Dylan Song by Song: "Stuck Inside of Mobile..." Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. He "draws circles up and down the block."

Answer: The ragman

"Oh, the ragman draws circles
Up and down the block
I'd ask him what the matter was
But I know that he don't talk."

In "No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan," Robert Shelton quotes Dylan as saying that the ragman represents Satan.

Mobile, Alabama is known for its country and folk music, while Memphis is known primarily for the blues. Thus, begin stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues may indicate a feeling of being boxed-into a genre that doesn't suit your mood at the moment, as Dylan may have felt when he offended much of the folk world by going electric, and again when he raised eyebrows by becoming a gospel musician.

2. He "looked so baffled when I asked him why he dressed with twenty pounds of headlines stapled to his chest."

Answer: The preacher

"Now the preacher looked so baffled
When I asked him why he dressed
With twenty pounds of headlines
Stapled to his chest
But he cursed me when I proved it to him
Then I whispered, "Not even you can hide
You see, you're just like me
I hope you're satisfied."

The Memphis blues is a specific style of blues that was born and developed in the Memphis, Tennessee area from 1910-1940. Prominent musicians of the genre included Memphis Minnie, Furry Lewis, and Frank Stokes. The self-styled "father of the blues" W.C. Handy published the song "The Memphis Blues" in September of 1912. In common parlance, to "have the Memphis blues" means, in general, to be in a depressed mood.

3. He's "in the alley with his pointed shoes and bells speaking to some French girl who says she knows me well."

Answer: Shakespeare

"Well, Shakespeare, he's in the alley
With his pointed shoes and his bells
Speaking to some French girl
Who says she knows me well."

Cat Power covered "Stuck Inside of Mobile..." on the soundtrack for "I'm Not There," a biographical film inspired by Bob Dylan's life and music. It was released in 2007, and the soundtrack contains music by arts ranging from Richie Havens, Willie Nelson, and Sonic Youth to John Doe, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and The Black Keys.

4. She "tried to tell me to stay away from the train line."

Answer: Mona

"Mona tried to tell me
To stay away from the train line."

A version of this song is included on "Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume II" and on "The Original Mono Recordings" (2010). Rolling Stone magazine calls the song a "desperate seven-minute epic" full of "surreal blues imagery" creating a mood of "sex, drugs, temptation and paranoia" sung with "sensual vocals."

5. He "built a fire on Main Street and shot it full of holes" and now "he's buried in the rocks."

Answer: Grandpa

"Grandpa died last week
And now he's buried in the rocks
But everybody still talks about
How badly they were shocked
But me, I expected it to happen
I knew he'd lost control
When he built a fire on Main Street
And shot it full of holes."

"Stuck Inside of Mobile..." was first recorded on Bob Dylan's album "Blonde on Blonde." A live version was also included on the "Hard Rain" album. A single of "Stuck Inside of Mobile..." was released from the compilation album "Masterpieces" with "Rita May" on the B-Side. "Rita May" was originally recorded for "Desire," but not included on that album.

6. He "came down here showing everyone his gun" and "handing out free tickets to the wedding of his son."

Answer: The senator

"Now the senator came down here
Showing ev'ryone his gun
Handing out free tickets
To the wedding of his son
An' me, I nearly got busted
An' wouldn't it be my luck
To get caught without a ticket
And be discovered beneath a truck."

The Candymen, an American pop quintet, recorded a cover of "Stuck Inside of Mobile..." in 1968. The Grateful Dead recorded a version in 2002 that was not released until ten years later. Old Crow Medicine Show recorded the song in 2017 for their album "50 Years of Blonde on Blonde."

7. He "gave me two cures, Then he said, 'jump right in.' The one was Texas medicine. The other was just railroad gin."

Answer: The rainman

"Now the rainman gave me two cures
Then he said, "Jump right in"
The one was Texas medicine
The other was just railroad gin
An' like a fool I mixed them
An' it strangled up my mind
An' now people just get uglier
An' I have no sense of time."

Rolling Stone magazine ranked this song number 44 on its list of the greatest Bob Dylan songs of all time. The song was recorded on February 17, 1966 at Columbia Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.

8. She says to "come see her in her honky-tonk lagoon, where I can watch her waltz for free 'neath her Panamanian moon."

Answer: Ruthie

"When Ruthie says come see her
In her honky-tonk lagoon
Where I can watch her waltz for free
'Neath her Panamanian moon
An' I say, "Aw come on now
You must know about my debutante"
An' she says, "Your debutante just knows what you need
But I know what you want."

This song went through twenty takes during the recording sessions for "Blonde on Blonde." This recording session was eventually released in its entirety on "The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966." One of the outtakes was also included on "The Bootleg Series Vol. 7."

9. "Now the bricks lay on Grand Street where" these men "climb. They all fall there so perfectly. It all seems so well timed."

Answer: The neon madmen

"Now the bricks lay on Grand Street
Where the neon madmen climb
They all fall there so perfectly
It all seems so well timed
An' here I sit so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get out of
Going through all these things twice."

According to the Official Bob Dylan website, the musician first played this song live on April 28, 1976. He played it an additional 747 times between then and November 22, 2010.

10. These men "just drink up your blood like wine."

Answer: railroad men

"Mona tried to tell me
To stay away from the train line.
She said that all the railroad men
Just drink up your blood like wine."

This line was likely inspired by a line in the song "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" by Bascom Lamar Lunsford:

"'Cause a railroad man they'll kill you when he can
And drink up your blood like wine."

Born in 1882 in western North Carolina, Lunsford was a lawyer, folklorist, and Appalachian musician known as the "Minstrel of the Appalachians."

Source: Author skylarb

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Questions		Choices
1. He "draws circles up and down the block."		Mona
2. He "looked so baffled when I asked him why he dressed with twenty pounds of headlines stapled to his chest."		The senator
3. He's "in the alley with his pointed shoes and bells speaking to some French girl who says she knows me well."		The rainman
4. She "tried to tell me to stay away from the train line."		railroad men
5. He "built a fire on Main Street and shot it full of holes" and now "he's buried in the rocks."		The ragman
6. He "came down here showing everyone his gun" and "handing out free tickets to the wedding of his son."		The preacher
7. He "gave me two cures, Then he said, 'jump right in.' The one was Texas medicine. The other was just railroad gin."		Grandpa
8. She says to "come see her in her honky-tonk lagoon, where I can watch her waltz for free 'neath her Panamanian moon."		The neon madmen
9. "Now the bricks lay on Grand Street where" these men "climb. They all fall there so perfectly. It all seems so well timed."		Ruthie
10. These men "just drink up your blood like wine."		Shakespeare

There are a lot of quirky characters in Bob Dylan's song "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again." Match each character with the appropriate lyrical description.