We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
The latest evidence of warming: New York records its coolest summer thus far since 1903, with only one day over 85; Al Gore's hometown records coldest July in over 40 years; ocean temperatures continue to cool; snowstorms and bitter cold grip Argentina.
Ed. note: Regardless of the facts, everything that happens is due to climate change now. For examples, see articles at Science Daily. The heads of mice are shrinking!
When the Dylanologist took his Geology 101 back in college he was taught, just as everyone else has been since the mid-1960s, that the process of plate tectonics (or "continental drift") explains the arrangement of the continents and the obvious matching coasts of Africa and South America. The continents were at one point all stuck together as Pangaea, and then, for some reason, they split right down the middle and were pulled/pushed apart from each other, riding right over ocean crust.
Yet, what we were never shown was this map, which shows that nowhere on earth are there seafloors older than 180 million years (blue is oldest, red youngest; by contrast continental rocks date back nearly 4.3 billion years). Not only that, but the fastest rate of spreading is in the Pacific, which is presumed to be shrinking from both sides.
Geologists explain this conundrum by saying that all of the older seafloor has been "subducted" under to continents, and has vanished without a trace. Yet what is driving this activity? Are the ridges pushing the continents apart, or are the subducting seafloors pulling the ridges apart? If the push force is the driver, why is there so much spreading in the Pacific? If the pull force is stronger, how did spreading start in the first place between two connected continents? Geologists themselves don't have a good answer, admitting that they have no clear explanation, and physics suggests that neither force is anywhere near strong enough to cause entire continents to slide across the planet, or to build up huge mountain chains.
What if the answer is much simpler? What if there is no seafloor older than 180 million years because, 180 million years ago, there was no seafloor? We know that sea levels were far higher than today 100 million years ago, covering much of North America (hundreds of feet higher than they would be even if all today's ice caps were to melt). There are fossils of extinct sea creatures which lived 200 million years ago high up in the Himalayas. In the Cambrian, it is widely accepted that virtually all of North America was submerged. Before 450 million years ago, we have no evidence for anylife on land, despite the fact that life had existed for over 3 billion years at that time. Did life take 3 billion years to move to land?
All of this implies that the earth may have grown in size, and that the linked lines of seafloor expansion on the map above, rather than being pressure points pushing out, are simply the places where a growing earth has cracked the outer crust and is filling it in with new material.
Ed note: In science, the truth is always a moving target. Science is all about theory du jour, not Truth. Religion is about Truth, but science is about theory-making, theory-testing, and theory-changing. Every theory is supplanted, eventually. Scientists know that. Theory-imagining is what makes science creative and fun - an art, in many ways. There never will be any such thing as "settled science."
Several months ago we posted a week-long tribute to Gordon Lightfoot. This week we present Dylan covering Lightfoot's "I'm Not Supposed To Care," from a May 1998 concert (Lightfoot's original is here):
From recent news reports: 11,700 years ago, at the close of the last ice age, a time when fully modern humans inhabited most of the globe, Greenland experienced a 22-degree temperature spike in a matter of years. That's the equivalent of changing from New York's climate to Miami's, and on a human timescale.
Meanwhile, climate alarmists eagerly embraced the news that 55 million years ago, Greenland and barren Arctic islands such as Spitzbergen enjoyed year-round temperatures of 74 F - equivalent to West Palm Beach - pointing to it as evidence of the dangers of high CO2 levels. There's only one problem: at that time, temperatures in the tropics were the same or even slightly cooler than today, making for a balmy, paradise-like world devoid of freezing or baking temperatures.
At the time, parts of what is now Colombia had an annual average as low as 78 f or less, meaning that CO2 is unlikely to have been the warming agent at work (at the time, CO2 was at approximately 3,500 ppm, vs. 380 ppm today. Mammals apparently flourished like never before or since in this climate).
Scientists guess at changing air circulation patterns and ocean currents to explain these phenomena, but the fact is we simply have no idea what was responsible.
"Huck's Tune" was released on the soundtrack to the movie Lucky You last year. A Spanish YouTube user has put the whole song up along with a homemade music video. There are a few transcriptions of the lyrics available online but I have decided not to include them so as not to spoil it for first-time listeners.
From an Reuters story today: "Islamist militants in Somalia took steps on Saturday to attack pirates behind the world's biggest hijack and rescue the captured Saudi Arabian supertanker, an Islamist spokesman said."
