I always heard it as “an actor out alone”.
Edited to amend:
Clearly says “actor out alone”
“Since its invention, Bovril has become an icon of British culture.”
Hey good name for a pub anyway.
It’s been suggested that Dylan borrowed the “sandals/scandals/vandals/handles” rhyme from Robert Browning:
Look, two and two go the priests, then the monks with cowls and sandals,
And the penitents dressed in white shirts a-holding the yellow candles;
One, he carries a flag up straight, and another a cross with handles.
And the Duke’s guard brings up the rear, for the better prevention of scandals
In “Do You Remember Rock 'n Roll Radio?” the Ramones rhyme “Murray the K.” with “high energy.” In Joey’s mid-Atlantic Queens affectation it comes out as “high enerjay.”
Dang, that was a great cut, thanks for posting. That Rhodes keyboard bass had the bass player totally redundant.
I don’t know if this is one of the worst rhymes ever, or one of the best. From “Cry Me A River” by Arthur Hamilton, best known by Julie London.
“You told me love was too plebeian
Told me you were through with me, and …”
From Hot Love by T-Rex:
Well she’s my woman of gold
And she’s not very old
Well she’s my woman of gold
And she’s not very old
I don’t mean to be bold, a-but a-may I hold your hand?
Well she ain’t no witch and I love the way she twitch
Well she ain’t no witch and I love the way she twitch
I’m a labourer of love in my Persian gloves
Well she’s faster than most and she lives on the coast
Well she’s faster than most and she lives on the coast
I’m her two-penny prince and I give her hot love
Appalling.
a) The lyric has always been “Actor out on loan”.
b) Your link doesn’t prove anything, it’s a 2012 video of a tribute band.
Cite?
Looks like the first three google hits show “actor out on loan”.
Everyplace I’ve ever seen the lyrics written out, and hearing Jim sing it for 50 years. If I can be proven wrong, fine by me.
ETA: For Christ’s sake, I’ve got THE definitive proof sitting in my lap in my Kindle. “The Collected Works Of Jim Morrison” (2021) includes every lyric Jim ever wrote, including his original HANDWRITTEN lyrics for Riders. “Actor out on loan” in his own handwriting.
Irrelevant. The internet is notorious for posting wrong lyrics.
Fine, I’ll happily concede the point. But what’s with all the “Christ sake” and all caps. It’s not a competition. I just posted what I thought I had heard. Take a breath, dude.
Curious, then, what kind of a cite you were looking for, short of Jim’s handwritten one. The only thing I can thing of would be album liner notes, which won’t help here.
TC stated (apparently definitively) “The lyric has always been “Actor out on loan”, rather than ‘sounds like… to me’.
I just wondered what the source was. Are you debating that internet lyrics are unreliable?
Sure, internet lyrics can most definitely be unreliable, but after finding another four cites (that I can’t bother to post this time), then after a while one might as well go with the numbers.
Not if they are internet lyric sites. They copy and paste (read:steal) from each other.
But I’ve admitted I was wrong, I asked for a site and they provided one. Not sure the point of dragging this out.
I stand by my contention that linking to a random lyric site isn’t proof. If you disagree, lets agree to disagree.
What you all are ignoring is that either way, the lyric sucks.
Here’s the vocal isolation:
It does sound, to me, like “actor out on loan.” Which does make sense, as actors used to be loaned out by studios. “Actor all alone” also makes sense to me, as what good is an actor without an audience? Either way, it is kind of an arbitrary image (or rather the pair is kind of oddball.)
Gots to agree.