Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo

Monday, November 21, 2011

Bob Dylan - "Motorpsycho Nitemare"

"Motorpsycho Nitemare" is classic Bob Dylan wit. Released in 1964 on his 'Another Side of Bob Dylan' album it is as close as he got to a parody, in a time of protest songs. The parody here is the Hitchcock movie 'Psycho'. The protagonist is a traveling salesman who finds a farmhouse as a place to spend the night. His plan is not so straightforward when the farmer opens the door with a rifle in hand. He tells the farmer he is a doctor and is allowed to stay on two conditions... he milks the cow in the morning and he stays clear of his daughter Rita. It goes horribly wrong when Rita invites him to shower with her. In the end, to get out of milking the cow and off the farm, he tells the farmer how much he likes Fidel Castro, to which he gets chased off the property by the farmer in a rage. It is a hilarious tale in a style that only Bob Dylan could deliver. The Psycho references are everywhere.... from the "looking like Tony Perkins" line, the offer of a shower with the reply of "been through this movie before" and the mention of being in the swamp without the freedom of speech... the swamp was where Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) dumped the car with the body after the famous shower scene murder. This was early on in a career that went from height to height.

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