Bob Dylan

[kdubfan]

Bob's songs are timeless and mean so much to so many. I thought this would be a nice post to maybe learn something about an old favorite song or to open yourself to a Dylan song you don't know.

My first choice to post is a song from the 1997 album Time Out Of Mind. The songs are a bit dark with nice classic blues feel. Bob is such an amazing master of words and music.

Standing In The Doorway

I'm a-walkin' through the summer nights

The jukebox playing low

Yesterday everything was goin' too fast

Today it's moving too slow.

I got no place left to turn

I got nothing left to burn

Don't know if I saw you

If I would kiss you or kill you

It probably wouldn't matter to you anyhow

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

I got nothing to go back to now.

The light in this place is so bad

Makin' me sick in the head

All the laughter is just makin' me sad

The stars have turned cherry red.

I'm strummin' on my gay guitar

Smokin' a cheap cigar

The ghost of our old love has not gone away

Don't look it like it will any time soon

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

Under the midnight moon.

Maybe they'll get me, and maybe they won't

But not tonight and it won't be here

There are things I could say but I don't

I know the mercy of God must be near.

I've been ridin' the midnight train

Got ice water in my vein.

I would be crazy if I took you back

It would go up against every rule

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

Sufferin' like a fool.

When the last rays of daylight go down

Buddy you're older or more

I can hear the church bells ringin' in the yard

I wonder who they're ringin' for?

I know I can't win

But my heart just won't give in.

Last night I danced with a stranger

But she just reminded me you were the one.

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

In the dark land of the sun.

I'll eat when I'm hungry

Drink when I'm dry

And live my life on the square

And even if the flesh falls off of my face

I know someone will be there to care.

It always meaned so much, even the softest touch.

I see nothin' to be gained by any explanation

There's no words that need to be said

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

Blues wrapped around my head.

[found]

Time out of mind is maaaaaaybe my favorite Dylan album. The last track, Highlands, is friggin amazing. His lyrics really come alive on this album and I think a big thanks should be given to his band, which rocks!

Thanks for posting this song, its really great and under-rated.

[Fritz]

Bob's songs are timeless and mean so much to so many. I thought this would be a nice post to maybe learn something about an old favorite song or to open yourself to a Dylan song you don't know.

My first choice to post is a song from the 1997 album Time Out Of Mind. The songs are a bit dark with nice classic blues feel. Bob is such an amazing master of words and music.

Standing In The Doorway

I'm a-walkin' through the summer nights

The jukebox playing low

Yesterday everything was goin' too fast

Today it's moving too slow.

I got no place left to turn

I got nothing left to burn

Don't know if I saw you

If I would kiss you or kill you

It probably wouldn't matter to you anyhow

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

I got nothing to go back to now.

The light in this place is so bad

Makin' me sick in the head

All the laughter is just makin' me sad

The stars have turned cherry red.

I'm strummin' on my gay guitar

Smokin' a cheap cigar

The ghost of our old love has not gone away

Don't look it like it will any time soon

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

Under the midnight moon.

Maybe they'll get me, and maybe they won't

But not tonight and it won't be here

There are things I could say but I don't

I know the mercy of God must be near.

I've been ridin' the midnight train

Got ice water in my vein.

I would be crazy if I took you back

It would go up against every rule

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

Sufferin' like a fool.

When the last rays of daylight go down

Buddy you're older or more

I can hear the church bells ringin' in the yard

I wonder who they're ringin' for?

I know I can't win

But my heart just won't give in.

Last night I danced with a stranger

But she just reminded me you were the one.

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

In the dark land of the sun.

I'll eat when I'm hungry

Drink when I'm dry

And live my life on the square

And even if the flesh falls off of my face

I know someone will be there to care.

It always meaned so much, even the softest touch.

I see nothin' to be gained by any explanation

There's no words that need to be said

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'

Blues wrapped around my head.

WOW.....this could be the longest running thread in history haha.......Dylans got more tunes than history has days.

[chuckvegas]

WOW.....this could be the longest running thread in history haha.......Dylans got more tunes than history has days.

Seriously. And we have one or two other talented lyricists here...this has a lot of potential.

