Maggie's Farm

What's the matter with me
I don't have much to say
Daylight sneakin through the window
And I'm still in this all-night cafe
Walkin to and fro beneath the moon
Out to where the trucks are rollin slow
To sit down on this bank of sand
And watch the river flow

Dylan, from Watching the River Flow
on New Morning

Tour Review

Jon Pareles reviews Dylan's current tour: "His latest band, anchored as it has been since the early 1990's by Tony Garnier on bass, could turn "John Brown," his early-60's song about a shattered soldier, into banjo-picking Appalachian rock, and it could sashay through Mr. Dylan's Tin Pan Alley-flavored "Bye and Bye." It had a violinist, Elana Fremerman, who was joined for keening, soaring twin-fiddle passages by Donnie Herron in "Absolutely Sweet Marie." But its core was in the blues, with Denny Freeman playing jagged guitar solos, George Recile on drums making shuffle beats leap ahead, and the whole band, completed by Stu Kimball on guitar, finding new riffs behind old songs like "Masters of War" - almost a minor-key blues in its latest incarnation - or "All Along the Watchtower." With this band, Mr. Dylan's indictments became both pitiless and exhilarating."

Read entire review.

In the lonely night
In the blinking stardust of a pale blue light
You're comin thru to me in black and white
Where we were made of dreams

You're blowin down the shakey street
You're hearing my heart beat
In the record breaking heat
Where we were born in time

Not one more night, not one more Kiss
Not this time, Babe, no more of this
Takes too much skill, takes too much will
It's too revealing

You came you saw, just like the law
You married young, just like your Ma
You tried and tried, you made me slide
You left me reelin with this feelin

from Born in Time, by Bob Dylan
Buy the book, buy the CD

I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more,
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more.
Well, he hands you a nickel,
He hands you a dime,
He asks you with a grin
If you're havin a good time,
Then he fines you every time you slam the door.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more.

Dylan, from Maggie's Farm
Buy the book

The bridge at midnight trembles,
The country doctor rambles,
Banker's neices seek perfection,
Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring.
The wind howls like a hammer,
The night blows cold and rainy,
My love she's like some raven
At my window with a broken wing.

Dylan, from Love Minus Zero/No Limit

Something is burning, baby, hear 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?

Dylan, from Something's Burning, Baby

Standing on the waters casting your bread
While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing.
Distant ships sail into the mist.
You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing.
Freedom just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune
Bird fly high by the light of the moon.
Oh, oh oh, Jokerman.

Dylan, from Jokerman

Oh, the ragman draws circles
Up and down the block.
I'd ask him what the matter was
but I know that he don't talk.
And the ladies treat me kindly
And furnish me with tape,
but deep inside my heart
I know I can't escape.

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
to be stuck inside of Mobile
with the Memphis blues again.

Dylan, from Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

I was standin' by the side road,
Listenin' to the billboard knock.
Standin' at the side road
Listenin' to that billboard knock.
Well, my wrist was empty
But my nerves were kickin',
Tickin' like a clock.

Dylan, from Black Crow Blues

Oh, the hours that I spent inside the Coliseum,
Dodgin' lions, and wastin' time.
All those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see 'em,
Yes it sure has been a long, hard climb.
Train wheels runnin' through the back of my memory,
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese.
Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody,
When I paint my masterpiece.

Dylan, from When I Paint My Masterpiece

Dylan, from Every Grain of Sand

In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need,
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed,
There's a dyin' voice within me, reaching out somewhere,
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair.

Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake,
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break.
In the fury of the moment, I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.

"Shadows are fallin, and I've been here all day.
It's too hard to sleep, the time is runnin away.
Seems like my soul has turned into steel,
I've still got the scars that the sun let me heal.
There's not even room enough to be anywhere.
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there."

Dylan, from Not Dark Yet

Well, I asked for something to eat
I'm hungry as a hog
So I get brown rice, seaweed,
and a dirty hot-dog.
I've got a hole
where my stomach disappeared.
Then you ask why I don't live here
Honey, I gotta think you're really weird.

Dylan, from On The Road Again

May God bless and keep you always,

May your wishes all come true,

May you always do for others

And let others do for you.

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung,

And may you stay forever young.

Dylan, from Forever Young