Saturday, November 7, 2015

Two Trains Runnin'

Time to give up the
Train women and try driving
A hot car woman.

This is a Muddy Waters song. Here's what's going on:
1. Two trains run in this direction, with one leaving at midnight and the other at dawn. (This is not a math problem)
2. These trains are symbols for women, as you would expect in a blues song. One of these trains appears to be another man's wife.
3. He's going to find another woman who rides like a Cadillac car. Indeed, woman as car. Another blues invention.
4. The woman he's currently with has put him on top of the shelf.

Sittin' on Top of the World

You might think I care
That you left me. Believe me,
I can't be bothered.

This is a blues chestnut from the Mississippi Sheiks, recorded for the first time in 1930. It's about a guy who can't be bothered that his girlfriend left him. Why

1. Can get a woman as quickly as she can get a man.
2. He's not the begging kind so he won't ask for her back.
3. He's not into worrying or craving in vain.
4. He has plenty of work to do anyway.

The Lonesome River

Pledge love eternal,
And you'll soon discover it
Probably won't last.

This is a song by Ralph and Carter Stanley, one of those high-and-lonesome bluegrass tunes about abandoned love.

In short:
He sits on the river banks, accompanied by the lonely wind and the high water. He's too lonely to cry and has no one to love or kiss him goodnight because the woman he loves left him this morning. Once they swore to each other that they would stay together and be happy forever. Then she fell in love with someone else.

Floater (Too Much to Ask)

When you get this old,
You get less sentimental
About everything.

"Floater (Too Much to Ask)" is one of those old-fashioned songs that could have come out 80 years ago, thought he lyrics are decidedly Dylanesque and modern. The song contains 16 verses, none of which seem to relate to each other, other than a recurring reference to living like a contrarian when people try to get the singer to do one thing or another. The title comes from the last verse when Dylan observes that it's not easy to kick someone out (of your home, I guess), and that it's unpleasant task. Sometimes, he says, someone wnats you to give something up, and even if they cry about it, "it's too much to ask."

Other contrary stuff in the song:
- Sometimes old men around here get on bad terms with the young men, but age doesn't mean anything anyway.
- One of the boss's hangers-on tries to bully you and inspire you with fear, but it has the opposite effect.
- His father is like a feudal lord and has more lives than a cat. He's never argued once with his wife, and as Dylan says, "Things come alive or they fall flat."
- Romeo tells Juliet her complexion makes her look old. Juliet replies: "Shove off if it bothers you so much."
- Bob says that if you interfere with him or cross him, your life could be in danger. He's not as cool or forgiving as he sounds, he says.

There are other verses that say other things, but it feels like this is the right way to go with the haiku.

Cry a While

My tear supply's done.
You have plenty yet to shed.
Time to make you cry.

You made him cry, now it's your turn. That's the message that ends every verse of this song, though the little stories that precede the refrain are an intriguing display of the Dylan rhyme machine at work.

1. He has to visit a "nasty, dirty, double-crossin', backstabbin' phony" named Mr. Goldsmith, and he did it just for her. But all she gave him was a smile.
2. He's a union man and he's going to set you straight.
3. He feels like a fighting rooster, pretty good in fact. He goes the extra mile when he goes to church each day.
4. He heard such a loud noise through the walls across the alley. It must have been "Don Pasquale making a 2 a.m. booty call." Breaking his trusting heart was just your style. Your turn to cry a while.
5. Some people have no heart or soul. He has both. He's been crying for you, but now it's your turn.
6. He's going to buy himself some whiskey. He plans to die before he can turn senile.
7. You bet on the wrong horse. He always said you'd be sorry. He might kill you, so he'll need a good lawyer for the trial.

Can't Escape From You

Can't Escape From You -

I can’t tell if I
Love you or hate you. One thing
I know: I miss you.

Here's another song of trains, shadows, sunlight, loss, the memory of sweet days and the reality of the cold present. The singer goes through several kinds of lament for the former, and obviously current object of desire.

1. Hope rides away on a train. Joy and love have faded. Hills dark, falling stars. He pretends he's not sad, but his heart's miles away. He can't escape from her memory.
2. Why does he suffer? He did no wrong.
3. She didn't behave well. She wasted her power, withered like a flower, played the fool. She tried to bring him down. He's not sad or sorry like he said he was before.
4. Actually, he IS sorry. They should have lasted forever, they had lovely days together, they had good times. Now she's with someone else, God knows who, and still, he can't escape from you.

Ballad of Donald White

I steal and murder
You made me this way. Shoulda
kept me in prison.

Dylan fans will recognize the tune that formed the basis of “I Pity the Poor Immigrant” six years after he performed this song. “The Ballad of Donald White” is a song of societal ills too, but in a different vein. Ol’ Donald sings the sad story of his life just before he hangs for murder. He came from Kansas, ended up in Seattle and everywhere he went he was an anti-social loser who couldn’t fit in. He had no education and stole to support himself. He wound up in jail where, rather like some of Jean Genet’s homosexual criminals, he found his real home. Trouble is, the jails and institutions were too crowded so he was set free. He begged to go back where he felt he belonged, but no one would incarcerate him without reason so he killed a man on Christmas Eve 1959. Naturally, they took him back, but only for a short stay. Then they hanged him. Don’s last question was whether “boys that come down the road like me, Are they enemies or victims of your society?”

Saturday, September 12, 2015

You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

He loves you so much,
He'll be lonely when you go.
Maybe change your plans.

"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" is the last song on the first side of the 1975 album "Blood on the Tracks." You could see it as a breakup song or maybe even a song about death. Appearing amidst the carnage of broken love that's splattered all over this album, it carries at its heart a strange hope, as if love's only doom in a perfect situation is death, and even then love will outlast the end of one of its parties.

- Love this time: close, easy, slow.
- Until now he was "shooting in the dark too long" and all was wrong. 
- Before: careless love. Now: correct, on target, direct.
- Beautiful colors of the clover, Queen Anne's Lace and your red hair. You could make him cry. Before: can't remember what he was thinking about. Your love spoils him.
- Flowers and crickets and the lazy blue river. "I could stay with you forever and never realize the time."
- Before: bad relationships, sad relationships, relationships like that of Verlaine and Rimbaud. Now: this is much better.
- Why would he ever be without you? He should sit right down and write himself a letter.
- Where you might be: Honolulaaah, San Francisco, Ashtabula. Now you're gone, but I'll see you in the sky, the grass and my loved ones.
And the end of each verse carries the title...




Tuesday, August 25, 2015

What's It Gonna Be When It Comes Up

Animal instinct:
If Bob were a chicken, he’d
Want to hear his sneeze.

This song from the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions is a poor-quality tape recording. I have done my best to get most of the lyrics right, but many are unintelligible. In fact, there is barely anything here in this strange caricature of a lounge singer performance that I could understand, but I wrote a haiku for it anyway. It is available on volume 11 of the Bootleg Series.

No no no don't do that no more
Yes xxxxxxxx baby doll
Baby doll no more
Well xxxxxx
No corporation but my homey rags
Man she's too much
Oh there's xxxx one-room Cadillac.
Taking me in the breeze
If I was a chicken now, I'd just want to hear myself sneeze
MMM, somethin' sure looks good goin' down boys
Bb-b-b-b-bba-ba-boo
mmmmmm
So good to see you tonight doll
Mmmm, gonna tell you when it hurts, it hurts
Wait dog... before my master comes
ba-da-da-da-da-do






West Texas

Going to Texas,
Looking for adventure, and
I’m not coming home.

I'm goin' down to West Texas
Behind the Louisiana line
I'm goin' down to West Texas
Behind the Louisiana line
Get me a fortune tellin' woman
One that's gonna read my mind

If you ever go to Dallas
Take the right hand road
If you ever go to Dallas
Take the right hand road
Those western Dallas streets, boys
They' bound ta kill ya fo' sho'

I'm goin' down to Jack Rabbit's
Past the west Texas line
I'm goin' down to Jack Rabbit's
Behind the Texas line
Eh they's stars up above
Lord it's my a-leavin' m' sign

Well you never miss your water
'till the well runs dry
An' you never miss your water
'Till the well runs dry
An' you never miss your man
'till he says "Good-bye"

You can write an' tell m' Mama
I won't be comin' home tonight
You can write an' tell my Mother
I won't be home tonight



Wade in the Water

Should kids be wading
If God troubles the waters?
Songwriter says yes.

