Key West (Philosopher Pirate)

This is an accordion-heavy song about an unnamed character who has fled to Key West, Florida, to live out his days in anonymity. He never gives a reason for his flight, but there's a sense in the song that he's some kind of outlaw or, at least, an outcast. It's natural to assume that it's Dylan speaking as himself (or some fantasy version of himself), but throughout his career he's assumed first person roles of other characters in his songs. There are also many indications in "Key West" that he's not speaking about himself, with the clearest probably being: Twelve years old, they put me in a suit Forced me to marry a prostitute There were gold fringes on her wedding dress That's my story, but not where it ends She's still cute, and we're still friends To the best of our knowledge, Dylan has never been forced to marry a prostitute.

Key West is an island off the southern tip of Florida where Jimmy Buffett set up shop. Dylan, with roots in Minnesota and New York, isn't known for soaking up the sun in the tropics.

On that pirate radio station Coming out of Luxembourg and Budapest This is one of the strangest lyrics in the song. Luxemborg is a country in Western Europe that borders Germany, France, and Belgium. Budapest is the capital of Hungary, which is also a European nation. Both are around 5,000 miles from Key West (straight-line distance) and why their pirate radio stations would be playing in Key West is a mystery. Interestingly, there is a Key West radio station named Pirate Radio Key West. They couldn't verify Dylan was talking about them in the song but report being the only "pirate radio" they know of associated with Key West, so it's a fair shot Dylan picked it up there, even if maybe he does end up using it in his typically elliptical manner.