According to this article our "Magic Age" for determining music taste is between 14 and 24 years old. For me, that meant the classic rock music of the 1960's and 70s . It's not easy for me to pick out one song from that period that changed my life. I would have a tough time just picking out one artist. Still, there is a song that rocked my world, and I think it still affects my outlook on life some 50 years later. It might be the reason I lean libertarian, and it may play a role in why I discovered bitcoin later in life.

That song is "Subterranean Homesick Blues", by Bob Dylan. I bought the (vinyl) album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits as a sophomore in high school. There were a whole bunch of songs I knew and liked on the album. But, I never heard Subterranean Homesick Blues until I put the needle into that groove.

What really struck me were the words. There were so many of them! Like @ekzyis, I love lyrics, and there was plenty to dig into on this track. Dylan has said he was influenced by scat singing when he wrote it. I sat in my room and played it over and over until I memorized every word. I still remember them perfectly.

Here they are:

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 doin’ it again

You better duck down the alley way

Lookin’ for a new friend

The man in the coon-skin cap

By the big pen

Wants eleven dollar bills

You only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot

Face full of black soot

Talkin’ that the heat put

Plants in the bed but

The phone’s tapped anyway

Maggie says that many say

They must bust in early May

Orders from the D.A.

Look out kid

Don’t matter what you did

Walk on your tiptoes

Don’t try “No-Doz”

Better stay away from those

That carry around a fire hose

Keep a clean nose

Watch the plain clothes

You don’t need a weatherman

To know which way the wind blows

Get sick, get well

Hang around a ink well

Ring bell, hard to tell

If anything is goin’ to sell

Try hard, get barred

Get back, write braille

Get jailed, jump bail

Join the army, if you fail

Look out kid

You’re gonna get hit

But users, cheaters

Six-time losers

Hang around the theaters

Girl by the whirlpool

Lookin’ for a new fool

Don’t follow leaders

Watch the parkin’ meters

Ah get born, keep warm

Short pants, romance, learn to dance

Get dressed, get blessed

Try to be a success

Please her, please him, buy gifts

Don’t steal, don’t lift

Twenty years of schoolin’

And they put you on the day shift

Look out kid

They keep it all hid

Better jump down a manhole

Light yourself a candle

Don’t wear sandals

Try to avoid the scandals

Don’t wanna be a bum

You better chew gum

The pump don’t work

’Cause the vandals took the handles

I got the drug references right away, as all kids in my generation would. It wasn't until I was older that I picked up the likely references to Dostoevski's Notes From Underground and, more obviously, Kerouac's novel The Subterraneans. (This might interest fellow SN Kerouac fan @carlosfandango) I also embraced the obvious anti authoritarian vibe. Crooked cops, the decay of society, and the end of the Leave It To Beaver 50s American dream. Later, as a directionless college graduate, the line "Twenty years of schoolin’ and they put you on the day shift" really hit home, and was motivation to quit wasting my life.

At some point in High School my friends and I went to see D.A. Pennebaker's Bob Dylan documentary, Don't Look Back. In it, he made what might be the first music video. It's fantastic. Check out Alan Ginsburg lurking in the background. Dylan felt a strong connection to all the Beats, so who better to showcase than the author of Howl. Here it is:

I guess I have babbled long enough. I am interested to know what songs influenced fellow stackers?