# Post your favorite Bob Dylan lyric here **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472 "2016-10-13T23:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/21 "2016-10-14T09:59:59Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Damn, there are just sooooo many! You are allowed to post more than once. Please, let 'er rip! Something more recent (from Thunder on the Mountain): Gonna raise me an army, some tough sons of bitches I’ll recruit my army from the orphanages I been to St. Herman’s church, said my religious vows I’ve sucked the milk out of a thousand cows ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/22 "2016-10-14T12:25:12Z")
From the vastly underrated Street Legal LP, from We Better Talk This Over: I guess I’ll be leaving tomorrow If I have to beg, steal or borrow. It’d be great to cross paths in a day and a half Look at each other and laugh. But I don’t think it’s liable to happen Like the sound of one hand clappin’. The vows that we kept are now broken and swept 'Neath the bed where we slept. Don’t think of me and fantasize on what we never had, Be grateful for what we’ve shared together and be glad. Kept, swept, and slept are great rhymes, but they don’t seem forced in any way but instead sum up the failed relationship perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/23 "2016-10-14T12:50:01Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Damn, there are just sooooo many! > > How about this bit from **Mr. Tambourine Man** : > > Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind > Down the foggy ruins of time > Far past the frozen leaves > The haunted frightened trees > Out to the windy bench > Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow > Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky > With one hand waving free > Silhouetted by the sea > Circled by the circus sands > With all memory and fate > Driven deep beneath the waves > Let me forget about today until tomorrow I wouldn’t be able to choose a single favorite Dylan lyric. But this one’s rather special to me because this was my introduction to Dylan. I was still in my early teens, I’m guessing this was maybe 1967, and I’d heard of Dylan, and I’d heard covers of “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” but I’d never actually heard any recordings of Dylan. And I was familiar with the Byrds’ cover of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” which I loved, and didn’t even realize was a cover. Then for some reason one evening with nobody else around, I turn on the radio, which my older sister must’ve left on WHFS (anyone who grew up in the DC area back then will know what I mean), and it was in the middle of this song, and I just listened in amazement to those lyrics. “Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind, down the foggy ruins of time…” That’s my earliest memory of Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![Theodore\_Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Theodore\_Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore_Striker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/24 "2016-10-14T13:11:41Z")
From Visions of Johanna: 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 everything’s been returned which was owed On the back of the fish truck that loads While my conscience explodes I love how the lyrics in this song wind up the hill, to this stark series with it’s wonderful imagery, and the bare, rupturing, and resigned ending. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/25 "2016-10-14T13:18:57Z")
My favorite opening lyric is from **“She Belongs to Me.”** In two lines Dylan tells us everything we need to know about this girl: She’s got everything she needs She’s an artist, she don’t look back ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/26 "2016-10-14T13:20:53Z")
I wish for just one moment you could stand inside my shoes And just for that one moment I could be you. Yes, I wish that for just one moment, you could stand inside my shoes. You’d know what a drag it is to see you. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/27 "2016-10-14T13:24:40Z")
> [@Theodore\_Striker](#): > > From Visions of Johanna: > 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 everything’s been returned which was owed > On the back of the fish truck that loads > While my conscience explodes > > I love how the lyrics in this song wind up the hill, to this stark series with it’s wonderful imagery, and the bare, rupturing, and resigned ending. Love this too, and the way it’s performed in the Albert Hall CD I think is much better than the Blonde on Blonde studio cut. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/28 "2016-10-14T14:07:29Z")
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue is probably my favorite song of all time. The last verse is so very evocative. It’s one of the few songs that actually makes me tear up. Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you Forget the dead you’ve left, they will not follow you The vagabond who’s rapping at your door Is standing in the clothes that you once wore Strike another match, go start a new And it’s all over now, Baby Blue. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/29 "2016-10-14T15:04:03Z")
I selected the “Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind” stanza, and am pleased to see that four before me did also. But there are lots of great verses. Nearly fifty years ago I had several of his songs memorized and would sing them to myself when I was bored. So many great songs and verses! I’ll just mention “Blowing in the Wind,” so famous by now as to seem mundane, … but Bob Dylan _was_ the songwriter. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I wish for just one moment you could stand inside my shoes > And just for that one moment I could be you. > Yes, I wish that for just one moment, you could stand inside my shoes. > You’d know what a drag it is to see you. “Positively 4th St.” is the very first Dylan song I have a distinct memory of hearing on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/30 "2016-10-14T15:24:28Z")
So much to post, so much… Highway 61: _Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin’ you better run” Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?” God says, “Out on Highway 61”_ 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 Make promises by the hours My love she laughs like the flowers Valentines can’t buy her_ Subterranean Homesick Blues: _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 tiptoes 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 weatherman To know which way the wind blows_ Chimes Of Freedom: _Tolling for the deaf an’ blind, tolling for the mute Tolling for the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an’ cheated by pursuit An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing […] Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale An’ for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing […] 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_ And everything posted so far, especially the whole of _Mr. Tambourine Man_, which is a flawless masterpiece. And of course my sig ;). ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/31 "2016-10-14T15:25:59Z")
