The best answer to the question "Are there any songs where you're convinced the fan "consensus" interpretation is wrong about Bob Dylan's lyrics?" (at r/bobdylan).
Somebody asks "What do you do with this lyric though? 'Saddle me up my big white goose Tie me on 'er and turn her loose" and gets the answer "It's a riff on Mother Goose with the surreal imagery of Dylan riding a goose. Sexual? Um, maaybe..."
The lyrics at Genius are annotated with this 1987 quote from Bob Dylan: "People try and read so much into songs. You know that song, Country Pie? That’s what it was about. Pie."
Album version here.
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Has there ever been an artist who admitted to symbolism? They all deny it.
Yeah, I like country pie too. It is even better as an afternoon delight.
You know that song, Country Pie? That’s what it was about. Pie.
A lot of Dylan's songs are about many things, often contradictory things. Is "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" a love song or a scornful break up song? I think both.
Dylan likes to insert playful sexual innuendos in a lot of his songs. "Country Pie" seems to be one of those to me. I wouldn't put too much stock in what Dylan says about his songs. He often dissembles for the fun of it or perhaps to protect himself. He said "Blood on the Tracks" was inspired Chekhov and not his personal life. But his son Jakob said, "When I'm listening to Blood On The Tracks, that's about my parents."
Patty Griffin Making Pies
Just a priori I would say country pies is about cunts, a Shakespearian pun. Robert Frost used it in a title The Need of Being Versed in Country Things, distinguishing animal from human.
Pastries with "benefits".
Some support of a sexual reading of "Country Pie" from the Internet. Dylan is a well read wordsmith with an affinity for Shakespeare, so this isn't far fetched
The scene where Hamlet wants to put his head between Ophelia’s legs. And assaults poor, dismayed Ophelia with doublespeak;
Ophelia
No, my lord!
Hamlet
I mean, my head upon your lap.
Ophelia
Ay, my lord.
Hamlet
Do you think I meant country matters?
Ophelia
I think nothing, my lord.
Hamlet
That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs.
Ophelia
What is, my lord?
Hamlet
“Nothing.”
… with “country” being pronounced emphatically as cunt-ry, and “nothing” being a common euphemism in Elizabethan times for the female pubic region (“no-thing”, nudge nudge wink wink). And “pie” is established in twentieth-century America as a metaphor for vagina, so there you go, with your “country pie”.
"You try so hard
But you don’t understand"
The Shakespeare point is made — here — at the link to Reddit.
That prompts somebody to link to "Bard? They're terrible! Shakespeare's jokes just aren't funny any more, director admits" (Daily Mail).
Subterranean Homesick Blues created the first music video…Bob is an entertainer and his style is part of his act: he tells stories and his persona supports his characteristics: what I notice is how consistently this persona reflects his imagination and how all his lyrics and his theme time radio hour analysis are devoted to authentic musical expression and appreciation for the life affirming and even life saving role of music. His humor is as inescapable as his self serious persona: and this irony, ironically, makes his self crafted persona the most authentic aspect of his genius! Bob is timeless: as much as he crafts his art, the art is always first and foremost identifiably Bob Dylan. And universal. His persona is a solid one. I’m thrilled he is as creative now as he was 60 years ago! It gives me courage and makes me laugh.
I'd guess that the consensus around Ballad of a Thin Man is something about a square who "don't know what's happening." But I can't see how it's not 100% about a homosexual orgy.
The author's intent is barely relevant. What makes great art is how it is set up to resonate in so many different ways in so many different people.
There was a 2012 interview in Rolling Stone where Dylan was asked if he worried about misinterpretations of some of his songs, such as 'Rainy Day Women' being about getting high." Dylan responded with something like "It doesn't surprise me that some people would see it that way. But those are people who aren't familiar with the Book of Acts.”
"That’s what it was about. Pie."
How would he know? Are we going to privilege his interpretation just because he wrote it? I don't believe I have ever heard the song, but sometimes familiarity only obscures the true meaning of the text. A song cannot be about pie. Think about it. Is "Little Jack Horner" about pie?
I think Ozzie Nelson gets credit for making the first music video:
"April 5, 1961 —On The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet episode "A Question of Suits and Ties," Ricky Nelson sings "Travelin' Man" in what could be considered the first music video.
"Ricky, the real-life son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, plays that role on the show, where he often sings. To promote his "Travelin' Man" single, Ozzie puts together travel footage that is superimposed under Ricky while he performs the song. It's far from dazzling, but it can make a claim on being the first music video. It certainly helps boost the song, sending it up the charts where it hits #1 on May 29."
https://calendar.songfacts.com/april/5/19124#:~:text=Ricky%2C%20the%20real%2Dlife%20son,being%20the%20first%20music%20video.
"His persona is a solid one. I’m thrilled he is as creative now as he was 60 years ago!"
That video I embedded is from more than 20 years ago. He already looked pretty old, like he could just stop and be thought of as continuing into old age. But he's still out there performing. He must love what he's doing. The new albums are great too.
Ozzie Nelson?
How is Elvis's Jailhouse Rock not the first music video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj0Rz-uP4Mk
Of course you know former Dylan 'Band' member, Robbie Robertson, passed away last night.
He was...a truly hard working, creative, productive machine. A great musician. And The Band....one of the all time greats. Still listen to their music regularly...after all these years it still sounds good.
There are plenty of people whose imagination concerning symbolism begins and ends with sex.
. . . . sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.
Clearly, Bob Dylan's greatest influence was Lewis Carrol. Compare and contrast:
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
- Jabberwocky
---------------------------
The motorcycle black Madonna, two-wheeled gypsy queen
And her silver-studded phantom cause the gray flannel dwarf to scream
As he weeps to wicked birds of prey who pick upon his bread crumb sins
And there are no sins inside the Gates of Eden
- The Gates of Eden
Foot of Pride is not a song about the sin of pride, pride goeth before the fall, etc. “Foot of pride” is the name David gave his enemies in the Psalms. The difference diametrically changes the meaning of the song.
Pie are square? No pie are round, cake are square.
Submitted late for your protection.
Was that Robbie Robertson playing guitar on the album version? Sure sounds like him.
American Pie is about sex.... and pie... but mainly sex. Is that Dylan singing the theme song?
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