The moon and a wheel of cheese: how Jim Morrison changed Bob Dylan’s view on “moonshine”
There are many associations with the moon, many of which stem from our fixation with wonder and the idea that to truly experience spirituality, you must exist outside of the realm of the physical being. Moonshine was once to Bob Dylan what the moon represents to most of us – a folklorish mystery that is difficult to define. An encounter with Jim Morrison, however, once gave him the gift of mythical clarification.
The distribution of moonshine alcohol was once a controversial market, where people would often get together at night to retrieve the distilled liquor at nighttime to avoid being spotted and questioned by authorities. During such times, when alcohol was controlled or banned entirely, moonshine emerged as a black market-esque loophole despite it having questionable safety or quality.
The legality of moonshine wasn’t up for debate given the fact that it was often made in environments that lacked licensing for alcoholic distillation, resulting in its reduced quality and danger of incorporating contaminated goods like methanol. Nonetheless, subcultures persisted, mostly due to the financial gain of meeting demands but also due to cultural tradition.
Aside from the historical implications, it’s easy to understand why moonshine became romanticised in literature and culture due to both its poetic-sounding namesake and its links to bootleggers who engaged in illegalities despite being aware of the consequences. The name derives from the nature of those having to extract the product during the night when they would often hide barrels in local ponds to avoid police attention.
According to Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison offered a much more insightful version of the story. When Dylan met up with The Doors frontman, he claimed that the name came from incidents where people would almost get caught by authorities. Instead of coming clean, they would act “simple-minded” and point towards the moon’s reflection in the pond and “tell the constabulary that they were trying to rake in a wheel of cheese”.
He continued, explaining that the lawmen would laugh at these “foolish cheese rakers” and leave. Although this story seems largely rooted in folklore, Morrison insisted that this was the root of the moonshine name. However, he also seems to understand the symbolic nature of the name and the stories that surround it. Morrison penned the song ‘Moonshine Whiskey’ as an ode to love and the “stability it offers” while using the liquor as a musical conduit for romanticism.
Considering its associations with rebellion and authoritative defiance, it makes sense as to why it’s become so closely linked with the inexplicable nature of love and connection. Much like romance, moonshine seems elusive and difficult to define. However, it also harks back to a simpler way of life, where all of life’s questions can be answered in the secrecy of the moon’s company. Ultimately, it’s a vast form of expression, a blank canvas which promises freedom and exploration, which is ultimately music’s biggest opiate.
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