"Hobo [HOPES] got too high"?

A sanitized version of the lyrics to Pledging My Time appears on the
bobdylan site ("Well, the hobo jumped up"), but it's clear enough on
the album -- "Well, the hobo got too high/ And it came to me
natur'lly".

There have been some interesting theories about what this phrase
"means." But I wonder whether it's another case in which we might
account (in a kind of causal way) for an opaque turn of phrase as the
product of Bob's mid-60s editorial process. That is, Bob began with a
familar phrase, perhaps one that struck him because of a pun, put it in
his "first draft," and subsequently twisted it just a bit to make the
language obscure and evocative (very important, as he tells us in
Chronicles).

The starting point would have been the cliche about hopes being too
high. Too "high," get it? Or maybe Bob was thinking about the hopes
that were being pinned on him ("And it came to me natur'lly"). That's
kind of personal, though, and Bob wouldn't have been comfortable
putting that into a song in those days. That would have been another
reason to change it.

So after thinking about it, he substitutes the similar-sounding "hobo"
for "hopes" This eliminates the cliche, and makes it less personal
(if he was actually thinking about himself). It also introduces a
mysterious new "character" - The Hobo - and opens the song up to
multiple interpretations.

Kind of reminds me of the way Bob replaced that banal stuff about
compromising with the "enemy camp" in LARS with the much more elusive
image of the "mystery tramp."

Go Bob!

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: "Hobo [HOPES] got too high"?
    ... bobdylan site, but it's clear enough on ... There have been some interesting theories about what this phrase ... The starting point would have been the cliche about hopes being too ... Or maybe Bob was thinking about the hopes ...
    (rec.music.dylan)
  • Re: Homeland policy likened to Gestapos
    ... >I am thinking this phrase may be more useful as time goes by... ... >the other Bob ... Please replace weinerboy dot org with adelphia dot net for reply. ...
    (rec.models.rockets)
  • Re: OT: moveon.org needs your help
    ... Bob responded to a post where DP used the phrase. ... I cop out, Rich ... ... So, rich, does your respect for free speech have any boundaries? ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)
  • Re: Homeland policy likened to Gestapos
    ... >"the district commander said that my papers are in order." ... >I am thinking this phrase may be more useful as time goes by... ... >the other Bob ... What is also sad is that the US government will not issue "papers" to ...
    (rec.models.rockets)