Maggie's Farm

"You took a part of me that I really miss
I keep asking myself how long it can go on like this
You told yourself a lie; that's all right mama, I told myself one too
I'm trying to get closer but I'm still a million miles from you

You took the silver, you took the gold
You left me standing out in the cold
People ask about you; I didn't tell them everything I knew
Well I'm trying to get closer, but I'm still a million miles from you

I'm drifting in and out of dreamless sleep
Throwing all my memories in a ditch so deep
Did so many things I never did intend to do
Well I'm trying to get closer, but I'm still a million miles from you

I need your love so bad, turn your lamp down low
I need every bit of it for the places that I go
Sometimes I wonder just what it's all coming to
Well I'm tryin' to get closer, but I'm still a million miles from you

Well I don't dare close my eyes and I don't dare wink
Maybe in the next life I'll be able to hear myself think
Feel like talking to somebody but I just don't know who
Well, I'm tryin' to get closer but I'm still a million miles from you.."

"Million Miles," from 1997's Time Out Of Mind.  A ragged but powerful version from 2003 can be downloaded here.  Hopefully, one day, fans will be able to hear the lost recordings from this album - the original take of "Mississippi," and the rumored "Girl From The Red River Shore."

The news has just come out
that Dartmouth's newly proposed alumni constitution has been rejected by voters, 51 percent to 49 percent (67 percent being the threshold required for passage). 

The proposed constitution had been roundly criticized for its anti-democratic nature, yet had been massively promoted by an alumni council that had already violated its own constitutional election rules in anticipation of the constitution's passage.

An overview of the whole saga can be found at Joe's Dartblog, here.

Let's see whether they do like the EU, and try it again in a year or two.

"There's an evenin' haze settlin' over town
Starlight by the edge of the creek
The buyin' power of the proletariat's gone down
Money's gettin' shallow and weak
Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory
It's a new path that we trod
They say low wages are a reality
If we want to compete abroad

My cruel weapons have been put on the shelf
Come sit down on my knee
You are dearer to me than myself
As you yourself can see
While I'm listening to the steel rails hum
Got both eyes tight shut
Just sitting here trying to keep the hunger from
Creeping it's way into my gut

Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes
You can hang back or fight your best on the frontline
Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues

Well, I'm sailin' on back, ready for the long haul
Tossed by the winds and the seas
I'll drag 'em all down to hell and I'll stand 'em at the wall
I'll sell 'em to their enemies
I'm tryin' to feed my soul with thought
Gonna sleep off the rest of the day
Sometimes no one wants what we got
Sometimes you can't give it away

Now the place is ringed with countless foes
Some of them may be deaf and dumb
No man, no woman knows
The hour that sorrow will come
In the dark I hear the night birds call
I can feel a lover's breath
I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall
Sleep is like a temporary death

Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes
You can hang back or fight your best on the frontline
Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues..."

"Workingman's Blues #2," off the recently released, number one selling Modern Times.  Here's a live performance of the song from the show in San Diego just four days ago.

"After a while we took in the clothes,
Nobody said very much.
Just some old wild shirts and a couple pairs of pants
Which nobody really wanted to touch.
Mama come in and picked up a book
An' Papa asked her what it was.
Someone else asked, "What do you care?"
Papa said, "Well, just because."
Then they started to take back their clothes,
Hang 'em on the line.
It was January the thirtieth
And everybody was feelin' fine.

The next day everybody got up
Seein' if the clothes were dry.
The dogs were barking, a neighbor passed,
Mama, of course, she said, "Hi!"
"Have you heard the news?" he said, with a grin,
"The Vice-President's gone mad!"
"Where?" "Downtown." "When?" "Last night."
"Hmm, gee, that's too bad!"
"Well, there's nothin' we can do about it," said the neighbor,
"It's just somethin' we're gonna have to forget."
"Yes, I guess so," said Ma,
Then she asked me if the clothes was still wet.

I reached up, touched my shirt,
And the neighbor said, "Are those clothes yours?"
I said, "Some of 'em, not all of 'em."
He said, "Ya always help out around here with the chores?"
I said, "Sometime, not all the time."
Then my neighbor, he blew his nose
Just as papa yelled outside,
"Mama wants you t' come back in the house and bring them clothes."
Well, I just do what I'm told,
So, I did it, of course.
I went back in the house and Mama met me
And then I shut all the doors.

The amusingly content-less "Clothesline Saga," off the Basement Tapes, recorded in 1967 but only officially released eight years later.

"I've seen love go by my door
It's never been this close before
Never been so easy or so slow.
Been shooting in the dark too long
When somethin's not right it's wrong
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go.

Dragon clouds so high above
I've only known careless love,
It's always hit me from below.
This time around it's more correct
Right on target, so direct,
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go.

Purple clover, Queen Anne lace,
Crimson hair across your face,
You could make me cry if you don't know.
Can't remember what I was thinkin' of
You might be spoilin' me too much, love,
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go.

Flowers on the hillside, bloomin' crazy,
Crickets talkin' back and forth in rhyme,
Blue river runnin' slow and lazy,
I could stay with you forever
And never realize the time.

Situations have ended sad,
Relationships have all been bad.
Mine've been like Verlaine's and Rimbaud.
But there's no way I can compare
All those scenes to this affair,
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go.

You're gonna make me wonder what I'm doin',
Stayin' far behind without you.
You're gonna make me wonder what I'm sayin',
You're gonna make me give myself a good talkin' to.

I'll look for you in old Honolulu,
San Francisco, Ashtabula,
You're gonna have to leave me now, I know.
But I'll see you in the sky above,
In the tall grass, in the ones I love,
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go."

"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go," from 1975's Blood On The Tracks.  The song was played frequently during the 1976 but hasn't been brought out once since that time.

"Well, I ride on a mailtrain, baby,
Can't buy a thrill.
Well, I've been up all night, baby,
Leanin' on the window sill.
Well, if I die
On top of the hill
And if I don't make it,
You know my baby will.

Don't the moon look good, mama,
Shinin' through the trees?
Don't the brakeman look good, mama,
Flagging down the "Double E"?
Don't the sun look good
Goin' down over the sea?
Don't my gal look fine
When she's comin' after me?

Now the wintertime is coming,
The windows are filled with frost.
I went to tell everybody,
But I could not get across.
Well, I wanna be your lover, baby,
I don't wanna be your boss.
Don't say I never warned you
When your train gets lost."

"It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry," off 1965's Highway 61 Revisited.  This bluesy song, originally titled "Phantom Engineer," became a staple of the early- and mid-90's phase of the Neverending Tour, but has been played much less frequently since that time.  A version from 1995, with Jerry Garcia guesting on guitar less than two months before his death, can be downloaded here.

"Oh, the gentlemen are talking and the midnight moon is on the riverside,
They're drinking up and walking and it is time for me to slide.
I live in another world where life and death are memorized,
Where the earth is strung with lovers' pearls and all I see are dark eyes.

A cock is crowing far away and another soldier's deep in prayer,
Some mother's child has gone astray, she can't find him anywhere.
But I can hear another drum beating for the dead that rise,
Whom nature's beast fears as they come and all I see are dark eyes.

They tell me to be discreet for all intended purposes,
They tell me revenge is sweet and from where they stand, I'm sure it is.
But I feel nothing for their game where beauty goes unrecognized,
All I feel is heat and flame and all I see are dark eyes.

Oh, the French girl, she's in paradise and a drunken man is at the wheel,
Hunger pays a heavy price to the falling gods of speed and steel.
Oh, time is short and the days are sweet and passion rules the arrow that flies,
A million faces at my feet but all I see are dark eyes."

"Dark Eyes," off 1985's Empire Burlesque.  Dylan hauled out and dusted off this song at the request of Patti Smith during their joint December 1995 tour, after Dylan told her she could pick any song of his she wanted for their duet performances.  Dylan hasn't played it since, but we still have the recordings, one of which you can download here.

Dylan and Patti Smith perform "Dark Eyes" during the New York show, Dec. 11, 1995.  Too bad it was a school night for the 14-year-old Dylanologist, or he would have been there for sure...

"I pulled out for San Anton',
I never felt so good.
My woman said she'd meet me there
And of course, I knew she would.
The coachman, he hit me for my hook
And he asked me my name.
I give it to him right away,
Then I hung my head in shame.
Lo and behold! Lo and behold!
Lookin' for my lo and behold,
Get me outa here, my dear man!

