Maggie's Farm
Encyclopedia
"Maggie's Farm" is a song written by Bob Dylan
, recorded on January 15, 1965, and released on the album Bringing It All Back Home
on March 22 of that year. Like many other Dylan songs of the 1965-66 period, "Maggie's Farm" is based in electric blues
.
"Maggie's Farm" is frequently interpreted as Dylan's declaration of independence from the protest folk movement. Punning on Silas McGee's Farm, where he had performed "Only a Pawn in Their Game" at a civil rights protest in 1963 (featured in the film Dont Look Back
), Maggie's Farm recasts Dylan as the pawn and the folk music scene as the oppressor. The middle stanzas ridicule various types in the folk scene, the promoter who tries to control your art (fining you when you slam the door), the paranoid militant (whose window is bricked over), and the condescending activist who is more uptight than she claims ("She's 68 but she says she's 54"). The first and last stanzas detail how Dylan feels strait-jacketed by the expectations of the folk scene ("It's a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor" and "they say sing while you slave"), needing room to express his "head full of ideas," and complains that, even though he tries his best to be just like he is, "everybody wants you to be just like them".
The song, essentially a protest song against protest folk, represents Dylan's transition from a folk singer who sought authenticity in traditional song-forms and activist politics to an innovative stylist whose self-exploration made him a cultural muse for a generation. (See "Like a Rolling Stone
" and influence on The Beatles, etc.)
On the other hand, this biographical context provides only one of many lenses through which to interpret the text. While some may see "Maggie's Farm" as a repudiation of the protest-song tradition associated with folk music, it can also (ironically) be seen as itself a deeply political protest song. We are told, for example, that the "National Guard" stands around the farm door, and that Maggie's mother talks of "Man and God and Law." The "farm" that Dylan sings of can in this case easily represent racism, state oppression and capitalist exploitation.
In fact this theme of capitalist exploitation came to be seen by some as the major theme of the song. In this interpretation, Maggie's Farm is the military industrial complex, and Dylan is singing for the youth of his time, urging them to reject society.
For example, "Maggie's Farm" is described by Salon.com critic Bill Wyman as "a loping, laconic look at the service industry." National Public Radio's Tim Riley described it as the "counterculture
's war cry," but he also notes that the song has been interpreted as "a rock star's gripe to his record company, a songwriter's gripe to his publisher, and a singer-as-commodity's gripe to his audience-as-market." However, Allmusic's William Ruhlmann also notes that "in between the absurdities, the songwriter describes what sound like real problems. 'I got a head full of ideas/That are drivin' me insane,' he sings in the first verse, and given Dylan's prolific writing at the time, that's not hard to believe. In the last verse, he sings, 'I try my best/To be just like I am/But everybody wants you/To be just like them,' another comment that sounds sincere." One of the critical responses to the song, favored by many contemporary fans, is Todd Haynes'. In his Dylan biopic "I'm Not There," the song debuts at the Newport Folk Festival, with Dylan and his band firing machine guns at the crowd. At the conclusion of the performance, Haynes' Dylan declares to a cartoonish folk-protest audience: "I'm sorry for everything I've done, and I hope to remedy it soon."
; it was that set's performance of "Maggie's Farm," much faster and more aggressive than on the Bringing It All Back Home recording and featuring prominent lead electric guitar by Mike Bloomfield
, that caused the most controversy. The festival's production manager Joe Boyd
claimed that "that first note of 'Maggie's Farm' was the loudest thing anybody had ever heard." It is still unknown what exactly was the biggest source of the controversy, with accounts of the event differing from individual to individual. Though Dylan's move from acoustic folk to electric rock had been extremely controversial, many accounts suggest the problem was largely due to poor sound. Pete Seeger
, who is often cited as one of the main opponents to Dylan at Newport 1965, claimed in 2005:
Singer Eric Von Schmidt
has a similar recollection of the event: "Whoever was controlling the mics messed it up. You couldn't hear Dylan. It looked like he was singing with the volume off."
Also, Al Kooper
, Dylan's organist
at the concert, claims:
However, the style of the music features heavily in several accounts such as that of Elektra Records
founder Jac Holzman
: "Backstage, Alan Lomax
was bellowing that this was a folk festival, you just didn't have amplified instruments."
The "Maggie's Farm" performance from Newport was featured and discussed extensively in the 2005 Martin Scorsese
documentary No Direction Home
and released on its accompanying album, The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
. Media reviews of the soundtrack were overwhelmingly positive towards the "Maggie's Farm" performance, yielding such descriptions as "blistering" and "remarkably tight, and downright spine-tingling. You can sense Dylan and the band feeding off their collective nervous energy."
. One of the first versions was by Solomon Burke
, "one of the first black singers to record a Bob Dylan song", who released it in 1965 just prior to Dylan's own single release, as the flip side of his "Tonight's the Night" (Atlantic 2288). Burke's version peaked at #2 on the R&B charts, and #28 on the Pop Charts.
In 1971, The Residents
recorded a version for their Warner Bros. Album, however, it was not released at the time.
In 1980, The Blues Band
recorded a version as a commentary on Margaret Thatcher
's government http://www.thebluesband.com/discography.htm. The line, "The National Guard stands around the door" being replaced with a line about the Special Patrol Group
(SPG), the controversial unit of the London Metropolitan Police then being used to quell protests. The 2-Tone ska
band The Specials
also recorded a version, again relating to then-Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
, replacing the words "National Guard" with "National Front
."
At various times the song has also been a live favorite of Uncle Tupelo
(1988-89 tours), U2
(1986–87), The Specials
, Richie Havens
and Tin Machine
, among others. Recently there have been some reggae versions including one by Toots Hibbert off of the Is It Rolling Bob? tribute album.
The Grateful Dead played the song 43 times from 1987-1995. It was picked up during their tour with Dylan in 1987.
A much heavier version is Rage Against the Machine
's interpretation appearing on their 2000 covers album, Renegades.
In this version the line "She's 68 but she says she's 54" has been changed to "She's 68 but she says she's 24". This is actually a change Dylan made for the electric version of "Maggie's Farm" he performed at the 1965 Newport Festival. Rage Against The Machine's version of the song was featured during the end credits of the 2010 buddy cop film
The Other Guys
.
U2
performed the song at the Dublin-based benefit concert Self Aid.
The song is performed by Stephen Malkmus
and The Million Dollar Bashers - a supergroup
, which includes members of Sonic Youth
and Television
- on the soundtrack of the 2007 Dylan biopic I'm Not There
.
Muse
often perform a variation of the main riff from the Rage Against the Machine
cover of the song as an outro to "Map of the Problematique".
The Catalan band Mazoni performed a version of "Maggie's Farm" translated into the Catalan language
, "La granja de la Paula", on their album Si els dits fossin xilòfons (Bankrobber, 2007). The translated lyrics follow the English version, but the name "Maggie" is changed to "Paula".
In 2006 Silvertide
covered the song for the film Lady in the Water
.
The song is covered by Hot Tuna
on their 1992 Live at Sweetwater
album.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, recorded on January 15, 1965, and released on the album Bringing It All Back Home
Bringing It All Back Home
Bringing It All Back Home is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's fifth studio album, released in March 1965 by Columbia Records. The album is divided into an electric and an acoustic side. On side one of the original LP, Dylan is backed by an electric rock and roll band - a move that further alienated...
on March 22 of that year. Like many other Dylan songs of the 1965-66 period, "Maggie's Farm" is based in electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
.
Lyrics
The lyrics of the song follow a straightforward blues structure, with the opening line of each verse ("I ain't gonna work...") sung twice, then reiterated at the end of the verse. The third to fifth lines of each verse elaborate on and explain the sentiment expressed in the verse's opening/closing lines."Maggie's Farm" is frequently interpreted as Dylan's declaration of independence from the protest folk movement. Punning on Silas McGee's Farm, where he had performed "Only a Pawn in Their Game" at a civil rights protest in 1963 (featured in the film Dont Look Back
Dont Look Back
Dont Look Back is a 1967 documentary film by D.A. Pennebaker that covers Bob Dylan's 1965 concert tour in the United Kingdom.In 1998, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically...
), Maggie's Farm recasts Dylan as the pawn and the folk music scene as the oppressor. The middle stanzas ridicule various types in the folk scene, the promoter who tries to control your art (fining you when you slam the door), the paranoid militant (whose window is bricked over), and the condescending activist who is more uptight than she claims ("She's 68 but she says she's 54"). The first and last stanzas detail how Dylan feels strait-jacketed by the expectations of the folk scene ("It's a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor" and "they say sing while you slave"), needing room to express his "head full of ideas," and complains that, even though he tries his best to be just like he is, "everybody wants you to be just like them".
The song, essentially a protest song against protest folk, represents Dylan's transition from a folk singer who sought authenticity in traditional song-forms and activist politics to an innovative stylist whose self-exploration made him a cultural muse for a generation. (See "Like a Rolling Stone
Like a Rolling Stone
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England...
