Maggie's Farm

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.

Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet?
We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin' you to defy it
Lights flicker from the opposite loft
In this room the heat pipes just cough
The country music station plays soft
But there's nothing, really nothing to turn off
Just Louise and her lover so entwined
And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind

"Visions of Johanna," from 1966's Blonde on Blonde.  Download an intimate sounding live version from 1995 at the link here.

"They ask me how I feel
And if my love is real
And how I know I'll make it through.
And they, they look at me and frown,
They'd like to drive me from this town,
They don't want me around
'Cause I believe in you.

They show me to the door,
They say don't come back no more
'Cause I don't be like they'd like me to,
And I walk out on my own
A thousand miles from home
But I don't feel alone
'Cause I believe in you.

I believe in you even through the tears and the laughter,
I believe in you even though we be apart.
I believe in you even on the morning after.
Oh, when the dawn is nearing
Oh, when the night is disappearing
Oh, this feeling is still here in my heart."

"I Believe In You," from 1979's Slow Train Coming.  Download a live version from the 1979 Gospel Tour (where Dylan played only his new Christian songs and often preached to the audience between numbers) here.

Above picture from 1980.

"I was riding on the Mayflower
When I thought I spied some land
I yelled for Captain Arab
I have ya understand
Who came running to the deck
Said, "Boys, forget the whale
Look on over yonder
Cut the engines
Change the sail
Haul on the bowline"
We sang that melody
Like all tough sailors do
When they are far away at sea

"I think I'll call it America"
I said as we hit land
I took a deep breath
I fell down, I could not stand
Captain Arab he started
Writing up some deeds
He said, "Let's set up a fort
And start buying the place with beads"
Just then this cop comes down the street
Crazy as a loon
He throw us all in jail
For carryin' harpoons

"Bob Dylan's 115th Dream," from Bringing It All Back Home.  A song rarely played live, but here is one from the earliest days of the Neverending Tour in 1988.  The studio version, with it's false start and witty phrasing, has never been seriously challenged by any of the concert performances, which tend to call attention to the near-absence of any melody in the song. 

Picture above is from the 1988 Summer tour, from one of the very first shows of the now 18-year Neverending Tour.

The remainder of the charmin' and clever lyrics on continuation page.

"I'm beginning to hear voices and there's no one around
Well, I'm all used up and the fields have turned brown
I went to church on Sunday and she passed by
My love for her is taking such a long time to die

I'm waist deep, waist deep in the mist
It's almost like, almost like I don't exist
I'm twenty miles out of town, in cold irons bound

The walls of pride are high and wide
Can't see over to the other side
It's such a sad thing to see beauty decay
It's sadder still, to feel your heart torn away

One look at you and I'm out of control
Like the universe has swallowed me whole
I'm twenty miles out of town in Cold irons bound"

"Cold Irons Bound," from 1997's Grammy-winning Time Out Of Mind.  While many of Dylan's earlier lyrics could stand on their own as poetry, those on Time Out Of Mind cannot - to me anyways - be separated from the music without having their impact significantly diminished.  In this sense, though, they may work better as complete songs than some earlier masterpieces.  In live performances Dylan uses the music to heighten the emotional impact of the songs to an even greater degree than on the albums: try, for instance, a fiery version from 1998 here, or a subdued new arrangement performed just a few days ago in Grand Prairie, Texas, here.

"You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning

You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that's winning

You say I let you down
You know it's not like that
If you're so hurt
Why then don't you show it

You say you lost your faith
But that's not where it's at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it"

"Positively 4th Street," released as a single in 1965 and later on the misleadingly-named Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (while "Like A Rolling Stone" reached the top ten, many of the other songs on the record only topped the charts when recorded by other groups).  Download a live version from 1996 here.

"If not for you,
Babe, I couldn't find the door,
Couldn't even see the floor,
I'd be sad and blue,
If not for you.

If not for you,
Babe, I'd lay awake all night,
Wait for the mornin' light
To shine in through,
But it would not be new,
If not for you.

If not for you
My sky would fall,
Rain would gather too.
Without your love I'd be nowhere at all,
I'd be lost if not for you,
And you know it's true.

If not for you
My sky would fall,
Rain would gather too.
Without your love I'd be nowhere at all,
Oh! What would I do
If not for you.

If not for you,
Winter would have no spring,
Couldn't hear the robin sing,
I just wouldn't have a clue,
Anyway it wouldn't ring true,
If not for you."

"If Not For You," from 1970s pleasant-sounding, light-on-substance New Morning.  You owe it to yourself to listen to a live version from September, 2000 here.

"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
Here comes the blind commissioner
They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight
From Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy
"It takes one to know one," she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning
"You Belong to Me I Believe"
And someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend
You better leave"
And the only sound that's left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up
On Desolation Row"

From the beginning of "Desolation Row," the closing track on 1965's Highway 61 Revisited.  Now that Bob has finally allowed himself a lyric cheat-sheet at concerts, fans are finally getting to hear all the verses to this long, bizarre and incredible song, one that really has no counterpart or equal anywhere else in popular music.  Try a live version from 2003 here. 

"God knows you ain't pretty,
God knows it's true.
God knows there ain't anybody
Ever gonna take the place of you.

God knows it's a struggle,
God knows it's a crime,
God knows there's gonna be no more water
But fire next time.

God didn't call it treason,
God didn't call it wrong,
It was supposed to last a season
But it's been so strong for so long.

