Everybody Must Get Stoned: Supreme Court Quotes Dylan Wrong

You might not think of Chief Justice John Roberts as a Bob Dylan fan, but in a recent Supreme Court decision, he quotes Mr. Tambourine man. Unfortunately, the judge didn’t check his sources.

In a legal battle between pay phone companies and a long distance company that reached the high court, Justice Roberts inserts song lyrics in his opinion where a legal citation and footnotes usually goes, writing “’When you got nothing you got nothing to lose’. Bob Dylan, ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, on Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia Records 1965).”

Problem is, Justice Roberts is quoting from lyric sheets (or Dylan’s own website). Dylan-ologists agree that Bob actually sings, "When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose."

Sure, Dylan mumbles, constantly changes his lyrics in concert, and seems to contradict himself at every turn. Nevertheless, the chief justice still botched his scholarly research – and that’s his job.

To quote Dylan once again, “Everybody must get stoned.” (“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” on Blonde on Blonde, 1966)”

Now I’m not saying that Justice Roberts was high on marijuana when he wrote his opinion, although that would explain a lot. I am saying he got stoned -- as in publicly pummeled and punished – for his transgression.

Nevertheless, law professor Alex Long of the University of Tennessee tells the New York Times that this opinion is nevertheless the first time a Supreme Court justice has quoted rock lyric in an opinion.

Wow, “The times they are a-changin’.” (“The Times They Are A-Changin’," on The Times They Are A-Changin’, 1964).

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