Tombstone Blues - Analysis and Reaction to Bob Dylan

[@scottybelle9]

I always saw "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken." as megalomania. The commander-in-chief has become so powerful that he thinks the sun is actually frightened of him. Of course, there is no single meaning to the line.

[@richarddefortuna2252]

Actually, "yellow" was an insult that meant "afraid" or "scared," in the same sense as being "chicken." If you watch old '50s TV shows or more particularly old Westerns, it was not uncommon for a bully character to ask if his opponent was "yellow," or would call him "yelliw belly," again, meaning "scared" or - more pertinent to this line - "chicken." Dylan's just playing with the words and their meanings. Belle Starr was an old, late 19th Century, western cowboy-like celebrity, and Cecil B. De Mille was a very famous American film director known for his over-the-top, sword-and-sandals epics that included casts of literal thousands.

[@richarddefortuna2252]

Actually, "yellow" was an insult that meant "afraid" or "scared," in the same sense as being "chicken." If you watch old '50s TV shows or more particularly old Westerns, it was not uncommon for a bully character to ask if his opponent was "yellow," or would call him "yelliw belly," again, meaning "scared" or - more pertinent to this line - "chicken."

[@miguelfernandodelmoral2641]

There was also the stereotype of the oriental yellow man as sneaky & coward. Adding a racial connotation for the time of the early Vietnam War.

[@kenkaplan3654]

@@richarddefortuna2252 The song alludes strongly to Vietnam (**Tombstone** Blues-dead soldiers). Commander in chief is Johnson, the war hawks, inverting Jesus as authority.

[@BlueSky...]

@@kenkaplan3654 Nailed it. Absolutely.

[@jasonremy1627]

"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a great one as well. Worth your time.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

I was just going to say that.

[@ziggymarlowe5654]

Belle Starr was a notorious outlaw who ran with Jesse and Frank James and their gang. She became famous after her death, about which there is some controversy. Boot Hill was a common name for the cemeteries in the Wild West days. Maybe that's the 'hill' Dylan is referring to? The chorus is what hits me hard. Mama cooking without shoes, Papa in the alley looking for food. These were desperate people, with little hope.

[@jasonremy1627]

Mike Bloomfield is the lead guitarist on this. Outside of working with Dylan, he was best known for working with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

[@noother964]

An amazing guitarist who died too young.

[@kensilverstone1656]

Bloomfield is fantastic on every Dylan song he plays on.

[@keithsummers_]

The guitarist is such a beast. His fills are so good on this! Must have been hard to follow Dylan on this one because he comes in singing on random parts.

[@urgemore]

Cecil B. DeMille was a director of movies with physically large scenes. He directed "The Ten Commandments" in which there are pillars and hills and deaths.

[@adamschmitt9480]

Also Dylan says "I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill." Which is his way of saying Brother Bill fantasizes about dying in a cinematic and glorious way, Dylan is saying he wishes he could give him what he wants. I've read a theory that Brother Bill is a reference to the TV pastor Billy Graham who was huge in American mainstream culture in Dylan's day, so a figure like him would be a prime target for Dylan to critique and want to give a melodramatic death scene to.

[@dabrack9350]

The references to chains and columns are to Samson, a Judge of Israel when they got to the promised land. Samson was betrayed by Delilah, put in chains, and then with superhuman strength pulled down the columns of a temple killing his captors. Dylan did think Cecil B. DeMille could produce the scene for a film.

[@jasonremy1627]

Sometimes I think Dylan's not necessarily trying to tell a story. Sometimes he's just playing with words.

[@mary-louisepoulin8690]

Exactly. it doesn't all need to make sense!

[@edprzydatek8398]

Sometimes he's just trying to make it rhyme, heh.

[@Hexon66]

@@mary-louisepoulin8690 Until you figure out randomly that something does make sense, you just didn't have the depth of reference to understand it. Then you question everything you've dismissed!

[@cipherklosenuf9242]

Ambiguity can be more honest and reach a wider audience too. People will tend to hear what they want to, and he’s observing really complex events. What was going on in 1965 was often hidden and morally ambiguous too.