Who do you root for in this situation? The terrorists are using a religious rationale for recapturing the Saudi tanker, but they are clearly jealous of the success of the local pirates.
Maybe it's best just to sit back and watch the game?
Somebody has compiled clips of Peter Schiff, the Ron Paul economic advisor and president of Darien, Connecticut-based Euro Pacific Capital, from Fox News business segments over the past few years, debating with the likes of Ben Stein and Art Laffer. Schiff gets the last laugh.
He claims it's not about race, then proceeds to make a series of statements that make little sense outside a racial context:
"I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said. "He is a new generation coming ... onto the world stage and on the American stage. And for that reason, I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."
The linked story, which refers to Powell as "one of the country's most respected Republicans" -- an odd choice of an adjective in light of Powell's reputation having been knocked down and dragged through the mud by the left after his WMD testimony -- also features the following curious quote:
As a key reason, Powell said: "I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration."
No, that's what we'd be looking at with a Republican administration. Assuming that Powell knows that the House and Senate will have substantial Democrat majorities as well, this "Republican" is voting for the Democrat on the basis that he would have "difficulty" with conservative justices? It's been well known for years that Powell leaned toward the left on most domestic issues, and this charade of continuing to call Powell a "respected Republican" is wearing more than a little thin.
More from NE Republican. The Left is already rejoicing at the news, despite the fact that some of the the very same people spent endless hours cataloging Powell's alleged lies and deceptions to the UN in 2003, essentially destroying the man's public reputation.
We had Apple Week two weeks ago. To compensate for our Dylanologist's busyness with his life (and his running out of what he considers worthy live video performances), I'll post a tune daily for a little while.
If you do not appreciate Bob at the end of the week, we will gladly refund your money. Today, Blind Willie McTell. It begins:
Seen the arrow on the doorpost Saying, "This land is condemned All the way from New Orleans To Jerusalem." I traveled through East Texas Where many martyrs fell And I know no one can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell
Portland, June, 1999. Bob opened many performances with this song during that time. Prior to that, he liked to open with Down in the Flood.
Here's the version of this old gospel tune that Bill Monroe used:
Hallelujah (I'm ready) I'm ready (Hallelujah) I can hear the voices singing soft and low Hallelujah (I'm ready) I'm ready (Hallelujah) Hallelujah I'm ready to go
In the darkness of night not a star was in site On a highway that leads down below But Jesus came in and saved this soul from sin Hallelujah I'm ready to go
Sinners don't wait before it's too late He's a wonderful Savior you know Well I fell on my knees and he answered my pleas Hallelujah I'm ready to go
Go away, and never go back unless you enjoy floods and evacuations, because NO is below sea-level. NOLA is warning residents that no help will be provided to those who choose to stay behind as Hurricane Gustav nears:
With the latest forecasts predicting that Hurricane Gustav could strike New Orleans as soon as Labor Day, city leaders warned Friday that anyone who failed to evacuate would find no government-provided shelter.
Any of the city's 310,000 residents who stay behind must assume "all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones," said New Orleans' emergency preparedness director, Jerry Sneed.
"It's sugar for sugar and salt for salt, if you go down in the flood it's gonna be your fault..."
From LiveScience comes the news that Antarctica may have been a dramatically warmer place at a geologically-recent time. Summertime temperatures could have averaged in the mid-50s fahrenheit along the coast -- comparable to New York in October, at a time when Antarctica was already sitting squarely over the south pole. Today, summer temperatures hover around 25 degrees at the same location.
Co-author David Marchant said "climatologists are uncertain exactly what caused this intense period of cooling."
"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 for your next meal.
How does it feel How does it feel To be without a home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone?" ...
1965's "Like A Rolling Stone," off Highway 61 Revisited, accompanied by a solid 1986 performance with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. We have somehow avoided featuring Dylan's most famous song ever since Thursday Dylan postings started appearing on Maggie's Farm in 2005, but there's no sense in putting off the moment any longer.
As our News Junkie has noted in a link to Ed Driscoll, the Left has been behaving in ways that seem oddly, well, conservative in recent years. This behavior has been especially pronounced in the area of agriculture, where the fanatical opposition to genetic engineering, antibiotic feed additives and modern methods of farming and animal husbandry seems bizarrely Luddite for a faction which likes to wear the badge of science on its chest when shouting down evangelicals.
