Too Much of Nothing Lyrics
Can make a man ill at ease
One man's temper might rise
While another man's temper might freeze
In the day of confession
We cannot mock a soul
Oh, when there's too much of nothing
No one has control.
Say hello to Vivian
Give them all my salary
On the waters of oblivion.
It can cause a man to weep
He can walk the streets and boast like
Of what he'd like to keep
But it's all been done before
It's all been written in the book
And where there's too much of nothing
Nobody should look.
Say hello to Vivian
Give them all my salary
On the waters of oblivion.
It can cause one man to sleep on nails
It can cause others to eat fire
Everybody's doin' somethin'
I heard it in a dream
But when there's too much of nothing
It just makes a fella mean.
Say hello to Vivian
Give them all my salary
On the waters of oblivion.
I disagree with the postings so far on this song. I think that the song is putting down materialism. The song is commenting that people have too much of nothing, and it is replacing the important things in life. Greed and materialism is making people act abnormally - mean, bad temper, pompous, think they are better than a king, etc. Their materialism is causing them to lose touch with real relationships - as in say hello to valerie, vivian, whatever her name is, just shower her with material goods and nothing else matters. Does anyone agree or disagree with this?
Dylan stated that this song was inspired by the riots of the 60s. They were at Big Pink in Woodstock while they were rioting in places like Rochester. It's about human nature and how we react to being cornered or helpless.
I always thought the song's name said it all. Too much of nothing = meaninglessness and despair. And, "idle hands make the devil's playground." Healthy relationships and meaningful work is always helpful. The first stanza is incredibly relevant today:
Too much of nothing Can make a man ill at ease One man's temper rises Where another man's temper might freeze Now it's a day of confession And we cannot mock a soul Oh, when there's too much of nothing No one has control
The pandemic has made everyone more isolated, and agency (a healthy sense of control), in many big ways, is out of reach. This is also a time of confession, because of tech. exposing the dark side of our institutions. The mocking the soul part reminds me a line from "All Along the Watchtower:"
No reason to get excited The thief, he kindly spoke There are many here among us Who feel that life is but a joke But, uh, but you and I, we've been through that And this is not our fate So let us stop talkin' falsely now The hour's getting late...
And the pain of Nihilism (from, "It's allright Ma...") :
"Although the masters make the rules For the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to..."
Apparently the women named were the wives of T.S. Eliot, who drained him of his "salary." This doesn't seem like a reach because Dylan mentions him in "Desolation Row." :
"Praise be to Nero's Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn Everybody's shouting, "Which side are you on?!" And Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot fighting in the captain's tower While calypso singers laugh at them and fishermen hold flowers Between the windows of the sea where lovely mermaids flow And nobody has to think too much about Desolation Row..."
"The waters of Oblivion" reminds me of Eliot's "The Wasteland" "
I think we are in rats’ alley Where the dead men lost their bones.
“What is that noise?” The wind under the door. “What is that noise now? What is the wind doing?” Nothing again nothing. “Do “You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember “Nothing?”
I rememberThose are pearls that were his eyes. “Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?”
Like many songs, this one uses the boiler plates of Existentialism: Freedom (everybody's doin' something...but I have the choice to also do something. Meaninglessness, Isolation and Death.
i like all three of the above interpretations. and there is truth in all of them.
also, when this was recorded dylan and the band had been out of weed for awhile and were sorry about it. see also, "nothing was delivered" songs about running out of weed and the dealer taking your money and disappearing into oblivion.
song about poverty
To me... it's a cautionary song about a nihilistic strain that was particularly evident at the time. It's about ignoring the heart in relationships human and devine. It seems to be one of Dylan's recurrent themes.
To me... it's a cautionary song about a nihilistic strain that was particularly evident at the time. It's about ignoring the heart in relationships human and devine. It seems to be one of Dylan's recurrent themes.
Poverty of the soul, maybe.
Poverty of the soul, maybe.
To me...it's about a nihilistic strain that was particularly evident at the time. It's about being oblivious to the heart in relationships human and devine. It's one of Dylan's recurrent themes from way back.