Bob Dylan And Tom Lehrer
By Larry Fyffe
Robert Allen Zimmerman, the RAZ, for short, be no stranger to the Jungian Sea upon which floats many a satirical song.
The moment had come I swallowed my gum We knew there'd be blood on the sand pretty soon The crowd held its breath Hoping that death Would brighten an otherwise dull afternoon (Tom Lehrer: Old Mexico)
The following song lyrics hints at a fictionalized murder:
Her Jamaican rum And when she did come I asked her for some She said, "No dear" I said, "Your words aren't clear You better spit out your gum" (Bob Dylan: Fourth Time Round)
Not so foul as the killing that takes place in the satirical baking song beneath:
Down by the old maelstrom There'll be a storm before the calm And we will all bake together when we bake There'll be nobody present at the wake (Tom Lehrer: We Will Go Together When We Go)
A satirical sentiment expressed nursery-rhyme-like in the following lyrics:
Let the wind blow low Let the wind blow high One day the little boy, and the little girl Were both baked in a pie (Bob Dylan: Under The Red Sky)
https://youtu.be/QVI1zn5ko6I
Obliquely albeit, another fictionalized murder ballad is suggested in the song below:
Left Jamaica this morning On a boat Bonnie Lou Born in Liz Texas timber Up where the eagles fly Then makes him tell'im never But she don't cry (Bob Dylan: Patty Gone To Laredo)
The eagle, a bird of prey, often employed as a symbol of death:
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls He watches from his mountain walls And like a thunderbolt he falls (Alfred Tennyson: The Eagle)
Black-humoured satire is expressed again in the lyrics beneath:
Oh the Protestants hate the Catholics And the Catholics hate the Protestants And the Hindus hate the Muslims And everybody hates the Jews (Tom Lehrer: National Brotherhood Week)
Serious razzing grates in the song lyrics beneath:
Well, he got no allies to really speak of What he gets he must pay for, he doesn't get it out of love He buys obsolete weapons, and won't be denied But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side (Bob Dylan: Neighbourhood Bully)