Sorry Tim -- I guess I did miss that.

Guest, I agree with you, and I didn't mean to suggest that Dylan's lyrics were as meaningless at their core as an ink blot is (that seems to be what mousethief thinks, and I know he's got a lot of company). What I did mean to say is that trying to reduce lyrics like these to a simple, concise "meaning" or message is likely to miss the point. The lyrics are informed by Dylan's experiences and observations -- about society, about himself, about life -- and will resonate differently with different listeners depending on THEIR experiences and observations. However, I'm not entirely sure that the creator always "knows what he/she said and why he/she said it"; I think sometimes the process of discovering one's own lyrics can take quite some time.

Little Hawk said it better than I did anyway: "Great writing taps into the universal, rather than limiting itself to the specific. A great writer communicates with the angels, but he doesn't define them." For me, the overlapping shades of meaning in Dylan's writing, and their relevance to many different aspects of life, is what makes them so rich.