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Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Top 10: Bob Dylan lyrics
Posted by Wade Tatangelo on Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 3:38 PM
I've been a Bob Dylan fan ever since the age of 12 or 13, when I discovered my dad's vinyl copies of Greatest Hits and Desire. His work has consistently fascinated me more than any other popular musician's. I took a poetry class at USF about eight years ago and my professor, the cowboy poet Willie Reader, who passed away shortly after the semester ended, allowed me to do a paper on Dylan's lyrics. It ran about 20 pages and I earned an "A+," a rare accomplishment for me in those days. The assignment prompted a friendship between Reader and I; one that led to many long talks and us attending a Willie Nelson concert together. The Dylan paper and, more importantly, the positive feedback I received from Reader, would also eventually lead me into a career of music criticism.
I took great pleasure in seeing Dylan recently collect a Pulitzer Prize:
A Special Citation to Bob Dylan for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.
In honor of Dylan's recent award from the literary world, here's a list I obsessed over longer than I care to admit.
Top 10: Bob Dylan lyrics
1. "Mr. Tambourine Man," Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
Killer lines: "I'm ready to go anywhere / I'm ready for to fade/ Into my own parade / Cast your dancing spell my way / I promise to go under it."
2. “Idiot Wind,†Blood on the Tracks (1975)
Killer lines: “You'll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise above / And I'll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kind of love / And it makes me feel so sorry.â€
3. “Every Grain of Sand,†Shot of Love (1981)
Killer lines: “I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame / And every time I pass that way I always hear my name.â€
4. “Desolation Row,†Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Killer lines: “To her, death is quite romantic / She wears an iron vest / Her profession's her religion / Her sin is her lifelessness / And though her eyes are fixed upon / Noah's great rainbow / She spends her time peeking / Into Desolation Row.â€
5. “Jokerman,†Infidels (1983)
Killer lines: “Shedding off one more layer of skin / Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within.â€
6. “Like a Rolling Stone,†Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Killer lines: “You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat / Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat / Ain't it hard when you discover that / He really wasn't where it's at / After he took from you everything he could steal.â€
7. “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding),†Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
Killer lines: “The hollow horn plays wasted words / Proves to warn / That he not busy being born / Is busy dying.â€
8. “Highlands,†Time out Of Mind (1997)
Killer lines: “The sun is beginning to shine on me / But it's not like the sun that used to be / The party's over, and there's less and less to say / I got new eyes / Everything looks far away."
9. “Blind Willie McTell,†Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (1991); an outtake from Infidels
Killer lines: “Well, God is in heaven / And we all want what's His / But power and greed and corruptible seed / Seem to be all that there is.â€
10. "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
Killer lines: "Heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin' / Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin.'"
WHAT DID I MISS?
Comments (94)
Showing 1-50 of 94
These lines from "Standing in the Doorway" made an impression on me when I heard them back in 1997. It gains the listener to hear them in the context of the song, but even set apart, they succinctly capture the feeling of alienation amidst other people's happiness. The light in this place is so bad Making me sick in the head All the laughter is just making me sad The stars have turned cherry red
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Another one of my favorite songs from Dylan's classic 1997 album "Time Out of Mind," "Standing in the Doorway" includes some of his most touching lyrics. In addition to the ones you printed, I'm partial to the lines: "Last night I danced with a stranger / But she just reminded me you were the one."
This from "Visions of Johanna": "Inside the museum Infinity goes up on trial Voices echo 'This is what Salvation must be like after a while' But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues You can tell by the way she smiles" The genius of those lines can be condensed into two words: "Voices echo." With those words, Dylan evokes the conformity of the museum-goers, echoing each other, and the emptiness of the museum halls through which the voices echo. Then he grabs you by the neck and reminds you that there is honest expression in those museums and you understand in a flash of humor that comparing Mona Lisa to a blues is one hell of a compliment to Leonardo Da Vinci.
