Bob Dylan is a big Jimmy Carter fan.

Warren Zevon was a big Bob Dylan fan.^[1]

In the alternative lyrics to “Mohammed’s Radio” as heard on the live album Stand in the Fire, Zevon seems to make a nod toward Dylan’s Carter fandom through an allusion that shows his own Dylan fandom.

Got all that?

Here’s how it works. In the original lyrics of “Mohammed’s Radio,” the second verse goes like this:

You know, the Sheriff’s got his problems too
He will surely take them out on you
In walks the village idiot and his face is all aglow
He’s been up all night listening to Mohammed’s Radio

In the live version, Zevon instead sings:^[2]

Ayatollah’s got his problems too
And even Jimmy Carter’s got the highway blues
I went and asked the Governor ’cause I thought that he would know
You see I knew he’d been up all night listening to Mohammed’s radio

The original version came out on the album Warren Zevon in 1976. Stand in the Fire was released at the end 1980, having been recorded in the late summer of that year. In between was Iran hostage crisis in 1979, and that’s what Zevon makes the second verse about.

But he refers to it through an allusion to Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna,” off of Blonde on Blonde. (Incidentally, over 20 years ago I had to fill out a questionnaire for my wife’s bridal shower. One of the questions was about my favorite song. I said “Visions of Johanna.” I’m not sure it that’s still the case all these years later. But it might be.) In the fourth verse, we hear:

Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while
But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues
You can tell by the way she smiles

Changing lyrics in performance is a quintessentially Dylan move. Verse 2 is the only verse that Zevon alters in the live version. Is it just a coincidence that it happens in a verse that seems to refer to a Dylan song? You tell me.