What is this great song about, in your opinion? And, surely, it's "seems like veneer", not "seems like the mirror"?!
It can't be tied down to one particular meaning: its creator's explanation (which we'll never hear) is only as good as your own. I'd agree about 'seems like veneer', which is a stronger image than the (official) 'mirror'.
This is often my favourite Dylan song and lyric. Fun fact: in Steely Dan's 'Dr Wu', the line 'all night long, we would sing that stupid song, and every word we sang I knew was true', the 'stupid song' is supposedly none other than 'Visions of Johanna'.
And it seems a rival is involved, a love triangle, and possibly even some non-monogamy on the author’s own part as well or at least the sense that he’s been there or identifies which also contributes to the fog of thoughts.
It just sucks you in to a universe of Bob's creation......somehow he makes you live every detail.....and even when he's absurd it doesn't stand out so much or seem forced or contrived......just a little comic relief in a cinematic experience (and it never gets old, I've surely heard it hundreds of times). Sort of like Lennon's I am the Walrus......he makes his own logic and then makes his logic compelling (even when it's absurdist), memorable, fluid.....it always sounds like it was just created right before your hearing it. Neither song really needs a great melody, it would get in the way.....the music/track is secondary but adds the perfect ambiance.....
Pretty sure it's about Bob being upset that someone threw a glass in the street. Not that he CARES who did it, he just wants to KNOW who did it. And the last verse is about borrowing a dustpan and cleaning up said glass.
Always loved the lyrics and the song but never came up with much searching them for meaning. That's true of most of my favourite Dylan stuff except for the first few albums which were pretty straightforward. I remember as a teenager reading the liner notes on 61, and bringing it all back home and I think freewheelin (memories a little foggy) searching for meaning like everyone did. Or Tarantula, yeesh. I dont think the words added up to a whole lot outside of the music. Very beautiful within though.