By Larry Fyffe
Artists often present a valley as symbol of peace and harmony – supposedly, a heavenly place to live, a paradise where one ought to remain.
For others, the simple life is dull; isn’t exciting enough; lacks both economic opportunity and sexual adventure.
They leave, causing sorrow for those who choose to stay:
Do you think of the valley you're leaving Oh, how lonely and dreary it will be (Gene Autry: Red River Valley ~ Calhoun, et al)
The bright lights of city beckon:
Leave the valley, and across the ridge Write a note that I need your head (Bob Dylan: The Price Of Love)
Alas, city life has its own pitfalls:
Come down baby, I'm bark to wood Found a snake in the neighbourhood (Bob Dylan: The Price Of Love)
The snake, an archetypical representation of evil; something to be feared:
But never met this fellow Attended or alone Without a tighter breathing And zero to the bone (Emily Dickinson: A Narrow Fellow In The Grass)
Associated with Satan of the Holy Bible:
Slithering his way through the grass He saw him disappear by a tree near the lake Ah, I think I call it a (snake) (Bob Dylan: Man Gave Names To All The Animals)
And with people who “pull the wool” over your eyes:
Might a-been old master Wool Met him on my way to school (Bob Dylan: The Price Of Love)
Opportunistic politicians so considered:
Politician got on his jogging shoes He must be running for office Got no time to lose (Bob Dylan: Summer Days)
As in the following song lyrics:
Well, I gotta run to serve Wave on by me in the neighbourhood (Bob Dylan: The Price Of Love)
Supposedly, everyone has a ‘free will’, a choice to be naughty or nice.
Or maybe it’s just the luck of the circumstance:
Well, it may be the Devil, or it may be the Lord But you're gonna have to serve somebody (Bob Dylan: Gotta Serve Somebody)
When all is said and done, it’s Mr. Moloch, the lover of money, symbolized by the Golden Calf of Babylon, who rules:
How much you got with you today Two dollar, one dollar, two dollar bill If you don't, somebody else will Ohh, the price of love, going up (Bob Dylan: The Price Of Love)
Likewise expressed in the song beneath:
Fifty dollar, fifty dollar Give me a hollar, fifty dollar Who will bid it at a fifty dollar bill (LeRoy Van Dyke: The Autioneer ~ Van Dyke/Black)
Light as a symbol of the unselfish spiritual life fades:
The evening sun is sinking low The woods are dark, the town is too (Bob Dylan: Summer Days)
The motif of Mankind caught between the light of goodness and the darkness of evil:
The evening sun is low .... I stood between heaven and earth (Bob Dylan: Crossing The Rubicon ~ variation)
And so it goes – whose side are you on?:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep But I have promises to keep (Robert Frost: Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening)