A new manifestation of the “Surreal or Misheard Song Lyrics” riff I bring out from time to time. Last night I was listening to Bob Dylan‘s She Belongs To Me and decided that “the law can’t touch her at all” isn’t as good and certainly not as primal as “Ma can’t touch her at all.” You can define “Ma” as the proverbial family authority figure or some kind of tough, cigar-chomping butch boss in the tradition of Ma Barker or Maureen Dowd‘s “Ma Clinton.” I only know that “Ma” rules while “the law” mitigates. If representatives of “the law” can’t think of some way to mess with her mind and slow her down then so what? But if she stands up to Ma while wearing her sparkling Egyptian ring, that’s something else.

Therefore: “She never stumbles / She’s got no place to fall / She never stumbles / She’s got no place to fall / She’s nobody’s child / Ma can’t touch her at all.”