Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
I've always wondered about the title of this song. The lyrics have never really bothered me as I assume it's simply a double meaning: being stoned (shit that hurt) and being stoned (dude I'm hungry). But the title has always got me. I did some digging around and came across this interview with Mr Zimmerman, which I think explains it thoroughly:
"Well, you know my songs are all mathematical songs. Now, you know what that means so I’m not gonna have to go into that specifically here. It happens to be a protest song. ...and it borders on the mathematical, you know, idea of things, and this one specifically happens to be ... ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’ happens to deal with a minority of, you know, cripples and Orientals and, uh, you know, and the world in which they live,.... It’s another sort of a North Mexican kind of a thing, uh, very protesty. Very, very protesty. And, uh, one
of the protestiest of all things I ever protested against in my protest years..."
Er, yeah, clear as a pint of Guinness Bob.
Then I found this, which makes a little more sense, but isn't exactly earth shattering:
"...When he was recording the song, a mother and daughter walked into the studio drenched due to the rainy day outside. Mother was 35, daughter 12..."
Scratching about further:
"...It remains only to say that in Dylan’s case the matter of references and possible allusions is slightly complicated by that aspect of him that plays the Riddler or the Jokerman. ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’, anyone? Well, 1, 2, 3, 5 are the first four prime numbers, and the next in the sequence is 7, and this is the first track on Dylan’s seventh album. I’ve also speculated that they’re the numbers of hexagrams in the I Ching" ...blah blah blah, get a life you arse
My favourite explanation, and one I shall accept as true is:
"...If you multiply 12 by 35, you get 420, a number commonly associated with smoking marijuana. 420 came about because 6 high school students in California could only smoke at 4:20 in the afternoon. This time was after school and before their parents came home, so it was a good time for them to get high. .."
No mention of rain soaked ladies, but wgaf.
"Well, you know my songs are all mathematical songs. Now, you know what that means so I’m not gonna have to go into that specifically here. It happens to be a protest song. ...and it borders on the mathematical, you know, idea of things, and this one specifically happens to be ... ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’ happens to deal with a minority of, you know, cripples and Orientals and, uh, you know, and the world in which they live,.... It’s another sort of a North Mexican kind of a thing, uh, very protesty. Very, very protesty. And, uh, one
of the protestiest of all things I ever protested against in my protest years..."
Er, yeah, clear as a pint of Guinness Bob.
Then I found this, which makes a little more sense, but isn't exactly earth shattering:
"...When he was recording the song, a mother and daughter walked into the studio drenched due to the rainy day outside. Mother was 35, daughter 12..."
Scratching about further:
"...It remains only to say that in Dylan’s case the matter of references and possible allusions is slightly complicated by that aspect of him that plays the Riddler or the Jokerman. ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’, anyone? Well, 1, 2, 3, 5 are the first four prime numbers, and the next in the sequence is 7, and this is the first track on Dylan’s seventh album. I’ve also speculated that they’re the numbers of hexagrams in the I Ching" ...blah blah blah, get a life you arse
My favourite explanation, and one I shall accept as true is:
"...If you multiply 12 by 35, you get 420, a number commonly associated with smoking marijuana. 420 came about because 6 high school students in California could only smoke at 4:20 in the afternoon. This time was after school and before their parents came home, so it was a good time for them to get high. .."
No mention of rain soaked ladies, but wgaf.
posted by SkyBlueSnowy @ 5:33 pm
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