And a touch of wit:

Pushing the eternal plow

Pulling that eternal plow,

We got to find a sharper blade

Or have a new one made.

That's the folk in the music; you take all the things that bother you and sing a song about them, but a happy song.

Or a sad song, like In A Station, with a sweet piano.

Wonder could you ever know me,

Know the reason why I live?

Is there nothing you can show me?

Life seem's so little to give.

It's different from the rock sound, which is more wild and vivid. Two of the songs in Big Pink do have a little bit of anger in them that the others don't have. It is interesting that these are the two written with Dylan. "Tears of Rage" and "This Wheel's on Fire" give a hint of how Dylan got from Blond on Blond to John Wesley Harding.

Both songs are written as stories, but it's hard to get more than a feeling of what they mean. One senses in them that something has changed since Blond on Blond.

We carried you in our arms on Independence Day

Now you throw us all aside and put us all away.