Here's a spiritual-style song that was recorded in 1961 and released on a live performance compilation in 2001.

Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's a-gonna trouble the water
God's a-gonna trouble the water

Well, who are these children all dressed in red?
God's a-gonna trouble the water
Must-a-be the children that Moses led
God's a-gonna trouble the water

Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's a-gonna trouble the water
God's a-gonna trouble the water

Well out of the mountain come fire an' smoke
God's a-gonna trouble the water
Jehovah nobody but he could've spoke
God's a-gonna trouble the water

Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's a-gonna trouble the water
God's a-gonna trouble the water

Well, I'm walkin' down the highway an' the water's gettin' low
God's a-gonna trouble the water
Walkin' down the highway, nowhere to go
God's a-gonna trouble the water

But it's wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's a-gonna trouble the water
God's a-gonna trouble the water
God's a-gonna trouble the water





Under Control

She's under control.
She doesn't need her hand held
As she's hard to hold.

This song from the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions is a poor-quality tape recording. I have done my best to get most of the lyrics right, but many are unintelligible. It is available on volume 11 of the Bootleg Series.

Under control
And she's graveyard fence
Just how much was that
She hopped on the table
Beneath the floor
Arrows to ashtray
She said once more
She ain't ready to go
Well she' tolld me that she's tabled me
She's already xxxxxxxxx
Too hot to hold
She's under control
She's under control
Police man
Window shade
She said, xxxxx 
she's too hot to hold
In her soul
She's a rhinestone woman
but she's xxxxxxx
Under control
Well tombstone baby
Don't mind me brother
She said one more time
Don't mind me sister
She said once again
She don't need gratitude to hold her hand
She sure don't go






2 Dollars and 99 Cents

Making some change.
Lets start with $2.99.
Your sister has it.

This song from the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions is a poor-quality tape recording. I have done my best to get most of the lyrics right, but many are unintelligible. It is available on volume 11 of the Bootleg Series.

bag a xxxx
2 dollars and 99 cents
all my go down
2 dollars and 99 cents
it's a xxxxx
for xxxxxx
lord lord tomorrow people go
down one a two dollar bill
one ollar 99 cents
ten dollars was a two dollar bill
ten dollars and 99 cents
had a xxxxxxxxxxxx
devil's son
ain't got a bus we'll keep it level
do or die
why oh why
two dollars and 99 cents
well she walk
she got mister two dollars and 99c ents
oh you better go back and ask your sister
for two dollars and 99 cents
do or die






That's the Breaks

I wish you'd love me,
But I don't think that you will.
That's the breaks of life.

This song from the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions is a poor-quality tape recording. I have done my best to get most of the lyrics right, but many are unintelligible. It is available on volume 11 of the Bootleg Series.

All right, let's xxxx this

On my pillow last night
I thought I saw you dreaming
Just a sudden glance of happiness gone by
Suddenly came to me you see
Just a while ago when you left me, say your heart was broken little girl
But that... that's the breaks of life 
When you're breaking me 

Well it's a time of day
You’re nice, but you're not that nice
If you'd only come and go a while with me
But when you're old and gray, sweetheart, you're my xxxxxxxxx
But that's the breaks of life, you see, that's the breaks

Well, when I saw xxxxxx xxxx
And you know it ain't xxxxxx
Honey you know it's true for a while
What I say is only to my own appetite
Well, in the morning when you xxxxxx 
Please and xxxx be mine
You hang your head by the xxxxxx
And then cry cry please be mine, cry and xxxxxxx
In my pillow
In my great .... whole delight
Please  xxxxxxx
My darling, hold me, by my xxxxxx
But that's the breaks, you see, on the other side of life

Well, when your flowers are falling my way
And your xxxxxx is all ado
When your head is lonesome that way
It's a hard way, might as well to
But when your picture's on the xxxxx
Like your xxxxxxxxxxx on your waist
Oh xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Don't you think that's a disgrace?

Now you were xxx from me at midnight, broke my heart
And it's too late to cover up all you see
But when you're see future hanging low xxxxxxx
But it's always right down in my xxxxx
But that's the breaks on the other side of life


Susie Q

Susie’s qualities
From her walk to her talk make
Me love her true.

