Symbolism of locks and keys in blues

Question

Thomas Foster's book How to Read Literature Like a Professor spends a lot of time discussing various types of symbolism. Chapter 16 is titled "It's All About Sex …" and gives examples of allusions to sex in films (The Maltese Falcon and Hitchcock's North by Northwest) and literature (Ann Beattie, D. H. Lawrence, even Charles Dickens).

The chapter contains the following passage (emphasis mine):

Consider, for instance, that Hank Williams/George Thorogood classic, "Move It on Over", and the complaint about his lady changing locks and leaving him with a key that no longer fits. Every American should know enough of the blues to understand exactly what keys and locks signify, and to blush when they're referred to.

I am neither American nor a blues fan but know enough about Freud to make an educated guess. At least, that's what I thought until I looked for discussions of the meaning of blues songs that involve keys and locks.

The Meaning Behind The Song: Lock and Key (Columbia 14232-D) by Bessie Smith: the lines "When I get home I’m gonna change my lock and key / When you get home you’ll find an awful change in me!" supposedly mean that, "[the narrator] sings of changing the lock and key, symbolizing her desire to protect herself and reclaim her independence. The lyrics imply that the narrator has found someone else, potentially on the “Pullman line,” indicating a possible romantic escape from the current relationship."

The Meaning Behind The Song: Lock And Key Blues by Ramblin’ Thomas: in this song, the narrator "navigates through life’s challenges with resilience, using the lock his mother gave him and the key his father provided to keep the blues at bay."

The Meaning Behind The Song: Move It on Over by Hank Williams: this song "captures the universal experience of making mistakes in relationships, facing the consequences, and seeking redemption".

I'm confused. None of this would make me blush. Does this mean that the above interpretations are simply naive and that Foster and I have read too much Freud? Or are the above examples not the sort of blues songs that Foster has in mind?

Answer 1

"Move over cold dog 'cause a hot dog's movin' in" is pretty explicit for the time. Long objects entering things are often used as a double entendre: "a word or phrase that is open to two interpretations, one of which is usually risqué or indecent." - Oxford Languages

In this case the cold dog could be either his wife who's mad at him for cheating again, or another lonely person offering a bed.

"I said, my mama give me a lock and my papa give me the key And I sure know how to lock the blues off a'me" is even more taboo, directly referring to locking. (Coincidentally also a thing dogs do.)

"I'll shoot them all if I hear you call!" straight up threatens violence against the cheating husband's loved ones. In this song the lock and key probably refer more to the home than the body.