The awesome Bob Dylan lyrics thread

CAVSTARR313 · April 2013

Greatest lyricist maybe ever..

"For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something they invest in"

Leezestarr313 · April 2013

Everybody must get Stone-d!

Empty Glass · April 2013

But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
Tangled up in blue

Empty Glass · April 2013

Now I’ve always been the kind of person that doesn’t like to trespass
but sometimes you just find yourself over the line

- Brownsville Girl

CAVSTARR313 · April 2013

Well, I asked the doctor if I could see you
It’s bad for your health, he said
Yes, I disobeyed his orders
I came to see you
But I found him there instead
You know, I don’t mind him cheatin’ on me
But I sure wish he’d take that off his head
Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat

helplessdancer · April 2013

great thread. so many choices

forever young has to be #1
last waltz version. please
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoQYKnAz40o

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung

CAVSTARR313 · April 2013

Muttering small talk at the wall
while I'm in the hall..

Leezestarr313 · April 2013

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their marks
Made everything from toy guns that sparks
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

I think that whole song is quite nicely summing up a lot of the stuff that I am observing and experiencing here as someone who is new to the US. I never was that much into Bob Dylan, but the man's a poet whose qualities remind me at times of GDR-times poets. I'm havoing a hard time understanding everything, sometimes it's al too fast. I would love a book with the lyrics. I've never found myself thinking as much about society and politics since I came to the United States. Well, and Bob Dylan fits right in. I guess I'm starting in the 60's with my idols

justam · April 2013

I love the way this part flows out in the song, it sounds so much like natural speech and yet it fits perfectly.

Well Mack the finger said to Louie the King,
"I got forty red white and blue shoe strings
And a thousand telephones that don't ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things?"
And Louie the King said, "Let me think for a minute son..."
And he said, "Yes I think it can be easily done,
Just take everything down to Highway 61."

CAVSTARR313 · April 2013

with her fog, her amphetamine, and her pearls...

justam · April 2013

I love it when the first lines of songs are as good as these.

Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet ?
We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handful of rain, tempting you to defy it
Lights flicker from the opposite loft
In this room the heat pipes just cough
The country music station plays soft
But there's nothing really nothing to turn off

Tom K · April 2013

He not busy being born is busy dying... These are probably the lyrics that speak the most about Dylan and his career.

I also like... Brownsville Girl for its little gems.
- I've always been the kind of person that doesn't like to trespass but sometimes you just find yourself over the line.

-The only thing we knew about Henry Porter is that his name wasn't Henry Porter.

- People don't do what they believe in. They do what is convenient then repent.

My Back Pages has some amazing lines too. Dylan really is the great American poet.

morello · April 2013

I've never listened or looked into Dylan at all. I'm aware he's known as a great poet/lyricist. Cool reading these snippets. I might just have to check him out some more. Any pointers on where to start? Songs to start with(other than the obvious 'Blowin' in the Wind' etc).

Tom K · April 2013

morello wrote:

I've never listened or looked into Dylan at all. I'm aware he's known as a great poet/lyricist. Cool reading these snippets. I might just have to check him out some more. Any pointers on where to start? Songs to start with(other than the obvious 'Blowin' in the Wind' etc).

Thats the million dollar question... I would say work through his entire discography starting at the beginning. It is such a large body of work and he is so prolific it is a difficult thing to really absorb. If you are looking for an album suggestion. I think Blood on the Tracks is his masterpiece. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is a great piece of early work and Blonde on Blonde is another great album. Some great individual tracks are: Brownsville Girl, Jokerman, Idiot Wind, Motorpsycho Nitemare ( a fun little ditty), and from his most recent album Tempest, a track called Tin Angel. There is just so much work out there. If you are looking for live stuff, look in the mid 70s for what I think is his best live work, particularly Rolling Thunder Revue or Hard Rain 76. I hope this helps...

rick1zoo2 · April 2013

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you

Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you

Empty Glass · April 2013

How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

Empty Glass · April 2013

Always on the outside of whatever side there was
When they asked him why it had to be that way,
“Well,” he answered, “just because”

helplessdancer · April 2013

empty glass....please put the song name so i don't have to go looking and that way i don't go crazy trying to piece it together!!

i was reading an article the other day and the interviewer was asking a songwriter( bruce cockburn ) what a song meant and the songwriter would not answer the question because he was adamant that it was up to the listener to develop their own meanings because that way the song would mean more to them. i have always had my own interpretations of songs way before i ever found out what the actual meaning was. i just never really need to know what a song is really about. once it is written it becomes mine!

it's one of the things i love about music and lyrics that leave interpretations as open. btw...i've always thought ed/pj do a pretty good job of this. it's not a deal breaker for me but it does fascinate me.

anyways...there's a ton of dylan songs that i have no idea what he is really trying to say, but i love the songs anyway. dylan is a true genius in the way he could twist words to create thoughts/feelings

stuck inside mobile is one of those songs

Mona tried to tell me
To stay away from the train line
She said that all the railroad men
Just drink up your blood like wine
And I said "Oh I didn't know that
But then again there's only one I've met
And he just smoked my eyelids
And punched my cigarette"

Empty Glass · April 2013

Empty Glass wrote:

Always on the outside of whatever side there was
When they asked him why it had to be that way,
“Well,” he answered, “just because”

Edit: - Joey

Empty Glass · April 2013

oops, hit quote instead of edit ^^^^

anyway, helpless. Funny you mention that song. This thread has me jamming some Dylan and I lunch I heard, Stuck inside of Mobile with The Memphis blues again. And I thought, "I'm pretty sure I've felt that way before". So my next great lyric is just:

Stuck inside of Mobile, with the Memphis blues again

Wobbie · April 2013

Johnny's in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It's somethin' you did
God knows when
But you're doin' it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
In the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D. A.
Look out kid
Don't matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don't try "No Doz"
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows

Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin' to sell
Try hard, get barred
Get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail
Look out kid
You're gonna get hit
But users, cheaters
Six-time losers
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Lookin' for a new fool
Don't follow leaders
Watch the parkin' meters

Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin'
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don't wanna be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles

The awesome Bob Dylan lyrics thread

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The awesome Bob Dylan lyrics thread