Bob Dylan - Maggie's Farm Meaning

Song Released: 1965

Maggie's Farm Lyrics

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
No, I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
Well, I wake in the morning,
Fold my hands and pray for rain.
I got a head full of ideas
That are drivin' me insane.
It's a shame the way she...

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   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Nov 27th 2008 !⃝

   Maggies Farm is anti government. It is a slam on how the government treats the people, especially those who are not wealthy. We are their slaves and the government speakes out of both sides of their mouths to us. They promise on thing and deliver another with a smile.
2. anonymous

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   May 6th, 01:43 !⃝

   I think it's a criticism of our society. Maggie's Farm is the society. Brother is employer who mistreats and underpays workers. Pa is the government that "puts his cigar out in your face just for kicks", and hides behind walls and national guard. And ma is the church that talk to all people but secretly the brains behind Pa, but I still don't understand what that line about age means.
3. anonymous

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   Jul 6th 2022 !⃝

   I think it crossed cultures. I took it to have a connotation of slavery. For me being (Black), I feel it may represent freedom. You owe me from way back and we as Black people know America does. I heard he worked on a farm once ( could have been Maggie's) but it touched my spirit in an ancient way. Like the real way. How Black people should have their 40 acres, A Mercedes, and reparations. I felt everything he wrote in that song. Thanks for letting me vent.
4. anonymous

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   Oct 9th 2019 !⃝

   It's a song about the struggles of the workforce in America and their mistreatment, poor wages, and disrespect by their employers.
5. anonymous

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   Feb 5th 2018 !⃝

   During his time in Woodstock in the early 60's, Dylan worked part time on Maggiore's Farm in Kingston, NY. It was manual labor, and the pay wasn't great, but Dylan wrote the song as a way to say, 'I quit...'
6. sydferret

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   Dec 12th 2011 !⃝

   I assumed it was Margaret Thatcher.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
7. Commissioner

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   Nov 20th 2008 !⃝

   She talks to all the servants about man and God and law,
   Everybody says she's the brains behind Pa
   She's 68 but she says she's 54
   I aint gonna work for Maggie's Ma no more.
   
   
   If Maggie's "Ma" represented Jesus, the line
   "She talks to all the servants about man and God and law"
   could be seen in a clearer light

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway