This song skips from one cultural reference to the next. It touches on social discontent ("20 years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift"), drug busts ("The phone's tapped anyway/Maggie says that many say/They must bust in early May/Orders from the D.A."), violent policing witnessed at civil rights protests ("Better stay away from those/That carry around a fire hose") and the fight against authority ("Don't follow leaders/Watch the parkin' meters").
The lyrics resemble a stream of consciousness, a writing technique championed by beat poets such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, both of whom were a major influence on Dylan. Musically, Dylan told the LA Times the song was inspired by Chuck Berry: "It's from Chuck Berry, a bit of 'Too Much Monkey Business' and some of the scat songs of the forties."
Chas Chander of The Animals offered some insight on this song in an interview with NME published before Dylan released it. Chandler said that when the group was in New York, Dylan took them out and they ended up back at his place, where they "got smashed on some huge casks of wine he had." Dylan then played them this song, which Chandler remembered as "Those Old Subterranean Blues." Dylan told them it was about "people living after the Bomb was exploded."
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