Are You Ready? Can You Take It? THE BOB DYLAN THREAD

"now, avery great man once said
that some people can rob you with a fountain pen.
It didn't take too long to find out
Just what he was talkin' about
A lot of people don't have much food on the table
but they got a lot of forks n' knives,
And they gotta cut sometin'."

Starry-eyed an' laughing as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
Spellbound an' swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

baby black's
been had
ain't bad
smokestacked
chicken shacked
dressed in black
silver monkey
on her back
mammy ma
juiced pa
janitored
between the law
brothers ten
rat faced
gravestoned
ditch dug
firescaped an substroked
choked
baby black
hits back
robs pawns
lives by trade
sits an waits on fire plug
digs the heat
eyes meet
picket line
across the street
head rings
of bed springs
freedom's holler
you ask of order
she'd hock
the world
for a dollar an a quarter
baby black
dressed in black
gunny sack
about t crack
been gone
carry on
i'm givin you myself t pawn

from "Some Other Kinds of Songs" - poems included with the record album of ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN

this could turn out to be a very, very long thread edgar,,,,

Can't be too long for this man, my friend.

Well, if i had to do it all over again,
Babe, i'd do all over you.
And if i had to wait for ten thousand years,
Babe, i'd even do that too.
Well, a dog's got his bone in the alley,
A cat, she's got nine lives,
A millionaire's got a million dollars,
King Saud's got a million wives.
Well, ev'rybopdy's got somthin'
That they're lookin' forward to.
I'm looking forward to when i can do all again,
And babe, I'll do it all over you.

Ramona, come closer,
Shut softly your watery eyes.
The pangs of your sadness
Shall pass as your senses will rise.
The flowers of the city
Though breathlike, get deathlike at times.
And there's no use in tryin'
T' deal with the dyin',
Though I cannot explain that in lines.

Your cracked country lips,
I still wish to kiss,
As to be under the strength of your skin.
Your magnetic movements
Still capture the minutes I'm in.
But it grieves my heart, love,
To see you tryin' to be a part of
A world that just don't exist.
It's all just a dream, babe,
A vacuum, a scheme, babe,
That sucks you into feelin' like this.

I can see that your head
Has been twisted and fed
By worthless foam from the mouth.
I can tell you are torn
Between stayin' and returnin'
On back to the South.
You've been fooled into thinking
That the finishin' end is at hand.
Yet there's no one to beat you,
No one t' defeat you,
'Cept the thoughts of yourself feeling bad.

I've heard you say many times
That you're better 'n no one
And no one is better 'n you.
If you really believe that,
You know you got
Nothing to win and nothing to lose.
From fixtures and forces and friends,
Your sorrow does stem,
That hype you and type you,
Making you feel
That you must be exactly like them.

I'd forever talk to you,
But soon my words,
They would turn into a meaningless ring.
For deep in my heart
I know there is no help I can bring.
Everything passes,
Everything changes,
Just do what you think you should do.
And someday maybe,
Who knows, baby,
I'll come and be cryin' to you.

I ain't lookin' to compete with you,
beat or cheat or mistreat you,
simplify you, classify you,
deny, defy,or crucify you,
all i really want to do
is, baby be friends with you.
no, and I ain't lookin' to fight with you,
frighten you or tighten you,
drag you down or drain you down
chain you down or bring you down,
all i really want to do
Is, baby be friends with you.
I ain't looking to block you up,
shock or knock or lock you up,
analyse youm cataorgize you,
finalize you or advertise you.
all i really want to do
Is, baby be friends with you.
I don't want to straigh-face you
race or chase, track or trace you,
Or disgrace you or displace you,
Or define you or confine you
all i really want to do
Is, baby be friends with you.
I don't want to meet your kin
make you spin or do you in
or select you or dissect you
or inspect you or reject you
all i really want to do
Is baby be friends with you.
I don't want to fake you out
Take or shake or forsake you out
I ain't lookin' for you to feel like me
see like me or be like me
all i really want to do
Is, baby be friends with you.