This song was sung by Eric von Schmidt and Bob Dylan at von Schmidt's Sarasota, Florida, home and released on the ultra-rare "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension collection. Most people know the version by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was written by Louisiana's Dale Hawkins. Some of the lyrics were hard to capture because of the poor quality of the recording.

Oh Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
Baby I love you
My Susie Q

I like the way you walk
I like the way you walk
I like the way you walk
I like the way you talk
Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
My Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
Baby I love you
My Susie Q

I like the way you reel
I like the way you reel
I like the way you feel
My Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
My Susie Q
My Susie Q
Baby I love you
My Susie Q

I like the way you stand
I like the way you stand
I like the way you stand
I wanna be your man
I wanna be your man
Oh Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
Baby I love you
My Susie Q

Oh Susie Q
My Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
Baby I love you
I know Eric does too

I like the way you talk
I like the way you walk
I like the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I never called a bark

Oh Susie Q
My Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
Baby I love you
My Susie Q

I don't want her too
I don't want to hurt you
I don't want to hurt you
Or want to make you blue
My Susie Q

There’s only thing I'll do
There's only one thing I'll do
That's XXXXXX
And I will let you be you.

I will let you be you.
I will let you be you.
I will let you be you
I'll let you be you
Well Paul will too.

Oh Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
Oh Susie Q
Baby I love you
My Susie Q

Who are you?

XXXXXXXXXXX
You wake up in the morning
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I can't sing anymore
I can't sing anymore
I can't sing anymore
XXXXXXXXXX
Can't sing no more




Stoned on the Mountain

On the mountain, in
The valley, or wherever,
You might end up stoned.

This song was sung by Eric von Schmidt and Bob Dylan at von Schmidt's Sarasota, Florida, home and released on the ultra-rare "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension collection. I was unable to hear the lyrics all the way through because of the poor recording quality of what was not intended to be a commercial release.

xxxxxxxxx
Must have been a junkie
Xxxxxx
Must have been a junkie
xxxxxx
Must have been a junkie
All his followers
They was stoned, stoned on the mountain
Smashed in the valley
Stoned on the mountain
Smashed in the valley
Stoned on the mountain
Smashed in the valley
Smashed, oh brother
Stoned, take a little sniff
Take a little sniff
And you draw it down deep
When you take a little sniff
Draw it down deep
Well you take a little sniff
And you draw it down deep
Well you take too much,
Oh brother, you go to sleep
Stoned on the mountain
Walkin' in the valley
Stoned on the mountain
Sleepin' in the valley
Stoned on the mountain
Wanderin' through the valley
You're going to smash old... xxxxxxx
When you're stoned
What is this stoned business?
Well, there's a whole lot of stones all layin' arond
In the valley?
Yes, they roll 'em down.
Yes, I know they roll them.
In Colombia.
My God, vacation land.
Well you better watch out
That stone get stoned
That you don't get stoned
Better watch out
That you don't get stoned
You better watch out
That you don't get stoned
You might find you might you might lose your home.
Don't do drugs
you better watch out
For the sign of falling rocks
You better watch out
For the sign of falling rocks
You better watch out
For the sign of falling rocks
Oh wow.
I couldn't say what I was thinking.





Standing on the Highway

Bob's standing around.
Trying to thumb himself a ride.
His life rolls on by.

Here's another lonely hitchhiker thumb-a-ride song that Bob Dylan recorded as a demo for the Witmark publishing company in 1962. It’s the old, well known lament of blues singer Robert Johnson: Standing on the highway, trying to bum a ride, but nobody knows him, and everyone passes him by. The second verse is more metaphorical: he’s trying to be brave, as he notes that one road goes to “bright lights” and the other goes to the grave.
It goes on like that.





She's on My Mind Again

It's before sunrise.
She's on his mind again.
He is packing up.

This song from the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions is a poor-quality tape recording. I have done my best to get most of the lyrics right, but many -- nearly all in this one -- are unintelligible. It is available on volume 11 of the Bootleg Series.

Morning roll
Dangle me
Poted by but she don't cost me
She don't mind where she go
Anyway she want to try
Laze away too long 
Go make some but my gone
She don't mind where she go
Happen in a fall
Raining's on my open hey holler he tried too hard
On my bail
Any in the summertime
Molly knows is all my pay
No babe don't happening straight
She's on my mind my mind, she's all
Ready for the morning time
Now old wind 
She's all stays in front
No it is not morningtime
rainy time comes once a year
she's got an old medium xxxx walking down my face
anytime the summertime
rich man lost on a way she
alone she comes 
working hard
she's already some old time
Now all my troubles and peace she bought
Kitchen up Molly went down abroad
She's on my way to 
Gonna pack I'm on a rainy sea
One time easy but it's two time one
It's already 
Anybody but her knows
Well odds are we could be home by a week
To come upon a donkey
She's on my mind, you know
Avenue where everybody else goes down
Any way you want to go





Runaway

She left him, it rains
He wah-wah-wah-wah-wonders
Why she ran away.

Del Shannon's classic rock-and-roll song, done Wilburys-style. First released on a single, it was later included on the box set compilation of their work in 2007.

As I walk along, I wonder
A-what went wrong with our love
A love that was so strong

And as I still walk on, I think of
The things we've done together
While our hearts were young

I'm a-walkin' in the rain
Tears are fallin' and I feel the pain
Wishin' you were here by me
To end this misery

I wonder
I wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder
Why
Why, why, why, why, why
She ran away

And I wonder
Where she will stay
My little runaway
A-run, run, run, run, runaway

I'm a-walkin' in the rain
Tears are fallin' and I feel the pain
Wishin' you were here by me
To end this misery

And I wonder
I wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder
Why
Why, why, why, why, why
She ran away

And I wonder
Where she will stay
My little runaway
A-run, run, run, run, runaway
A-run, run, run, run, runaway
A-run, run, run, run, runaway




Roll on Train

This train is rolling,
This train is out of control.
This train rolls all night.

This song from the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions is a poor-quality tape recording. I have done my best to get most of the lyrics right, but many are unintelligible. It is available on volume 11 of the Bootleg Series. It doesn't sound like the Elton Anderson song of the same name, but who knows...

Roll on train
Rollin all night
Roll out your wheel
Get on board
Roll on train
Get you on the way
Get you 
It's hard to see
Roll roll
But she's on the run
Lady lady
When she's on the
When she's passing the gate
Roll on train






Pretty Mary

Don't be long, Mary.
Don't be blue either because
I'm coming to you.

This song from the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions is a poor-quality tape recording. I have done my best to get most of the lyrics right, but many are unintelligible. It is available on volume 11 of the Bootleg Series.

Pretty Mary pretty Mary
With the real white and gold
Tell me pretty Mary
Whether we XXXXXX of gold

But I'm coming with midnight
And the cold winds in twilight
And the dream of the world
Of Pretty Mary

Pretty Mary, don't be lonely
Pretty Mary, don't be cruel
You're my only destination
And I'm coming to you

I'm waitin' for the devil
On my bed one 
She'll all XXXXXXXXXX
xxxxxxxxxxxx

But she knows it's xxxxxxxxxxx
Now the cold winds to the crossways
To the valleys go southwards
And I think you're good lookin', pretty Mary

I wish that my whole life
On a xxxxx so real
How she come and get me 
With the 
But I know it's all right
If I bring you home tonight
I'll at least be with pretty Mary.






Nobody's Child

Crying orphan boy
Says nobody wants him, and
He’s one of many.

A Traveling Wilbury's song, this was first released on the compilation "Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal," a benefit album for Romanian orphans, many of them HIV-positive. The song later was included on a 2007 box set collecting the two Traveling Wilburys albums and some singles miscellany. The song was written by Cy Coben and Mel Foree, and performed by Hank Snow in 1949.

As I was slowly passing, an orphan’s home today
I stopped for just a little while to watch the children play
A lone boy standin', and when I asked him why
He turned with eyes that could not see, and he began to cry

I'm nobody's child, I'm nobody's child
Just like a flower I'm growin' wild
No mama's arms to hold me no daddy's smile
Nobody wants me, I'm nobody's child

In every town and village
There are places just like this
With rows and rows of children
And babies in their cribs

They've long since stopped their cryin'
As no-one ever hears
And no-one there to notice them or take away their fears

Nobody's child, they're nobody's child
Just like a flower they're growin wild
No mama's arms to hold them, no daddy's smile
Nobody wants them they're nobody's child

Nobody's child, they're nobody's child
Just like a flower they're growin wild
No mama's arms to hold them, no daddy's smile
Nobody wants them they're nobody's child
Nobody wants them they're nobody's child



More and More

Know why I feel good?
Because I’m forgetting how
It sucked when you left.