[@kenkaplan3654]

That's what he wanted people to think to throw them off. The man who wrote "Now the rovin' gambler, he was very bored He was tryin' to create a next world war He found a promoter who almost fell off the floor He said "I never engaged in this kind of thing before" "But yes, I think it can be very easily done" " 'Cause we'll put some bleachers out in the sun" "And have it on Highway 61" knew damn well what he wanted to say, all the time.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

The whole album is magical, culminating in the epic "Desolation Row". It draws in historical and fictional characters, juxtaposing them in crazy but thought provoking ways. Intriguing interpretation of a very cryptic track... I've always thought the "city fathers... Paul Revere's horse" was a reference to the insane Caesar Caligula, who made his horse a Roman senator. As for the rap, Dylan was probably the "first white rapper" with his song "Subterranean Homesick Blues".

[@cipherklosenuf9242]

Nice call on Caligula’s horse, I hadn’t thought that.👍

[@alecspeer]

"first white rapper" - Dylan was way earlier than Blondie's Deborah Harry and "Rapture" in 1981

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

@@alecspeer yup. More to the point, he was four months before Paul Simon's original version of "A Simple Desultory Philippic"

[@deborahalissa]

Dylan white?? hahahahahaha nope. Europeans he ain't yours. Dylan is Jewish, middle eastern, near Asian.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

​@@deborahalissa Zimmerman is an Ashkenazic name, meaning his ancestors had probably been in Europe for up to 2000 years. Sure, he'll have some Levantine blood, but if you're going back that far it's likely most Europeans have some "non-white" blood: Moorish, Jewish, Tartar, Mongol... they've all been through Europe in the last 2000 years. And in the context of rap, "white" is often simply used for "non-African American". The Beastie Boys are frequently referred to as the first "white rap group", despite having Horovitz, Yauch, and Diamond as its members.

[@James-lk2sg]

You should definitely hear the song “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Yes that one’s is a trip

[@damienflinter4585]

And throw in the Bear Mountain picnic...

[@billshotton5918]

The statement about wondering if Dylan is a journalist- is fantastic observation. I've never seen him that way before, but it rings true.

[@adamschmitt9480]

That's funny that he mentioned journalism because that's what Bob Dylan famously accused his near-peer folk singer Phil Ochs of being, but he used journalism as a put-down not a compliment. Meaning Dylan was a "Real Writer" who wrote with creativity and authenticity and true artistic merit, etc. Whereas Phil Ochs' songs were written more like a newspaper article set to guitar chords. Super snobby of Dylan, but he always was a man of strong convictions.

[@chazybrewster]

The way you dive into Dylan’s lyrics is just fantastic.

[@DawnSuttonfabfour]

O K I waited and you are totally making it worth the wait.

[@CharlesDunkley]

The verse about Delilah and the tears on her cheek from laughter, and sending out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille, is a reference to Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 film Samson and Delilah, a biblical epic which involves love seduction, and being betrayed to the Philistines. Whoever the "Brother Bill" is he's referring to in the verse seems to want to have some biblical experience. Which could mean just about anything where Dylan is concerned.

[@paulburton5150]

Brother Bill is likely Billy Graham, the evangelical Baptist minister. He was a major figure in the US, also deeply involved in the Civil Rights movement.

[@gratefulkm]

@@paulburton5150 Bill Johnson the President, who killed Kennedy

[@nthdegree1269]

Lyrics in the abstract are meant for the abstract and unconscious or superconcious of the person/soul. Our minds not only see things in the concrete but we also see through that abstract mind

[@Camothor10]

You being a fan of hip hop definitely gives you a really good insight on the ways the lyrics are construed and you pick up on a lot of the details its really impressive

[@8OBO8]

One of the hardest Dylan songs to analyse, and you did a fantastic job. It'd take me many listens to reach that level of understanding.

[@IsisMusic]

"the sun is not yellow, it´s chicken" - Lyndon B Johnson quote

[@hlawrencepowell]

I've listened to this song probably a thousand times. I've sort of absorbed it but have never tried to figure it out. The imagery is enough for me.

[@cipherklosenuf9242]

I grew up in the 70’s. Sometimes I come across a song whose melody and lyrics is so familiar, but now as an adult I realize the meaning which was totally lost on me as an adult. I think there was a lot of not figuring things out 1965, it was a crazy time, toss another crazy tune on the pile. Are you interested in unraveling the era now?