Take Michael Pollan's recent book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, where the left-wing New Yorker, anti-corporate and anti-factory-farm Pollan finds his utopia not in some Berkeley commune or fetishized indigenous village, but on a Virginia farm - not too far from Monticello, incidentally - run by a right-wing Christian fellow. The anti-corporate and pro-animal welfare concerns of the left and the anti-government, pro-traditionalist views of the right approach each other and, for an instant, cross paths. In its hurried dash away from big agriculture, the Left does not run into Karl Marx, but into Thomas Jefferson and the image of the virtuous republican farmer, tending to his fields and animals without help from nitrogen fertilizer, tomatoes from Monsanto, or growth-promoting antibiotics.
In this ideological battle, the anti-agribusiness left has aspired to portray itself as latter day Jeffersonian faction, fighting the perceived intrusion of the Hamiltonian merchant and manufacturing class into the livelihood of the free and independent farmer.If it sounds too absurd to be true, consider Jefferson’s own articulation of the plight of the farmer versus that of the manufacturer:
“Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. .... Corruption of morals in the mass of cultivators is a phaenomenon of which no age nor nation has furnished an example. It is the mark set on those, who not looking up to heaven, to their own soil and industry, as does the husbandman, for their subsistence, depend for it on casualties and caprice of customers. Dependance begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” –Notes on the State of Virginia, 1787
This statement seems hardly relevant at a time when less than two percent of Americans make their living through farming, and where those few remaining farmers are totally dependant on products designed by scientists and supplied by manufacturers.Even at the time Jefferson was writing it may have seemed more romantic wishfulness than sound economic reasoning.Today’s “Conservative Left,” however, seems determined not just to stop the clock, as Jefferson wished to do, but to grab hold of the hands and turn it back.Many technological advancements are spurned as being tools of corporate control, while the appeal to nature is invoked frequently to justify the adoption of traditional farming methods.
The libertarian successor to Jefferson merely wishes to be able to run his family farm as he wishes without burdensome federal regulations which disadvantage small farms and traditional methods.He does not seek to impose his farming methods on others.The conservative leftist, on the other hand, like his forebears, tends to view things in revolutionary terms, with a creeping capitalism as the age-old enemy.Rarely discussed are the potentially catastrophic consequences of serious state tampering with modern agricultural methods.The rather poor record of the Left in implementing agricultural revolutions during the past century – comrade Mugabe, in Zimbabwe, being only the latest in an undistinguished chain – does not inspire much confidence.
Where the two points of view do overlap, and the Conservative Leftist meets the nature-loving, self-sufficient Libertarian or Conservative, there are actually worthwhile insights.Michael Pollan’s work is an good starting point for these, and rather than continue, I will defer to his excellent book, linked above. For the moment, though, a few words from Joel Salatin, whose Staunton, VA farm was the object of Pollan's admiration:
"I don’t ask for a dime of government money. I don’t ask for government accreditation. I don’t want to register my animals with a global positioning tattoo. I don’t want to tell officials the names of my constituents. And I sure as the dickens don’t intend to hand over my firearms. I can’t even use the “U” word.
On every side, our paternalistic culture is tightening the noose around those of us who just want to opt out of the system — and it is the freedom to opt out that differentiates tyrannical and free societies.How a culture deals with its misfits reveals its strength. The stronger a culture, the less it fears the radical fringe. The more paranoid and precarious a culture, the less tolerance it offers." -Joel Salatin, Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal!, 2003.
"I'm Not There (1956)," from circa 1967, and never officially released until the film of the same name appeared late last year. I will not try to reproduce the lyrics for the simple reason that it is impossible to do so.
"I was thinking of a series of dreams Where nothing comes up to the top Everything stays down where it's wounded And comes to a permanent stop Wasn't thinking of anything specific Like in a dream, when someone wakes up and screams Nothing too very scientific Just thinking of a series of dreams
Thinking of a series of dreams Where the time and the tempo fly And there's no exit in any direction 'Cept the one that you can't see with your eyes Wasn't making any great connection Wasn't falling for any intricate scheme Nothing that would pass inspection Just thinking of a series of dreams
Dreams where the umbrella is folded Into the path you are hurled And the cards are no good that you're holding Unless they're from another world
In one, numbers were burning In another, I witnessed a crime In one, I was running, and in another All I seemed to be doing was climb Wasn't looking for any special assistance Not going to any great extremes I'd already gone the distance Just thinking of a series of dreams..."
"Series of Dreams," written and recorded for 1989's Oh Mercy, but dropped from the album and only officially released two years later on The Bootleg Series Vols. I-III, as the last track on the third volume. Performed in concert several times in 1994, it never came close to recapturing the unique sound from the album version - provided below along with original music video - and was dropped from the setlists, never to be played again by Dylan.
"Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble, Ancient footprints are everywhere. You can almost think that you're seein' double On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs. Got to hurry on back to my hotel room, Where I've got me a date with Botticelli's niece. She promised that she'd be right there with me When I paint my masterpiece."
We've run this one before, over three years ago, but now with Youtube performances available it's high time we brought it out again. The song was released in 1971 on the so-called Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. II, and also on The Band's 1971 album Cahoots. It has been featured in concert frequently over the years, though never as a setlist staple. The performance below is from 1976.
"Sixteen years, Sixteen banners united over the field Where the good shepherd grieves. Desperate men, desperate women divided, Spreading their wings 'neath the falling leaves.
Fortune calls. I stepped forth from the shadows, to the marketplace, Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down. She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born, On midsummer's eve, near the tower.
The cold-blooded moon. The captain waits above the celebration Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid Whose ebony face is beyond communication. The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid.
They shaved her head. She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo. A messenger arrived with a black nightingale. I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow, Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil.
I stumbled to my feet. I rode past destruction in the ditches With the stitches still mending 'neath a heart-shaped tattoo. Renegade priests and treacherous young witches Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you.
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.
From 1978's Street Legal, the opening track "Changing of the Guards," played live during that year, but never again since. Lyrics continue below.
"Something is burning, baby, are you aware? Something is the matter, baby, there's smoke in your hair Are you still my friend, baby, show me a sign Is the love in your heart for me turning blind?
You've been avoiding the main streets for a long, long while The truth that I'm seeking is in your missing file What's your position, baby, what's going on? Why is the light in your eyes nearly gone?
I know everything about this place, or so it seems Am I no longer a part of your plans or your dreams? Well, it is so obvious that something has changed What's happening, baby, to make you act so strange?
Something is burning, baby, here's what I say Even the bloodhounds of London couldn't find you today I see the shadow of a man, baby, makin' you blue Who is he, baby, and what's he to you?
We've reached the edge of the road, baby, where the pasture begins Where charity is supposed to cover up a multitude of sins But where do you live, baby, and where is the light? Why are your eyes just staring off in the night?
I can feel it in the night when I think of you I can feel it in the light and it's got to be true You can't live by bread alone, you won't be satisfied You can't roll away the stone if your hands are tied
Got to start someplace, baby, can you explain? Please don't fade away on me, baby, like the midnight train Answer me, baby, a casual look will do Just what in the world has come over you?
I can feel it in the wind and it's upside down I can feel it in the dust as I get off the bus on the outskirts of town I've had the Mexico City blues since the last hairpin curve I don't wanna see you bleed, I know what you need but it ain't what you deserve
Something is burning, baby, something's in flames There's a man going 'round calling names Ring down when you're ready, baby, I'm waiting for you I believe in the impossible, you know that I do."
"Something's Burning, Baby,"from 1985's Empire Burlesque. The song has never been performed in concert, even in the years immediately after the album's release, so the version below is the original from the album.
"Nobody feels any pain Tonight as I stand inside the rain Ev'rybody knows That Baby's got new clothes But lately I see her ribbons and her bows Have fallen from her curls. She takes just like a woman, yes, she does She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does And she aches just like a woman But she breaks just like a little girl.
Queen Mary, she's my friend Yes, I believe I'll go see her again Nobody has to guess That Baby can't be blessed Till she sees finally that she's like all the rest With her fog, her amphetamine and her pearls. She takes just like a woman, yes, she does She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does And she aches just like a woman But she breaks just like a little girl.
It was raining from the first And I was dying there of thirst So I came in here And your long-time curse hurts But what's worse Is this pain in here I can't stay in here Ain't it clear that--
I just can't fit Yes, I believe it's time for us to quit When we meet again Introduced as friends Please don't let on that you knew me when I was hungry and it was your world. Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes, you do You make love just like a woman, yes, you do Then you ache just like a woman But you break just like a little girl."
"Just Like a Woman," originally released on Blonde on Blonde, but appearing in no less than seven other official Dylan releases in various versions. Below is the performance from the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971.
"Mama, take this badge off of me I can't use it anymore. It's gettin' dark, too dark for me to see I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door.
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Mama, put my guns in the ground I can't shoot them anymore. That long black cloud is comin' down I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door."
"Knockin' On Heaven's Door," from the soundtrack album to the Sam Peckinpah film Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. This is possibly Dylan's most-covered song, yet no version that I have heard either by other artists or by Dylan himself in live performance has made a significant improvement on the understated but effective original, which we include below.
After a long hiatus, they're back. Here are a couple of brick bungalows, of a style very common in the streetcar neighborhoods of Nashville, built for middle-class families in the 1920s (these two are both from the Edgehill neighborhood, close to Vanderbilt). They don't try to be flashy, but are solid, well-proportioned homes that are now far more popular among buyers than their much more recently-built ranch style counterparts in the same neighborhood.
This one goes out to Dr. Mercury, who was craving a somewhat more patriotic offering after our Dylan post earlier today. Fair and balanced. Would you believe it, though, that Dylan actually toured with Merle just a couple years ago? And one of the songs of Dylan's last album was directly inspired by Merle's classic "Workingman's Blues"? They have more in common than one might imagine. Anyways, here is the Red State answer to "Masters of War:"
"I hear people talkin' bad, About the way we have to live here in this country, Harpin' on the wars we fight, An' gripin' 'bout the way things oughta be. I don't mind 'em switchin' sides, An' standin' up for things they believe in. But when they're runnin' down our country, man, They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me. Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me. Runnin' down the way of life, Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep. If you don't love it, leave it: Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'. If you're runnin' down our country, man, You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
I read about some squirrely guy, Who claims he just don't believe in fightin'. An' I wonder just how long, The rest of us can count on bein' free. They love our milk an' honey, But they preach about some other way of livin'. When they're runnin' down our country, hoss, They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me. Runnin' down the way of life, Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep. If you don't love it, leave it: Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'. If you're runnin' down our country, man, You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me. Runnin' down the way of life, Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep. If you don't love it, leave it: Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'. If you're runnin' down our country, man, You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me."
"Come you masters of war You that build all the guns You that build the death planes You that build the big bombs You that hide behind walls You that hide behind desks I just want you to know I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin' But build to destroy You play with my world Like it's your little toy You put a gun in my hand And you hide from my eyes And you turn and run farther When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old You lie and deceive A world war can be won You want me to believe But I see through your eyes And I see through your brain Like I see through the water That runs down my drain
You fasten the triggers For the others to fire Then you set back and watch When the death count gets higher You hide in your mansion As young people's blood Flows out of their bodies And is buried in the mud...(continued)"
Amazingly, it has taken us more than three years to finally post "Masters of War," one of Dylan's better known tunes, and a perennial favorite of the Left. Written in 1962 for The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, it is still played frequently in concert today. A 1996 version is below.
"Seven days, seven more days she'll be comin' I'll be waiting at the station for her to arrive Seven more days, all I gotta do is survive.
She been gone ever since I been a child Ever since I seen her smile, I ain't forgotten her eyes. She had a face that could outshine the sun in the skies.
I been good, I been good while I been waitin' Maybe guilty of hesitatin', I just been holdin' on Seven more days, all that'll be gone.
There's kissing in the valley, Thieving in the alley, Fighting every inch of the way. Trying to be tender With somebody I remember In a night that's always brighter than the day.
Seven days, seven more days that are connected Just like I expected, she'll be comin' forth, My beautiful comrade from the north."
"Seven Days," written in 1976 but never recorded in the studio. A live performance from that year was included on the 1991 release "The Bootleg Series Vols. I-III," and was revived several times by Dylan during the 1996 spring and summer tours. The song has also been covered by Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, who performs it here at Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert in 1992 (the anniversary being that of Dylan's first album).
"Well it's twinkle, twinkle, little star Along came Brady in his 'lectric car He's got a mean look right in his eye He's gonna shoot somebody just to see 'em die
Refrain: He's been on the job too long!
Well, Duncan, Duncan was tending the bar Along comes Brady with his shining star And Brady says, "Duncan, you're under arrest," Then Duncan shot a hole right in Brady's chest
Brady, Brady, Brady, well you know you done wrong Breakin' in here while the games goin' on You come a-breakin' down the windows, And knockin' down the door And now you're lyin' dead on the barroom floor
Well, ol' King Brady was a big fat man The Doctor reached down, grabbed a hold of his hand He felt for his pulse, then shook his head Said I believe to my soul, King Brady's dead
High tail carriages just a -standin' around To carry King Brady to the buryin' ground Them rubber tired buggies, them rubber tired hacks They took him to the graveyard, never brung him back
When the women all heard that King Brady was dead They went out a home and they be racked in red They come a-slipping' and a-slidin' and shufflin' down the street In their big mother hubbards and their stockin' feet."
"Duncan and Brady," which I am happy to be able to post now that someone has uploaded a video of a 2000 performance, a year when Bob opened many of his shows with the song. Who was the original author? I do not know.
Found this LaVern Baker at, of all places, RightWingBob. A new blog, to us. Long lost cousin? Belongs on our Dylan blogroll.
The site has good quotes from Bob's most recent radio show, Theme Time Radio, here. A sample:
Johnny Cash — Fuego del Amor (Spanish lingo version of “Ring of Fire” ) (Bob reads Danté on the Ninth Circle of Hell.) “I’m gonna leave you with one last thought. This one isn’t quite so deep as Danté. It’s from our plain-talkin’ president, Harry S. Truman. He said, ‘Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day.’ See ya next week.”
"Tweeter and the monkey man were hard up for cash They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan For reasons unexplained she loved the monkey man
Tweeter was a boy scout before she went to Vietnam And found out the hard way nobody gives a damn They knew that they found freedom just across the Jersey line So they hopped into a stolen car took Highway 99
(chorus) And the walls came down all the way to hell Never saw them when they're standing Never saw them when they fell
The undercover cop never liked the monkey man Even back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can Jan got married at fourteen to a racketeer named bill She made secret calls to the monkey man from a mansion on the hill
It was out on thunder road, tweeter at the wheel They crashed into paradise, they could hear them tires squeal The undercover cop pulled up and said everyone of you's a liar If you dont surrender now its gonna go down to the wire
(chorus)
An ambulance rolled up, a state trooper close behind Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind The undercover cop was left tied up to a tree Near the souvenir stand by the old abandoned factory
Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit He was taking the whole thing personal He didnt care about the loot Jan had told him many times it was you to me who taught In Jersey anything's legal as long as you dont get caught."
(chorus) ... Lyrics continued below.
"Tweeter and the Monkey Man," off the Traveling Wilburys, Vol. I, from 1988. The chorus is sung by the rest of the group: Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison, but the lead vocals and all the words are Dylan's (with a little assistance from Petty). A close read of the lyrics reveals a lot of imagery lifted/borrowed from Bruce Springsteen. Don't worry too much about them though - just enjoy the original recording below.
"High water risin' - risin' night and day All the gold and silver are being stolen away Big Joe Turner lookin' East and West From the dark room of his mind He made it to Kansas City Twelfth Street and Vine Nothing standing there High water everywhere
High water risin', the shacks are slidin' down Folks lose their possessions - folks are leaving town Bertha Mason shook it - broke it Then she hung it on a wall Says, "You're dancin' with whom they tell you to Or you don't dance at all." It's tough out there High water everywhere
I got a cravin' love for blazing speed Got a hopped up Mustang Ford Jump into the wagon, love, throw your panties overboard I can write you poems, make a strong man lose his mind I'm no pig without a wig I hope you treat me kind Things are breakin' up out there High water everywhere
High water risin', six inches 'bove my head Coffins droppin' in the street Like balloons made out of lead Water pourin' into Vicksburg, don't know what I'm going to do "Don't reach out for me," she said "Can't you see I'm drownin' too?" It's rough out there High water everywhere
Well, George Lewis told the Englishman, the Italian and the Jew "You can't open your mind, boys To every conceivable point of view." They got Charles Darwin trapped out there on Highway Five Judge says to the High Sheriff, "I want him dead or alive Either one, I don't care." High Water everywhere
The Cuckoo is a pretty bird, she warbles as she flies I'm preachin' the Word of God I'm puttin' out your eyes I asked Fat Nancy for something to eat, she said, "Take it off the shelf - As great as you are a man, You'll never be greater than yourself." I told her I didn't really care High water everywhere
I'm getting' up in the morning - I believe I'll dust my broom Keeping away from the women I'm givin' 'em lots of room Thunder rolling over Clarksdale, everything is looking blue I just can't be happy, love Unless you're happy too It's bad out there High water everywhere."
