Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
MAGGIE'S FARM
"I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more" brother: a fellow
member, as of a trade union "Well, he hands you a nickel, He hands
you a dime" he gives you a nickel an hour raise here, a dime an hour
raise there "He asks you with a grin" he wants you to grin and bear
it: informal to suffer hardship without complaint "If you're havin' a
good time" sarcastic "Then he fines you" he penalizes the members "every time
you slam the door" every time you become angry and strike, as he is in league
with the bosses. Tarantula, "mickey mantle hitting a grand slam"
"I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more" communism's conscience, Karl
Marx "Well, she talks to all the servants" the followers of communism.
Servant: one who expresses submission, recognizance, or debt to
another, in this case Karl Marx "About man" humanism "and God"
atheism "and law" economic laws "Everybody says / She's the brains
behind pa" Marxism is the ideology of the Soviet Union "She's sixty-eight, but she
says she's twenty-four" Marxism in antiquated and outdated yet pretends to be
contemporary. Marx wrote Das Kapital in 1867 and it is not applicable to modern
economics.
"mother, ma, mama" as conscience: Tarantula, "if i was you, i'd give in & go chop
those trees down for my mother - after all, there's a little mother in all of us"
George Washington's conscience bothered him so much he copped to chopping
down a cherry tree that was off limits. Tarantula "by the way, you should call your
mother 'Stella' just to show her that you mean business" illusion to the film On
the Waterfront wherein Stella serves as Marlon Brando's conscience
"Well, I try my best / To be just like I am, / But everybody" the Communists
"wants you / To be just like them / They sing while you slave" while you are
abjectly subservient to a specified person: Karl Marx "and I just get bored"
"Broken hands" broken signatures "on broken ploughs" Isiah 2:4 "And he shall
judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" "Broken treaties"
between the Israelis and the Palestinians "broken vows" broken promises of
peace "Broken pipes" pipe bombs exploding, fragmenting "broken tools"
Palestinians being used as tools, manipulated by others into performing suicidal
missions "People bending" Palestinians ignoring or changing rules to suit
themselves "broken rules" rules governing human rights that have already been
broken by the Israelis "Hound dog" Israeli diplomats "howling" drowning out or
silencing peace by loud derisive calls: 'The candidate was howled down at the
town meeting'" "bullfrog" soldiers: frog: a military style fastening on a coat
consisting of a button and a loop "croaking" dying "Everything is broken."
Tarantula, "onward then when Brown Dan, the creep cop - who likes to kill
bullfrogs & whose boss keeps saying "he's got a bad knee but you oughta see him
run, babe, you oughta see 'm run & chase them little chink lovers when they come
down the river."
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) is perhaps Dylan's most insightful anti-
Communist poem. He describes the Kremlin as a "stuffed graveyard." Dylan's faith
in me was not misplaced as I am finally able to translate these fantastic poems to
my own satisfaction.
"As some warn" notify or apprise in advance "victory" Soviet dictator Nikita
Khrushchev stated 'we will bury you' "some downfall" a sudden loss of rank: a
Communist coup in the United States "Private" belonging to a particular person or
persons, as opposed to the government "reasons" the basis or motives for an
action, decision, or conviction "great or small" involving a lot or a little wealth
"Can be seen in the eyes" can be detected in the thoughts "of those that call"
demand "To make all that should be killed to crawl" to make the rich act in a
servile fashion and if not line them up against the wall and shoot them "While
others" opposite or contrary; reverse "say don't hate nothing at all" don't hate
people because of class differences "Except hatred" but focus on racial hatred.
"Eyes" as thoughts: In Gonna Change My Way of Thinking written during Dylan's
Christian period he had this to say about Judaism, "You can mislead a man / You
can take a hold of his heart with your eyes."
"While preachers preach of evil fates" while politicians like Barry Goldwater speak
in support of the idea that American is headed for Communism and the Soviet
Union must be destroyed "Teachers teach" liberal college professors teach "that
knowledge waits" that the intellectuals believe that America should wait and not
launch a first strike against the Soviets because Communism "Can lead to
hundred-dollar plates" can lead to an equal distribution of wealth "plate" a dish
passed among the members of a group or congregation for the collection of
offerings later some of which will be given to the poor. "Goodness
hides" and that decency conceals itself "behind its gates" behind
the borders of the Soviet Union "but even the President of the
United States / Sometimes must have / To stand naked" but even
the President of the United States must tell the truth without
addition, concealment, disguise, or embellishment, even if it is by
accident "And though the rules of the road" a set of customary
diplomatic practices "have been lodged" have been vested in
certain authorities, have been formulated by Americans like Henry Cabot Lodge,
an ultra-nationalist conservative Republican advocate of annexation and an
aggressive foreign policy. Also Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who was Richard Nixon's
running mate in the 1960 presidential election and later served as ambassador to
South Vietnam (1963-1967). "It's only people's games" it only the Soviet's nuclear
tipped missiles "that you got to dodge" avoid being hit by, nothing that dangerous
"And it's alright ma, I can make it" I can dodge those missiles; "make it, achieve a
goal; be successful.
"Advertising signs" communist propaganda "that con you" dupe you "Into
thinking you're the one / That can do what's never been done" that you can make
a communist revolution in America "That can win what's never been won" that
you can win a war against an undefeated United States "Meantime life outside
goes on / All around you" during the intervening period Capitalism thrives all
around you.
"You lose yourself," you lose your old personality "you reappear" and you
reappear as a socialist "You suddenly find you got nothing to fear" sarcastic; you
have the U.S. Government to fear "Alone you stand" you stand alone in your
idealistic beliefs "with nobody near" without the aid of the Communist Party
"When a trembling" uncertain "distant" far removed or apart in time "voice"
medium or agency of expression "unclear" confusing or hard to understand
"Startles" suddenly awakens "your sleeping ears" dormant sympathies "to hear /
That somebody thinks / They really found you" that Karl Marx and the Communist
Party have found you.
"A question in your nerves is lit" do you have the courage to become a card
carrying Communist? "Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy" yet you
know no rationalization will work "Insure you not to quit" make you not take part
in this struggle "To keep it in your mind and not fergit" that will make sure you
remember "That it is not he or she or them or it" that it is not individual
communists, nor the Communist Party nor communism "That you belong to" that
you are a member of "Although the masters" one whose teachings or doctrines
are accepted by followers such as Karl Marx "make the rules" creates an
authoritative, prescribed direction for conduct, especially one of the regulations
governing procedure in a legislative body "For the wise men" for those exhibiting
common sense; prudence; When The Ship Comes In, "And the ship's wise men /
Will remind you once again / That the whole wide world is watchin'" "and the
fools" and the armed revolutionaries, Tarantula, "fool! no wonder you want to
start a revolution" "I got nothing, Ma, to live up to" my conscience tells me that I
have no doctrine to act in accordance with: live up to Communist ideals nor do I
need to carry out; fulfill: live up to any sort of bargain I made with the Communist
Party USA.
"For them that must obey authority" for those poor souls trapped behind the
authoritarian Iron Curtain in the Soviet satellite countries who must do the
Soviet's bidding "That they do not respect in any degree" who not only despise
the Soviets for being Communist but for being Russian, as they are
Hungarian, Czechoslovakian etc "Who despise their jobs" as police,
intelligence agents "their destinies" all of which has been predetermined
for them "Speak jealously of them that are free" really want to be part of
the Free World "Cultivate" try to develop a friendship with a person
"their flowers to be" who is an informant. Sarcastic: the highest example or best
representative of a people or class "Nothing more than something they invest in"
not to further Communist ideology but to make money just as the Capitalists do.
"While one who sings with his tongue on fire" while those who speak out against
the Soviet regime in no uncertain terms; Eleven Outlined Epitaphs, "with melodies
of Yevtushenko" Yevtushenko, through his poetry, was the first
voice to speak out against Stalinism. Yevtushenko became one
of the best known poets of the 1950s and 1960s in the Soviet
Union. "Gargles in the rat race choir" refuses to be part of the
culture of informing on others. Some Other Kinds of Songs,
"you tell me about politics / this that /you speak of rats" "Bent
out of shape from society's pliers" Yevtushenko's maternal
grandfather had been a Red Army officer during the Russian Revolution and the
Civil War but both of Yevtushenko's grandfathers were arrested as "enemies of
the people" in 1937 during Stalin's purges. "Cares not to come up any higher" was
kicked out of the Soviet Literary Institute for individualism "But rather get you
down in the hole / That he's in." rather get you in a deep or isolated place of
confinement; a dungeon. Yevtushenko was confined to the Soviet Union "But I
mean no harm nor put fault" sarcastic: I would like to kill the Communists who
bare the blame for the persecution this poet "On anyone that lives in a vault" on
anyone that lives in a country where you have to get an exit visa from the
Government to get out of, a vast minimum security prison known as The Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics. "But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him" so who cares
what the Left thinks of me.
"Old lady judges" Soviet journalists. Memphis Blues Again "the ladies treat me
kindly and furnish me with tape" recording tape for interviews "watch" keep a
watchful eye on; guard, take their cues from "people in pairs" people who are
joined, who have similar beliefs that are dependent upon each other,
Communists, collectivists "Limited in sex" not having balls "they dare" they only
have the courage to "To push fake morals" promote the lesson or principle
contained in or taught by an event from a Communist perspective "insult" give
offense; offend the Free World "and stare" be imminent or unavoidable like
Pravda or Radio Moscow "While money doesn't talk, it swears" while the Soviet
media is highly critical of the influence of wealth in America "Obscenity, who
really cares" who really cares if someone amasses an amount of money that is
objectionable or outrageous, 'obscenely rich.' "Propaganda" the organized
promotion of information to damage the cause of a government "all is phony" is
prima fascia false.
"While them that defend what they cannot see" while those who defend a
government without understanding its true character or nature "With a killer's
pride" with an impressive group of killers "security" and measures adopted by a
government to prevent espionage, sabotage, or attack such as those
implemented by the MVD in Russia "It blows their minds most bitterly" it is
incomprehensible, difficult or distasteful for these security police to accept,
admit, or bear "For them that think death's honesty" that the moral soundness
and appropriateness of death "Won't fall upon them naturally" will be the result
of their execution "Life sometimes / Must get lonely" understatement, their lives
must be depressing.