Bob Dylan: Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest Meaning
Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest Lyrics
They were the best of friends
So when Frankie Lee needed more money one day
Judas quickly pulled out a roll of tens
And placed them on a footstool
Just above the plotted plain
Sayin', "Take your pick,...
-
Please consider:
1.The longest song on John Wesley Harding (1967), it's humour is largely untypical of the rest of the album, its tone similar to Dylan's liner notes.
2.It could considered a comic version of the previous track, All Along the Watchtower; both tales of a young man (Frankie Lee-The Joker) mislead by a older man (Judas Priest- The Thief)resulting in death or destruction.
3. It is a likely template for McCartney's Rocky Racoon on The White Album(1968); the puns and the arrangement (note Lennon's harmonica)features of early Dylan. Composed on retreat in India, it has been suggested that there was some inspiration from Donovan, no stranger to Dylan's work.
An early take had Rocky coming from "a little town (Hibbling?) in Minnesota."
4. The scope of Dylan's influence is almost impossible to quantify; in this case the heavy metal band Judas Priest derived their name from this song.
Geoff Cater
geoff@surfresearch.com.au -
No one can interpret anything Bob has written accurately. He is a genius and leaves songs open for us to relate to them in our own ways. We can never understand the workings of his mind.
More Bob Dylan songs »
Latest Articles
-
A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park -
Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable -
.jpg)
Dolly, we need you -
The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media -
The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s -
Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)
Trending:
Blog posts mentioning Bob Dylan
When Mike Bloomfield Composed a Soundtrack For Andy Warhol 
Music To Mine Coal To 
Catchy Songs About the Devil 
That Time the FBI Went After John Lennon 
Rock 'n' Roll Bookshelf: Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards (2008) 
Listen To Me - Songs About Alice In Wonderland 
7 Big Rock Talents Who Have Scored Films 
Anti-Work Songs - A Slacker's Hymnal 
Bootleg Beats - Music You May Never Have a Chance To Hear Legitimately 
Blog Post of a Thin Man 
All Grammy, No Oscar - Five songs from films where the song was a bigger succ... 
Eight Reasons Why The Monterey International Pop Festival Was Better Than Woo... 
Time Capsule Films - Music Subcultures Whose Era Was Captured Perfectly In Film 
Cover Me Bad - Eight hit songs that nobody knows are cover versions Just Posted
| Amnesia | anonymous |
| Your Smiling Face | anonymous |
| You Should Be Dancing | anonymous |
| Washing Machine Heart | anonymous |
| Souvenirs | anonymous |
| Art Deco | anonymous |
| Let It Go | anonymous |
| The Greatest Show | anonymous |
| Vampire | anonymous |
| Vampire | anonymous |
| Sippy Cup | anonymous |
| A Place For My Head | anonymous |
| I Hope You Dance | anonymous |
| Metaphor | anonymous |
| Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) | anonymous |