This song by Merle Kilgore -- and sung by Webb Pierce -- was recorded by Eric von Schmidt and Bob Dylan at von Schmidt's Sarasota, Florida, home and released on the ultra-rare "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension collection.

More and more
I'm forgettin' the past
More and more
I'm living at last
Day by day
I'm losing my blues
More and more
I'm forgettin' 'bout you

Oh how I tried
To keep you by my side
And oh I cried
The day you said goodbye
Day by day
I'm losing my blues
More and more
I'm forgetting about you





Money Honey

Landlord wants money,
So guy wants it too. He asks
His woman for some.

This Jesse Stone song, recorded by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, Elvis Presley and others, was sung by Eric von Schmidt and Bob Dylan at von Schmidt's Sarasota, Florida, home and released on the ultra-rare "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension collection.

You know, the landlord rang my front door bell.
I let it ring for a long, long spell.
I went to the window,
I peeped through the blind,
And asked him to tell me what's on his mind.
He said,

Money, honey.
Money, honey.
Money, honey, if you want to get along with me.

Well, I screamed and I hollered,
I was so hard-pressed.
I called the woman that I loved the best.
I finally got my baby about half past three,
She said I'd like to know what you want with me.
I said,

Money, honey.
Money, honey.
Money, honey,
If you want to get along with me.

Well, I said tell me baby, what's wrong with you?
From this day on our romance is through
I said, tell me baby, face to face
How could another man take my place?
She said,

Money, honey.
Money, honey.
Money, honey,
If you want to get a long with me.

Well, I've learned my lesson and now I know
The sun may shine and the winds may blow.
The women may come and the women may go,
But before I say I love you so,
I want

Money, honey.
Money, honey.
Money, honey,
If you want to get along with me.






Johnny Cuckoo

Dirty Johnny wants
To join the army on a
Cold and stormy night.

This folk song was sung by Eric von Schmidt and Bob Dylan at von Schmidt's Sarasota, Florida, home and released on the ultra-rare "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension collection.

Here come long Johnny Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Well here come long Johnny Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Yes I said here come long Johnny Cuckoo
One cold and stormy night

Well, what did you come for?
Come for?
Well, what did you come for
On a cold and stormy night?
I come for to be a soldier
I come for to be a soldier
On a cold and stormy night.

Well you look so black and dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Well you look so black and dirty
On a cold and stormy night

Well I'm just as clean as you are
You are
You are
Well I'm just as clean as you are
On a cold and stormy night

You do a different chord than I do

That's a G, you know

I said here comes Johnny Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Well now, here come Johnny Cuckoo
On a cold and stormy night

Well, what did you come for?
Come for
Come for
What did you come for on a cold and stormy night
I come for a soldier...
I come to be a soldier
On a cold and stormy night.





Grand Coulee Dam

They’re dam fine wonders,
Columbia River and
The Grand Coulee Dam.

Bob Dylan and the Band recorded this Woody Guthrie song at a tribute to the folksinger. There's an album of the concert, but it wasn't released under Dylan's name. I have included this song here because it was part of the album "Bob Dylan Live 1961-2000: 39 Years of Great Concert Performances."

Well the world owns seven wonders as the travellers always tell.
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well.
But now the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair land.
That King Columbia river and the great Grand Coulee Dam.

She come up the Canadian Rockies where the crystal waters glide,
Comes a-roaring down the canyon to meet that salty tide
From the great Pacific Ocean to where the sun sets in the west,
That big Grand Coulee country in that land I love the best.

In the misty glitter of that wild and windward spray,
Men have fought the pounding waters and met a watery grave.
Once she tore men's boats to splinters but she gave men dreams to dream,
That day that Grand Coulee dam went across that wild and restless stream.

Oh Uncle Sam took up the notion in the year of thirty three,
For the factory and the farmer and for all of you and me.
He said: roll it on Columbia, you can roll out to the sea
But river, while you're rolling you can do some work for me.