[Fritz]

Day #2

Seven Curses

Old Reilly stole a stallion

But they caught him and they brought him back

And they laid him down on the jailhouse ground

With an iron chain around his neck

Old Reilly

[kdubfan]

This is another darker but good song. It was an outtake from the 1965 album the times they are a changin. I don't think this song showed up on anything until 1991 when it was put out the Bootleg series 1-3. This is a very good 3 disc set to pick up full of music, 60 songs all together.

Nice rare pick Fritz.

[Fritz]

This is another darker but good song. It was an outtake from the 1965 album the times they are a changin. I don't think this song showed up on anything until 1991 when it was put out the Bootleg series 1-3. This is a very good 3 disc set to pick up full of music, 60 songs all together.

Nice rare pick Fritz.

Dark.....you think???? lol

One of my favorite Dylan tunes....well at least top 50....haha. Totally agree Kdub, Bootleg series 1-3 folks....if you don't have it, run don't walk to the local shop and pick up a copy.

[Dstone5553]

Bootleg series 1-3 folks....if you don't have it, run don't walk to the local shop and pick up a copy.

I don't think there are many in this country who like music and doesn't own it... and very much doubt there are any on this website!

[kdubfan]

Gates of Eden

This song has always blown my mind. It is so very deep and can be looked at from many sides. Gates of Eden was on the 1965 Bringing it All Back Home, which is a outright masterful album.

Of war and peace the truth just twists

Its curfew gull just glides

Upon four-legged forest clouds

The cowboy angel rides

With his candle lit into the sun

Though its glow is waxed in black

All except when 'neath the trees of Eden

The lamppost stands with folded arms

Its iron claws attached

To curbs 'neath holes where babies wail

Though it shadows metal badge

All and all can only fall

With a crashing but meaningless blow

No sound ever comes from the Gates of Eden

The savage soldier sticks his head in sand

And then complains

Unto the shoeless hunter who's gone deaf

But still remains

Upon the beach where hound dogs bay

At ships with tattooed sails

Heading for the Gates of Eden

With a time-rusted compass blade

Aladdin and his lamp

Sits with Utopian hermit monks

Side saddle on the Golden Calf

And on their promises of paradise

You will not hear a laugh

All except inside the Gates of Eden

Relationships of ownership

They whisper in the wings

To those condemned to act accordingly

And wait for succeeding kings

And I try to harmonize with songs

The lonesome sparrow sings

There are no kings inside the Gates of Eden

The motorcycle black madonna

Two-wheeled gypsy queen

And her silver-studded phantom cause

The gray flannel dwarf to scream

As he weeps to wicked birds of prey

Who pick up on his bread crumb sins

And there are no sins inside the Gates of Eden

The kingdoms of Experience

In the precious wind they rot

While paupers change possessions

Each one wishing for what the other has got

And the princess and the prince

Discuss what's real and what is not

It doesn't matter inside the Gates of Eden

The foreign sun, it squints upon

A bed that is never mine

As friends and other strangers

From their fates try to resign

Leaving men wholly, totally free

To do anything they wish to do but die

And there are no trials inside the Gates of Eden

At dawn my lover comes to me

And tells me of her dreams

With no attempts to shovel the glimpse

Into the ditch of what each one means

At times I think there are no words

But these to tell what's true

And there are no truths outside the Gates of Eden

[Fritz]

I don't think there are many in this country who like music and doesn't own it... and very much doubt there are any on this website!

Agreed

[Fritz]

Not so much a song as spoken word.................unless you happen to be named Zion

Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie

Bob Dylan

"Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie."

When your head gets twisted and your mind grows numb

When you think you're too old, too young, too smart or too dumb

When you're laggin' behind an' losin' your pace

In the slow-motion crawl or life's busy race

No matter whatcha doin' if you start givin' up

If the wine don't come to the top of your cup

If the wind got you sideways it's one hand holdin' on

And the other starts slippin' and the feelin' is gone

And your train engine fire needs a new spark to catch it

And the wood's easy findin' but you're lazy to fetch it

And your sidewalk starts curlin' and the street gets too long

And you start walkin' backwards though you know that it's wrong

And lonesome comes up as down goes the day

And tomorrow's mornin' seems so far away

And you feel the reins from your pony are slippin'

And your rope is a-slidin' 'cause your hands are a-drippin'

