DYLAN, Bob


Things Have Changed

A worried man with a worried mind

No one in front of me and nothing behind

There's a woman on my lap and she's drinking champagne

Got white skin, got assassin's eyes

I'm looking up into the sapphire tinted skies

I'm well dressed, waiting on the last train

Standing on the gallows with my head in a noose

Any minute now I'm expecting all hell to break loose

People are crazy and times are strange

I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range

I used to care, but things have changed

This place ain't doing me any good

I'm in the wrong town, I should be in Hollywood

Just for a second there I thought I saw something move

Gonna take dancing lessons do the jitterbug rag

Ain't no shortcuts, gonna dress in drag

Only a fool in here would think he's got anything to prove

Lotta water under the bridge, lotta other stuff too

Don't get up gentlemen, I'm only passing through

People are crazy and times are strange

…..

I've been walking forty miles of bad road

If the bible is right, the world will explode

I've been trying to get as far away from myself as I can

Some things are too hot to touch

The human mind can only stand so much

You can't win with a losing hand

Feel like falling in love with the first woman I meet

Putting her in a wheel barrow and wheeling her down the street

People are crazy and times are strange

…..

I hurt easy, I just don't show it

You can hurt someone and not even know it

The next sixty seconds could be like an eternity

Gonna get lowdown, gonna fly high

All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie

I'm love with a woman who don't even appeal to me

Mr. Jinx and Miss Lucy, they jumped in the lake

I'm not that eager to make a mistake

People are crazy and times are strange

…..

North Country Blues

Come gather 'round friends and I'll tell you a tale

Of when the red iron pits ran a-plenty

But the cardboard-filled windows and old men on the benches

Tell you now that the whole town is empty

In the north end of town my own children are grown

But I was raised on the other

In the wee hours of youth my mother took sick

And I was brought up by my brother

The iron ore poured as the years passed the door

The drag lines an' the shovels they was a-humming

'Till one day my brother failed to come home

The same as my father before him

Well, a long winter's wait from the window I watched

My friends they couldn't have been kinder

And my schooling was cut as I quit in the spring

To marry John Thomas, a miner

Oh, the years passed again, and the giving was good

With the lunch bucket filled every season

What with three babies born, the work was cut down

To a half a day's shift with no reason

Then the shaft was soon shut, and more work was cut

And the fire in the air, it felt frozen

'Till a man come to speak, and he said in one week

That number eleven was closing

They complained in the East, they are paying too high

They say that your ore ain't worth digging

That it's much cheaper down in the South American towns

Where the miners work almost for nothing

So the mining gates locked, and the red iron rotted

And the room smelled heavy from drinking

Where the sad, silent song made the hour twice as long

As I waited for the sun to go sinking

I lived by the window as he talked to himself

This silence of tongues it was building

'Till one morning's wake, the bed it was bare

And I was left alone with three children

The summer is gone, the ground's turning cold

The stores one by one they're all folding

My children will go as soon as they grow

Well, there ain't nothing here now to hold them


Abandoned Love

I can hear the turning of the key

I’ve been deceived by the clown inside of me

I thought that he was righteous but he’s vain

Oh, something’s a-telling me I wear the ball and chain

My patron saint is a-fighting with a ghost

He’s always off somewhere when I need him most

The Spanish moon is rising on the hill

But my heart is a-tellin’ me I love ya still

I come back to the town from the flaming moon

I see you in the streets, I begin to swoon

I love to see you dress before the mirror

Won’t you let me in your room one time ’fore I finally disappear?

Everybody’s wearing a disguise

To hide what they’ve got left behind their eyes

But me, I can’t cover what I am

Wherever the children go I’ll follow them

I march in the parade of liberty

But as long as I love you I’m not free

How long must I suffer such abuse

Won’t you let me see you smile one time before I turn you loose?

I’ve given up the game, I’ve got to leave

The pot of gold is only make-believe

The treasure can’t be found by men who search

Whose gods are dead and whose queens are in the church

We sat in an empty theater and we kissed

I asked ya please to cross me off-a your list

My head tells me it’s time to make a change

But my heart is telling me I love ya but you’re strange

One more time at midnight, near the wall

Take off your heavy makeup and your shawl

Won’t you descend from the throne, from where you sit?

Let me feel your love one more time before I abandon


Lay down your weary tune

Lay down your weary tune, lay down

Lay down the song you strum

And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings

No voice can hope to hum

Struck by the sounds before the sun

I knew the night had gone

The morning breeze like a bugle blew

Against the drum of dawn

Lay down your weary tune, lay down

…..

The ocean wild like an organ played

The seaweed wove its strands

The crashing waves like cymbals clashed

Against the rocks and the sand

Lay down your weary tune, lay down

…..

I stood unwound beneath the skies

And clouds unbound by laws

The crying rain like a trumpet sang

And asked for no applause

Lay down your weary tune, lay down

…..
The last of leaves fell from the trees

And clung to a new love's breast

The branches bare like a banjo moan

To the winds that listen the best

I gazed down in the river's mirror

And watched its winding strum

The water smooth ran like a hymn

And like a harp did hum

Lay down your weary tune, lay down

…..


Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

…..
Now the bricks lay on Grand Street

Where the neon madmen climb

They all fall there so perfectly

It all seems so well timed

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

Oh, Mama, is this really the end

To be stuck inside of Mobile

With the Memphis blues again


Make You Feel My Love

When the rain is blowin' in your face

And the whole world is on your case

I could offer you a warm embrace

To make you feel my love

When evenin' shadows and the stars appear

And there is no one there to dry your tears

I could hold you for a million years

To make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet

But I would never do you wrong

I've known it from the moment that we met

No doubt in my mind where you belong

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue

I'd go crawlin' down the avenue

Oh, there's nothin' that I wouldn't do

To make you feel my love

The storms are ragin' on the rollin' sea

And on the highway of regret

The winds of change are blowin' wild and free

You ain't seen nothin' like me yet

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true

Nothin' that I wouldn't do

Go to the ends of the earth for you

To make you feel my love


Not Dark Yet

Shadows are falling and I've been here all day

It's too hot to sleep, time is running away

Feel like my soul has turned into steel

I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal

There's not even room enough to be anywhere

It's not dark yet, but it's getting there

Well my sense of humanity has gone down the drain

Behind every beautiful thing there's been some kind of pain

She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind

She put down in writing what was in her mind

I just don't see why I should even care

It's not dark yet, but it's getting there

Well, I've been to London and I've been to gay Paris

I've followed the river and I got to the sea

I've been down on the bottom of a world full of lies

I ain't looking for nothing in anyone's eyes

Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear

It's not dark yet, but it's getting there

I was born here and I'll die here against my will

I know it looks like I'm moving, but I'm standing still

Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb

I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from

Don't even hear a murmur of a prayer

It's not dark yet, but it's getting there


One more cup of coffee

Your breath is sweet

Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky

Your back is straight, your hair is smooth

On the pillow where you lie

But I don't sense affection

No gratitude or love

Your loyalty is not to me

But to the stars above

One more cup of coffee for the road

One more cup of coffee 'fore I go

To the valley below

Your daddy, he's an outlaw

And a wanderer by trade

He'll teach you how to pick and choose

And how to throw the blade

He oversees his kingdom

So no stranger does intrude

His voice, it trembles as he calls out

For another plate of food

One more cup of coffee for the road

…..

Your sister sees the future

Like your mama and yourself

You've never learned to read or write

There's no books upon your shelf

And your pleasure knows no limits

Your voice is like a meadowlark

But your heart is like an ocean

Mysterious and dark

One more cup of coffee for the road

…..


Like a Rolling Stone

Once upon a time you dressed so fine

You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?

People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"

You thought they were all kiddin' you

You used to laugh about

Everybody that was hangin' out

Now you don't talk so loud

Now you don't seem so proud

About having to be scrounging around

For your next meal

How does it feel?

How does it feel

To be without a home

With no direction home?

Like a complete unknown?

Like a rolling stone?

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely

But you know you only used to get juiced in it

Nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street

And you find out now you're gonna have to get used to it

You said you'd never compromise

With the mystery tramp, but now you realize

He's not selling any alibis

As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes

And say, "Would you like to make a deal?"

How does it feel?

…..

You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns

When they all come down and did tricks for you

You never understood that it ain't no good

You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you

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's taken everything he could steal

How does it feel?

…..

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people

They're all drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made

Exchanging all precious gifts and things

But you'd better take your diamond ring, better pawn it babe

You used to be so amused

At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used

Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse

When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose

You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal

How does it feel?

…..


Dirge

I hate myself for loving you and the weakness that it showed

You were just a painted face on a trip down to suicide road

The stage was set, the lights went out all around the old hotel

I hate myself for loving you and I'm glad the curtain fell.

I hate that foolish game we played and the need that was expressed

And the mercy that you showed to me, whoever would have guessed

I went out on Lower Broadway and I felt that place within

That hollow place where martyrs weep and angels play with sin.

Heard your songs of freedom and man forever stripped

Acting out his folly while his back is being whipped

Like a slave in orbit he's beaten 'til he's tame

All for a moment's glory and it's a dirty, rotten shame.

There are those who worship loneliness, I'm not one of them

In this age of fiberglass I'm searching for a gem

The crystall ball upon the wall hasn't shown me nothing yet

I've paid the price of solitude but at least I'm out of debt.

I can't recall a useful thing you ever did for me

'Cept pat me on the back one time when I was on my knees

We stared into each other's eyes 'till one of us would break

No use to apologize, what difference would it make ?

So sing your praise of progress and of the Doom Machine

The naked truth is still taboo whenever it can be seen

Lady Luck who shines on me, will tell you where I'm at

I hate myself for loving you but I should get over that.

A Hard Rain ‘s A Gonna Fall

Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?
I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways
I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard

And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’
I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children

And it’s a hard, …..

And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’
Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley

And it’s a hard, …..

Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
Who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I met one man who was wounded in love
I met another man who was wounded with hatred

And it’s a hard, …..

Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one?
I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’
I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’

And it’s a hard, …..



Blowin' In The Wind

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind …..

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind …..

All Along The Watchtower

"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
Businessmen, 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 now, the hour is getting late".

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.
Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.


I Shall Be Released

They say everything can be replaced
They say every distance is not near
So I remember every face
Of every man who put me here

I see my light come shinin'
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released

They say every man needs protection
They say that every man must fall
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Somewhere so high above this wall

I see my light come shinin'
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released

Now yonder stands a man in this lonely crowd

A man who swears he's not to blame
All day long I hear him shouting so loud
Just crying out that he was framed

I see my light come shinin'
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released

Shelter from the Storm

I was in another lifetime one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness a creature void of form
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".

And if I pass this way again you can rest assured
I'll always do my best for her on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death and men who are fighting to be warm
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".

Not a word was spoke between us there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm"

I was burned out from exhaustion buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes and blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile ravaged in the corn
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".

Suddenly I turned around and she was standing there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".

Now there's a wall between us something there's been lost
I took too much for granted got my signals crossed
Just to think that it all began on a long-forgotten morn
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".

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".

I've heard newborn babies wailing like a mourning dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love
Do I understand your question man is it hopeless and forlorn
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".

In a little hilltop village they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation and they gave me a lethal dose
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".

Well I'm living in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor's edge someday I'll make it mine
If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".



Every Grain Of Sand

In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There's a dying voice within me reaching out somewhere
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair.

Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break
In the fury of the moment I can see the master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.

Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer
The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.

I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame
And every time I pass that way I always hear my name
Then onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand.

I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintry light
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face.

I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other time it's only me
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand.



My Back Pages

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



Ballad Of A Thin Man

You walk into the room
With your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked
And you say, "Who is that man ?"
You try so hard
But you don't understand
Just what you'll say
When you get home.

Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones ?

You raise up your head
And you ask, "Is this where it is ?"
And somebody points to you and says
"It's his"
And you says, "What's mine ?"
And somebody else says, "Where what is ?"
And you say, "Oh my God
Am I here all alone ?"

But something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones ?