"High Water (For Charley Patton)," from 2001's Love and Theft. Here is a decent performance from the spring 2007 tour (the album version, BD will agree, remains the best, never really topped in live performances).
"It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," from Bringing it All Back Home ...more of the lyrics of the abridged version on continuation page. A 2007 performance below.
"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 Proves 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 your ear It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.
"Well, there was this movie I seen one time, About a man riding 'cross the desert and it starred Gregory Peck. He was shot down by a hungry kid trying to make a name for himself. The townspeople wanted to crush that kid down and string him up by the neck.
Well, the marshal, now he beat that kid to a bloody pulp as the dying gunfighter lay in the sun and gasped for his last breath. Turn him loose, let him go, let him say he outdrew me fair and square, I want him to feel what it's like to every moment face his death.
Well, I keep seeing this stuff and it just comes a-rolling in And you know it blows right through me like a ball and chain. You know I can't believe we've lived so long and are still so far apart. The memory of you keeps callin' after me like a rollin' train.
I can still see the day that you came to me on the painted desert In your busted down Ford and your platform heels I could never figure out why you chose that particular place to meet Ah, but you were right. It was perfect as I got in behind the wheel.
Well, we drove that car all night into San Anton' And we slept near the Alamo, your skin was so tender and soft. Way down in Mexico you went out to find a doctor and you never came back. I would have gone on after you but I didn't feel like letting my head get blown off.
Well, we're drivin' this car and the sun is comin' up over the Rockies, Now I know she ain't you but she's here and she's got that dark rhythm in her soul. But I'm too over the edge and I ain't in the mood anymore to remember the times when I was your only man And she don't want to remind me. She knows this car would go out of control..."
Lyrics to the 11-minute song continued on the following page. A youtube below has the entire audio of the song, oddly accompanied by a Tina Turner video. But ... that doesn't matter, since the audio is all that you need for this one. It's from "Knocked Out Loaded," the first and likely last song will will feature from that particular album (at least for a while).
"Hot chili peppers in the blistering sun Dust on my face and my cape, Me and Magdalena on the run I think this time we shall escape.
Sold my guitar to the baker's son For a few crumbs and a place to hide, But I can get another one And I'll play for Magdalena as we ride.
No llores, mi querida Dios nos vigila Soon the horse will take us to Durango. Agarrame, mi vida Soon the desert will be gone Soon you will be dancing the fandango.
Past the Aztec ruins and the ghosts of our people Hoofbeats like castanets on stone. At night I dream of bells in the village steeple Then I see the bloody face of Ramon.
Was it me that shot him down in the cantina Was it my hand that held the gun? Come, let us fly, my Magdalena The dogs are barking and what's done is done.
No llores, mi querida etc.
At the corrida we'll sit in the shade And watch the young torero stand alone. We'll drink tequila where our grandfathers stayed When they rode with Villa into Torreon.
Then the padre will recite the prayers of old In the little church this side of town. I will wear new boots and an earring of gold You'll shine with diamonds in your wedding gown.
The way is long but the end is near Already the fiesta has begun. The face of God will appear With His serpent eyes of obsidian.
No llores, mi querida etc.
Was that the thunder that I heard? My head is vibrating, I feel a sharp pain Come sit by me, don't say a word Oh, can it be that I am slain?
Quick, Magdalena, take my gun Look up in the hills, that flash of light. Aim well my little one We may not make it through the night.
No llores, mi querida etc.
"Romance in Durango," from 1975's Desire. The performance is from the Rolling Thunder Revue from Fall, 1975.
"Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat Yes, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat Well, you must tell me, baby How your head feels under somethin' like that Under your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, you look so pretty in it Honey, can I jump on it sometime? Yes, I just wanna see If it's really that expensive kind You know it balances on your head Just like a mattress balances On a bottle of wine Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, if you wanna see the sun rise Honey, I know where We'll go out and see it sometime We'll both just sit there and stare Me with my belt Wrapped around my head And you just sittin' there In your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, I asked the doctor if I could see you It's bad for your health, he said Yes, I disobeyed his orders I came to see you But I found him there instead You know, I don't mind him cheatin' on me But I sure wish he'd take that off his head Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, I see you got a new boyfriend You know, I never seen him before Well, I saw him Makin' love to you You forgot to close the garage door You might think he loves you for your money But I know what he really loves you for It's your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat..."
"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat," from Blonde on Blonde. Versions from 1966 and 1996 are below.
"Can't you hear that rooster crowin'? Rabbit runnin' down across the road Underneath the bridge where the water flowed through So happy just to see you smile Underneath the sky of blue On this new morning, new morning On this new morning with you.
Can't you hear that motor turnin'? Automobile comin' into style Comin' down the road for a country mile or two So happy just to see you smile Underneath the sky of blue On this new morning, new morning On this new morning with you.
The night passed away so quickly It always does when you're with me.
Can't you feel that sun a-shinin'? Groundhog runnin' by the country stream This must be the day that all of my dreams come true So happy just to be alive Underneath the sky of blue On this new morning, new morning On this new morning with you.
So happy just to be alive Underneath the sky of blue On this new morning, new morning On this new morning with you. New morning . . ."
This Valentine's Day marks the third anniversary of our weekly Dylan lyrics, which began in earnest with "Forever Young" back on February 14, 2005. How time has flown. Today we offer "New Morning," off Bob's comeback album of the same name from 1970.
"I'm walking through streets that are dead Walking, walking with you in my head My feet are so tired, my brain is so wired And the clouds are weeping
Did I hear someone tell a lie? Did I hear someone's distant cry? I spoke like a child; you destroyed me with a smile While I was sleeping
I'm sick of love but I'm in the thick of it This kind of love, I'm so sick of it
I see, I see lovers in the meadow I see, I see silhouettes in the window I watch them 'til they're gone and they leave me hanging on To a shadow
I'm sick of love; I hear the clock tick This kind of love; I'm love sick
Sometimes the silence can be like the thunder Sometimes I wanna take to the road and plunder Could you ever be true? I think of you And I wonder
I'm sick of love; I wish I'd never met you I'm sick of love; I'm trying to forget you
Just don't know what to do I'd give anything to Be with you."
Love Sick, from 1997's "Time Out of Mind." The album cuts are very listenable and have held up well, but as usual Bob improved on them in his live performances, such as the one below, from the 1998 Grammy Awards (this is the famous "Soy Bomb" appearance, but the high sound quality edit released by Columbia Records cuts him out. I have included the second video so viewers can see what the audience actually saw during the middle portion of the performance).
"I don't care what you do, I don't care what you say I don't care where you go or how long you stay Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry po' me any more
Well you take my money and you turn me out You fill me up with nothin' but self doubt Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry po' me anymore
When I was young, driving was my crave You drive me so hard, almost to the grave Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry po' me anymore
I'm so hard pressed, my mind tied up in knots I keep recycling the same old thoughts Someday baby you ain't gonna worry po' me anymore
So many good things in life that I overlooked I don't know what to do now, you got me so hooked Someday baby you ain't gonna worry po' me any more
Well, I don't want to brag, but I'm gonna ring your neck When all else fails I'll make it a matter of self respect Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry po' me any more
You can take your clothes put 'm in a sack You goin' down the road, baby and you can't come back Someday baby you ain't gonna worry po' me any more
I try to be friendly, I try to be kind Now I'm gonna drive you from your home, just like I was driven from mine Someday baby you ain't gonna worry po' me any more
Living this way ain't a natural thing to do Why was I born to love you? Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry po' me any more."
The latest evidence of warming: New York records its 
From recent news reports: 11,700 years ago, at the close of the last ice age, a time when fully modern humans inhabited most of the globe, Greenland 
Tell Tale Signs, a 
Take Michael Pollan's recent book, 
This one goes out to Dr. Mercury, who was craving a somewhat more patriotic offering after our Dylan post earlier today. Fair and balanced. Would you believe it, though, that Dylan actually toured with Merle just a couple years ago? And one of the songs of Dylan's last album was directly inspired by Merle's classic "Workingman's Blues"? They have more in common than one might imagine. Anyways, here is the Red State answer to "Masters of War:"