s some exceptional storytelling to being the song.<\/p>\n

Tweeter was a boy scout \u2019fore she went to Vietnam
\nand found out the hard way nobody gives a damn.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ok, what the hell just happened?\u00a0 What do you mean that Tweeter was a female boy scout?\u00a0 Did s\/he have a sex change operation in Vietnam or was the war experience just so intense that it could be categorized as “gender-shifting”?\u00a0 Moving on, I guess.<\/p>\n

They knew that they\u2019d find freedom just across the Jersey line
\nso they hopped into a stolen car, took Highway 99.<\/p>\n

CHORUS:
\nAnd the walls came down
\nall the way to hell.
\nNever saw them when they\u2019re standing,
\nnever saw them when they fell.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ok, so apparently they’re either now hip to the fact that they’re dealing with a cop and want to get out of town, or they’re running from other law enforcement.\u00a0 I get it; criminals (especially ones with cool names) often flee their surroundings.\u00a0 The chorus doesn’t really add much for me and is kind of “just there” lyrically.\u00a0 And personally, I’m not a big fan of using “they’re” for “they were,” but I’m getting overly picky.\u00a0 Besides,\u00a0the chorus is pretty catchy even if it doesn’t advance the plot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man.
\nEven back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can.
\nJan got married at fourteen to a racketeer named Bill.
\nShe made secret calls to the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m a little confused by the first two of these four lines.\u00a0 I can’t decide whether the Monkey Man is a much older criminal that the cop grew up wanting to apprehend, or if they knew each other as kids.\u00a0 If it’s the latter, then wouldn’t the Monkey Man know that the cop was an undercover cop? If it’s the former, the fact that he “never liked” him strikes me as odd rather than “always tracked him,” or something similar.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Jan gets further character development, and her pedophile husband even gets a name before the undercover cop.\u00a0 One more question: which “bad guy” is the leader of these two?\u00a0 We hear them called “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” and get a confusing snippet of Tweeter’s backstory first, but then the “cop and sister” storyline is focused on the Monkey Man.\u00a0 Tonto and Robin never got that much love.<\/p>\n

It was out on Thunder Road, Tweeter at the wheel,
\nthey crashed into paradise, they could hear them tires squeal.
\nThe undercover cop pulled up and said, \u201cEvery one of you\u2019s a liar.
\nIf you don\u2019t surrender now, it\u2019s gonna go down to the wire.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHORUS<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m cool with\u00a0a “crashing into paradise” metaphor that I don’t understand, because it’s the type of fancy phrasing and possible symbolism I’m used to with Mr. Dylan.\u00a0 The undercover cop should probably just be “the cop” now since he’s outed himself to the “bad guys,” right?\u00a0 And is his gun drawn?\u00a0 How does it\u00a0get more “down to the wire” than this attempted arrest?\u00a0 And who uses “every one of you” for two people?\u00a0 Honestly.\u00a0 (I’m trying to let the forced rhyme of “liar” slide, but I just wish it were for a better payoff than “down to the wire.”\u00a0 Like in “Positively 4th Street,” Dylan forces an entire line to get it to end with “rob them” just so it can rhyme with a very strong line of, “Don’t you understand, it’s not my problem.”\u00a0 Forcing it for\u00a0that particular\u00a0idiom that doesn’t make enough sense to me, though.\u00a0 I’m just sayin’. Yeah but still.)<\/p>\n

An ambulance rolled up, a state trooper close behind.
\nTweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind.
\nThe undercover cop was left tied up to a tree
\nnear the souvenir stand by the old abandoned factory.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If I’m reading this right, the cop (who’s still “undercover” somehow) called in backup, but the antagonists foiled the plan and killed a dude in the process.\u00a0 Why didn’t they kill the “overcover cop”?\u00a0 I’m not sure – maybe there were childhood acquaintances after all.<\/p>\n

Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit.
\nHe was taking the whole thing personal, he didn\u2019t care about the loot.
\nJan had told him many times, \u201cIt was you to me who taught:
\nIn Jersey anything\u2019s legal as long as you don\u2019t get caught.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHORUS<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wait a second here.\u00a0 What do you mean that “he didn’t care about the loot”?\u00a0 His whole life, he’s wanted to arrest this criminal, and now<\/em> it’s personal and not about money?\u00a0 When was he going to get money for this?\u00a0 Is he a crooked cop who was taking a piece of the drug dealing action?\u00a0 I don’t get those two lines at all.\u00a0 In the next two, we see a perfect example of me allowing a very forced line in order to set up an important one.\u00a0 Jan’s line tells us a good deal about her character and about the environment as a whole, so I’m ok with the awkward “you to me who taught” fiasco.\u00a0 (Is ‘fiasco’ too strong?\u00a0 Maybe for you.)<\/p>\n