" and influence on The Beatles, etc.)
On the other hand, this biographical context provides only one of many lenses through which to interpret the text. While some may see "Maggie's Farm" as a repudiation of the protest-song tradition associated with folk music, it can also (ironically) be seen as itself a deeply political protest song. We are told, for example, that the "National Guard" stands around the farm door, and that Maggie's mother talks of "Man and God and Law." The "farm" that Dylan sings of can in this case easily represent racism, state oppression and capitalist exploitation.
In fact this theme of capitalist exploitation came to be seen by some as the major theme of the song. In this interpretation, Maggie's Farm is the military industrial complex, and Dylan is singing for the youth of his time, urging them to reject society.
Critical responses
Critical responses are ambivalent. The common thread is that Dylan is pointing the finger of refusal and declaring his self-possession.For example, "Maggie's Farm" is described by Salon.com critic Bill Wyman as "a loping, laconic look at the service industry." National Public Radio's Tim Riley described it as the "counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
's war cry," but he also notes that the song has been interpreted as "a rock star's gripe to his record company, a songwriter's gripe to his publisher, and a singer-as-commodity's gripe to his audience-as-market." However, Allmusic's William Ruhlmann also notes that "in between the absurdities, the songwriter describes what sound like real problems. 'I got a head full of ideas/That are drivin' me insane,' he sings in the first verse, and given Dylan's prolific writing at the time, that's not hard to believe. In the last verse, he sings, 'I try my best/To be just like I am/But everybody wants you/To be just like them,' another comment that sounds sincere." One of the critical responses to the song, favored by many contemporary fans, is Todd Haynes'. In his Dylan biopic "I'm Not There," the song debuts at the Newport Folk Festival, with Dylan and his band firing machine guns at the crowd. At the conclusion of the performance, Haynes' Dylan declares to a cartoonish folk-protest audience: "I'm sorry for everything I've done, and I hope to remedy it soon."
Newport Folk Festival 1965
"Maggie's Farm" is well-known for being at the center of the fervor that surrounded Dylan after his electric set at the 1965 Newport Folk FestivalNewport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
; it was that set's performance of "Maggie's Farm," much faster and more aggressive than on the Bringing It All Back Home recording and featuring prominent lead electric guitar by Mike Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
, that caused the most controversy. The festival's production manager Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
claimed that "that first note of 'Maggie's Farm' was the loudest thing anybody had ever heard." It is still unknown what exactly was the biggest source of the controversy, with accounts of the event differing from individual to individual. Though Dylan's move from acoustic folk to electric rock had been extremely controversial, many accounts suggest the problem was largely due to poor sound. Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, who is often cited as one of the main opponents to Dylan at Newport 1965, claimed in 2005:
Singer Eric Von Schmidt
Eric Von Schmidt
Eric "Rick" Von Schmidt was an American singer-songwriter and Grammy Award recipient. He was associated with the folk/blues revival of the 1960s and a key part of the East Coast folk music scene that included Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.-Background and associations with Dylan:Von Schmidt's father,...
has a similar recollection of the event: "Whoever was controlling the mics messed it up. You couldn't hear Dylan. It looked like he was singing with the volume off."
Also, Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
, Dylan's organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
at the concert, claims:
However, the style of the music features heavily in several accounts such as that of Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
founder Jac Holzman
Jac Holzman
Jac Holzman was the founder, chief executive officer and head of both Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records.-Biography:He founded Elektra Records in his St. John's College dorm room in 1950 and Nonesuch Records in 1964...
: "Backstage, Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
was bellowing that this was a folk festival, you just didn't have amplified instruments."
The "Maggie's Farm" performance from Newport was featured and discussed extensively in the 2005 Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
documentary No Direction Home
No Direction Home
No Direction Home is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th century American popular music and culture. The film does not cover Dylan's entire career; it concentrates on the period between Dylan's arrival in New York in January 1961 and his...
and released on its accompanying album, The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack is the third most recent installment in the Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series" of rare and/or officially unissued recordings....
. Media reviews of the soundtrack were overwhelmingly positive towards the "Maggie's Farm" performance, yielding such descriptions as "blistering" and "remarkably tight, and downright spine-tingling. You can sense Dylan and the band feeding off their collective nervous energy."
Cover versions
"Maggie's Farm," like many Dylan songs, has been widely coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
. One of the first versions was by Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...
, "one of the first black singers to record a Bob Dylan song", who released it in 1965 just prior to Dylan's own single release, as the flip side of his "Tonight's the Night" (Atlantic 2288). Burke's version peaked at #2 on the R&B charts, and #28 on the Pop Charts.
