Well, it just sets out the scene of Eden...and then introduces the snake (symbolizing Satan) in a dramatic fashion...and leaves you to draw your own conclusions. Same basic message as "Gotta Serve Somebody". It's a warning.

Dylan wrote a lot of other warning songs long before his Christian period, such as "Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" or "All Along The Watchtower", to name 2 of them, and more recently, "Ring Them Bells".

- LH