by Larry Fyffe
Below, a wisecrack reference to “Now I’ll Tell”, a movie that involves a necklace placed around a teddy bear’s neck, the necklace supposedly stolen by Shirley Temple:
& a bunch of old Shirley temple pictures with her head in a noose was all I could find (Bob Dylan: Tarantula)
Shirley’s known as “America’s sweetheart”; she sings, dances, and stars in movies.
One of Bob Dylan’s favourite poets pens:
She walks in beauty And all that's best of dark and bright Meets in her aspect and her eyes (Lord Byron: She Walks In Beauty)
Precocious Shirley loses the innocence of her childhood in real life. Subjected to physical abuse and sexual exposure by “animals” higher up on the totem pole
She’s directed to dance in an adult sexual manner in the movie “Bright Eyes”, sings a sweet song along with her suggestive movements, thereby steering clear of any censorship problems:
On the Good Ship Lollipop It's a sweet trip to a candy shop Where the bons-bons play On the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay (Shirley Temple: On The Good Ship Lollipop ~Whiting/Clare)
The fun never stops:
W)hile on the other side of the street this mailman who looks like shirley temple & who's carrying a lollipop stops (Bob Dylan: Tarantula)
Much later than when first written, Bob Dylan’s “Shirley Temple Don’t Live Here Anymore” is rehashed by Dylan and two co-writers; the title changed to “Mr. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”.
It’s a witty song that carries a serious message; one that is idealistic, for sure.
The message has a “Rip Van Winkle” theme to it ~ abusive behaviour is bid farewell, and it’s certainly not a fond one; it’s good riddance, goodbye to mean old “Mr. Alice”.
At the same time, a fellow who’s written a script titled “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” has difficulty finding a filmmaker who doesn’t consider it too “corny”:
Now the chimney is rotten And the wallpaper's torn The garden in the back Won't grow no more corn The windows are boarded With papper mache Even the dog just ran away (Bob Dylan/Don Fagenson/David Weiss: Mr. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore)
In Washington Irving’s story, Van Winkle runs away from his nagging wife; falls under a spell, and wakes up twenty years later, only to discover that New England has rid itself of the British monarchy; civil rights put in a Constitution.
The song beneath, a pastiche of one that Shirley sings (‘soup’ rhyming with ‘hoop” instead of ‘loop’):
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead Wiggle - you can raise the dead (Bob Dylan: Wiggle Wiggle)
Below, from the movie “Curly Top”, a soupy song along with which Shirley Temple dances and wiggles; the toddler gives a rather paedophile-luring performance:
Animal crackers in my soup Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop Gosh oh gee but I have fun Swallowing animals one by one (Shirley Temple: Animal Crackers In My Soup ~ Henderson/Koehler/Caesar)