Subterranean Homesick Blues

Album

Bringing It All Back Home

Label

Columbia Records

Genre

Talking Blues

Composer(s)

Bob Dylan

Entered Chart

Apr 3, 1965

Peak Date

May 15, 1965

Released

March 8, 1965

Recorded

January 14, 1965 Studio Columbia Recording Studio A, New York City

Catalog #

Columbia 4-43242

B-Side

She Belongs to Me"

This song skips from one cultural reference to the next. It touches on social discontent ("20 years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift"), drug busts ("The phone's tapped anyway/Maggie says that many say/They must bust in early May/Orders from the D.A."), violent policing witnessed at civil rights protests ("Better stay away from those/That carry around a fire hose") and the fight against authority ("Don't follow leaders/Watch the parkin' meters"). The lyrics resemble a stream of consciousness, a writing technique championed by beat poets such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, both of whom were a major influence on Dylan. Musically, Dylan told the LA Times the song was inspired by Chuck Berry: "It's from Chuck Berry, a bit of 'Too Much Monkey Business' and some of the scat songs of the forties." Chas Chander of The Animals offered some insight on this song in an interview with NME published before Dylan released it. Chandler said that when the group was in New York, Dylan took them out and they ended up back at his place, where they "got smashed on some huge casks of wine he had." Dylan then played them this song, which Chandler remembered as "Those Old Subterranean Blues." Dylan told them it was about "people living after the Bomb was exploded." John Lennon was apparently so captivated by this song, he worried he would never be able to write anything that could compete with it. Lennon quoted it in his 1980 Playboy interview, which was one of his last. He said, "Listen, there's nothing wrong with following examples. We can have figure heads and people we admire, but we don't need leaders. 'Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters.'" Musicians have alluded to this song for decades. Jet named their 2003 breakthrough album Get Born after the song's lyric "Ah get born, keep warm." Radiohead alluded to the track on the album, OK Computer, which features a song titled "Subterranean Homesick Blues." The Gaslight Anthem's song, "Angry Johnny and the Radio" includes the lines "I'm still here singin' thinking about the government" and "Are you hidin' in a basement mixin' up the medicine?" both of which are referring to the opening lyrics to "Subterranean Homesick Blues": "Johnny's in the basement mixing up the medicine/I'm on the pavement thinkin' about the Government." Artists to have covered this song, meanwhile, include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Harry Nilsson and Glenn Campbell. The American radical (some would say terrorist) group, the Weathermen, got their name from the lyric, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" (the lyric was also the title of their manifesto). The group, also known as the Weather Underground, had a left-wing agenda, opposing the Vietnam War and other American military actions with militant actions of their own. This was Dylan's first Top 40 hit, peaking at #39 on the US chart. The promotional clip for this song is arguably one of the most famous music videos of all time. Shot in 1965 as part of the documentary Don't Look Back (chronicling his tour of England), it features Dylan standing in an alley behind the Savoy Hotel in London. He is holding cue cards, which he flips through as the song progresses. On the cards are select phrases from the song's lyrics, often with purposeful misspellings. These cue cards were written by Dylan along with the folk singer Donovan, the musician Bob Neuwirthand, and the beat poet Allen Ginsberg (these latter two can be seen in the actual video, standing just behind Dylan). This video has been spoofed countless times - notable parodies include Weird Al Yankovic's video for the song "BOB," INXS' "Mediate," and Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade's "Buzzards of Green Hill." The title may have been a nod to Jack Kerouac's novel The Subterraneans. Bringing It All Back Home is Bob Dylan's fifth album. The record is divided into an electric and an acoustic side. This introduction of electronic instruments lead to Dylan becoming increasingly alienated from the folk community. Furthermore, the album saw Dylan withdraw from protest songs to instead write on more abstract, personal issues. The song was recorded in three takes. In Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan, Dylan is quoted saying, "Kenny Rankin played on this. I don't think we even rehearsed it." Rankin was a New-York-born musician who cultivated a pretty good following in the '70s. He played The Tonight Show more than 20 times and in 1987 played "Blackbird" at the request of Paul McCartney when McCartney and John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Beastie Boys borrowed the "20 years of schooling" line for their 2011 track "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win": You work hard to climb the list Twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift The B-side of the single is "She Belongs To Me," a song that is very sweet on the surface, but may have latent meanings.

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 doing it again
You better duck down the alleyway
Lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coonskin cap
In the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
But you only got ten

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 D.A.
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

Get sick, get well
Hang around a 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 fail
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

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 want to be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles