# Which of Bob Dylan's lyrics are actually good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724 "2009-01-23T22:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/41 "2009-01-24T05:20:11Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I don’t see how that follows. I could find critics and judges/awards panels that rave about countless musical artists - that doesn’t mean you have no taste if you don’t agree with them. Pretty lame argument. Whatever Dude. I don’t care whether you like him or not and I sure ain’t going to try to teach math to a cat… ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/42 "2009-01-24T06:05:01Z")
Good thing, since you can’t seem to put two and two together. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/43 "2009-01-24T07:21:26Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Good thing, since you can’t seem to put two and two together. At least I know what forum I’m posting in and don’t sling unwarranted insults in the wrong one. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/44 "2009-01-24T13:40:52Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > At least I know what forum I’m posting in and don’t sling unwarranted insults in the wrong one. This actually applies to both you (“math to a cat”) and **woodstockbirdybird**. Please remember that Cafe Society is meant for discussion of the topic of the OP; it’s not meant for personal comments about the other posters. Disagree all you want, but comment on what’s said, and not what you think about the other poster. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/45 "2009-01-24T13:55:50Z")
Neither deep nor meaningful: ‘But right now I’ll just sit here so contentedly And watch the river flow.’ _Watching the River Flow_ ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/46 "2009-01-24T14:38:58Z")
I’ll nominate Ballad of a Thin Man and Mr Tambourine Man, too. But you can’t get anything much more suitable for today’s times than this from 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. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/47 "2009-01-24T15:05:43Z")
[Maggie’s Farm](http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/bob_dylan/maggies_farm.html) is not only perfect song writing, Dylan’s version is perfect singing. Well, I try my best To be just like I am But everybody wants you To be just like them ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/48 "2009-01-24T15:25:33Z")
_Well, the telephone rang, it would not stop It was President Kennedy calling me up He said “My friend Bob, what do we need to make this country grow?” I said “My friend John, Brigitte Bardot Anita Eckberg Sophia Loren Country’ll grow…”_ –“I Shall Be Free”. In my head since I played it on the radio Tuesday night as part of a Presidential Rock set. Just one obscure one that comes to mind out of hundreds. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/49 "2009-01-24T16:31:03Z")
[The Official Bob Dylan Site](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/masters-war) Masters of War is an early effort that resonates very well in todays world. John Brown was a very early effort in a Broadside Ballad that he sung under the name Blind Boy Grunt. [The Official Bob Dylan Site](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/john-brown) It is not subtle. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/50 "2009-01-24T16:55:43Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Neither deep nor meaningful: > > ‘But right now I’ll just sit here so contentedly > And watch the river flow.’ > > _Watching the River Flow_ You’ve deliberately wrenched those lines out of context. Here’s the whole verse. > [@](#): > > Wish I was back in the city > Instead of this old bank of sand, > With the sun beating down over the chimney tops > And the one I love so close at hand. > If I had wings and I could fly, > I know where I would go. > But right now I’ll just sit here so contentedly > And watch the river flow. In context, the lines take on a deep meaning. The narrator is mourning a lost love. He is wistful. Sad, yet accepting. Moreover, that las line is repeated at the every of every verse for extra impact. True, they are not the greatest lines in the world or the most meaningful. But what poem, however great, could stand up to the mutilation you give? The Waste Land: > [@](#): > > And I was frightened. He said, Marie, > Marie, hold on tight. And down we went. O Captain! My Captain! > [@](#): > > The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; > From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; Don Juan > [@](#): > > So be they her inspirers! Call them Mars, > Bellona, what you will – they mean but wars. Didn’t your English teacher already give you an F for this? ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/51 "2009-01-24T18:07:16Z")
_You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows._ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/52 "2009-01-24T18:59:32Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > _Well, the telephone rang, it would not stop > It was President Kennedy calling me up > He said “My friend Bob, what do we need to make this country grow?” > I said “My friend John, Brigitte Bardot > Anita Eckberg > Sophia Loren > Country’ll grow…”_ > –“I Shall Be Free”. > > In my head since I played it on the radio Tuesday night as part of a Presidential Rock set. Just one obscure one that comes to mind out of hundreds. The ironic thing about that verse, which was written when he had only one poorly selling album out, was that 17 years later the real President of the United States (Carter) quoted him in his acceptance speech - the line was “he not busy born is busy dying.” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/53 "2009-01-24T19:05:16Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’m not sure how to parse this. It’s true that Dylan arrived in New York in 1961, but his music career began in the 1950s. > > Paladud, get hold of Dylan’s memoirs Chronicles, volume 1. The man can write. Probably the best rock memoirs of all time, and one of the finest memoirs of any kind of all time. What amazed me from reading Chronicles is that Dylan didn’t write in Minnesota. **Song for Woody** was the first, and in the next year or so his production of brilliant songs was unprecedented - even by Lennon and McCartney. Those who have the official albums only have heard some of them, the first volume of the three CD Bootleg series has lots, and I have some bootlegs from this period not released yet. - If you’ve got a lot of money you can make yourself merry, If you’ve only got a nickel there’s the Staten Island Ferry \* ---