And your sun-decked desert and evergreen valleys

Turn to broken down slums and trash-can alleys

And your sky cries water and your drain pipe's a-pourin'

And the lightnin's a-flashin' and the thunder's a-crashin'

The windows are rattlin' and breakin' and the roof tops are shakin'

And your whole world's a-slammin' and bangin'

And your minutes of sun turn to hours of storm

An' to yourself you sometimes say

"I never knew it was gonna be this way

Why didn't they tell me the day I was born?" And you start gettin' chills and you're jumpin' from sweat

And you're lookin' for somethin' you ain't quite found yet

And you're knee-deep in dark water with your hands in the air

And the whole world's watchin' with a window peek stare

And your good gal leaves and she's long gone a-flyin'

And your heart feels sick like fish when they're fryin'

And your jackhammer falls from your hands to your feet

But you need it badly an' it lays on the street

And your bell's bangin' loudly but you can't hear its beat

And you think your ears mighta been hurt

Your eyes've turned filthy from the sight-blindin' dirt

And you figured you failed in yesterday's rush

When you were faked out an' fooled while facin' a four flush

And all the time you were holdin' three queens

It's makin you mad, it's makin' you mean

Like in the middle of Life magazine

Bouncin' around a pinball machine

And there's something on your mind that you wanna be sayin'

That somebody someplace oughta be hearin'

But it's trapped on your tongue, sealed in your head

And it bothers you badly when your layin' in bed

And no matter how you try you just can't say it

And you're scared to your soul you just might forget it

And your eyes get swimmy from the tears in your head

An' your pillows of feathers turn to blankets of lead

And the lion's mouth opens and you're starin' at his teeth

And his jaws start closin' with you underneath

And you're flat on your belly with your hands tied behind

And you wish you'd never taken that last detour sign

You say to yourself just what am I doin'

On this road I'm walkin', on this trail I'm turnin'

On this curve I'm hangin'

On this pathway I'm strollin', this space I'm taking

And this air I'm inhaling?

Am I mixed up too much, am I mixed up too hard

Why am I walking, where am I running

What am I saying, what am I knowing

On this guitar I'm playing, on this banjo I'm frailing

On this mandolin I'm strumming, in the song I'm singing,

In the tune I'm humming, in the words that I'm thinking

In the words I'm writing

In this ocean of hours I'm all the time drinking

Who am I helping, what am I breaking

What am I giving, what am I taking?

But you try with your whole soul best

Never to think these thoughts and never to let

Them kind of thoughts gain ground

Or make your heart pound

But then again you know when they're around

Just waiting for a chance to slip and drop down

'Cause sometimes you hear 'em when the night time come creeping

And you fear they might catch you sleeping

And you jump from your bed, from the last chapter of dreamin'

And you can't remember for the best of your thinkin'

If that was you in the dream that was screaming

And you know that's somethin' special you're needin'

And you know there's no drug that'll do for the healing

And no liquor in the land to stop your brain from bleeding You need somethin' special

You need somethin' special, all right

You need a fast flyin' train on a tornado track

To shoot you someplace and shoot you back

You need a cyclone wind on a stream engine howler

That's been banging and booming and blowing forever

That knows your troubles a hundred times over

You need a Greyhound bus that don't bar no race

That won't laugh at your looks

Your voice or your face

And by any number of bets in the book

Will be rolling long after the bubblegum craze

You need something to open up a new door

To show you something you seen before

But overlooked a hundred times or more

You need something to open your eyes

You need something to make it known

That it's you and no one else that owns

That spot that you're standing, that space that you're sitting

That the world ain't got you beat

That it ain't got you licked

It can't get you crazy no matter how many times you might get kicked

You need something special, all right

You need something special to give you hope

But hope's just a word

That maybe you said, maybe you heard

On some windy corner 'round a wide-angled curve But that's what you need man, and you need it bad