[@urgemore]

I remember the moment, maybe twelve years old, catching "...but the town has no need to be nervous," and realizing its statement about the politicians not getting anything done. I made eye contact with my dad, a giant Dylan fan, and cracked up laughing.

[@BlueSky...]

Very astute! Well done.

[@rogeebundy6002]

Love it been listening to this track for forty lus years the suns not yellow its chicken is my favorite line

[@more5600]

Being yellow and being chicken are both slag terms for being cowardly, it's a play on words.

[@machoward6443]

You need to do the whole album, Syed. This is Dylan at his supreme best. Musically, lyrically, absolutely astonishing! If you never hear another Dylan track, "Highway 61 Revisited" is absolutely essential. Difficult to fully appreciate this today because so much of the innovation has passed on to subsequent rock music. But I still recall hearing the album for the first time and was completely blown away - December 28th 1965. The date is burnt into my memory. Absolutely stunned by what I was listening to despite already being a dedicated Dylan fan. "Bringing It All Back Home" had some very interesting, transitional tracks in it but "Highway" was a New World of music. It's very difficult to understand much of the lyrics' references because Dylan was involved with the mid-60s counter-culture around Ginsberg and Warhol etc and I suspect many of the "characters" refer to actual people in that culture and Dylan identifies them by attaching them to well known historical or fictional personalities and stories. I suspect only a knowledge of that culture would explain. But the chorus, however, isn't difficult to understand - it keeps dragging you back to this - no matter what your concerns and interests it's still poverty that should be your primary concern.

[@pgrabar]

Dylan is hilarious. I love his historical references and name-dropping. This is one of my favorites on my all-time favorite album. You have to do Desolation Row.

[@vincentvancraig]

U finally hit this bad boy ....so few reactors do this masterpiece & it bums me out.

[@vedantapdx]

The reason Dylan's songs felt so compelling in this era was not only the surreal images he lays out, but the musicians he uses to create the backdrop. Again, the gorgeous blues, rock backdrop he fashions for the listener is represented by Michael Bloomfield, the hottest blues guitarist of his time. He was on fire when these studio tracks were made and Dylan was aware he had this special artist to give his stories a one of a kind backdrop. Bloomfield died young of heroine overdose but he loved being part of Dylan's creations in those years. Sometimes I listen to you try to find too much meaning in these early masterpieces. But, I enjoy listening to you explore this old material as I don't think much can measure up to these early period treasures. Not all his songs are meant to have literal meanings. This is one of our great artist's first attempts at stretching what is possible in new American pop music. I would love for Dylan to sit down with you and have a conversation about these time, but at 82, or however old he is now it is pretty unlikely. I am 75 and have enjoyed the adventure and ride of listening to Dylan since the very beginning. I am glad you are enjoying this body of work.

[@bradcarroll5834]

Mike Bloomfield was on lead guitar. He also played with Dylan when he first went electric at the Newport folk fest in 1965.

[@PoliticalCineaste]

Cecil B. Mille was a Hollywood director, known for making epics such as _The 10 Commandments_ (1956). Brother Bill is not as obvious, but likely preacher Billy Graham.

[@LeeKennison]

Paul Revere is known for his famous line in 1775, "The British are coming." This line was not heard again until the British Invasion of the 1960s. Although this time I think they were welcomed.😉

[@bradcarroll5834]

And Israel Bissell was too hard to rhyme!

[@LeeKennison]

@@bradcarroll5834 And think of all the other ones who were probably doing the same thing that history forgot. I doubt seriously that it was just a couple of guys spreading the message. If I remember my history correctly, the internet had not yet been invented, so its not like they could have just sent a tweet. But all good stories need their heros, and this includes history. The thing about Israel Bissell is that it doesn't make as cool of a rock band name as the future Paul Revere and the Raiders.

[@bradcarroll5834]

@@LeeKennison beastie boys should’ve done a rap about Bissell

[@James-dh6ld]

He doesn't care that you understand it! He's looking at the"Italian Poets from the 14th century" Evocative.He wants to evoke Practicality. He roots for the underdog whether he notices or not. He'd just call them songs. .... WOW

[@mojomonkey2123]

Blind Willie McTell!

[@machoward6443]

Absolutely love it!