Now from Washington and Oregon you can hear them factories a-hum,
Making corn and making manganese and light aluminum.
Always a flying fortress to blast for Uncle Sam,
That King Columbia river and the great Grand Coulee dam.

Well the world owns seven wonders as the travellers always tell.
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well.
But now the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair land.
That King Columbia river and the great Grand Coulee Dam



Glory Glory (Lay My Burden Down)

So much for burdens.
I’m laying mine down, then I’m
Going to heaven.

This spiritual was sung by Eric von Schmidt and Bob Dylan at von Schmidt's Sarasota, Florida, home and released on the ultra-rare "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension collection.

Glory glory
Hallelujah
Well I lay my burden down
Glory glory
Hallelujah
Well I lay my burden down
Going home now
To see my father
When I lay my body down
I'm going home now
To see my father
When I lay my body down
Well a-glory glory hallelujah
When I lay my burden down
Glory hallelujah
When I lay my burden down
Well I'm going on
To see my mama
When I lay my burden down
Going home
To see the one I love
When I lay my burden down
Well a-glory glory hallelujah
When I lay my burden down
Glory glory hallelujah
When I lay my burden down






Dr. Strangelove Blues

Some like it hot and
Some like it cold, but Strangelove
Likes it very weird.

This improvised song was sung by Eric von Schmidt and Bob Dylan at von Schmidt's Sarasota, Florida, home and released on the ultra-rare "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension collection. I couldn't make out all of the lyrics so I did my best.

Some say he's a woman
Some say he's a man

I tell you some like it hot, oo yeah
Some like it hot.
Some like it cold.
Some like it hot.
Others they may like it cold.
And there's some people like it in a party
And some like it nine days old.

Some like it skinny
Some like it short and small
Strangelove
Strangelove
Some like it skinny
Some like it short and small
Well some like it too much
And some don't like it at all

Dr. Strangelove
Try me to the xxxxxxx
He travels all over
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tell you about Dr. Strangelove now,
Well you always have Dr. Strangelove
xXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well you all know about
The XXXXXX fairy queen
Well you all know about
The XXXXXX King Kong XXXXXXX
Well I'm worried about that girl now,
That neither(?) Shetland Pony to maintain....

Well Dr. Strangelove
He sure is weird
Well Dr. Strangelove
Oh lord, he sure is weird.
He put me in bed with Charles Laughton
When he turned out to be King Lear.

He got.... XXXXXX
Well, all kind of strange things are going on.
Well, he got something for me...
Strange things going on.
Well the old black mama's XXXXXXXXXX
And the little kids are digging King Kong.

Strangelove
Strange
Strange
Strange
Goodbye, Dr. Strangelove
We'll see you again.




Denise

Denise’s facial
Cues suggest she has something
She keeps to herself.

Here's a different version of "Black Crow Blues" from the 1964 album "Another Side of Bob Dylan." I mean different different: another title, other lyrics, and so on. This outtake did not make the album. It was released on the "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension anthology.

Denise, Denise,
Gal, what's on your mind?
Denise, Denise,
Gal, what's on your mind?
You got your eyes closed,
Heaven knows that you ain't blind.
Well, I can see you smiling,
But oh your mouth is inside out.
I can see you smiling,
But you're smiling inside out.
Well, I know you're laughin'
But what are you laughin' about.
Well, if you're tryin' to throw me,
Babe, I've already been tossed.
If you're tryin' to throw me,
Babe, I've already been tossed.
Babe, you're tryin' to lose me.
Babe, I'm already lost.
Well, what are you doing,
Are you flying or have you flipped?
Oh, what are you doing,
Are you flying or have you flipped?
Well, you call my name
And then say your tongue just slipped.
Denise, Denise,
You're concealed here on the shelf.
Denise, Denise,
You're concealed here on the shelf.
I'm looking deep in your eyes, babe,
And all I can see is myself.








Bob and Eric Blues #1

Bob and Eric ask
Betsy to hang out with them
Over at her place.

This song was sung by Eric von Schmidt and Bob Dylan at von Schmidt's Sarasota, Florida, home and released on the ultra-rare "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension collection. It's an improvised courtship of sweet Betsy, with Bob and Eric apparently content to fight politely over her in her parlor. The two men switch identities toward the end.