You hand in your ticket
And you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you
When he hears you speak
And says, "How does it feel
To be such a freak ?"
And you say, "Impossible"
As he hands you a bone.

And something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones ?

You have many contacts
Among the lumberjacks
To get you facts
When someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect
Anyway they already expect you
To all give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations.

You've been with the professors
And they've all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have
Discussed lepers and crooks

You've been through all of

F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
You're very well read
It's well known.

But something is happening here
And you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones ?

Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you
And then he kneels
He crosses himself
And then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice
He asks you how it feels
And he says, "Here is your throat back
Thanks for the loan".

And you know something is happening
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones ?

Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word "NOW"
And you say, "For what reason ?"
And he says, "How ?"
And you say, "What does this mean ?"
And he screams back, "You're a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home".

Because something is happening
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones ?

Well, you walk into the room
Like a camel and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket
And your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law
Against you comin' around
You should be made
To wear earphones.

'Caus something is happening
And you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones ?

It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool’s gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proved to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.

So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to you ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.

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.

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand without nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear

That somebody thinks
They really found you.

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

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

they invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platforms ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God Bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole

that he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

Old lady judges, watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me ?

And if my thought-dreams could been seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.



Love Minus Zero, No Limit

My love she speaks like silence

Without ideals or violence

She doesn't have to say she's faithful

Yet she's true, like ice, like fire

People carry roses

And make promises by the hours

My love she laughs like the flowers

Valentines can't buy her

In the dime stores and bus stations

People talk of situations

Read books, repeat quotations

Draw conclusions on the wall

Some speak of the future

My love she speaks softly

She knows there's no success like failure

And that failure's no success at all

The cloak and dagger dangles

Madams light the candles

In ceremonies of the horsemen

Even a pawn must hold a grudge

Statues made of match-sticks

Crumble into one another

My love winks, she does not bother

She knows too much to argue or to judge

The bridge at midnight trembles

The country doctor rambles

Bankers' nieces seek perfection

Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring

The wind howls like a hammer

The night blows rainy

My love she's like some raven

At my window with a broken wing



With God on Our Side

Oh my name it ain't nothin'

My age it means less

The country I come from

Is called the Midwest

I was 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

The Spanish-American

War had its day

And the Civil War, too

Was soon laid away

And the names of the heroes

I was made to memorize

With guns in their hands

And God on their side

The First World War, boys

It came and it went

The reason for fighting

I never did get

But I learned to accept it

Accept it with pride

For you don't count the dead

When God's on your side

The Second World War

Came to an end

We forgave the Germans

And then 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 the Russians

All through my whole life

If another war comes

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 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

Through many a 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

That if God's on our side

He'll stop the next war

Queen Jane approximately

When your mother sends back all your invitations

And your father, to your sister he explains

That you're tired of yourself and all of your creations

Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Now, when all of the flower ladies want back what they have lent you

And the smell of their roses does not remain

And all of your children start to resent you

Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Now, when all the clowns that you have commissioned

Have died in battle or in vain

And you're sick of all this repetition

Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Oh, when all of your advisers heave their plastic

At your feet, to convince you of your pain

Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic

Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Now, when all of the bandits that you turn your other cheek to

All lay down their bandanas and complain

And you want somebody you don't have to speak to

Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Ah, won't you come see me, Queen Jane?

Is your love in vain

Do you love me

Or are you just extending good will?

Do you need me half as bad as you say

Or are you just feeling guilt?

I've been burned before and I know the score

So you won't hear me complain

Will I be able to count on you

Or is your love in vain?

Are you so fast that you cannot see

That I must have solitude?

When I am in the darkness

Why must you intrude?

Do you know my world, do you know my kind

Or must I explain?

Will you let me be myself

Or is your love in vain?

Well, I've been to the mountain and I've been in the wind

I've been in and out of happiness

I have dined with kings, I've been offered wings

And I've never been too impressed

All right, I'll take a chance

I will fall in love with you

If I'm a fool you can have the night

You can have the morning too

Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow

Do you understand my pain?

Are you willing to risk it all

Or is your love in vain?