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 Gates of Eden
I'm really impressed with this list, just replace Jokerman with Visions of Joanna and I think it would be the same as my list
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand Every grain of sand
I'm gonna grow my hair down to my feet so strange So I look like a walking mountain range Then I'm gonna ride into Omaha on a horse Out to the country club & the golf course Carrying a New York Times Shoot a few holes, blow their minds -I Shall Be Free No. 10
Well, he catch you when you're hoping for a glimpse of the sun, Catch you when your troubles feel like they weigh a ton. He could be standing next to you, The person that you'd notice least. I hear that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.
Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
"I´ve seen thousands could have overcome the darkness, for the love of a lousy buck I´ve watched them die" When the night comes falling from the sky. Even better:- "Freedom, just around the corner for you, but with truth so far off, what good would it do?" Jokerman amongst many many other. The lines "...danced with a stranger" cited twice above are also heart stopping.
Foot Of Pride is one of my favorites. It's hard to pick a single line from it but I always love hearing him yell "say one more stupid thing to me before the final nail is driven in"
When telling people about my Bob fandom, I usually say "How can you not like someone who can use the word 'previous' in a rock song? From "Changing of the Guards": The palace of mirrors Where dog soldiers are reflected, The endless road and the wailing of chimes, The empty rooms where her memory is protected, Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times.
"My clothes are wet, tight on my skin Not as tight as the corner that I painted myself in" Mississippi "I'm ten miles outside the city an' i'm lifted away In an ancient light that is not of day They were calm, they were blunt, we knew 'em all too well We loved each other more than we ever dared to tell. " Cross the Green Mountain
You always said people don't do what they believe in, they just do what's most convenient, then they repent.
Hard to choose - so a single line from Brownsville Girl: "Oh if there's an original thought out there, I could use it right now...."
'Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet?' Visions of Johanna! Impossible list though.
Great calls all around. "Visions of Johanna" was the toughest one to leave off. It'd probably make the Top 10 if I did the same list again tomorrow. "Houndcat" nailed it in regards to the song's best lines.
In context of the song this line from "If You See Her, Say Hello" is beautiful - She might think that I've forgotten her, don't tell her it isn't so
Genghis Khan he could not keep All his kings supplied with sleep We'll climb that hill no matter how steep When we come up to it.
I fought with my twin, that enemy within. till' both of us fell by the way. Where are you tonight (Street Legal)
They say I shot a man named Gray and took his wife to Italy, She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me. I can't help it if I'm lucky. You're an idiot, babe. It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe. -Idiot Wind
Most sad, poignant, touching, loving lines: Oh, how can, how can you ask me again, It only brings me sorrow. The same thing I want from you today, I would want again tomorrow.
Best multiple rhyme: And Madonna, she still has not showed We see this empty cage now corrode Where her cape of the stage once had flowed The fiddler, he now steps to the road He writes ev'rything's been returned which was owed On the back of the fish truck that loads While my conscience explodes The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain Copyright © 1966; renewed 1994 Dwarf Music
Funniest finishing lines: I'll say, "It's easily done, You just pick anyone, An' pretend that you never have met!"
She knows there's no success like failure And that failure's no success at all. and You've thrown the worst fear That can ever be hurled Fear to bring children Into the world For threatening my baby Unborn and unnamed You ain't worth the blood That runs in your veins
And, My Top 10 Dylan Songs (although, there would be over 500 top ones): 1. Don't Think Twice 2. Visions of Johanna 3. It's Alright Ma 4. Boots of Spanish Leather 5. Like A Rolling Stone 6. Tambourine Man 7. Shelter From The Storm 8. Simple Twist Of Fate 9. Tangled Up In Blue 10. Lay Down Your Weary Tune
Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands seems to be underrepresented... Now you stand with your thief You're on his parole With your holy medallion And your fingertips now that fold And with your saintlike face And your ghostlike soul Oh who among them could ever think he could destroy you
Also, this self-referential bit from "Mr. Tambourine Man" is for me one of the most consistently moving passages in pop music: And if you hear vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme, Do your tambourine in time. It's just a ragged clown behind, I wouldn't pay it any mind, It's just a shadow you're seeing that he's chasing. -- Sometimes I wonder if one reason that Bob Dylan is one of the most critically lauded people in music is that music critics are most often writers, and I wonder if the lyricism of an artist isn't generally weighted more than other aspects of their music for this reason.