There must be some way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief
Business men they drink my wine
plowmen dig my earth
None of them along the line
Know what any of it is worth

No reason to get excited
The thief he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely
The hour is getting late

All along the watchtower
The princes kept the view
While womenfolk came and went
Their footservants too
Outside in the distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
The wind began to howl

I'LL BE YOUR BABY TONIGHT

Close your eyes
Close the door
You don't have to worry anymore
I'll be your baby tonight

Shut the light
Shu the shade
You don't have to be afraid
I'll be your baby tonight

Well that mockingbird's
Gonna sail away
We're gonna forget it
That big fat moon
Is gonna shine like a spoon
But we're gonna let it
You won't regret it
Kick your shoes off
Do not fear
Bring that bottle over here
I'll be your baby tonight

Fat man lookin' in a blade of steel
Thin man lookin' at his last meal
Hollow man lookin' in a cottonfield
For dignity

Wise man lookin' in a blade of grass
Young man lookin' in the shadows that pass
Poor man lookin' through painted glass
For dignity

Somebody got murdered on New Year's Eve
Somebody said dignity was the first to leave
I went into the city, went into the town
Went into the land of the midnight sun

Searchin' high, searchin' low
Searchin' everywhere I know
Askin' the cops wherever I go
Have you seen dignity?

Blind man breakin' out of a trance
Puts both his hands in the pockets of chance
Hopin' to find one circumstance
Of dignity

I went to the wedding of Mary-lou
She said "I don't want nobody see me talkin' to you"
Said she could get killed if she told me what she knew
About dignity

I went down where the vultures feed
I would've gone deeper, but there wasn't any need
Heard the tongues of angels and the tongues of men
Wasn't any difference to me

Chilly wind sharp as a razor blade
House on fire, debts unpaid
Gonna stand at the window, gonna ask the maid
Have you seen dignity?

Drinkin' man listens to the voice he hears
In a crowded room full of covered up mirrors
Lookin' into the lost forgotten years
For dignity

Met Prince Phillip at the home of the blues
Said he'd give me information if his name wasn't used
He wanted money up front, said he was abused
By dignity

Footprints runnin' cross the silver sand
Steps goin' down into tattoo land
I met the sons of darkness and the sons of light
In the bordertowns of despair

Got no place to fade, got no coat
I'm on the rollin' river in a jerkin' boat
Tryin' to read a note somebody wrote
About dignity

Sick man lookin' for the doctor's cure
Lookin' at his hands for the lines that were
And into every masterpiece of literature
for dignity

Englishman stranded in the blackheart wind
Combin' his hair back, his future looks thin
Bites the bullet and he looks within
For dignity

Someone showed me a picture and I just laughed
Dignity never been photographed
I went into the red, went into the black
Into the valley of dry bone dreams

So many roads, so much at stake
So many dead ends, I'm at the edge of the lake
Sometimes I wonder what it's gonna take
To find dignity

With God on Our Side (new release)


Oh my name it is nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.

Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I's made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side.

Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side.

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.

I've learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side.

In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.

So now as I'm leavin'
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin'
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.

Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now

Dear landlord
Please don't put a price on my soul
My burden is heavy
My dreams are beyond control
When that steamboat whistle blows
I'm gonna give you all I've got to give
And I do hope you recieve it well
Depending on the way you feel that you live

Dear landlord
Please heed these words that I speak
I know you've suffered much
But in this you are not so unique
All the rosy times we might try too hard
Too heavy too fast and too much
And anyone can fill his life up
With things he can feel but he just cannot touch

Dear landlord
Please don't dismiss my case
I'm not about to argue
I'm not about to move to no other place
Now each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you

NEVER SAY GOOD-BYE

Twilight on the frozen lake
The north wind about to break
On the footprints in the snow
The silence down below

You're beautiful beyond words
So beautiful to me
You could make me cry
Never say good-bye

Because my dreams are made of iron and steel
With a big bouquet of roses
Hanging down
From the heavens to the ground

A crashing wave rolls over me
As I stand here on the sand
And wait for you to come
Grab me by the hand

Oh baby baby blue
You've changed your last name too
Changed your hair to brown
Loved to see it hanging down

Joan Baez: "You have the eyes of Jesus; the tongue of a viper."

Well there ain't no reason
For me to working all the time
I got me a lady,
she works herself blind

She works up to her breeches
Up to her neck
Writes me letters
And sends me checks...

She's a humdinger,... a Folk's singer (Joan Baez)

Back in the early sixties, we would wait till the next album of his would be released, buy it bring, it home, with guitars sit down try to nail the album by heart.

My gosh, I just started listening to some old Dylan songs

Need to get a copy of "Planet Waves." This would be the first recording (1974) of Dylan with "The Band."

I have Planet Waves on the other label, made when he and Columbia were in dispute over something. Since my copy of it was pressed it has been moved to the Columbia label. Without checking, I think it was the Asylumn label.

Life is sad

Life is a bust

You do what you can

You do what you must

You do what you must do

And you do it well

I do it all for you

Baby, can't you tell?

well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
but nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
and the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn
"come in," she said
"i'll give you shelter from the storm."