And your trouble is you know it too good

'Cause you look an' you start gettin' the chills

'Cause you can't find it on a dollar bill

And it ain't on Macy's window sill

And it ain't on no rich kid's road map

And it ain't in no fat kid's fraternity house

And it ain't made in no Hollywood wheat germ

And it ain't on that dim-lit stage

With that half-wit comedian on it

Rantin' and ravin' and takin' your money

And you thinks it's funny

No, you can't find it neither in no night club, no yacht club

And it ain't in the seats of a supper club

And sure as hell you're bound to tell

No matter how hard you rub

You just ain't a-gonna find it on your ticket stub

No, it ain't in the rumors people're tellin' you

And it ain't in the pimple-lotion people are sellin' you

And it ain't in a cardboard-box house

Or down any movie star's blouse

And you can't find it on the golf course

And Uncle Remus can't tell you and neither can Santa Claus

And it ain't in the cream puff hairdo or cotton candy clothes

Ain't in the dime store dummies an' bubblegum goons

And it ain't in the marshmallow noises of the chocolate cake voices

That come knocking and tapping in Christmas wrapping

Sayin' ain't I pretty and ain't I cute, look at my skin,

Look at my skin shine, look at my skin glow,

Look at my skin laugh, look at my skin cry,

When you can't even sense if they got any insides

These people so pretty in their ribbons and bows

No, you'll not now or no other day

Find it on the doorsteps made of paper mach

[kdubfan]

It's nice to read that every now and again. Amazing stuff

[kdubfan]

My Back Pages was on the 1964 album Another Side Of Bob Dylan. Several bands have covered this song with the most popular version from the Byrds.

Crimson flames tied through my ears

Rollin' high and mighty traps

Pounced with fire on flaming roads

Using ideas as my maps

"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I

Proud 'neath heated brow

Ah, but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now.

Half-cracked prejudice leaped forth

"Rip down all hate," I screamed

Lies that life is black and white

Spoke from my skull, I dreamed

Romantic facts of musketeers

Foundationed deep, somehow

Ah, but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now.

Girls' faces formed the forward path

From phony jealousy

To memorizing politics

Of ancient history

Flung down by corpse evangelists

Unthought of, thought, somehow

Ah, but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now.

A self-ordained professor's tongue

Too serious to fool

Spouted out that liberty

Is just equality in school

"Equality," I spoke the word

As if a wedding vow

Ah, but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand

At the mongrel dogs who teach

Fearing not that I'd become my enemy

In the instant that I preach

My existence led by confusion boats

Mutiny from stern to bow

Ah, but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats

Too noble to neglect

Deceived me into thinking

I had something to protect

Good and bad, I define these terms

Quite clear, no doubt, somehow

Ah, but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now.

[chuckvegas]

One of the best.

[Fritz]

Kdub.......I'm loving this thread. As i said earlier, this may last awhile....haha. Great pick

[kdubfan]

Kdub.......I'm loving this thread. As i said earlier, this may last awhile....haha. Great pick

thanks bro.

[comesatime]

This happens to be one of a very few of my favorite songs written AND performed by Bob Dylan ... I love all the song writings of Bob Dylan but prefer to hear his words sung by mostly by other vocalist ... this is one of his songs that I enjoy his vocals and music arrangement also .

"Jokerman"

Standing on the water, casting your bread

While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing

Distant ships sailing into the mist

You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing

Freedom just around the corner for you

But with truth so far off, what good will it do.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

So swiftly the sun sets in the sky

You rise up and say goodbye to no one

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don't show one

Shedding off one more layer of skin

Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

You're a man of the mountain, you can walk on the clouds

Manipulator of crowds, you're a dream twister

You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah

But what do you care ? Ain't nobody there would want marry your sister

Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame

You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy

The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers

In the smoke of the twilight on a milk-white steed

Michelangeo indeed could've carved out your features

Resting in the fields, far from the turbulent space

Half asleep near the stars with a small dog licking your face.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

Well, the rifleman's stalking the sick and the lame

Preacherman seeks the same, who'll get there first is uncertain

Nightsticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks

Molotow cocktails and rocks behind every curtain

False-hearted judges dying in the webs that they spin

Only a matter of time 'til the night comes stepping in.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

It's a shadowy world, skies are slippery gray

A woman just gave birth to a prince today and dressed him in scarlet

He'll put the priest in his pocket, put the blade to the heat

Take the motherless children off the street

And place them at the feet of a harlot

Oh, Jokerman, you know what he wants

Oh, Jokerman, you don't show any response.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

[kdubfan]

Don't Think Twice Its Alright

This song was first on the 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

This song touches me deeply. I had a very close friend take his own life almost 5 years ago and I can't help but to think of him everytime I listen to or play this song. It was always one of his favs and we use to play this together a lot. I have found myself thinking about him a bunch over the last couple months.