"...Electricity howls in the bones of her face... or Jewels and binoculars hang from the head of a mule... both from Visions of Johanna
one more but only because of the way it is sung/performed on the album....from "If you see her.." "If she's passing back this way, I'm not that hard to find Tell her she can look me up if If she's got the time." Those lines are sung as the most poignant lyrics ever put down on a record It's always in the the way the lines are sung...almost always
Nice list, Mick. Interesting point, Justin, in regards to Dylan being lauded by literary-minded music writers for his lyrics. I argue, though, that Dylan's distinctive phrasing and inflection are also an underrated part of his appeal. In addition, he's composed some excellent, albeit relatively simple, melodies. Songs don't get much catchier, for instance, than "Just Like a Woman," "Lay Lady Lay" and "Mozambique."
Now there's a certain thing that I learned from my friend Mouse A fella who always blushes and that is that ev'ryone must always flush out his house if he don't expect to be going round flushing houses Open the door Homer
There are so many, but here goes... And here I sit so patiently Waiting to find out what price You have to pay to get out of Going through all these things twice. Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again Life is sad Life is a bust All ya can do is do what you must. You do what you must do and ya do it well, I'll do it for you, honey baby, Can't you tell? Buckets of Rain They say that patriotism is the last refuge To which a scoundrel clings Steal a little and they throw you in jail, Steal a lot and they make you a king. Sweetheart Like You Well, the moral of the story, The moral of this song, Is simply that one should never be Where one does not belong. So when you see your neighbor carryin' somethin', Help him with his load, And don't go mistaking Paradise For that home across the road. The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest In the dark I hear the night birds call 
I can feel a lover's breath 
I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall 
Sleep is like a temporary death Workingman's Blues #2
Awesome list. So many words, so hard to choose. Saw Bob last month in Guadalajara and even got quoted in the local paper. All others are pretenders to the crown.
Well, you know we was cruisin' down the highway in a Greyhound bus All kinds of little children on the sideroad they was hollerin' at us, sayin' Get your rocks off, get your rocks off Get your rocks off, get your rocks off-a me. "Get Your Rocks Off" (1967)
There are no mistakes in life some people say it is true sometimes you can see it that way People don't live or die people just float She went with the man in the long black coat
Now, when I was just a bawlin' lad I saw what I wanted to be An' it's all for the sake Of that I should see. But I was lost on the land As I heard that front door slam And that old sign on the cross Worries me "Sign On The Cross"
Come mothers and fathers through out the land Don't critisise what you don't understand Your sons and your daughters are beyonde your command For the times they are a changin'
Oh a false clock tries to tick out my time To disgrace, distract, and bother me. And the dirt of gossip blows into my face, And the dust of rumors covers me. But if the arrow is straight And the point is slick, It can pierce through dust no matter how thick. So I'll make my stand And remain as I am And bid farewell and not give a damn.
The iron hand it ain't no match for the iron rod, The strongest wall will crumble and fall to a mighty God. For all those who have eyes and all those who have ears It is only He who can reduce me to tears. Don't you cry and don't you die and don't you burn For like a thief in the night, He'll replace wrong with right When He returns.
Glad to see another number, "When He Returns," included from Dylan's underrated Born Again phase. A couple more songs I especially like from the "Slow Train Coming" album are "Precious Angel" and "I Believe in You," two songs that might not ranks as Dylan's best lyrics, at least from a poetic viewpoint, but feature some of his strongest vocals.
