Lyrics for Maggie's Farm as interpreted by YtseJam

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 up 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 makes me
scrub the floor
I ain't gonna work on, nah
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more
nah, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more
Well, he hands you a nickel
And he hands you a dime
And he asks you with a grin
If you're havin' a good time
Then he fines you every time you slam the door
I ain't gonna work for, nah
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more

I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
Well, he puts his cigar
Out in your face just for kicks
His bedroom window
It is made out of bricks
The National Guard stands around his door
I ain't gonna work, nah
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law
And everybody says
Shes the brains behind pa
Shes sixty-eight, but she says shes twenty-four
I ain't gonna work for, nah
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more

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 try my best
To be just like I am
But everybody wants you
To be just like them
They sing while they slave and just get bored
I ain't gonna work on, nah
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more

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fight4freedom
05-25-2002

Rated 0 
OK, well "maggies farm" is the american social environment, "maggie" and her family are the leads of corporations. Working on the farm is being part of the American, or first world working class.

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killsforpie
08-27-2002

Rated 0 
this song is POWERFUL. mad props to dylan for writing the lyrics...

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Drewker
05-11-2003

Rated 0 
I think it's interesting that in these days, there is not much choice whether or not to work for the man. With so many mergers, you are most likely working for a conglomerate. Sucky. Support local business, or better yet, work for yourself! Build your life, don't buy it.

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Frosted
06-12-2003

Rated 0 
Originally written by Bob Dylan in the 60's or early 70's...of course he was the greatest songwriter of the 20th century, but RATM doesn't do a bad job on this one either.

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atthedrive-in
11-14-2004

Rated -1 
the great bob dylan would roll over in his grave. if he was dead.

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maggotface
02-09-2005

Rated 0 
Easyly the best song on the "renegades" record. Actually I didn't think they could do a Dylan song, turn it to their own style a still make it sound good, but they sure proved me wrong!
This is a song about a slave worker working on a farm in America some time ago. There has also been some band who have directed this song to some person in Britain named Maggie.

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OpinionHead
02-28-2005

Rated 0 
Either way you slice it, this is a great song if you want to medicate yourself. Rage succumbed to the pressure to the image, three stayed and one faded. Even then, they knew it would be difficult to play against the mainstream. Now they have more airtime dedicated to them than they ever did before. Did they make a lasting impact? Sure they did, in which column though. Did they win? They won accolades all across the board. Did they lose? In the philosophical and historical realm, they lost huge. They could never overcome the fact that history repeats itself. It always does no matter what. There will be poverty and oppression with every revolution. It called the nihilism of history (aka reality) and they accepted it. That the way it goes.

By the way, Rage and Dylan are masters without a doubt. Anything of Dylan's put to electric guitar is nothing sort of phenomenal. I am being contradictory, I love the music for the music but in realistic terms, their music was unreal because reality always wins.

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turquoiseumbrella
03-07-2005

Rated 0 
the first time i heard this song my head almost exploded...i'm a huge dylan fan and i love the original, and at first i couldn't get over hearing rage do it, but then i grew to love it. if anyone covers this song, i'm really glad it's them. it rocks.

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Zephyrus
04-07-2005

Rated 0 
Hey maggotface, I believe the Maggie in England you are referring to is Margaret Thatcher, fucking whore, when she was the prime minister she decided it wou8ld be a good idea to close all the coal mines, putting thousands of people out of work.

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Pretentious arse
05-15-2005

Rated +1 
I have a theory:

This was originally Dylan written, and he was always anti-big brother in his leanings. And of course, RATM has never been backwards in coming forwards in their views about the US and capitalism. (btw, does anyone else feel that there has never been a cover of a Dylan song that wasn't better than the original? Dylan's a great song writer - no question - but he can't sing for shit)

I always felt that 'Maggie's Farm' is actually an analogy for the US of A. Each member of Maggie's family is actually a metaphor for a different aspect of US society.

1) Maggie=US. Doesn't listen to a word the workers say.
2) Brother=coprporations. Pays out a pittance and pretends to be friendly, but you do any little thing to piss them off, they sue (or dock pay, or fine, whatever)
3) Pa=cops/military
4) Ma=religion. Is excessively old (and arguably so old its out of touch) but it still claims its relevance while controlling the enforcer.

The last bit's interesting but it has a minor change to Dylan's original. Dylan wrote (and whined):
"They sing while you slave and I just get bored."
RATM scream: "They sing, while they slave and just get bored"
I'm not sure who the 'they' is of both, but I'm sure they're refering to different groups. In fact the 'They' in the RATM version is probably referring to two. the first is the People in charge and the ones who get bored; everybody else are the ones who slave.

Anyway, as I said, it's just a theory

(btw, this is my first time posting, so please be gentle)

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1 Reply
insane metal fan
12-26-2005

Rated 0 
pretentious arse has a damn good point, pa ma brother and maggie do seem to have the charecteristics of the orginizations he equates them to.

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creevs
01-08-2006

Rated 0 
yew mad props to RATM for covering a Dylan song i never could ov imagined it but they pulled it of awsumly

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el che
01-09-2006

Rated 0 
Did u ever hear the specials version
it came out like a million years before the rage one
its ska back when ska was punk and not industry

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aeolus
08-11-2006

Rated 0 
I agree with all comments made by Pretentious arse.

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stxp64
08-29-2006

Rated 0 
do you think it means anything that the dylan version said that the 'ma' was 68 but said she was 54, and in the rage version they changed it to 24?

maybe nothing, but usually when they change lyrics for their covers, they change little stuff, not really like this

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GiJofus
10-19-2006

Rated 0 
Whoa, Pretentious_arse...you've done well.

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smallwonderrobot
09-04-2007

Rated 0 
Dylan is the best, hands down, no question (and yes, he can sing).

this song, however, was PWNED by Rage. just absolutely taken control of, shaken violently, and left to die.

Dylan's original--he plays the song for laughs. but RATM tap into the revolution behind the song, the real Satanic evilness of Maggie and the powers in charge.

FUCK YEAH.

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Hunter/Hunted
05-28-2008

Rated 0 
Hey nice theory Pretentious arse, I was actually about to write pretty much exactly the same, yet with one difference.

To me the Pa more seems to me to represent the Government. The line "The National Guard stands around his door" is the reference to the military, that of course protects the governments interests.
"His bedroom window
It is made out of bricks" seems likely to be a reference on how little control the people actually have over the government. We believe that there's a window and that we can keep an eye out for what they're doing, but really it's made out of bricks and we can't shit of what's really going on inside "the bedroom".

So that would mean:
Maggie is western society
Her brother is the corporations and the bosses
Her father is the almighty government
and her mother is, as was said, religion

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