In the radio edit, Gwen never actually says “shit,” instead mouthing the word or covering her mouth. The edit matches more closely the song’s theme: the “petite cheerleader” could obviously never swear, but she does not even have to. The track alone is brutal enough.

Rorschach isn’t the “please and thank you” type. He uses fear and directness to get what he needs. This same idea played out in the film, when he brutally attacked another inmate over a small issue.

A final rejection of the title that has plagued him since the sixties, the “spokesman” for his generation. Dylan is simply a guide, not a source, and should be taken in light of your own philosophies.

A classic blues trope. Poor Bob. The idea of the “bad women” plaguing the singers life was a fixture of bluegrass and folk.

Perhaps a reference to Elvis Presley’s “Stuck On You.”

A line that hits home the sense of age that permeates this song. Like all folk songs before and after, the lyrics carry a sense of timeless age, old forever but never dead. This is why someone like Wilco and Billy Bragg can successfully revive the classics of Woody Guthrie in Mermaid Avenue to widespread acclaim.

Who is this crazy man? Maybe the blues itself.

This could perhaps be an acceptance of Dylan’s position as an elder statesman.

Much like the blues musicians of the past, that’s all Bob tries to do. He both realizes his own sins and faults and persists, letting them get to him without giving in.

This could be an autobiographical reference to his so-called Never Ending Tour.

It also continues the themes of travelling, and being unanchored – greats like Woody Guthrie and Ansel Adams, Stetson Kennedy, and Hank Williams were well known for their years-long excursions across the American south and west.