It has been said that the album's title was inspired by a photograph in Bob Dylan's album "Blonde on Blonde", where Dylan is holding a small picture of a person and a pair of pliers. It has also been said that the "dwarf" represents a burning "roach" (the final portion of a marijuana cigarette), to "crush" refers to stubbing out the "roach", and "the pliers" refers to a "roach-clip", a device for protecting the fingers while burning a "roach". Some marijuana smokers from that era, pre-vapes, agree.