on one of dylan’s best albums is the song “you gotta serve somebody“.
in the song the narrator says no matter what happens youre gonna either have to serve the devil or the lord.
and in the song theres a section where dylan sings:
You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray
You may call me anything but no matter what you say
You’re still gonna have to serve somebody…
Only because i’m old as the hills do i remember where Dylan takes this from.
in the late 70s there was a comedian named Bill Saluga who had a hugely popular bit
where he’d say his name was Raymond J. Johnson Jr.,
but you didn’t has to call him Raymond. You could call him Ray, or you could call him J…
way more after the jump