I come into Pittsburgh
At six-thirty flat.
I found myself a vacant seat
An' I put down my hat.
"What's the matter, Molly, dear,
What's the matter with your mound?"
"What's it to ya, Moby Dick?
This is chicken town!"
Lo and behold! Lo and behold!
Lookin' for my lo and behold,
Get me outa here, my dear man!

I bought my girl
A herd of moose,
One she could call her own.
Well, she came out the very next day
To see where they had flown.
I'm goin' down to Tennessee,
Get me a truck 'r somethin'.
Gonna save my money and rip it up!
Lo and behold! Lo and behold!
Lookin' for my lo and behold,
Get me outa here, my dear man!

Now, I come in on a ferris wheel
An' boys, I sure was slick.
I come in like a ton of bricks,
Laid a few tricks on 'em.
Goin' back to Pittsburgh,
Count up to thirty,
Round that horn and ride that herd,
Gonna thread up!
Lo and behold! Lo and behold!
Lookin' for my lo and behold,
Get me outa here, my dear man!"

"Lo and Behold," off The Basement Tapes, a collection of songs released in 1975 but recorded in the summer of 1967 (with the exception of some of the tracks by The Band, which, it later became known, were actually their own studio outtakes). 

"Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears
While we all sup sorrow with the poor.
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears,
Oh, hard times, come again no more.
'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary.
Hard times, hard times, come again no more.
Many days you have lingered all around my cabin door.
Oh, hard times, come again no more.

While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay.
There are frail forms fainting at the door.
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say.
Oh, hard times, come again no more.
'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary.
Hard times, hard times, come again no more.
Many days you have lingered all around my cabin door.
Oh, hard times, come again no more.

There's pale drooping maiden who toils her life away
With a worn out heart, whose better days are o'er.
Though her voice it would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
Oh, hard times, come again no more.
'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary.
Hard times, hard times, come again no more.
Many days you have lingered all around my cabin door.
Oh, hard times, come again no more.

'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary.
Hard times, hard times, come again no more.
Many days you have lingered all around my cabin door.
Oh, hard times, come again no more."

Stephen Foster's "Hard Times," recorded on 1992's Good As I Been To You, the first of two albums of acoustic covers that Dylan would release in the early 90s.  The live version available at the link here is from the performance at Willie Nelson's 60th birthday bash in Austin in April of 1993.

Crickets are chirpin', the water is high,
There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry,
Windows wide open, African trees
Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze.
Not a word of goodbye, note even a note,
She gone with the man
In the long black coat.

Somebody seen him hanging around
At the old dance hall on the outskirts of town,
He looked into her eyes when she stopped to ask
If he wanted to dance, he had a face like a mask.
Somebody said from the Bible he'd quote
There was dust on the man
In the long black coat.

Preacher was a talkin' there's a sermon he gave,
He said every man's conscience is vile and depraved,
You cannot depend on it to be your guide
When it's you who must keep it satisfied.
It ain't easy to swallow, it sticks in the throat,
She gave her heart to the man
In the long black coat.

There are no mistakes in life some people say
It is true sometimes you can see it that way.
People don't live or die, people just float.
She went with the man
In the long black coat.

There's smoke on the water, it's been there since June,
Tree trunks uprooted, 'neath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating on a dead horse.
She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote,
She gone with the man
In the long black coat.

"Man In The Long Black Coat," from 1989's Oh Mercy, hailed as a comeback album at the time.  If you listen closely to the live version available here, you can make out that Dylan sings "now the beach is deserted" in place of "there's smoke on the water" in the final verse - the new words coming directly from "Sara," a plea to his wife from the 1976 album Desire and a song which he hadn't sung in concert since that year. 

"I was in your presence for an hour or so
Or was it a day? I truly don't know.
Where the sun never set, where the trees hung low
By that soft and shining sea.
Did you respect me for what I did
Or for what I didn't do, or for keeping it hid?
Did I lose my mind when I tried to get rid
Of everything you see?

In the summertime, ah in the summertime,
In the summertime when you were with me.

I got the heart and you got the blood,
We cut through iron and we cut through mud.
Then came the warnin' that was before the flood
That set everybody free.
Fools they made a mock of sin,
Our loyalty they tried to win
But you were closer to me than my next of kin
When they didn't want to know or see.

In the summertime, ah in the summertime,
In the summertime when you were with me.

Strangers, they meddled in our affairs,
Poverty and shame was theirs.
But all that sufferin' was not to be compared
With the glory that is to be.
And I'm still carrying the gift you gave,
It's a part of me now, it's been cherished and saved,
It'll be with me unto the grave
And then unto eternity.

In the summertime, ah in the summertime,
In the summertime when you were with me."

"In The Summertime," from 1981's Shot of Love.  Once some of the songs off Modern Times start getting played on tour, we'll begin posting lyrics and live performances here. 

Modern Times, Dylan's first new album since 2001's masterpiece Love and Theft, hits stores today.  (Dylan has released a number of other works during the intervening years, however, including Cross the Green Mountain, Waitin' For You, Tell Ol' Bill, as well as a number of cover versions of his and other artists' songs on the Masked and Anonymous soundtrack.)  

"Oh, help me in my weakness,"
I heard the drifter say,
As they carried him from the courtroom
And were taking him away.
"My trip hasn't been a pleasant one
And my time it isn't long,
And I still do not know
What it was that I've done wrong."

Well, the judge, he cast his robe aside,
A tear came to his eye,
"You fail to understand," he said,
"Why must you even try?"
Outside, the crowd was stirring,
You could hear it from the door.
Inside, the judge was stepping down,
While the jury cried for more.

"Oh, stop that cursed jury,"
Cried the attendant and the nurse,
"The trial was bad enough,
But this is ten times worse."
Just then a bolt of lightning
Struck the courthouse out of shape,
And while ev'rybody knelt to pray
The drifter did escape.

"Drifter's Escape," from 1967's John Wesley Harding.  A hard-rocking version from 1995 can be found here.

Coming August 29: Dylan's first new record in five years. Given the quality of the last two, this could be something very special.

Many fans prefer his earlier stuff but, except for B on B and Highway 61, I think Love and Theft and Time out of Mind are as good as he can be.

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand,
Vanished from my hand,
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet,
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship,
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip,
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wanderin'.
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go under it.

"Mr Tambourine Man," from 1965's Bringing It All Back Home.  A lovely performance from the 1995 Manchester, England show can be downloaded from the link here.

Reposted from May 31, 2005

The Dylanologist may be accused of having a greater passion for the music of Bobby D. than most doctors would recommend, but this will not stop him from helping others augment their knowledge and appreciation of his (immense) body of work.  So, for all Dylanophiles, aspiring Dylanologists, and even casual fans, here are a few links that might be of interest:

Expecting Rain: As close as anything comes to a Dylan blog, this terrific site provides tons of Bob-centered and Bob-related material every day, many of which would be of interest to the general music fan.  Lots of good links to explore also.

Dylan Tree: The site to go to for those looking to deal in Dylan bootlegs (the proper term is "audience recordings"), a must for anyone who wants to hear Dylan at his best.  Though most of the site is dedicated to trading of CD's via mail, there is also a new bittorrent feature which allows tech-savvy users to directly download entire concerts to their hard drives.

Dylan Pool: A huge Dylan community which allows you to guess which songs Bob will be performing each tour and which scores and ranks you based on your performance.  Create a profile, list the concerts you've attended and even browse a fan forum at this site.

Dylan MP3's: One of a number of sites which offer select live performances for direct download.  The version of Highlands in particular is mesmerizing.

Bob Dates: Can't remember whether Bob played Like A Rolling Stone at that show you saw five years ago?  No matter, this site catalogues every single Dylan performance from the mid-90s forward in an easy-to-navigate format, with reviews penned by audience members for almost every show.

There are a lot more good ones out there, of course - not to mention Dylan's official site at bobdylan.com, which also has live tunes available under to performances section - but these few sites can serve to get you started.  Happy browsing!

"That big eight-wheeler rollin' down the track
Means your true-lovin' daddy ain't comin' back
'Cause I'm movin' on, I'll soon be gone
You were flyin' too high, for my little old sky
So I'm movin' on

That big loud whistle as it blew and blew
Said hello to the southland, we're comin' to you
When we're movin' on, oh hear my song
You had the laugh on me, so I've set you free
And I'm movin' on

Mister fireman won't you please listen to me
'Cause I got a pretty mama in Tennessee
Keep movin' me on, keep rollin' on
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll
And keep movin' me on

I've told you baby, from time to time
But you just wouldn't listen or pay me no mind
Now I'm movin' on, I'm rollin' on
You've broken your vow, and it's all over now
So I'm movin' on

But someday baby when you've had your play
You're gonna want your daddy but your daddy will say
Keep movin' on, you stayed away too long
I'm through with you, too bad you're blue
Keep movin' on."

"I'm Movin' On," written by Hank Snow and covered by numerous artists including Emmylou Harris and the Rolling Stones.  Dylan performed this song a handful of times in early 1993, shortly after he finalized his divorce with his second wife, Carolyn Dennis.  Download one of these live performances, given in the Netherlands in February of 1993, at the link here.  Or, try a very similar acoustic cover that opened Dylan's late 1992 shows, Muddy Waters' "I Can't Be Satisfied," a song which has essentially the same theme and message.

A cheerless, world-weary Dylan performs in mid-1992 at right.

Reposted from November, 2005. See "The Song and Dance Man" category for other good stuff. Even if you aren't a Dylan fan, you will find this video hauntingly beautiful.

Dylan Download Of The Day - "Restless Farewell," Ten Years Later

Today's featured download breaks new ground in that it offers video of Maggie's favorite guitar-strumming bard as well as audio - the file size is correspondingly much larger and will take longer to download, but I think you'll find it worth the wait.

The clip features Dylan performing at Frank Sinatra's 80th birthday celebration in November of 1995 (exactly ten years ago as of tomorrow), just a few weeks after completing a tremendous series of shows along the East coast.  Featured at the very end of a long bill of entertainers ranging from Bruce Springsteen and Tony Bennett to Ray Charles and Peggy Lee, all of whom performed Sinatra songs, Dylan took to the stage backed by not only his regular touring band, but by a full string ensemble, and launched into his first performance of his own song "Restless Farewell" in over 30 years.  Rumor has it that Sinatra himself requested the song, and given that its lyrics show it to be Dylan's own version of "My Way," this does not seem improbable.

In any event, the instrumental backing is quite unlike that of any other live Dylan performance, and the concentration Dylan brings to bear on the phrasing of the lyrics represents a high point of the Neverending Tour.  Even with the grainy quality of the video, the viewer can clearly detect a glint in Dylan's eye, a spark of renewed inspiration and creativity that would lead him to write his first original lyrics in over six years just a couple months later.  (These lyrics, which would not be recorded until January of 1997, came together to form Dylan's Grammy-winning album "Time Out Of Mind.")  On that November night, though, the crowd of celebrities assembled to pay homage to Frank probably did not even recognize the song, but the passion and honesty of the performance should have been evident to anyone lucky enough to have been there in person.

"I once held her in my arms,
She said she would always stay.
But I was cruel,
I treated her like a fool,
I threw it all away.

Once I had mountains in the palm of my hand,
And rivers that ran through every day.
I must have been mad,
I never knew what I had,
Until I threw it all away.

Love is all there is, it makes the world go 'round,
Love and only love, it can't be denied.
No matter what you think about it
You just won't be able to do without it.
Take a tip from one who's tried.

So if you find someone that gives you all of her love,
Take it to your heart, don't let it stray,
For one thing that's certain,
You will surely be a-hurtin',
If you throw it all away."

"I Threw It All Away," off 1969's Nashville Skyline.  An unreleased studio version recorded the following year with a much more natural singing style than found on that record can be downloaded at the link here. 

"If today was not an endless highway,
If tonight was not a crooked trail,
If tomorrow wasn't such a long time,
Then lonesome would mean nothing to me at all.
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin',
Yes, and if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin',
Only if she was lyin' by me,
Then I'd lie in my bed once again.

