One crash pad needed
For a civil rights worker
Who's returning home.
This is a song by Eric Andersen about a civil rights activist returning from the field. Bob Dylan recorded it for the "Self Portrait" album in 1970, but it was not included. It was released on volume 10 of the Bootleg Series, titled "Another Self Portrait."
You've long been on
the open road,
sleepin' in the rain
From dirty words
and muddy cells,
your clothes
are smeared and stained
But the dirty words and muddy cells
will soon be judged insane
So only stop to rest yourself
til you are off again
(Chorus)
And take off
your thirsty boots and stay
for a while
Your feet are hot and weary
from a dusty mile
And maybe I can
make you laugh, maybe I can try
I'm just lookin' for the evening
The morning in your eyes
But tell me of the ones you saw
as far as you could see
Across the plain from fields
to town a-marchin' to be free
And of the rusted prison gates
that tumbled by decree
Like laughin' children one by one
They looked like you and me
I know you are no stranger down
the crooked rainbow trails
From dancing cliff-edged
shattered sills of slander
shackled jails
For the voices drift up from
below as the walls are being scaled
Yes, all of this and more, my friends
your song shall not be failed
For a civil rights worker
Who's returning home.
This is a song by Eric Andersen about a civil rights activist returning from the field. Bob Dylan recorded it for the "Self Portrait" album in 1970, but it was not included. It was released on volume 10 of the Bootleg Series, titled "Another Self Portrait."
You've long been on
the open road,
sleepin' in the rain
From dirty words
and muddy cells,
your clothes
are smeared and stained
But the dirty words and muddy cells
will soon be judged insane
So only stop to rest yourself
til you are off again
(Chorus)
And take off
your thirsty boots and stay
for a while
Your feet are hot and weary
from a dusty mile
And maybe I can
make you laugh, maybe I can try
I'm just lookin' for the evening
The morning in your eyes
But tell me of the ones you saw
as far as you could see
Across the plain from fields
to town a-marchin' to be free
And of the rusted prison gates
that tumbled by decree
Like laughin' children one by one
They looked like you and me
I know you are no stranger down
the crooked rainbow trails
From dancing cliff-edged
shattered sills of slander
shackled jails
For the voices drift up from
below as the walls are being scaled
Yes, all of this and more, my friends
your song shall not be failed
Hello there Robert, Thank you for posting this analysis of a song from Bob Dylan's Music Box: http://thebobdylanproject.com/Song/id/666/Thirsty-Boots Come and join us inside and listen to every song composed, recorded or performed by Bob Dylan, plus all the great covers streaming on YouTube, Spotify, Deezer and SoundCloud plus so much more... including this link.
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