h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've listened to this song for years and know all the words by heart- I even saw him sing it when he was one of five eadliners for James Taylor. Perhaps I missed something? I get all of the other subliminal beings, but the jester?

Yeah.
Dylan wore a red windbreaker 'coat' that James Dean wore in 'Rebel Without a Cause' on an album cover, and also wore the brown leather coats occasionally that Dean often wore. The next line is something like 'In a voice that came from you and me'. Since Dylan's roots are in folk, this makes sense to me.

Not sure why he picked a jester

Perhaps we should get in touch with Don himself instead of trying to desifer his lirics. Probably an impossible task, but worth persuing.

The wiley old coot is coy about it when people ask him. He won't let the cat out of the bag.

Admits it's about Buddy Holly, and that's about it.

You are probably right! Let sleeping dogs lie. Don is probably sick of people asking him what the song means and when you think about it, perhaps there is no hidden meaning. It's just a song that made a great deal of money. His major one hit wonder!

Apocrophal, but I heard that one time some interviewer asked him the old question - what does it mean? Came the reply: "What does it mean? It means I never have to work again!".

It's a good song.