This NYT article is an unlikely combination of topics relevant to my interests: the Supreme Court and Bob Dylan.

Chief Justice John Roberts cited a Dylan line from “Like a Rolling Stone” in a recent decision. It turns out this is not without precedent; Dylan has been quoted in 26 opinions from lower courts in the past. But the whole thing is still controversial, because – gasp! – the Supreme Court misquoted Bob Dylan.

Maybe. This is the citation, according to the NYT: ” ‘When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.’ Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone, on Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia Records 1965).” Which is not true to the 1965 Columbia Records recording: “When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose.” But the version used by the Supreme Court is an oft-cited version of the lyrics, and the way they’re listed on Dylan’s official website. So the citation is wrong, yes, but is the quotation wrong? Which is more correct: the official lyrics or the way he sang them in the most famous recording of the song?

I wonder what Dylan thinks of his lyrics being used in a Supreme Court decision. It makes ol’ SCOTUS look almost hip, but I bet he’d think it’s stupid. It doesn’t really add anything. I’m not sure why quoting lyrics seems profound (though I still fall for it).

Also, not that it will ever come up, but Supreme Court justices are not immune to the Dylan rule on my list of exhausted cliches. And while it really ought to be an expectation for a NYT writer, the reporter of this piece still deserves a grateful mention for making no attempt at working in a “times they are a-changin’ ” reference.

Finally, I wonder if the professor quoted in the article spent many years of deliberate work and research to be labeled the “nation’s leading authority on the citation of popular music in judicial opinions,” or whether it just happened by accident.