Most of any early speculation about the meaning or target of the song can be traced to a few people formerly linked to Dylan who crawled out of the woodwork seeming to seek their own 15 minutes of fame with public announcements that they just might be the one who was the focus of the song's bitter words. Immediately following Ochs' suicide, such discussion quickly dried up. It seemed impolite, impolitic, and to some, even cruel, to possibly link Dylan's caustic lyrics to his mid-'60s fall-out with Ochs.
It also probably seemed more so since Bob was in the midst of the Rolling Thunder Revue, a tour in which Ochs had asked to be included.
Bob nixxed the idea, most likely because Ochs' drinking and drugging were completely out of control and his physical condition was abysmal. It's been said -- and written -- that Bob refused to allow Ochs on the tour because Ochs called him a "cheap little Jew" in an interview with journalist Harry Smith. Ochs had said much worse about Dylan during their mid-'60s mega-feud, and Bob had always come right back at him, so I don't believe Ochs' obnoxious comment, made in the advanced stages of alcoholism and manic-depression, to be the reason he wasn't included in the RTR.
Bob's got a long memory, it's true, but he wouldn't have been that petty knowing that Ochs' mental and physical conditions were at rock-bottom when the comment was made. For making what Ochs considered a traitorous move, Ochs began to both revile -- yet still envy -- his friend. But, by late , the two were no longer friends at all. In fact, they were having incredibly nasty public arguments. In many of these arguments, their verbal lobs became more and more incendiary, particularly as Bob's career far surpassed Ochs.
Those who have followed Dylan's career for the same four decades as I must agree that while Bob has never enjoyed confrontation, he has never back down from it. His ability to use words to cut like a slicing knife has long been his best defense mechanism. In a issue of Broadside published just after Newport , critic Paul Wolf made Ochs' case vis-a-vis the differing artistic songwriting styles between Dylan and Ochs, then proceded to rip Dylan to shreds for leaving the purist folk group. As their one-time friendship came to a boiling point in ''65, Ochs, always known to hold his own in arguments with most anyone, found himself unable to withstand Dylan's stinging volleys: "You ought to find a new line of work," and "Why don't you just become a stand-up comic?
While Positively 4th Street was recorded first in the fall of '65, Dylan wrote it prior to that, a point worth remembering when speculating about or for whom the song was written. The vitriolic Dylan-Ochs arguments and subsequent falling-out during '64 and '65 were legend and were punctuated! Only Dylan knows exactly what criticism Ochs offered about the lyrics of the song -- lyrics that HAD to hit home to Ochs -- but whatever Phil said so angered Bob that he shoved his former friend from the limo while shouting at him: "You're not a folksinger -- you're a journalist!
It's long been common knowledge that even when they were at each others' throats, Ochs continued to admire Dylan's works. It's also been written that Dylan's callous remarks haunted Ochs for the rest of his life. This is most likely true, given the often sensitive nature of musicians and other artists.
It should also be noted that Ochs began many of the arguments to which Bob responded. Bob, too, is a sensitive artist, despite what is often misperceived as cockiness, indifference, even boredom. What wasn't well known until after Ochs' suicide in was that for years the activist-songwriter had been a severe alcoholic and prescription drug abuser, all while also suffering from bipolarism and clinical depression.
Ddespite the acrimony between the two troubadors, Dylan contended with Phil in much the same way as he had done with his notorious harasser and trash-mongerer, AJ Lieberman, from whom he continued to take late-night phone calls long after their highly publicized verbal and physical altercations. While Phil and Bob maintained their strained on-again, off-again relationship, Ochs continued to admire Bob's works, and Bob condoned more than his share of "inappropriate conduct" from Phil.
It's interesting that over the past years there's been remarkable new interest and questioning of who it was that Dylan's lyrics targeted in Positively 4th Street. More proof that Bob's works continue to transcend the generations. Prior to , most longtime Dylan followers took it for granted -- albeit, silently -- that Bobby wrote the song with no one other than Phil Ochs in mind.
The speculation began anew -- and among a new generation of Dylan fans -- with the recent release of the film "Factory Girl," based on the life of Edie Sedgwick, a Warhol's dilettante who'd had a minor affair with Dylan much briefer and significantly more minor than portrayed in the film. There are a lot of other people who have performed this song, but few of them for me at least have actually managed to do anything which adds to the performance of the song.
But the nearest I have got to in terms of a version that actually does say something new is this by Simply Red. Maybe the core of the problem is that the piece is so dominated by the ever repeating melody that there is nothing that can be done with it. You can also see details of our main sections on this site at the top of this page under the picture. The index to all the Dylan compositions and co-compositions that we have found on the A to Z page.
Try imagining a place where it is always safe and warm. On the other hand if you would like to write for this website, please do drop me a line with details of your idea, or if you prefer, a whole article. Email Tony schools. And please do note The Bob Dylan Project , which lists every Dylan song in alphabetical order, and has links to licensed recordings and performances by Dylan and by other artists, links back to our reviews.
All I know is that when this song comes on I always stop and listen to the incredible lyrics. Like most of you I have heard the song countless times, but never get tired of hearing it.
Bob Dylan fans do you now know the meanings behind this classic song? This is actually a nasty song, full of hate and resentment towards maybe either Irwin Silber or Izzy Young, towards whom Dylan is rumoured to have felt bitter, and both of whom felt that the song was utterly unfair if indeed it was directed at them.
I understood it was referencing his feelings about Albert Grossman , his manager before some events previous to this song. As though the meaning of the words is the important part. And that goes for all his songs. For me, the sound of his words as an integral part of the music is their relevance.
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March 1, Retrieved March 15, Viking Penguin. Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, — Archived from the original PDF on July 31, Retrieved April 10, Public Broadcasting Service. The Village Voice.
Retrieved September 7, Sidgwick and Jackson Ltd. Ashgate Publishing. The Dylan Companion 2nd ed. Da Capo Press. Hyperion Books. Dylan: Visions, Portraits and Back pages. DK Adult. Paul gives Fourth Street a Bob Dylan tribute". Pioneer Press. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved July 23, City Pages. The music itself had been circulating since the early days of the Eisenhower era, when Guthrie and Pete Seeger roved the country, fomenting an interest in rural, traditional songs at a time of suburban sprawl, plastics and space flight.
By the early s, he writes, discontent on college campuses was both a fashion trend and a business opportunity. Farina, too, was a con artist, writes Hajdu, though perhaps of a more benign stripe. But the trend proved ephemeral. That article was all too prescient.
By then, Farina was dead, and Dylan and the Baez sisters had drifted apart. Home Reviews. Jul 8, pm PT.
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