In 1971, The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
recorded a version for their Warner Bros. Album, however, it was not released at the time.
In 1980, The Blues Band
The Blues Band
The Blues Band is a British blues band formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and harmonica player with Manfred Mann, and vocalist/slide guitarist Dave Kelly, who had previously played with the John Dummer Blues Band, Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker...
recorded a version as a commentary on Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's government http://www.thebluesband.com/discography.htm. The line, "The National Guard stands around the door" being replaced with a line about the Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group
The Special Patrol Group was a unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for providing a centrally-based mobile capability for combating serious public disorder and crime that could not be dealt with by local divisions....
(SPG), the controversial unit of the London Metropolitan Police then being used to quell protests. The 2-Tone ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
band The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
also recorded a version, again relating to then-Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, replacing the words "National Guard" with "National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
."
At various times the song has also been a live favorite of Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville...
(1988-89 tours), U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
(1986–87), The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
, Richie Havens
Richie Havens
Richard P. "Richie" Havens is an African American folk singer and guitarist. He is best known for his intense, rhythmic guitar style , soulful covers of pop and folk songs, and his opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.-Career:Born in Brooklyn, Havens was the eldest of nine children...
and Tin Machine
Tin Machine
Tin Machine was a hard rock band formed in 1988, famous for being fronted by singer David Bowie. The group recorded two studio albums before dissolving in 1992, when Bowie returned to his solo career...
, among others. Recently there have been some reggae versions including one by Toots Hibbert off of the Is It Rolling Bob? tribute album.
The Grateful Dead played the song 43 times from 1987-1995. It was picked up during their tour with Dylan in 1987.
A much heavier version is Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
's interpretation appearing on their 2000 covers album, Renegades.
In this version the line "She's 68 but she says she's 54" has been changed to "She's 68 but she says she's 24". This is actually a change Dylan made for the electric version of "Maggie's Farm" he performed at the 1965 Newport Festival. Rage Against The Machine's version of the song was featured during the end credits of the 2010 buddy cop film
Buddy cop film
The "buddy cop" is a subgenre of buddy films and crime films with plots involving two men of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process...
The Other Guys
The Other Guys
The Other Guys is a 2010 American action comedy film directed and co-written by Adam McKay, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and featuring Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, and Ray Stevenson...
.
U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
performed the song at the Dublin-based benefit concert Self Aid.
The song is performed by Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Joseph Malkmus is an indie rock musician and icon, and a member of the band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.-Early years:...
and The Million Dollar Bashers - a supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
, which includes members of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
and Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
- on the soundtrack of the 2007 Dylan biopic I'm Not There
I'm Not There
I'm Not There is a 2007 biographical musical film directed by Todd Haynes, inspired by iconic American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Six actors depict different facets of Dylan's life and public persona: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw...
.
Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
often perform a variation of the main riff from the Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
cover of the song as an outro to "Map of the Problematique".
The Catalan band Mazoni performed a version of "Maggie's Farm" translated into the Catalan language
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
, "La granja de la Paula", on their album Si els dits fossin xilòfons (Bankrobber, 2007). The translated lyrics follow the English version, but the name "Maggie" is changed to "Paula".
In 2006 Silvertide
Silvertide
Silvertide was a rock band hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:Silvertide was formed in January 2001 in Northeast Philadelphia. At first, Silvertide was signed by J Records. They released their first EP American Excess in 2002...
covered the song for the film Lady in the Water
Lady in the Water
The soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
.
The song is covered by Hot Tuna
Hot Tuna
Hot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
on their 1992 Live at Sweetwater
Live at Sweetwater
Live at Sweetwater is a live Hot Tuna album recorded in 1992 at Mill Valley, CA. It was their first new recording made for Relix Records, although they had previously released older performances with Relix...
album.
Popular culture
- The Beastie BoysBeastie BoysBeastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
' song "Johnny Ryall" contains the lyrics: "Washing windows on the Bowery at a quarter to four, 'Cause he ain't gonna' work on Maggie's farm no more." http://www.beastiemania.com/songspotlight/show.php?band=b&s=johnnyryall - The PlaceboPlacebo (band)Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...
song "Slave to the WageSlave to the Wage"Slave to the Wage" is a single by alternative rock band Placebo. Taken from their third album, it reached number 19 in the UK Singles Chart. The song, inspired by the drudgery of having a "9 to 5" job in the modern world, is about not working oneself into an early grave. Bob Dylan's "Maggie's...
" contains the lyrics: "Sick and tired of Maggie's farm. She's a bitch, with broken arms, to wave your worries, and cares, goodbye". The radio edit contains the word "witch" instead of "bitch". - The OK GoOK GoOK Go is a rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, USA, now residing in Los Angeles, California, USA. The band is composed of Damian Kulash , Tim Nordwind , Dan Konopka and Andy Ross , who joined them in 2005, replacing Andy Duncan...
song "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard" contains in the lyrics: "Now I saw Bob Dylan gone electric, feeling Pete Seeger with his axe in the crowd. Maggie and the farm, never meant no harm, but my heart started beating too loud." - The !!!!!!!!! is a dance-punk band that formed in Sacramento, California, in 1996. Members of !!! came from other local bands such as The Yah Mos, Black Liquorice and Popesmashers...
song "Shit Scheisse Merde, Pt. 1" contains the lyric: "I try my very best, to be just like I am, but everybody wants me to be like Zimmerman", a reference to Maggie's Farm. - On Peter MulveyPeter MulveyPeter Mulvey is an American folk singer-songwriter based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since the early 1990s, he has developed a strong national following in the indie folk/rock scene through his relentless touring and critically acclaimed albums. Starting his musical career in Milwaukee while at...
's 1995 release, Rapture, the title track contains the lyrics: "Guess we're all gonna work on Maggie's farm for a little while longer now, Not tell anyone what we have inside to give." - "Looking for a Rainbow" by Chris ReaChris ReaChris Rea is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally...
features the lyrics: "Yeh we're Maggie's little children; And we're looking for Maggie's farm." - In the 1980s, "Maggie's Farm" was widely adopted as an anthem by opponents to BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Prime Minister Margaret ThatcherMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. The many instances of the song being referenced in anti-Thatcher art or literature include:- the Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
song Wye Aye Man, from the album The Ragpicker's DreamThe Ragpicker's DreamThe Ragpicker's Dream is the third solo album by Mark Knopfler. Released on 30 September 2002, the album is a collection of songs written from the point of view of poor but dignified itinerant men, struggling to get by in life, often enjoying small triumphs. Knopfler gives a folk imprint to the...
, which contains the lyric "...nae more work on Maggie's Farm." The song is about redundant British laborers having to seek work in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as a result of Thatcher's economic program. http://www.dire-straits.org/Lyrics_Wye_aye_man.html - the Billy IdolBilly IdolWilliam Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
song Fatal Charm uses the term in a reference to his punk roots with Generation XGeneration X (band)Generation X was a British punk rock band, formed on 21 November 1976 by Billy Idol, Tony James and John Towe.-History:...
. - CartoonistCartoonistA cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Steve BellSteve Bell (cartoonist)Steve Bell is an English political cartoonist, whose work appears in The Guardian and other publications. He is known for his left-wing views and distinctive caricatures.-Early life:...
's comic strip "Maggie's Farm," which appeared in the London listings magazines Time Out from 1979 and later in City LimitsCity Limits (London magazine)City Limits magazine was founded in 1981 in London by former staff members of the weekly London listings magazine Time Out, after its owner Tony Elliott abandoned running Time Out on co-operative principles....
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- the Mark Knopfler
- In the 1990 Movie "The Freshman", Bert Parks, portraying a version of himself and acting as event MC and musical host, performs a cover of "Maggie's Farm" during the final gathering of "The Gourmet Club", a group of wealthy individuals who attend a covert and expensive dinner in order to dine on the last of an endangered species (which is actually an elaborate con, with the real meal consisting of more traditional ingredients).
- In the 2006 movie Lady In the WaterLady in the WaterThe soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
, the rock band, SilvertideSilvertideSilvertide was a rock band hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:Silvertide was formed in January 2001 in Northeast Philadelphia. At first, Silvertide was signed by J Records. They released their first EP American Excess in 2002...
, that starts to play during the party at The Cove (as a setup for Story's departure), begins playing their own, harder-rock style version of Maggie's Farm. - President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
said that "Maggie's Farm" was one of his favourite songs to listen to during the election season. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/25/barack-obamas-ipod-bob-dy_n_109093.html - Maggie's Farmhouse Ale is the name of Terrapin Beer CompanyTerrapin Beer Company-History:Terrapin Beer Company was founded by and . The two men actually wanted to develop their own brewery, in 1998, before they had their own beer. After finally developing a beer the two were contemplating names when Buckowski, a Grateful Dead fan, mentioned Terrapin. The name comes from...
's 7th Volume of their Side Project Series of beers.http://www.terrapinbeer.com