Taking That "Everybody Must Get Stoned" Thing to Heart

I could post jokey Christopher Ricks stories all day. Here's my current favorite, though, from last week's New York Observer, which is set up by the observation that Dylan's hawking ladies' underthings on the TV:

"I, of course, know what Victoria’s Secret is," he said. "Do you know what Victoria’s secret is? Victoria’s secret is John Brown—that is, the gillie with whom Queen Victoria was supposedly really in love …. So is it just a coincidence that Dylan’s lately been performing—as he did not for decades—his song ‘John Brown’?" He paused. "Of course not!"

Compare the Victorian story to the song and judge for yourself. Personally, I think Ricks is either the battiest professor in academia or the most cannily brilliant, and I don't believe it really matters which.