[@alpetrocelli4465]

Mike Bloomfield, the guitarist, was one of the best. Born in Chicago, he played at the blues clubs, and with Paul Butterfield. Elvin Bishop also played in that classic blues band. Check them out from Monterey Pop 1965. This is one my favorite Dylan jams, and Bloomfield puts the jam in it.✌️❤️🎶

[@BillKort-xo8nj]

The guitarist is Mike Bloomfield. Bloomfield was also the guitarist on Dylan's first electric performance of, Like a Rolling Stone.

[@tenacious_she]

Yay thank you for covering!! I agree with some of the others: it would be really cool for you to do an analysis video on the entire album Highway 61 Revisited.

[@doriwiljt]

All of the above. So many songs to suggest. I’ll suggest…”Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”. “Percy’s Song”, “New Pony”, “Call Letter Blues”, “Gotta Serve Somebody”.

[@edprzydatek8398]

And "Moonlight" on his "Love and Theft" album.

[@johnvender]

And Desolation Row :)

[@lathedauphinot6820]

@@edprzydatek8398 All of ‘Love and Theft’

[@edprzydatek8398]

@@lathedauphinot6820 You're right.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

This was an absolute blast. Thanks.

[@frankavellone1175]

Chicago blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield featured prominently on this album

[@zenhaelcero8481]

If there's a Dylan album to do a full reaction to, Highway 61 is a great place to start. It's great all around. You've already heard Like A Rolling Stone, Ballad of a Thin Man ( I think?) and now Tombstone Blues, but the rest of the album is great. Don't miss out on it, brother.

[@jossoaktree]

Love your reactions, my friend!

[@robertbollert7375]

Good luck! lol Love your videos. Dylan freak for over 45 years but never got into rap until you mentioned some artists that I have now checked out. I think it`s Aundrey3000 that I listened to last week. Cool man!

[@triscat]

That thin, wild, mercury sound! Your channel is a joy.

[@MartinFGayford]

To me, the drums always sound like they’re slightly too fast, slightly ahead of the rest, which makes the whole thing feel like it’s veering towards the edge of a cliff. It’s one of my favourites on what is my favourite album. It seems incredible that the drummer - Bobby Gregg - was able to maintain this insane beat for 6 minutes. I think he deserves an award, or an olympic medal or something. I play drums a bit myself and I still can’t work out if it’s an illusion that they’re slightly out or not.

[@keithsummers_]

Yeah, he plays kind of a Baptist church groove! This song his so great but Bob comes in singing randomly at times. The musicians must have been kept on their toes. Haha!

[@DawnSuttonfabfour]

Cecil B De Mille was an early film director in Hollywood, specialising in "swords and sandals", i.e Ten Commandments/Romans etc, with massive sets and thousands of extras.

[@aaronfledge]

Exactly - in other words, lots of people died in his movies!

[@PoliticalCineaste]

The Commander-in-Chief 1965, when the song was recorded, was LBJ, President Lyndon Baines Johnson. He was a Texan, and was a macho-type. Dylan is playing on that.

[@StevenTisdaleformosa]

ODB! Totally. I’ve never thought of that connection. Spot on.

[@kensilverstone1656]

You're instant analysis is impressive, interesting and valuable food for thought. I don't think anyone else is doing it, or maybe can't do it. Are you right? I don't know but it's not important that I do. Thanks a lot.

[@snakelite61]

And he's just wrong enough that it shows he didn't research it first and is pretending it's the first time he's heard it. Most of his analysis is impressive and thoughtful and has given me new insight into extremely familiar songs

[@elston3153]

Love your reactions to Dylan.

[@benjaminstevens6043]

I didn't expect to be able to live in a world where ODB and Bob Dylan would be compared in the same sentence. For that you have my eternal gratitude. You rock bro.

[@travb705]

Note that the last line in one stanza always rhymes with the last line in the following stanza - boys in & poison - sick in & chicken. Brilliant writing. And this is a great jam as well.

[@sharondavid-melly1498]

It takes quite a mind to jump into Bob Dylan's head. Like it!👍💙

[@johnvender]

Cecil B DeMille was was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. Very clever lyrics from Bob as usual. Please do some Leonard Cohen, you will be blown away with his work. The guitar on Highway 61 and Blonde On Blonde is Michael Bloomfield.

[@richardkeys9279]

On Highway 61 Revisited, but not on Blond on Blond. That is Jaime Robertson (among others).

[@BlueSky...]

Bob's imagery gets really wild on songs like this and It's Alright Ma. The guy's mind was just on fire.

[@jnagarya519]

"chicken" = "coward". "The sun is not yellow (as in cowardice), it's chicken (cowardly)."

[@PoliticalCineaste]

Mike Bloomfield is the guitarist. He plays on almost all the tracks on this album. I believe you have a video about Dylan going 'lectric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Bloomfield is the lead guitarist there. Dylan is playing rythmn guitar.

[@bendancar]

Are you stretching to try to find meaning and narrative? Yes, for sure. Does that make you part of a very cool club? Absolutely. It's art: any interpretation is valid, and what you find says more about you than the art itself. Brilliant reaction.

[@mojomonkey2123]

Or masters of war

[@debjorgo]

This is a Dylan song that doesn't come to my mind a lot when thinking about great Dylan songs. It's in my top thirty Dylan playlist though. I currently have 63 songs on this playlist. When I finally shorten the list, this will still be on it.

[@FurthermoreJack]

He sings it "tombstone Blue " and he added an "awh yeah "after during live performances

[@jasonfarkas2840]

So much good Dylan content.....Masters of War is a must........Gates of Eden......I could keep on keepin on, but you dont need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.....

[@markhodge7]

Dylan is about pictures in your mind and what results. Every line stands alone, but he weaves them into the next image, in such a way that makes you reimagine the first picture. Early Dylan was such a trip into your imagination. I'm 50 years on from first listening and still go down new Highways when I listen to him. A minstrel of the human condition is my best summation of Bobby.

[@vedantapdx]

You'll wear yourself out trying to imagine what storylines Dylan is trying to string together. The real star of this song is the music, cadence and energy that pulls you through this whirlwind peek inside Dylan's ability to bounce abstract images off the gorgeous music his band is creating. Again, Michael Bloomfield the most talented blues guitar on the planet is the star of this "thought dream". Dylan says at this time, there is just nobody that could play like he could. Bob harnessed him for a brief period, loved the finish products he came away with, pulled listeners into the sound and loved the finished product. Bloomfield was always one that people sought to harness but sadly he burned out quickly trying to understand his gifts. He died quite young in Marin county North of San Francisco but was loved dearly by Dylan. Incredible talent can be a burden. Hardly anyone has ever rode that gift of talent and imagination as well as Bob, and he is still in the saddle giving everything he has.

[@shemanic1]

"Desolation Row" is an epic tune off this album, I used to be able to sing along with Bob, every lyric embedded in my memory.

[@mattw1340]

dylan's always got bangers in the last verse of every song

[@richardmindemann6935]

This album, along with Bringing It All Back Home, blew many a mind in the mid sixties.

[@jnagarya519]

The lead guitarist is Michael Bloomfield, of "Paul Butterfield Blues Band".

[@waitingtoderail]

Cecil B. DeMille was a famous film director in early Hollywood. Big sweeping films like The Ten Commandments and - ahem - Samson and Delilah

[@waitingtoderail]

And his brother was also a director named William deMille who didn't really make it out of the silent era.

[@joaopedroamorimcaribe183]

He seems to be trying to get a hold of life in his own particularly crazy way. I mean tombstone blues hit's me as some death-related idea, but a tombstone is, in a certain way, also a mention of life, and existence, and especially of history, because of the characters and images he conjures relating to his present. So Tombstone blues is, to me, like the materialization of his very original, poetically abstract, and arbitrary way of thinking about life through its blood history and present, both always merged and intertwined

[@freedomisall5620]

Great album. Highly original. Love 'Queen Jane Aproximately' (or similar). Unique Dylan riffs.

[@jvblhc]

I'm late to the party but I am a massive Dylan fan. This is my favorite album - ever. Bob's a weird genius. Sometimes I think he will never leave this earth until has found every single clever rhyme in the world.

[@eirikrdberg1161]

Love this song. One of the mighty on that album.

[@sirslice7531]

"It's chicken"...can mean "scared"...being yellow can also mean "scared". The sun's color is yellow but it isn't yellow...it's scared. Remember, he could be rhyming lines because it sounds cool, much like John Lennon sometimes did.

[@jayare2620]

Kid you had to be there to understand.---It is fun watching you try . You're a long ways from home.

