Bob Dylan hated being categorized and still does. He was many things at many times. In writing Subterranean Homesick Blues he was clearly a beat poet. Allen Ginsberg is in the background. Note how the flashcards don’t always match the lyrics.
Johnny’s in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I’m on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he’s got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It’s somethin’ you did
God knows when
But you’re doing it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin’ for a new friend
A man in the coonskin cap, in the pig pen
Wants eleven dollar bills, you only got ten . . . .
Complete lyrics (external link)
