Verse Three |
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| Now for ten years we've been on our own and | McLean, started writing this song about ten years after the crash. | |
| moss grows fat on a rollin stone but that's not how it used to be, | There is an old saying that goes something like this: "A rolling stone grows no moss." The great Bob Dylan wrote "Like a Rolling Stone" in 1965. This was his first major change from folk music. In late 1966, Dylan was involved in a motorcycle accident, and hid in his house (named "Big Pink") in Woodstock, NY for a good year, hence the "fat," and the moss shows that he really wasn't a rolling stone any more because of his inactivity. Dylan didn't really get back into music untill 1975. | |
| when the jester sang for the king and queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean | The jester is Bob Dylan, as will become clear later. Elvis Presley is the king, which seems pretty obvious. The queen is Connie Francis. | |
| and a voice that came from you and me, | Bob Dylan's roots are in American folk music, with people like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. Folk music is by definition the music of the masses, hence the "...came from you and me". | |
| oh and while the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown | A reference to Elvis's decline and Dylan's ascendance. (i.e. Presley is looking down from a height as Dylan takes his place.) Thorny Crown = Price of fame. | |
| the courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned, | This could be the trial of the Chicago Seven. | |
| and while Lennon read a book on Marx, | Literal meaning; John Lennon reading about Karl Marx; figuratively, the introduction of radical politics into the music of the Beatles | |
| the quartet practiced in the park | Beatles august 29, 1966 Candlestick park, Their last concert. | |
| and we sang dirges in the dark, the day, the music, died. We were singing... | A dirge is a funeral song. These songs were for the Kennedy's (John and Robert) and Martin Luther King, all who died in the mid 60s. They weren't suitable for dancing, so it's also a funeral march for Holly, Valens, and the Bopper. |
Verse Three
Now for ten years we've been on our own And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be When the jester sang for the King and Queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean And a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the King was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned No verdict was returned
And while Lennon read a book of Marx The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark The day the music died
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