Like A Rolling Stone is probably my fav Bob Dylan song, but i’ve always wondered, (and i know its one of those ‘no final answer’ questions (like STH)) who is it written about?
Its either folk fans who accused Dylan of ‘selling out’ and becoming ‘judas’
Joan Beaz(sp?), i dont know why
or someone entirely different
Can anyone please give me some more informed opinions
Bitterness towards an old girlfriend is my guess, but a guess is all that is. “Like a Rolling Stone” has a feel very similar to “Positively Fourth Street”, IMHO.
From what I understand, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones was somewhat paranoid that Dylan was writing about him. Although Dylan and Jones apparently were friends back in the mid-60’s it didn’t prevent Jones from wondering where he stood with Dylan. I know he suspected Dylan wrote “Ballad of a Thin Man” about him. Afterall, it practically named him…“There’s something going on but you don’t know what it is…do you, Mr. Jones?”.
Personally, I have no idea if Brian Jones even crossed Dylan’s mind when writing these songs…but it’s possible.
It wasn’t necessarily a specific person. To me, “Positively Fourth Street” does come across as directed at a certain individual, or maybe more than one person, but he had somebody definite in mind. I always felt that “Like a Rolling Stone” was a portrait of dropout girls in the 60s in general, worded as though aimed at a particular girl, but he may have based it on any number of girls he’d seen who were learning how to live out on the streets and having a tough go of it. A composite portrait. He was painting a picture of a 60s social phenomenon in vivid lines.
“Like A Rolling Stone” is probably not about any particular person. It’s more of a cynical tirade against a certain kind of pseudo-bohemianÑyou know, the rich-kid-who-wears-tattered-clothes-and-thinks-he-is-hip-and-has-the-blues-but-is-really-full-of-shit kind of bohemian.
From the biographies I’ve read about Bob, the song is about him. He’s singing it to himself. (Sorry no cites at the moment)
IIRC, he wrote down the on a piece of paper a whole bunch of angry thoughts, as he was upset with himself, his image, what he’d accomplished, and what he wanted to be. This was just after his tour of the U.K. and he was working out a number of issues, so he wrote all sorts of stuff down. Eventually he pared it down and turned it into a song. He went into the studio and recorded it in two takes (obvious f**k ups, such as him laughing, the lack of a screen on the mike for “princes…pretty people” and others, including Al Kooper’s make it up as you go along organ playing). Great Song.
The best interpretation/ explanation IIRC of Positively 4th street is that its about all the losers/poseurs/hangers on from his days on 4th street in the village.