# What are these lyrics (and what do they mean) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [December 16, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172 "2021-12-16T20:18:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/1 "2021-12-16T20:18:20Z")
The song: Mama You Been On My Mind (Bob Dylan) I had this Rod Stewart album when I was young - so this is the version I’m most familiar with. But I never understood the opening lines. Not the words, really, or the meaning of the words I could understand. The Lyrics as most lyric sites offer: _Perhaps it’s the color of the sun cut flat_ _An’ cov’rin’ the crossroads I’m standing at_ _Or maybe it’s the weather or something like that_ _But mama, you been on my mind_ Alternately, I found: _"Perhaps it’s the color of the sun caught flat, uncovering,_ _The crossroads I’m standing at,_ _Maybe it’s the weather or something like that,_ _But mama you’ve been on my mind."_ And: _"Perhaps it’s the color of the sun cut flat, out covering,_ Or (as Stewart sings): _"Perhaps it’s the color of the sun cut flat owl covering,_ But none makes sense to me. What is a sun cut flat? Stewart [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eSJl4lbX_G0/maxresdefault.jpg "Rod Stewart - Mama You Been On My Mind (1972) [HQ+Lyrics]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSJl4lbX_G0) Dylan [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Etk6lD3RGqQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Bob Dylan - Mama, You Been on My Mind (Live at Harvard Square Theatre)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etk6lD3RGqQ) Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/2 "2021-12-16T20:32:20Z")
I mean, interpreting poets (particularly Nobel Laureates) is a nervy game, but the first visuals I got were of a cross section of the sun laid flat across the land, rendering it a hot yellow, and then I thought maybe the sun was just rising/setting and giving a hazy sunrise/sunset glow to the crossroads. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/3 "2021-12-16T20:33:42Z")
The sun cut flat could mean the sun going down, its bottom half obscured by the earth. A sunset. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/4 "2021-12-17T13:52:12Z")
I’ve never heard (or heard _of_) this song so my thinking might change if I listen to it, but the image that comes to my mind is of a grayish day where the sun is visible but muted. As to the meaning, I guess he’s just reminiscing about his former love; comparing the absence of said love to the muted sunlight(?) I like the other suggestions, though. Isn’t it interesting how our mental images are all so different from one another? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/5 "2021-12-17T19:09:34Z")
Well, goodness sake, WOOK, give it a listen! I suggest the Rod Stewart version. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/6 "2021-12-17T20:40:58Z")
Rod Stewart is one of the finest Dylan interpreters, and he’s always had a knack for picking unknown, but great songs from Dylan’s catalog. I just wanted to note that Joan Baez also did a fine version: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Rq_Wn0Kt7vY/maxresdefault.jpg "daddy youve been on my mind - Joan Baez") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq_Wn0Kt7vY) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/7 "2021-12-17T22:44:07Z")
Reminds me of _ **Gentle on My Mind** _. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/8 "2021-12-18T00:15:27Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > … he’s always had a knack for picking unknown, but great songs from Dylan’s catalog. I’ll grant you that it’s certainly not one of his bigger hits but it’s been covered by: Johnny Cash Joan Baez Judy Collins Kingston Trio Linda Ronstadt Rod Stewart Ricky Nelson Jeff Buckley We Are Augustines (one of my favorites!) Jack Johnson Dion (and, finally, no less than) George Harrison So a few people have heard of it. ETA: I’m not a huge Dylan fan, but he really hit it out of the park lyric-wise with this one. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/9 "2021-12-18T00:54:57Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I’ll grant you that it’s certainly not one of his bigger hits but it’s been covered by: “Mama You’ve Been On My Mind” isn’t only not one of Dylan’s hits (he didn’t have many chart hits anyway), but his original version from 1964 was unreleased until 1991’s “Bootleg Series 1-3”, but got picked up by others because they recognized that it is a great song. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of Dylan songs like this, for instance “Tomorrow Is A Long Time”. Dylan felt greatly flattered that Elvis covered it: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wipPRxEXAPY/hqdefault.jpg "Tomorrow Is A Long Time..Elvis") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wipPRxEXAPY) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/10 "2021-12-20T03:07:59Z")
If you have trouble with these lyrics, god forbid you try to parse any of Bob’s “psychedylanic” phase. > Upon four-legged forest clouds the cowboy angel rides/ > With his candle lit into the sun, though its glow is waxed in black… > 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. > (Gates of Eden) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/11 "2021-12-20T13:12:41Z")
“The movement you need is on your shoulder.” Not everything needs to have a literal meaning. Dylan especially. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/12 "2021-12-20T23:42:03Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Not everything needs to have a literal meaning. Just casting about for opinions. It wouldn’t be the first time I was clueless about a lyric that **did** have a meaning. “Rosey, you’re alright - you wear my ring”. I’d be embarrassed to tell you how many times I heard this before I knew what it meant. ---
**Author:** ![patrickharris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/41988e/32.png) [@patrickharris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/patrickharris)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/13 "2024-02-29T22:44:26Z")
I know this is an older post, but I think the line should be read as: “Perhaps it’s the sun, cut flat, and covering the crossroads I’m standing at…” To cut, means to diminish, whether coffee with creamer ir water, or putting something in drugs or alcohol to make it weaker. Dylan was from rural MN, and to cut something is a common rural term: “Could you please cut my coffee with some hot water? It’s too strong for me.” In the song, the sun isn’t as brilliant as it is normally - it’s appearance is flat, not brilliant, and the weather is (probably) bleak; which leads him to ponder his lost love…which can be a bleak experience. Additionally, the “crossroads” may also be a turning point in his life, instead of a physical location. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lyrics-and-what-do-they-mean/956172/14 "2024-02-29T23:38:59Z")
That’s a great interpretation, and frankly, I’m inclined to believe is the right one. And, dang, has it really been that long since I posted that OP!?