Dylan as Don MacLean's Jester
Rob Zorn "morethanblood"
American Pie, when he wrote:
The jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean.
This makes good sense. There is a good case to be made for Dylan being the
Joker, Jokerman, Jester, Fool and, of course, the Ragged Clown, in his own
work, if not in the work of others. The James Dean image seems relevant also
to Dylan in the 60s.
Are there people out there who can back this reference from MacLean?
If so, who might the king and queen be, and what is meant in the lines:
And while the king was looking down,
The Jester stole his thorny crown
?
Dylan usurping some sort of messiah role? A role he regretted and needed
shelter from?
She walked up to me so gracefully,
And she took my crown of thorns.
Come in she said, I'll give you
Shelter from the storm.
Rob Zorn
Wainuiomata
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Zorn \~\ I'm glad
zo...@schools.minedu.govt.nz \ \/\ that I
___________________________________________ \ \ __ / ) was born.
\ | You have
They talk about a life of brotherly love. | / to be born
Show me someone who knows how to live it. / 0 \^^ to be glad.
There's a slow, slow train comin' (_ |
Up around the bend. \ / Steve Turner
Bob Dylan ( /
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wellington\../Wainuiomata~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chr. Ter-Nedden
>I read somewhere, a while ago, that Don MacLean was referring to Dylan in
>American Pie, when he wrote:
>
>The jester sang for the king and queen
>In a coat he borrowed from James Dean.
>Are there people out there who can back this reference from MacLean?
SNIP
I heard the same thing. The main topic of the song is, of course,
Rock'n'Roll - it's about "the day the music died" (and Buddy Holly, Richie
Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash in North Dakota).
>If so, who might the king and queen be, and what is meant in the lines:
>
>And while the king was looking down,
>The Jester stole his thorny crown
>?
>
>Dylan usurping some sort of messiah role? A role he regretted and needed
>shelter from?
>
>She walked up to me so gracefully,
>And she took my crown of thorns.
>Come in she said, I'll give you
>Shelter from the storm.
I always thought this was a reference to The King, ie Elvis, whose "thorny
crown" (= burden, to live as an icon/idol) Dylan was indeed taking over in
the mid-sixties (well, sort of). Who the queen might be I haven't figured
out myself. Elvis was in the army around 1960, if I remember correctly,
later starred in various pretty bad movies. Therefore "looking down" = not
being aware of what's happening = losing out in one's career as a
consequence.
Does all of this make any sense?
Regards, Chris
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Christian Ter-Nedden, Zurich, Switzerland gtern...@ping.ch
"Cognition reigns but does not rule." Paul Valery
E. Church
Torrey Hillinger
>American Pie, when he wrote:
>The jester sang for the king and queen
>In a coat he borrowed from James Dean.
>>Are there people out there who can back this reference from MacLean?
I heard that. "...and a voice that came from you and me." That line also
could add to that reference.
>>If so, who might the king and queen be, and what is meant in the lines
I heard that the King was Buddy Holly.
The quartet and the marching band are the Beatles, and Girl who sang the
blues is Janis Joplin. Also mentioned are the Rolling Stones, Byrds, and
more.
Also the line about the "jester on the sidelines in a cast". Possibly Bob's
motorcycle accident?
-T.J.
michael mishura
>American Pie, when he wrote:
>The jester sang for the king and queen
>In a coat he borrowed from James Dean.
band days, maybe from his electric 65-66 era
>Joker, Jokerman, Jester, Fool and, of course, the Ragged Clown, in his own
>work, if not in the work of others. The James Dean image seems relevant also
>to Dylan in the 60s.
>And while the king was looking down,
>The Jester stole his thorny crown
queen - ya got me
"i met agirl who sang the blues"- janis joplin
jack flash- mick jagger
stage/fists of rage/ no angel born in hell- reference to altamont
sargents sang a marching tune- beatles
while the joker watched from the sidelines in a cast- dylan after his
motorcycle accident
day the music died- feb 3, 1959- b.holly, big bopper and ritchie
valens were killed in a plane crash
>Dylan usurping some sort of messiah role?
elvis was busy making movies, and dylan filled the void for individual
stars (beatles--4- you cant have four kings, les its checkers)
Martin H. Booda
>Rob Zorn \"morethanblood\" <ZO...@SCHOOLS.MINEDU.GOVT.NZ> wrote:
>
>>I read somewhere, a while ago, that Don MacLean was referring to Dylan in
>>American Pie, when he wrote:
>>
>>The jester sang for the king and queen
>>In a coat he borrowed from James Dean.
>
>
>passage:
>
>"is a hazy rendition of McLean's vision, told in the past tense, in a manner
>similar to Dante's Divine Comedy. Frequent references are made to the "King",
>the "Jester" and "Satan". The King, as we shall see, is (or was) AT&T; the
>Jester is Apple/Steve Jobs (remember, Apple was founded on April Fool's Day),
>and Satan is, of course, Bill Gates."
>
>The full highly amusing line-by-line analysis can be found at
>http://www.datasync.com/~booda/mcap.html. Dylan is not implicated.
>
Mick Jagger, however, is. The Rolling Stone's "Start Me Up" sellout to Gates
is documented. (It's little known that Microsoft's first choice for the
Windows 95 theme song was "Slow Train".)
--
Usenet is essentially a HUGE group of people passing notes in class. --R. Kadel
Ombodhi Thoren St John
while the king was looking down johnhenry wrote:
:drive the chevy to the levy and see if it swim
-- but the levee was dry
(wasn't it?)
and as far as *american* pie (made in the usa):
sure was a good idea, until greed got in the way.
bodhi
)+(
one man had not much to eat
one man he lived just like a king
--bob dylan __long ago, far away___