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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10096-017-3104-7
Dylan under the microscope: microbiology in Subterranean Homesick Blues
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“The most direct reference to microbiology and infectious diseases comes in the last two lines of the song: The pump don’t work ’Cause the vandals took the handles. This is a clear link to the police officers (who also may have been vandals, certainly in the view of Dylan in the mid-1960s in the USA) who removed, at the request of John Snow, the handle of the water pump in Broad Street, Soho, London and this caused an end to the cholera epidemic of 1854.”
“Apart from the clear-cut microbiology undertone, the song has a number of relevant lifestyle advices: do not steal, do not wear sandals, do not try “No-Doz”, and, most importantly, do not follow leaders. Dylan appears to deal with infection and immunity more often, especially on the “The Other Side of Bob Dylan” albums, which warrants a more in-depth infectious diseases investigation of his complete oeuvre.”
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Strange ........... I knew little of this tale.
Never been a big Dylan fan except for “Tangled up in Blue.”