This song is a lament for lost potential, "what could have been" -- especially the lost potential of the young generation who came of age during the Kennedy "Camelot" era to "change the world". Jfk and Jackie O are the king and queen spoken of in the third verse. For many who were young at that time, Kennedy represented hope for a nonviolent transition to a more just America, where everyone got their rightful "piece of the pie." With his death, many of these Kennedy-worshippers turned to their progressive rock idols for leadership, especially Dylan ('the jester"). Unfortunately, Dylan eschewed the role, and the mainstream of popular music (the Byrds, Beatles, and Stones) was overtaken by drug-induced hedonism and violence (the events of the summer of '69, Manson and Altamont are referenced in the fourth verse). This (sixties) generation has squandered itself in hedonistic excess, and has no more redemptive potential left. When it goes to the water, it finds it to be dry and the gloating symbols of the ancient regime -- the racist "good ol' boys" celebrating with a drink -- telling it is dead.