Hey baby
I'm gonna see, see sweet Betsy's face

I'm a see
Betsy, where you been?
Come and see,
Betsy, where in the world you been?
Aw now, come home to Bob and me.

Well in her parlor
We did not mean no harm
Well sittin' in her parlor
Did not mean no harm
Oh now, you come home to us, funny farm.

Funny at the farm
I said funny at the farm
Funny at the farm
Funny at the farm
I swear now, we do not mean you no harm.

Well now, down in the lap of XXXX
Oh lord, you should have seen old Bobby and me.
Well we were right there.
We're sitting out now on them big ol' high chairs.

Well I'm on a high chair
And Bob's on the low
Well I'm on a high chair
Eric is on the low.
xxxxxxx
Just the way it goes.

Well now I know
It don't cause you no disgrace
Well now I know
It don't cause no disgrace
Cause neither one of us are here,
We just take each other's place

I call him Eric
You know he calls me Bob
I call him Eric
You know he calls me Bob





Black Betty

Betty’s a pistol,
But she shoots her mouth off, and
Annoys the captain.

Old folk song, apparently about a gun or a bottle of whiskey or a prison whip or something. In this version, as with Nick Cave's version, Betty is a woman. This song was sung by Eric von Schmidt and Bob Dylan at von Schmidt's Sarasota, Florida, home and released on the ultra-rare "50th Anniversary Collection 1964" copyright extension collection.
Black Betty Black Betty
Bam-a-lam
Betty gone crazy
Betty gone crazy
Black Betty got lazy
Black Betty
Bam-a-lam
Black Betty jump steady
Now the captain got mad
Thinkin' about the things that he could have had.
Black Betty got sorry, had to go
Now you see her on the radio
Black Betty Black Betty

I'm too out of my skull at the moment




Saturday, August 22, 2015

Why Try to Change Me Now

I have strange habits,
But I love you so who cares?
I'm not gonna change.

By Cy Coleman and Joseph McCarthy.

I'm sentimental, so I walk in the rain
I've got some habits even I can't explain
Could start for the corner, turn up in Spain
But why try to change me now?

I sit and daydream, I've got daydreams galore
Cigarette ashes, there they go on the floor
I'll go away weekends, leave my keys in the door
But why try to change me now?

Why can't I be more conventional?
People talk, people stare, so I try
But that's not for me, 'cause I can't see
My kind of crazy world go passing me by

So, let people wonder, let 'em laugh, let 'em frown
You know I'll love you till the moon's upside down
Don't you remember I was always your clown?
Why try to change me now?


Where Are You?

No happy ending,
I can't believe we're apart:
My dear, where are you?

By Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh.

Where are you?
Where have you gone without me?
I thought you cared about me
Where are you?

Where's my heart?
Where is the dream we started?
I can't believe we're parted
Where are you?

When we said goodbye
Love, what had we to gain?
When I gave you my love
Was it all in vain?

All life through
Must I go on pretending?
Where is my happy ending?
Where are you?




What'll I Do

I know we split up,
But I wonder who you kiss,
And where you are now.

By Irving Berlin.

Gone is the romance that was so divine.
'tis broken and cannot be mended.
You must go your way,
And I must go mine.
But now that our love dreams have ended...
What'll I do
When you are far away
And I am blue
What'll I do?
What'll I do?
When I am wond'ring who
Is kissing you
What'll I do?
What'll I do with just a photograph
To tell my troubles to?
When I'm alone
With only dreams of you
That won't come true
What'll I do?

What'll I do with just a photograph
To tell my troubles to?
When I'm alone
With only dreams of you
That won't come true
What'll I do?


That Lucky Old Sun

I work my ass off
I'd rather roll around like
That lucky old sun.

By Haven Gillespie and Beasley Smith.

Up in the mornin', out on the job
Work like the devil for my pay
But that lucky old sun has nothin' to do
But roll around heaven all day

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

Good Lord above, can't you see I'm pining
Tears in my eyes
Send down that cloud with a silver lining
Lift me to paradise

Show me that river, take me across
And wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun, give me nothin' to do
But roll around heaven all day

Oh Lord above, can't you know I'm pining
Tears in my eyes
Send down that cloud with a silver lining
Lift me to paradise

Show me that river, take me across
And wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun, give me nothin' to do
But roll around heaven all day