Ryan I love and miss you brother. I hope you have found some peace (~);} {;(~)

It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe

If

[Fritz]

"Love Minus Zero/No Limit" was written as a tribute to Dylan's future wife Sara Lowndes.The lyrics reflect her Zen-like detachment through a series of opposites, for example, that she "speaks like silence" and is both "like ice" and "like fire". Another famous line from the song also captures this dichotomy: "She knows there's no success like failure, And that failure's no success at all."

The first verse of the song has the singer infatuated with the woman, admiring her inner strength. In the three remaining verses reflect the inauthentic chaos that the singer has to deal with in the outside world, from which the lover's Zen-like calm provides needed refuge. The final image is of the lover being like some raven at the singer's window with a broken wing. This image recalls Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", but is also a symbol of the lover's vulnerability in spite of her strength.The broken wing has also been interpreted as a reference to the woman's need for shelter, or else to a flaw in her.The song's lyrics have been compared to William Blake's poem, "The Sick Rose".

The lover in this song, as well as that in "She Belongs to Me", has also been interpreted as Dylan's muse. In each song, the inaccessibility of the lover/muse can be interpreted as Dylan's acknowledgment of his own limitations

[kdubfan]

Bob Dylan - Fourth Time Around Lyrics

When she said,

"Don't waste your words, they're just lies,"

I cried she was deaf.

And she worked on my face until breaking my eyes,

Then said, "What else you got left?"

It was then that I got up to leave

But she said, "Don't forget,

Everybody must give something back

For something they get."

I stood there and hummed,

I tapped on her drum and asked her how come.

And she buttoned her boot,

And straightened her suit,

Then she said, "Don't get cute."

So I forced my hands in my pockets

And felt with my thumbs,

And gallantly handed her

My very last piece of gum.

She threw me outside,

I stood in the dirt where ev'ryone walked.

And after finding I'd

Forgotten my shirt,

I went back and knocked.

I waited in the hallway, she went to get it,

And I tried to make sense

Out of that picture of you in your wheelchair

That leaned up against . . .

Her Jamaican rum

And when she did come, I asked her for some.

She said, "No, dear."

I said, "Your words aren't clear,

You'd better spit out your gum."

She screamed till her face got so red,

Then she fell on the floor,

And I covered her up and then

Thought I'd go look through her drawer.

And when I was through,

I filled up my shoe, and brought it to you.

And you, you took me in,

You loved me then,

You never wasted time.

And I, I never took much,

I never asked for your crutch,

Now don't ask for mine.

[Fritz]

NICE......haven't heard that song in years!!!

[kdubfan]

She Belongs To Me

She's got everything she needs

She's an artist, she don't look back

She's got everything she needs

She's an artist, she don't look back

She can take the dark out of the night time

And paint the daytime black

You will start out standing

Proud to steal her anything she sees

You will start out standing

Proud to steal her anything she sees

But you'll wind up peeking through her keyhole

Down upon your knees

She never stumbles

She got no place to fall

She never stumbles

She got no place to fall

She's nobody's child

The law can't touch her at all

She wears an Egyptian red ring

It sparkles before she speaks

She wears an Egyptian red ring

It sparkles before she speaks

She's a hypnotist collector

You are a walking antique

Bow down to her on Sunday

Salute her when her birthday comes

Bow down to her on Sunday

Salute her when her birthday comes

For Halloween, give her a trumpet

And for Christmas, buy her a drum

[chuckvegas]

Good call. This is another one of the best! There are a lot of those...

[Teacher Matt]

Lily, Rosemary, and The Jack of Hearts

[kdubfan]

To Ramona

Ramona, come closer

Shut softly your watery eyes

The pangs of your sadness

Will pass as your senses will rise

The flowers of the city

Though breathlike, get deathlike at times

And there's no use in tryin'

To deal with the dyin'

Though I cannot explain that in lines.

Your cracked country lips

I still wish to kiss

As to be by the strength of you 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 existv 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

With worthless foam from the mouth

I can tell you are torn

Between stayin' and returnin'

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 to 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 have

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 gotta be just 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.