They definitely listened to it. Where I diverge from most of you is that I've always thought they were singing *in contempt of* it.
Gaz is right - of this there can be no doubt.
Although by the time this song became a hit, their criticism of rock was off target. Rock 'n' roll had changed (thanks to Dylan) and was becoming politically relevant, and the demarcation between Folk & Rock musically was blurring (thanks again to Dylan, his proteges the Byrds, and even the Mamas & Papas, which they even tacitly admit in the lyrics). I think this song was the final salvo in the Folk vs. Rock argument, and Rock won without having to fire back.
Indeed. Brilliantly stated, in fact.
First off, saying "of this there can be no doubt" is a big red flag to me. Of course there's doubt. I think the song was a tongue-in-cheek satire on rock fans, not rock itself. That's a pretty big difference of opinion. All in all, it's pretty playful, and 'contempt' is the last thing I hear. They were probably even poking a little fun at themselves, as soon-to-be-extinct folk dinosaurs.
But, to quote T. S. Eliot:
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
