by Larry Fyffe
Post-Modernism leaves lots of room in a work of art for a reader/listener/observer to interpret the meaning therein on his or her own. Of course, the interpretation has to be plausible:
(C)ould you tell me what happened to julius larossa?" a picture of abraham lincoln falls from the ceiling "that guy looks like a girl" (Bob Dylan: Tarantula)
Julius Larossa appears on television and radio, sings traditional sentimental love songs; he’s mocked above by both the narrator and by Civil War President Abraham Lincoln:
Sometimes the world is a valley of heartaches and tears And in the hustle and bustle, no sunshine appears But you and I have our love always there to remind us There is a way we can leave all the shadows behind us Volara oh, oh (Julius Larossa: Volara ~ Modugno/Migliacci/Parish) "Volara" means "fly away".
The following song takes a more middle-of-the-road approach than “Volara”; the meaning is rather clear, which one seldom finds in “Tarantula”.
That is ~ Love doesn’t always leave dark shadows behind :
Bird on the horizon, sitting on the fence He's singing his song for me At his own expense And I'm just like that bird Oh, singing just for you I hope that you can hear me Hear me singing through these tears
Presto! there’s a unity that can be uncovered between Bob Dylan songs and his booklet “Tarantula”:
(B)ut I asked him anyway "What ever happened to gregory corso?" (Bob Dylan: Tarantula)
Below, a “strange-love” satirical poem from one of the Beat Boys:
I heard the sound of thunder It roared out a warning Heard the roar of a wave That could drown the whole world
(Bob Dylan: A Hard's A-Gonna Fall)
And a rather humorous bit about the possibility of the end-of-individualism:
(M)y mind is running down the river - i'd sell my soul to the elephant - i'd cheat the sphinx - i'd lie to the conqueror (Bob Dylan: Tarantula)
The elephant is the icon of the American Republican Party; the riddle of the Sphinx solved correctly stops Oedipus from getting eaten by the female monster: “What has four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?”; ‘William the Conqueror invaded England.
Wrote Curso in the form of a dramatic monologue, shaped like a mushroom cloud, in which he celebrates the highest achievement so far in mankind’s efforts to destroy the earth and its inhabitants.
There’s no need for Zeus, the ancient God Of Thunder:
O Bomb I love you
I want to kiss your clank eat your boom
You are a paean an acme of scream
A lyric hat of Mister Thunder