[@vedantapdx]

Always in this era of Bob's Journey there is Mike Bloomfield blasting away and framing each stanza with his red hot electric blues Stratocaster..

[@frankavellone1175]

Dylan, in the early and mid 60s, was influence by Beat poets. One of his close friends was Alan Ginsberg, a Beat poet.

[@ATLANTABOY527]

In my humble opinion one of if the best choures ever written

[@icareaboutthefuture]

Love listening to your comments. Gutsy, trying to interpret in "real time". I just let the images pop into my brain as he sings. Almost always different images each time.

[@HelterSkelter07]

Great reaction as always. Strongly suggest Desolation Row from the same album

[@Lexwell_Lavers]

"Positively 4th Street", "Masters Of War", "Just Like A Women", "I Want You", "Neighborhood Bully", "Man In The Long Black Coat".. I could keep typing.

[@doriwiljt]

Neighborhood Bully is a deep track. Love it and the album it’s on.

[@Lexwell_Lavers]

@@doriwiljt yeah I want Syed to figure out what that song is about without reading the comments or anything about it. I sort of figured it was not about an individual but I wasn't able to figure it all out until Google came along 🤣

[@Lexwell_Lavers]

@@doriwiljt great album

[@marklerner8963]

Cecille B Demille was a big well-known film director back in the day, who tended to make biblical and mythological epics.

[@seandeoro7995]

The second verse describes a woman about to lose her virginity on her wedding night. The doctor tells her to be abstinence but the "medicine man" encourages her not not be afraid of semen

[@maggiebryan2355]

Great song

[@cikalujo]

Heh, I'm leaving comments beneath your dylan reactions, I love the love you show for the right kind of stuff. Here's the thing with this one - this is, and it might not register to you because of how pioneering Highway 61 Revisited was - this track is Hard Rock. The drum, the noise, his "death metal vocals" (*)... this is basically a Motorhead track. Except the guy who wrote the lyrics is a poet (specificaly hugely influenced by Beat poets and the whole "coded novel" "novel with a key" thing) and, well, a guy who kinda mapped out quite some Hip Hop tropes. And this album, probably truly, no mistake, the most influential "alternative rock" album ever made, was in large part a huge f** o** to people who were telling him that "you can't do dumb loud rock music with intricate, Beat-style social comentary at the same time". Or, in more contemporary terms "Rap-rock can't exist, can't work, and even if you tried you'd get Limp Bizkit, noone can do Rage Against the Machine". So he went and basically whiped up... well, Punk. Loud, abrasive, obnoxious rock, hell, more abrasive with that drum than most early Punk, when it happened, actually was, with all the social commentary and then some. He also made the social commentary more bitter, more grim, more unnerving. The statement was: "Dudes, the way I see things, the only way to really convey just how f***d s***t is is to make the music bite as hard as the lyrics." So, basically, this thing is Rage Against the Machine. In 1965, without all the things that this influenced, that influenced all the other stuff, that ultimately influenced Rage Against the Machine to base it on. And a lot of it is about Vietnam. A bit of de-coding, not terribly hard if you know all his stuff by heart and know the Beatnik style he was heavily influenced by: "The sweet pretty things are in bed now, of course" = "Here's one for the dead of night / here's a really dark one / hide your kids" "The city fathers are trying to endorse the reincarnation of Paul Revere's horse" = "They're drumming up this war as if it's the new American Revolution" "But the town has no need to be nervous" = "But yeah, no, nothing's gonna come off that" And you got a lot of contrasting hipocrisy in various fields of life, likely references to people / events we don't remember anymore. For all we know he might've just been shifting channels on late-night programming and spitting bile at what he was being bombarded with. V likely exactly how the lyrics got to be. "...fattens the slaves, then he sends them out to the jungle" - p obvious Vietnam reference, continued further into "Gypsy Davey with a blowtorch he burns out their camps" "with his faithful slave Pedro behind him he tramps" - likely just an impression of a clip of US soldiers using flamthrowers to burn Vietnamese villages "with a fantastic collection of stamps" - military medals "to win friends and influence his uncle" - that being Uncle Sam, the US Military And the refrain is, well, "meanwhile in actual America" basically. His lyrics of this period tend to work like that. And this song in particular is... A less focused, bit more Beatnik-style Rage against the Machine sort of deal.

[@UncleErnie71]

One of my top 5 Dylan songs. Surreal, sarcastic, angry, hilarious.

[@dylanthompson4836]

Lil Wayne actually covers Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe".

[@thundernels]

Yellow is often used in westerns (and perhaps in reality) as a synonym for chicken. Each terms can me used to indicate cowardice.

[@elston3153]

Love the Way Dylan records an album It's grungy dark dirty It's like he's recording a live album, he always picks the right musicians for his album's I mean al cooper was a guitarist who jumped on the organ because he thought he wasn't good enough a guitarist on like a rolling Stone Dylan's producer told them he wasn't an organ player and Dylan said I don't care turn the organ up and Cooper smashed it. Bringing it all back home album The sound for me is amazing It's like they're all just jamming in the garage.

[@alecspeer]

"Set him in chains at the top of the hill, then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille".... Cecil B. DeMille was a movie director-producer famous for his epic films of biblical content . Here we have Samson in chains, with chains wrapped around the pillars of the temple, pulling them down and destroying the temple ... (a much younger me watched that film on TV)

[@pault2461]

Highway 61 is a concept album based around road trips (literally, metaphorically and abstractly), heavily influenced by Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road'. With this in mind, then, Tombstone is somewhere along the highway, not unlike Desolation Row, with its verses filled with characters and 'moments' and interplays with allegory. I don't think Dylan himself understands half of the stuff he wrote back then.

[@boq780_2.0]

The singer/songwriter Momus, a brilliant lyricist, did a great homage to this period of Dylan on his album 'Akkordion', called 'Dylanology'. Very witty.

[@raymeedc]

Ceclle B Demille was The Producer of film extravaganzas in the early days of cinema.

[@beverlybrown2673]

Cecil B. DeMille was a big time Hollywood director who made a lot of the Biblical epics of the 40s and 50s like Samson and Delilah, The Ten Commandments, etc.

[@m06een00]

This is the album when Dylan went full electric and bluesy, and was crucified for it at the time by his folk audience. There were already examples of it on his previous album Bringing It All Back Home, but this is the point where he ditched doing folk material (except Desolation Row), although he did temporarily return to that musical style a couple of albums later. The lead guitar on this album and track was blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield.

[@johnegan8830]

Trying to work out Dylan LOL good luck as zlmmy said it means what ever you think it is

[@teresagaskins9212]

You need to listen to his first backing band, The Band. The Band ft. The Staples performing 'The Weight' is a great place to start.

[@jonsago4958]

Try and listen to outtakes of this song. Dylan let's Bloomfield have his head to a wild extent. And the lyrics of the chorus are changed to bomb making amongst other things.

[@jnagarya519]

Paul Revere was apprehended by the British on his way to "warn" that "The British are Coming!" There were actually more than 30 riders out that night -- it was a intertown warning system established during the 1600s. The difference is that Paul Revere was politically connected, so we know his name. Other did more but are less known -- John Adams as example.

[@alessandrodelfino6258]

I am a long time bob dylan fan ... love your reaction videos man ... by the way the lead guitar on highway 65 rev is played by the great blues player Michael Bloomfield, check it out !!!!!

[@royahoy8655]

Bob Dylan's 115th dream is a must .

[@RowanFerguson-r2n]

I've heard many people comparing Dylan's work to rap.I was pleased to hear you comment at the end on the music. Dylan's knowledge of musical history is phenomenal and his backing groups play real instruments. This is, sadly, lacking from much of today's rap.

[@lipby]

"Yellow" is old-time slang for cowardly, and so is "chicken"--and so I view this line as a bit of gibberish by a crazy old right-winger who is obsessed with honor and bravery. Dylan described the sound of his mid 60s albums as "that wild, thin mercury sound." I think he mostly played with Nashville studio musicians, who were so freakishly good that the Lovin' Spoonful wrote a song called "Nashville Cats": Nashville cats, play clean as country water Nashville cats, play wild as mountain dew Nashville cats, been playin' since they's babies Nashville cats, get work before they're two

[@tylercooper1551]

I just love the lyric "the suns not yellow, its chicken..." like saying all politicians spout incoherent shit

[@raymeedc]

Check out “Just Like A Woman” & “ I Want You” from Blonde On Blonde.