by Larry Fyffe
Post-Modernism leaves lots of room in a work of art for a reader/listener/obsever 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
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 (Bob Dylan: You're A Big Girl Now)
Presto! there’s a 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:
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 (Gregory Corso: Bomb)
Now, a serious end-of-the-world song:
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)
(Recording from the Never Ending Tour series, 2017)
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.