Bob Dylan Said Elvis’ ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ Is About Something ‘Sacred’

Bob Dylan wrote a whole essay about the lyrics of Elvis Presley’s “Blue Suede Shoes.” He said that there is a threat of violence in the track’s lyrics. Interestingly, Johnny Cash said he helped inspire the track.

Bob Dylan loves Elvis Presley’s ‘Blue Suede Shoes’

In his 2022 book The Philosophy of Modern Song, the “Lay Lady Lay” singer wrote essays about several songs he loved. The songs included Elvis’ “Viva Las Vegas,” Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally,” The Eagles’ “Witchy Woman,” and “Blue Suede Shoes.” It’s not surprising that Dylan gravitates toward classic rock!

Dylan had plenty to say about the meaning of “Blue Suede Shoes.” “Your shoes are your pride and joy, sacred and dear, your reason for living, and anyone who scrapes or bruises them is putting himself into jeopardy, accidentally or out of ignorance it doesn’t matter,” he wrote. “It’s the one thing in life you won’t forgive.”

Bob Dylan connected Elvis Presley’s song to foot binding

Dylan seemed to interpret the tune’s famous line “Don’t step on my blue suede shoes” as a threat of violence. “If you don’t believe me, step on them by all means — you won’t like what happens,” he said. “You get on well with most people, and you put up with a lot, and you hardly get caught off guard, but your shoes are something else.

“Minor things may annoy you, but you rise above them,” he added. “Having your teeth kicked in, being pounded senseless, being dumped on and discredited, but you don’t put any weight on that, none of it’s as real to you as your shoes. They’re priceless and beyond monetary worth.”

Dylan said shoes have been culturally important since the practice of foot binding began. In China, pressure was applied to women’s feet so that they were very small. Through this process, a woman’s foot could be as small as four inches in diameter. Dylan described that fact as both “remarkable and horrible.” While Dylan was smart to try to trace the cultural history of shoes in his essay, any connection between “Blue Suede Shoes” and foot binding is tenuous at best.

Johnny Cash said ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ was inspired by something a pilot said

While Dylan felt the lyrics of “Blue Suede Shoes” could be interpreted as a violent song, the tune’s origins are much more innocuous. In his 1997 book Cash: The Autobiography, the “Ring of Fire” singer said he helped inspire the song. Cash recalled meeting a pilot named C. V. White. One day, when Cash and White were dressed to the nines, White insisted that nobody should step on his blue suede shoes. The phrase stuck with Cash.

Cash later told this anecdote to Carl Perkins. Perkins was a singer who gave the world early rock ‘n’ roll classics such as “Honey Don’t” and “Matchbox.” Perkins wrote and originally performed “Blue Suede Shoes.” Elvis covered the track for his debut album, Elvis Presley. Today, “Blue Suede Shoes” is the most famous song on that album, which also includes covers of other famous songs from that era, including Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” and Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman.”

Dylan loves “Blue Suede Shoes” even if some of his analysis of it is questionable.