Since I had kids, this one always chokes me up. May you grow up to be righteous May you grow up to be true May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you May you always be courageous Stand upright and be strong May you stay forever young Forever young, forever young May you stay forever young. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/32 "2016-10-14T15:49:46Z")
> [@Theodore\_Striker](#): > > From Visions of Johanna: > 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 everything’s been returned which was owed > On the back of the fish truck that loads > While my conscience explodes > > I love how the lyrics in this song wind up the hill, to this stark series with it’s wonderful imagery, and the bare, rupturing, and resigned ending. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Love this too, and the way it’s performed in the Albert Hall CD I think is much better than the Blonde on Blonde studio cut. The first stanza perfectly sets the mood for the whole song: _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, temptin’ 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 Just Louise and her lover so entwined And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind_ And just like **BobLibDem** , I prefer the Albert Hall (yeah, Manchester Free Trade Hall ;)) version (though the studio version is flawless, mind you). The dreamy, druggy/sedated performance perfectly matches the nocturnal air of the song. Listen how he phrases: “But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues you can tell by the way she smiles”. It’s a blast. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/33 "2016-10-14T16:21:23Z")
And he just smoked my eyelids, and punched my cigarette. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/34 "2016-10-14T16:59:15Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Highway 61: > > _Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” > Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” > God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” > God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but > The next time you see me comin’ you better run” > Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?” > God says, “Out on Highway 61”_ um…will somebody please tell me what this means? Yeah,it sorta sounds like it’s some deep stuff,man. And, -wow–it mentions God! And in a folk song,not a country song!..so, hey,ya know, it must be serious.And it uses the word highway, so it’s gotta be saying something from deep in the American psyche. But I just don’t get it. At all. This is worthy of a Nobel prize? What am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/35 "2016-10-14T17:09:50Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > And he just smoked my eyelids, and punched my cigarette. I was going to quote a verse from that song, but I was having too much trouble deciding which verse! \*But he cursed me when I proved it to him Then I whispered, “Not even you can hide You see, you’re just like me I hope you’re satisfied” \* _An’ I say, “Aw come on now You must know about my debutante” An’ she says, “Your debutante just knows what you need But I know what you want”_ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/36 "2016-10-14T17:10:36Z")
“The pump don’t work, cuz the vandals took the handles.” 😃 From “The Ballad of Hollis Brown”, which is an extremely dark dirge about desperation: > [@](#): > > There’s seven people dead > On a South Dakota farm > There’s seven people dead > On a South Dakota farm > Somewheres in the distance > There’s seven new people born ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/37 "2016-10-14T17:19:10Z")
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 ya shelter from the storm. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/38 "2016-10-14T17:28:40Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > um…will somebody please tell me what this means? > Yeah,it sorta sounds like it’s some deep stuff,man. > And, -wow–it mentions God! And in a folk song,not a country song!..so, hey,ya know, it must be serious.And it uses the word highway, so it’s gotta be saying something from deep in the American psyche. > > But I just don’t get it. At all. > This is worthy of a Nobel prize? > What am I missing? I’m too lazy to explain so here’s a quote from an article I read earlier in the day: > [@](#): > > Well, it’s the Book of Genesis, right? It’s the story of Abraham and Isaac and he’s turning it into something that’s very, very new. He’s talking about Highway 61 … a highway that runs right through the middle of America, all the way from Minnesota down to the Deep South. So, starting with the Bible. You know, this terrifying story of Abraham — who happens to be his father’s name too, so when he’s talking about “God said to Abraham, ‘Kill me a son,’” yikes, it gets a little personal maybe, too. But he is telling a whole song about what’s going on in America in his time through the idiom of the Bible. Rock ‘n’ roll, folk, it’s all there. From here: [Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan Is A Literary 'Alchemist' : NPR](http://www.npr.org/2016/10/13/497849892/nobel-laureate-bob-dylan-is-a-literary-alchemist) ETA: the chuzpe alone to transfer this crucial Biblical story into mid-sixties Dylan-jive is worth the price of admission. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/39 "2016-10-14T17:38:55Z")
I am not even remotely religious, but that last stanza of “Every Grain of Sand” is about as good as it gets. > [@](#): > > 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 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 times it’s only me; > I am hanging in the balance of a perfect, finished plan, > Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472/40 "2016-10-14T18:00:56Z")
“I’m gonna start my pickin’ right now, just tell me where you’ll be.” Judas pointed down the road, and said, “Eternity.” “Eternity?” said Frankie Lee, with a voice as cold as ice “Yes, that’s right,” said Judas Priest, “Eternity, though you might call it Paradise.” “I don’t call it anything,” said Frankie Lee with a smile. “All right,” said Judas Priest, “I’ll see you after a while.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favorite-bob-dylan-lyric-here/768472.md?page=3)