I believe this song is a direct defense and attack on Irwin Silber, a leader of the folk scene at the time. I have a copy of Sing Out magazine from November 64 where Silber, who was the editor, wrote a scathing criticism of Dylan in an article called 'An Open Letter to Dylan'. In that article he accused Bob of betraying his folk fans in favor of rock music, glory and money. Positively 4th Street came out about 3 months later and to me it is Dylan using his new-found power to squash a bug with a top-ten pop song sledgehammer. To me it's one of the great comebacks of all time. The title is apparently a reference to the West 4th Street address where Dylan stayed when he was living in Greenwich Village.
I believe this song is a direct defense and attack on Irwin Silber, a leader of the folk scene at the time. I have a copy of Sing Out magazine from November 64 where Silber, who was the editor, wrote a scathing criticism of Dylan in an article called 'An Open Letter to Dylan'. In that article he accused Bob of betraying his folk fans in favor of rock music, glory and money. Positively 4th Street came out about 3 months later and to me it is Dylan using his new-found power to squash a bug with a top-ten pop song sledgehammer. To me it's one of the great comebacks of all time. The title is apparently a reference to the West 4th Street address where Dylan stayed when he was living in Greenwich Village.