God knows there's a river,
God knows how to make it flow,
God knows you ain't gonna be taking
Nothing with you when you go."

"God Knows," from the 1990 album Under The Red Sky (though originally written and recorded for Oh Mercy).  Download a live version from 1995 here, or one from last summer's tour here.

"Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
I was layin' in bed
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
And I was standin' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through,
Tangled up in blue.

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But I used a little too much force.
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out West
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin' away
I heard her say over my shoulder,
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue,"
Tangled up in blue."

"Tangled Up In Blue," off 1975's Blood On The Tracks.  Download a live version from 2000 here.

"As we rode out to Fennario, as we rode out to Fennario
Our captain fell in love with a lady like a dove
And called her by a name, pretty Peggy-O.

Will you marry me pretty Peggy-O, will you marry me pretty Peggy-O
If you will marry me, I'll set your cities free
And free all the ladies in the are-O.

I would marry you sweet William-O, I would marry you sweet William-O
I would marry you but your guineas are too few
And I fear my mama would be angry-O.

What would your mama think pretty Peggy-O,
What would your mama think pretty Peggy-O,
What would your mama think if she heard my guineas clink
Saw me marching at the head of my soldiers-o."

"Pretty Peggy-O," traditional tune covered by Dylan on his very first album, 1962's Bob Dylan, and later played frequently on the Neverending Tour from 1992 until its last known appearance in 1998.  Download a live version from September 1992 here, or a Grateful Dead cover of the same song from 1982 here.  This website has additional information on the history and derivation of the song.

"John Wesley Harding
Was a friend to the poor,
He trav'led with a gun in ev'ry hand.
All along this countryside,
He opened a many a door,
But he was never known
To hurt an honest man.

'Twas down in Chaynee County,
A time they talk about,
With his lady by his side
He took a stand.
And soon the situation there
Was all but straightened out,
For he was always known
To lend a helping hand.

All across the telegraph
His name it did resound,
But no charge held against him
Could they prove.
And there was no man around
Who could track or chain him down,
He was never known
To make a foolish move."

-"John Wesley Harding," off the album of the same name from 1967.  Coincidentally, the property on which Dick Cheney's hunting accident occurred was originally purchased by John Armstrong, the ranger who captured the real-life outlaw John Wesley Hardin after a shootout in 1877.  "Chaynee County" indeed!

(Photo, Dylan, 1968, from Landy)

T'was in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved.
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

"Shelter From The Storm," from 1975's Blood On The Tracks.

"Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee
They're throwing knives into the tree
Two big bags of dead man's bones
Got their noses to the grindstones

Living in the Land of Nod
Trustin' their fate to the Hands of God
They pass by so silently
Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee

Well, they're going to the country, they're gonna retire
They're taking a streetcar named Desire
Looking in the window at the pecan pie
Lot of things they'd like they would never buy

Neither one gonna turn and run
They're making a voyage to the sun
"His Master's voice is calling me,"
Says Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee

Tweedle-dee Dee and Tweedle-dee Dum
All that and more and then some
They walk among the stately trees
They know the secrets of the breeze..."

From "Tweedle-Dee & Tweedle-Dum," from 2001's astonishing Love and Theft.  Download a live version here.

"Oh, I'm sailin' away my own true love,
I'm sailin' away in the morning.
Is there something I can send you from across the sea,
From the place that I'll be landing?

No, there's nothin' you can send me, my own true love,
There's nothin' I wish to be ownin'.
Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled,
From across that lonesome ocean.

Oh, but I just thought you might want something fine
Made of silver or of golden,
Either from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona.

Oh, but if I had the stars from the darkest night
And the diamonds from the deepest ocean,
I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss,
For that's all I'm wishin' to be ownin'.

"Boots of Spanish Leather," from 1964's The Times They Are A-Changin'

"Been so long since a strange woman has slept in my bed.
Look how sweet she sleeps, how free must be her dreams.
In another lifetime she must have owned the world, or been faithfully wed
To some righteous king who wrote psalms beside moonlit streams.

I and I
In creation where one's nature neither honors nor forgives.
I and I
One says to the other, no man sees my face and lives."

"I and I," off 1983's Infidels.  Download a live version here.

"There's a long-distance train rolling through the rain, tears on the letter  I write.
There's a woman I long to touch and I miss her so much but she's drifting like a satellite.
There's a neon light ablaze in this green smoky haze, laughter down on
Elizabeth Street
And a lonesome bell tone in that valley of stone where she bathed in a stream of pure heat.
Her father would emphasize you got to be more than street-wise but he practiced what he preached from the heart.
A full-blooded Cherokee, he predicted it to me, the time and the place that we'd part.

There's a babe in the arms of a woman in a rage
And a longtime golden-haired stripper onstage
And she winds back the clock and she turns back the page
Of a book that no one can write.
Oh, where are you tonight?"

"Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)," from 1978's Street Legal. 

"I'll remember you
When I've forgotten all the rest,
You to me were true,
You to me were the best.
When there is no more,
You cut to the core
Quicker than anyone I knew.
When I'm all alone
In the great unknown,
I'll remember you.

I'll remember you
At the end of the trail,
I had so much left to do,
I had so little time to fail.
There's some people that
You don't forget,
Even though you've only seen 'em
One time or two.
When the roses fade
And I'm in the shade,
I'll remember you."

"I'll Remember You," from Empire Burlesque.  Download a live version of this song here.