I could be wrong, but I always thought he was describing certain abstract paintings hanging in the museum. The "one with the moustache" could be Dali, I guess.
Stephen Scobie writes:
John, there's a much more specific reference than that, and it is indeed to the Mona Lisa -- or rather, to Marcel Duchamp's "revision" of the Mona Lisa, in which he draws a moustache onto a reproduction of Leonardo's painting. Don't forget that Duchamp was actually living in New York in the mid-1960s, and was, like Dylan, a friend of Andy Warhol. The Mona Lisa is also a three-quarter length portrait, i.e., she can't find her knees. The Duchamp piece is entitled "L.H.O.O.Q." (which you have to pronounce in French).
Date: 01/31/99
Subject of the Post: Handful of Rain" line
Taylor wrote:
"and Louise holds a handful of rain tempting you to defy it."
There is one girl in my History class that always threatens people with "I'm gonna be mad at you." She is beautiful and air-headed. You can look at this as she is going to rain on your parade. And so she holds the rain for your parade and tempts you to defy her by not stopping whatever trifling thing you are doing.
Date: 08/23/96
Subject of the Post: art imagery
Date Added: 02/27/99
unknown wrote:
the mule line comes in the verse with "inside the museums" and right after the whole: jelly face woman, which to me anyway always reminded me of "and the woman come and go speaking of michelangelo" and there's also all the other references to art such as "primitive" and "frieze" and mona lisa, and i always though of the jewels and binoculars hanging from the head of the mule being a sort of laughing at the sort of high class, self righteous, creatures one might find discussing art so pretentiously. basically he's making fun of these people, but johanna who is so kind-hearted makes him feel like he's being cruel.
also i was reading transcription of the lyrics a while back and some one had written "lousie she's alright she's just near, she's delicate and looks like vermeer" which is obviously wrong [since] he says mirror. But it had me thinking art, as with all the other art imagery in the song and i always think of Picasso's the mirror on that line.
Date: 01/31/99
Subject of the Post: Handful of Rain" line
Date Added: 02/27/99
-r wrote:
"Jewels and binoculars" is one of my favourite lines from the song. That line brings forth the image of some mule-faced old lady (maybe one of the judges from It's Alright Ma, maybe not) sitting in the balcony with her binoculars in one hand and her jewels around her neck, glancing down at the opera with an attitude of utter contempt for all lesser things. I find this to be another example of young Dylan's contempt for the establishment and the "proper". The distaste for those who have the control and power but find the dirty work of reality beneath them.
Date: 03/06/01
Subject of the Post: Graham Greene's "The Heart of the Matter"
Tom Eckmier wrote:
This may not be news to anyone other than me, but I just finished reading Graham Greene's "The Heart of the Matter," and I was repeatedly struck by how much it reminded me of "Visions of Johanna." It could of course be just coincidence that the two works make use of so many of the same images -- jewels, binoculars, flashlights, parasites -- and that the two use a couple of the same, but far from rare, phrases, like "a farewell kiss."
But some of the juxtapositions of images also struck me as interesting. For instance, in the song, you have "Hear the one with the moustache say, "Jeez, I can't find my knees.'" In the first paragraph of the book, meanwhile, you have one of the main characters described entirely in terms of his "knees" and his "moustache."
Similarly, in the song you have, "Name me someone who's not a parasite and I'll go out and say a prayer for him....And Madonna, she still has not showed." In the book, you have, "He tried to pray, but the Hail Mary evaded his memory...."
Still, I wouldn't have even mentioned any of this if it weren't for one particular combination of language and underlying idea that turns up in both works, and strongly suggests, to me at least, that Bob was making use of this book in writing his song.
Compare
"We sit here stranded, though we're all doing our best to deny it. And Louise holds a handful of rain, tempting you to defy it."
with
"'Too late,' Louise said, 'we're caught.'.... A handful of rain was flung in their faces, and then the water came down."
Anyway, though, even if I'm experiencing a false clarity, having read this book, I find that the images in "Visions of Johanna" seem to tie together much easier than they used to for me. And I could certainly recommend "The Heart of the Matter" as a picture of someone whose conscience explodes, even if it's a book Dylan's never laid eyes on.
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