Song Analysis: Subterranean Home Sick Blues

                The first song of Dylan’s album, Subterranean Homesick Blues, is sure to shock his devout folk music fans. The upbeat tempo, electric instruments, and ‘stream of consciousness’ lyrical styling used throughout this song is a far cry from Dylan’s previous works. He had largely been regarded as a folk musician armed with a harmonica and acoustic guitar, not some rock performer. Additionally, Subterranean Homesick Blues expresses Dylan’s negative views on American society. Drugs, political corruption, civil rights, and unequal wealth are topics that Dylan critiques throughout this song. His unique lyrical approach is itself a break from the norm and gives the effect that all these emotions were bottled up inside of Dylan, but are now being released.

Johnny's in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It's somethin' you did
God knows when
But you're doin' it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coon-skip cap
In the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten.

In 1965 it was well known that many individuals experimented with drugs, and Dylan refers to this popular pastime through the line “mixing up the medicine.” It is as though drugs are acting as a medicine to ease the pain that society is inflicting on Johnny. The idea of a shady government system is synthesized upon in the next few lines. “The man in the trench coat/Badge out” can be seen as a corrupt government agent who is trying to get money by being “paid off.” The harsh scrutiny Dylan feels under American society is seen through the lines, “Look out kid/It’s somethin’ you did/God knows when/But your doin’ it again.” Dylan does not know what he did wrong, but the unfair nature of the government is making him a guilty man. The final lines of the song illustrate how Dylan feels there is an unfair wealth distribution amongst American citizens. Though much is asked of hardworking people, they do not make the money that they should. As a result, everyday citizens must live without.

Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the DA
Look out kid
Don't matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don't try, 'No Doz'
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows.

Dylan’s distrust of America’s government is more deeply explored through the first few lines of the songs next stanza. “Maggie” can be interpreted as a common hardworking American because her face is said to be covered with “black soot.” She indicates that “the heat” (U.S government officials) put some sort of a bugging device in her bed, but the government already tapped her phone anyway. Dylan is protesting against the invasive nature of the government in citizens’ lives. It doesn’t matter who you are “what you did” because the government watches everyone, which is why you cannot afford to be unaware by taking “No Doz.” Dylan even touches lightly on civil rights when he mentions the “fire hose” that is inflicted upon innocent individuals who the government does not approve of. There is a clear idea of what every American should look and act like, and for this reason you don’t need to “know which way the wind blows” since the government controls it.   

Get sick, get well
Hang around an ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin' to sell
Try hard, get barred
Get back, write Braille
Get jailed, jump bail Join the army, if you failed
Look out kid
You're gonna get hit
But users, cheaters
Six-time losers
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Lookin' for a new fool
Don't follow leaders
Watch the parkin' meters.

The inability for many Americans to make a decent living is argued by Dylan through this stanza. First you “hang around an ink well,” or try to become an author. But then when the book doesn’t sell, and even writing Braille does not help, a life in jail or the army appears to be the only future available. It is as though Dylan is saying that American citizens cannot help but become trapped within a web of government agencies and officials. Many people therefore become “users, cheaters/Six-time losers” who wander aimlessly. Dylan thought it was important to tell his listeners to reject this lifestyle but instead do something distinctive with their lives.

Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin'
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don't wanna be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles.

Many young people become trapped living a life similar to their parents: attend school, get married, and work at a middle class job. This lifestyle is echoed by Dylan in the first 8 lines of this last stanza. He focuses on the idea of individuality for the conclusion of Subterranean Homesick Blues, continuing his closing thought from the last stanza. Dylan tells his listeners to “jump down a manhole” to escape a tedious life. To live a fulfilling life one must look presentable and be prepared at all times, even if less civilized vandals “took the handles.”

                Subterranean Homesick Blues starts Bringing It All Back Home with a bang. There is so much packed into this song that you have to listen to it multiple times to absorb it all. The dynamic lyrics, fast tempo, and rock instruments almost leave you winded. This is the first time Dylan engages in electric style music while also hinting toward being a protest musician. Even the music video for this song has received great acclaim. It is as simple yet memorable as the song; Dylan is merely holding up signs with key words from the lyrics scrawled across them. It is the basic style and significant words that make you stop, think, and listen.