On the Road Again Lyrics
There's frogs inside my socks
Your mama, she's a-hidin'
Inside the icebox
Your daddy walks in wearin'
A Napoleon Bonaparte mask
Then you ask why I don't live here
Honey, do you have to ask?
I get a face full of claws
I ask who's in the fireplace
And you tell me Santa Claus
The milkman comes in
He's wearing a derby hat
Then you ask why I don't live here
Honey, how come you have to ask me that?
I'm hungry as a hog
So I get brown rice, seaweed
And a dirty hot dog
I've got a hole
Where my stomach disappeared
Then you ask why I don't live here
Honey, I gotta think you're really weird.
It turns into a sword
Your grandma prays to pictures
That are pasted on a board
Everything inside my pockets
Your uncle steals
Then you ask why I don't live here
Honey, I can't believe that you're for real.
They're enough to make me cry
The mailman comes in
Even he's gotta take a side
Even the butler
He's got something to prove
Then you ask why I don't live here
Honey, how come you don't move?
Classic song, it also shows his sense of humor. 'Well, I go to pet your monkey I get a face full of claws I ask who's in the fireplace And you tell me Santa Claus The milkman comes in He's wearing a derby hat Then you ask why I don't live here Honey, how come you have to ask me that?' The above means that he trys to 'get' with this girl. He asks who she has been with (who's in the fireplace) she shrugs the questions off (you tell me santa claus) and the milkman comes in wearing a derby hat, meaning he's going to ride her, if you know what I mean.
I believe this song is about life and how Dylan can see that there is something higher in life than what you see around you. Many of Dylan's songs pre-born-again era were about a feeling that life is a game to be played, an illusion of sorts. My feeling of this song was that he was always looking ahead, to even after life and wished to be there.
So in this song, he's pointing out how absurd life is and saying that he's enlightened, to a degree. He doesn't live there, his mind is not there. I think the entire family, etc is a metaphor for the absurdities of life.
Just my interpretation. Would go with other songs on the album dealing with the same kind of issues.
This is my favorite song on the album.
You're right, it does show his sense of humor.
The funniest part of the song is the very last line, and the way he says it makes me laugh every time.
Dylan's exagerrated, absurdist answer to the suggestion that he should take up residence with a lover.
This is a catchy little song.
haha myfrienbrenn spot on!
agree with knate! the last line of each stanza makes me smile but especially the last one! hahah i don't get the third verse though... anyone?
These crazier Dylan songs are like Benny Hill goes to the Circus or something, just this crazy life where everyone is a kooky idiosyncratic character -- i dig dig dig