Someplace by Rahway Prison they ran out of gas.
\nThe undercover cop had cornered them, said, \u201cHuh, you didn\u2019t think that this could last?\u201d
\nJan jumped out of the bed, said, \u201cThere\u2019s someplace I gotta go.\u201d
\nShe took a gun out of the drawer and said, \u201cIt\u2019s best if you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The undercover cop was found face-down in a field.
\nThe Monkey Man was on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield.
\nJan said to the Monkey Man, \u201cI\u2019m not fooled by Tweeter\u2019s curl.
\nI knew him long before he ever became a Jersey girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHORUS<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wow, where do I even begin with this chunk of lyrics?\u00a0 I’ll start with the first four lines, which seems like the most logical resolution.\u00a0 The cop (who is so not undercover now that the moniker is laughable) catches up to his nemeses.\u00a0 Back in the mansion, Jan grabs a piece and bolts to wreck shit up.\u00a0 How old is Jan now?\u00a0 If she got married at 14, has enough time passed that Bill wouldn’t be considered an obvious pedophile by now?\u00a0 Either way, I’m still a little upset that he gets a name while our main protagonist just has an incorrect adjective and his profession.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next line is a doozy: the cop’s dead.\u00a0 Since this is right after Jan grabbed a gun, we have to assume that she offed her bro in support of her secret love, Mr. Monkey Man.\u00a0 Especially since the “bad guys” onlytied him to a tree before, that has to be what happened, right?\u00a0 I ask because of the next line.\u00a0 Who is aiming to shoot at the Monkey Man?\u00a0 The cop on their tail was killed, so as far as we know, only pistol-wielding Jan remains.\u00a0 Why would she hold them at gunpoint after running over there to help their convict asses?\u00a0 Maybe the next two lines will shed light on that for us…NOPE!\u00a0 Instead, we get a very confusing gender-bending line about a previous relationship.\u00a0 I must be missing something here, because here’s how I sum up those lines: “Monkey Man, I came here to save you from my brother because I love you.\u00a0 But now I must kill you.\u00a0 Oh please, don’t hind behind Tweeter.\u00a0 Tweeter’s my homey, and we’ve been in cahoots since before Vietnam changed him to a her.\u00a0 So you’re out of allies.”\u00a0 There’s a crapload of faulty logic and 180 degree motive changes in that, and yet it’s the best I got.\u00a0 What a strange and confusing way to end the song, right?\u00a0 What’s that?\u00a0 There’s another verse?\u00a0 Ooh, maybe that’ll be the missing piece!<\/p>\n

Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again.
\nI\u2019m sitting in a gambling club called the Lion\u2019s Den.
\nThe TV set was blown up, every bit of it was gone
\never since the nightly news show that the Monkey Man was on.<\/p>\n

I guess I\u2019ll go to Florida and get myself some sun.
\nThere ain\u2019t no more opportunity here, everything been done.
\nSometimes I think of Tweeter, sometimes I think of Jan,
\nsometimes I don\u2019t think about nothing but the Monkey Man\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What. The. Fuck.\u00a0 None of this – absolutely none of it – makes any sense.\u00a0 The narrator randomly became a character who tells us more details about where he’s sitting than we ever learned about the story’s hero.\u00a0 So a news show reported on the Monkey Man (and not Tweeter?), which for some reason led to someone or something destroying the television.\u00a0 No one is even hinted at as a culprit, nor is anything resembling a motive mentioned.\u00a0 If I’m watching tv and a heinous crime is being reported, I may go as far as, ya know, turning it off.\u00a0 But blowing it up?\u00a0 That’s extreme, man.<\/p>\n

It’s this final group of four lines that probably confounds me even more than Tweeter’s fluid sexual identification.\u00a0 First, our suddenly existent narrator tells us of upcoming travel plans to catch some rays.\u00a0 Then he laments the state of Jersey City, and admits that he occasionally gives thought to some of the characters in the story he just told.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 I have no idea.\u00a0 These last lines add nothing to the story at all, especially the last four.\u00a0 I can’t believe I’m saying this, but ending with, “I knew him long before he ever became a Jersey girl” would’ve made much more sense.\u00a0 Instead, we got…that.\u00a0 And I still don’t know which one’s the main bad guy and which is the sidekick.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(If you for some reason haven’t read enough about a 1988 song from a band that no longer exists, Wikipedia’s entry on the song<\/a> has an interesting point about Dylan nodding to several Bruce Springsteen songs in it.\u00a0 Some of it I’m sure is 100% right, and other parts…not so much.)<\/p>\n

So there you go, readers: so much more than you ever wanted about something you don’t give a crap about.\u00a0 That’s what I’m here for.\u00a0 At the very least, I feel a little better now that I’ve properly over-thought through something from my childhood.\u00a0 Who knows, maybe I’ll dig out another old album and find that\u00a0my younger self\u00a0accepted another twisted song at face value.\u00a0 Hmm, I wonder if I still have “Wild Wild West” by The Escape Club somewhere.\u00a0 (On second thought, this post took me parts of 4 days to write and review, so this may be one of a kind.\u00a0 Sorry\/you’re welcome.) R.I.P., overcover cop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t know what is stronger, my love of well-written lyrics or my disgust for poorly-written ones.\u00a0 Either way, lyrics to songs play a big role in my life (too large a role, some might argue).\u00a0 So when I had an interesting experience regarding lyrics recently, I wanted to commemorate that here.\u00a0 Does that sound […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[80,79],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bob-dylan","tag-lyrics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":339,"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions\/339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/n2rh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}