I can't see my reflection in the waters,
I can't speak the sounds that show no pain,
I can't hear the echo of my footsteps,
Or can't remember the sound of my own name.
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin',
Yes, and if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin',
Only if she was lyin' by me,
Then I'd lie in my bed once again.

There's beauty in the silver, singin' river,
There's beauty in the sunrise in the sky,
But none of these and nothing else can touch the beauty
That I remember in my true love's eyes.
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin',
Yes, and if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin',
Only if she was lyin' by me,
Then I'd lie in my bed once again."

"Tomorrow Is A Long Time," written in the early 60s but only officially released on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. II.  Try a live version from 2000 at the link here.

"I pity the poor immigrant
Who wishes he would've stayed home,
Who uses all his power to do evil
But in the end is always left so alone.
That man whom with his fingers cheats
And who lies with ev'ry breath,
Who passionately hates his life
And likewise, fears his death.

I pity the poor immigrant
Whose strength is spent in vain,
Whose heaven is like Ironsides,
Whose tears are like rain,
Who eats but is not satisfied,
Who hears but does not see,
Who falls in love with wealth itself
And turns his back on me.

I pity the poor immigrant
Who tramples through the mud,
Who fills his mouth with laughing
And who builds his town with blood,
Whose visions in the final end
Must shatter like the glass.
I pity the poor immigrant
When his gladness comes to pass."

"I Pity The Poor Immigrant," from 1967's John Wesley Harding.  Download a performance of this song from the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue in 1976 at the link here.

"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 say, "What's mine?"
And somebody else says, "Where what is?"
And you say, "Oh my God
Am I here all alone?"

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

The bizarre and whimsical "Ballad of a Thin Man," from Highway 61 Revisited.  Download a 1996 version here.

"Up in the mornin' Out on the job
Work like the devil for my pay
But that lucky old sun got nothin' to do
But roll around heaven all day.

Had a fuss with my woman, toil for my kids
Sweat till I'm wrinkled and gray
While that lucky old sun got nothin' to do
But roll around heaven all day

Oh Lord above, can't you hear me cryin' 
tears rollin' down my eyes
Send in a cloud with a silver lining
Take me to Paradise

Show me that river, take me across
Wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun, give me nothing to do
But roll around heaven all day."

"That Lucky Old Sun," lyrics written by Haven Gillespie and Beasley Smith in the 1940s and covered by numerous artists including Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Jerry Garcia.  Dylan has played the song only three times in concert, the most recent being this version from Irvine, California in June of 2000.

"All the tired horses in the sun
How'm I supposed to get any ridin' done? Hmm."

How'm I supposed to get any writin' done is more like it. This was a dry spell for Bob's muse.

"All The Tired Horses," from 1970's willfully self-destructive - yet listenable - Self Portrait, an album whose origin and purpose is a story in itself. No live versions of the song exist, unsurprisingly.

Bush Offers Unilateral Surrender To Mexico; Vincente Fox To Assume Executive Powers

What can I say about last night's speech that hasn't already been said by VFR, Michelle Malkin, or any number of sources...just check out this incredible  collection of linked commentary from throughout the blogosphere at Hot Air, virtually all of it negative.  Even the New York Times shakes its head in amazement at the fact that it seemed to please no one - not conservatives, who no longer trust Bush, not Democrats, who likewise cannot bring themselves to accept the fact that Bush might be sincere about amnesty (no matter how overwhelming the evidence), nor, apparently, even illegal aliens themselves.  The only positive response I saw, apart from those of die-hard Bush apologists, was from the Mexican government - a bad, bad sign indeed. 

The lies and distortions were too many to note in full, from the insistence that anyone would ever have to leave the country to apply for a green card (contradicted directly by the bill's language, and even by Bush himself just two weeks ago here), to the avoidance of any mention of the truly massive increase in legal immigration under the bill, or the halfhearted deployment of National Guardsmen who will not even have the power to apprehend illegals - an announcement that Lou Dobbs correctly pointed out last night is hardly worthy of central billing in a major address, were it not born purely of political calculation. 

To avoid closing on too down a note, this is pretty hilarious.

Also, for any statistics geeks out there, or really for anyone concerned about the incredible numbers inside the Senate bill, the Heritage Foundation has this amazing study which is a must-read.