**Author:** ![BuzzSaw101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a3d4f5/32.png) [@BuzzSaw101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuzzSaw101)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/54 "2009-01-25T01:32:52Z")
Some of my favorite Dylan lyrics … "Then she told us how times were tough and about how she was thinkin’ of bummin’ a ride back to where she started. But ya know, she changed the subject every time money came up. She said, “Welcome to the land of the living dead.” You could tell she was so broken-hearted. She said, “Even the swap meets around here are getting pretty corrupt.” - Brownsville Girl (co-written by Sam Shepard) “It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart.” - Idiot Wind “They’re selling postcards of the hanging They’re painting the passports brown The beauty parlor is filled with sailors The circus is in town” - Desolation Row And some silly Dylan "I was sleepin’ like a rat When I heard something jerkin’. There stood Rita Lookin’ just like Tony Perkins. She said, “Would you like to take a shower?” -Motorpsycho Nightmare (an awesome name for a song) “Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle in your boots and shoes, Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, you got nothing to lose,” - Wiggle Wiggle "Knockin’ on the door, I say, “Who is it and where are you from?” Man says, “Freddy!” I say, “Freddy who?” He says, “Freddy or not here I come.” - Po’ Boy ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/55 "2009-01-25T01:38:04Z")
As for silly Dylan (since most of the serious ones I like have already been mentioned), I have always enjoyed [All I Really Want to Do.](http://orad.dent.kyushu-u.ac.jp/dylan/allireal.html) He even [cracks himself up at the end](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEl4lBTc2Po). ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/56 "2009-01-25T01:58:03Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > [With God on Our Side:](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/god-our-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. > > But now we got weapons > Of the chemical dust > If fire them we’re forced to > Then fire them we must > One push of the button > And a shot the world wide > And you never ask questions > When God’s on your side. This is the one I was thinking of. A friend of mine sang this just before we invaded Iraq. Very powerful There are lots more lyrics but the last verse So now as I’m leavin’ I’m weary as Hell The confusion I’m feelin’ Ain’t no tongue can tell The words fill my head And fall to the floor If God’s on our side He’ll stop the next war. get me misty every time. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/57 "2009-01-25T10:32:21Z")
I think that one of the most bitter lines in any song is from Positively 4th Street: “I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes. You’d know what a drag it is to see you.” ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/58 "2009-01-25T16:24:59Z")
So, \*\*Paladud \*\*- what say you? Your OP launches a challenge, tinged with a bit of derision, given Dylan’s longstanding reputation as a brilliant lyricist. There’s a lot of great stuff here and you’ve even come back on to say you have been impressed. Has your ignorance been fought? WordMan ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/59 "2009-01-25T16:41:06Z")
I have never listened to much Dylan because I could never get past his horrible singing voice. That and his ego. But some of these lyrics are quite good–I’ll have to check out some covers of his stuff. (I truly can’t listen to his screech/mumble). So, thanks for that, OP! ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/60 "2009-01-25T17:56:04Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I have never listened to much Dylan because I could never get past his horrible singing voice. You know, the first time I heard Dylan’s music (as a teenager in the late 1980s) I had the same reaction. “What is with this guy’s grating, quavering, nasal/whiny, sort of off-key singing?” I was already familiar with some of his songs as covered by other artists, such as _The Times They Are A-Changin’_ by Peter, Paul and Mary; _It Ain’t Me, Babe_ by the Turtles; and _My Back Pages_ by the Byrds. So when I first heard Dylan’s original versions of these songs, it sounded technically terrible by comparison. But the funny thing was that, after even just one such hearing, I could not stand to hear the cover versions again. The lyrics were the same, but the intensity was gone. The musical arrangements were richer, but also robbed the songs of edge. I found the “screechy, quavering vocals” to actually carry overtones of anger, sarcasm, disdain, and also of black humor. It was like how I’d enjoyed Ball Park Franks in my childhood, made with beef, pork, water and fillers in it, boiled in water and eaten on a cold whitebread bun with ketchup… Then one day I had a taste of a griddled, all-beef Nathan’s hot dog with sharp, spicy brown mustard on a toasted bun with sauerkraut. The taste was so different at first that it didn’t even seem like the same product. I couldn’t even finish it, after a few bites I either threw it out or passed if off to someone else. But then, I couldn’t go back. Just compare [the Byrds cover version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsfashDI6vU) of the lines from the song _My Back Pages_ that go: _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._ with that of [Dylan’s original recording](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ4SbYot90M). Even disregarding the very personal nature of the recanting lyrics for Dylan, who had been the erstwhile poster boy for early 1960’s protest folk music (or perhaps _especially_ because of that), the Byrd’s version just seems like dated '60s pop. Dylan’s version, to me, still feels angry, heartfelt and personal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724.md?page=4)