Winter Wonderland

Bob and Parson Brown
Take this jingle-jangle tune
For a brand new spin.

"Winter Wonderland": music by Felix Bernard, words by Richard B. Smith. Perry Como and the Andrews Sisters are but two of the many who have recorded this one. It appears on the 2009 Bob Dylan album "Christmas in the Heart."

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, 
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
We're happy tonight.
Walking in a winter wonderland.

Gone away is the bluebird,
Here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song,
As we go along,
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown

He'll say: Are you married?
We'll say: No man, 
But you can do the job
When you're in town.

Later on, we'll conspire,
As we dream by the fire
To face unafraid, 
The plans that we've made,
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,
And pretend that he's a circus clown
We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman,
Until the other kids knock him down.

When it snows, ain't it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling
We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,
Walking in a winter wonderland.

This Dream of You

I dream just of you.
It's the reason I'm alive.
But you're not around.

This song from 2009's "Together Through Life" is another in those "she keeps haunting me" songs that Bob Dylan has been specializing in for the past few years. It's also yet another one with a remarkable photophobia on his part. He begins the song with "How long can I stay in this nowhere cafe, 'fore night turns into day. I wonder why I'm so frightened of dawn. All I have and all I know is this dream of you which keeps me living on." I start to wonder after a while if he's portraying himself as a vampire or a ghost, so torn and worn thin by love that he can't stand the day and can only haunt the night.

I handled verse 1 directly. Here are the others:
- Everything old becomes new again, but he might have missed that moment. He just keeps the dream of you alive.
- Shadows dancing on the walls seem to know it all. He doesn't want to believe what's in front of his face, but he has n o choice.
- Maybe he's blind, maybe his heart deceives, but he can't cry anymore, he can only believe... in you.
- You always seem like you're here, but every time he tries to touch you, you disappear.
- He sat in a sad room and watched a shooting star. And he renewed his dream of you, which is all that keeps him moving.

Silver Bells

What Christmas is like
In the city: silver bells
And red light green light.

First performed by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in the movie, "The Lemon Drop Kid." Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. Bing Crosby made it famous. 

Shake Shake Mama

Young sexy mama
Is worth a little heartbreak
For an old codger.

"Shake Shake Mama" is another one of the "you girls are a little too wild for me" songs that Bob Dylan has been writing for the past 15 years. This one appeared on the 2009 album "Together Through Life."

1. He gets the blues for you when he looks at the sun. Come back so you both can have some fun.
2. It's early evening and he's walking up heartbreak hill.
3. Shake like a ship going out to sea. You took my money and gave it to Richard Lee.
4. Judge Simpson's walking down by the river. Old Simpson, that clown, shocks him more than anything.
5. Some women really know they're stuff, but oh dear, those torn clothes and rough language.
6. He has no mother, father or friends. 
7. Mama ought to raise her voice and pray, and when she goes home, she had better go the shortest way.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Bethlehem is nice,
Especially at Christmas,
Its big holiday.

This Christmas Carol, written by Phillips Brooks in 1868, appears on Bob Dylan's 2009 album, "Christmas in the Heart." It could fit in with any of Dylan's Christian music, at least so I think.

1. O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie.
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

2. For Christ is born of Mary,
And, gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wond'ring love.
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.

3. How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is giv'n!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heav'n.
No ear may hear his coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Come to Bethlehem.
You'll never believe what's there.
Or maybe you will.

Another track from the 2009 album "Christmas in the Heart." "O Come, All Ye Faithful," otherwise known as "Adeste Fideles" is the only time I can think of when Bob Dylan has sung in Latin. (He sang a verse of "Return to Me" in Italian, and you can hear it on the "Sopranos" soundtrack album called "Peppers and Eggs." He's also done Spanish on "Romance in Durango" and "Spanish Is the Loving Tongue.)

This song is ascribed to John Francis Wade, who lived in the 18th century, though others have been associated with it.

Adeste fideles læti triumphantes,
Venite, venite in Bethlehem.
Natum videte
Regem angelorum:
Venite adoremus (3×)
Dominum.

Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine
Gestant puellæ viscera
Deum verum, genitum non factum.
Venite adoremus (3×)
Dominum.

Cantet nunc io, chorus angelorum;
Cantet nunc aula cælestium,
Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo,
Venite adoremus (3×)
Dominum.

Ergo qui natus die hodierna.
Jesu, tibi sit gloria,
Patris æterni Verbum caro factum.
Venite adoremus (3×)
Dominum.

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him
Born the King of Angels:
O come, let us adore Him, (3×)
Christ the Lord.

God of God, light of light,
Lo, he abhors not the Virgin's womb;
Very God, begotten, not created:
O come, let us adore Him, (3×)
Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of Heaven above!
Glory to God, glory in the highest:
O come, let us adore Him, (3×)
Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given!
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!
O come, let us adore Him, (3×)
Christ the Lord.

Other verses in various versions:

En grege relicto, humiles ad cunas,
Vocati pastores adproperant:
Et nos ovanti gradu festinemus,
Venite adoremus (3×)
Dominum.

Stella duce, Magi Christum adorantes,
Aurum, tus et myrrham dant munera.
Iesu infanti corda præbeamus
Venite adoremus (3×)
Dominum.

Æterni parentis splendorem æternum
Velatum sub carne videbimus
Deum infantem pannis involutum
Venite adoremus (3×)
Dominum.

Pro nobis egenum et fœno cubantem,
Piis foveamus amplexibus.
Sic nos amantem quis non redamaret?
Venite adoremus (3×)
Dominum.

My Wife's Home Town

My wife is trouble.
She makes me do bad things, and
Her home town is hell.

"Hell is my wife's home town." It's one of the stranger choruses that Bob Dylan has ever sung, and I like it. "My Wife's Home Town" is a Dylan/Robert Hunter composition with a big dose of Willie Dixon in it. I don't know who the wife is supposed to be in this song, but she sounds like the crusty old Dylan who put this on the 2009 album "Together Through Life" has met his match.

Regarding the wife:
- Hell is her home town
- She makes you steal
- She makes you rob
- She gives you hives
- She makes you lose your job
- She makes things bad
- She makes things worse
- She has more potent poisons than a gypsy curse
- She will make me kill someone
- She makes me lose my reason
- She ensures that I love only her

My favorite lyrics from the song:

"Well there's reasons for that and reasons for this
I can't think of any just now, but I know they exist."

"Well there's plenty to remember, plenty to forget
I still can remember the day we met."

"State gone broke, the county's dry
Don't be looking at me, with that evil eye
Keep on walking don't be hanging around
I'm telling you again that Hell's my wife's home town"

The Little Drummer Boy

Bing, Bowie and Bob,
They all do the drummer boy.
It must be the drum.

"The Little Drummer Boy" was written by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941, and represents one of the best examples of the "ear worm" arsenal in popular music. There is no way to remove the "pa rum pum pum pum" refrain from your ears except for repeated applications of lye or death metal. So the experts say.

The famous versions of this song include the ones by the Von Trapp family singers, the Harry Simeone Chorale, and the utterly bizarre Christmas TV special version with Bing Crosby and David Bowie. Bob Dylan's version appears on the 2009 album "Christmas in the Heart."

Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum

Life Is Hard

I made it alone,
But I find that life is hard
When you're not with me.

Everybody knows what a bummer it is not to have your sweetheart by your side. Bob Dylan explores this theme in "Life Is Hard," a slow number off the 2009 album "Together Through Life," and the opposite of the wish that the album title suggests:

1. Evening winds still. No way no will. On guard, life hard, no you near me.
2. You were a good friend, but now you're gone. By school yard, life hard, no you near me.
3. Empty since you left. Don't know what's wrong or right. Need strength to fight the world.
4. No more touch, heart locked up, haven't felt that much. Life hard, no you near me.
5. Sunset, time to go, chilly breeze. No memories, just dreams locked up. Life hard, no you near me.

Jolene

This is a decree
From the king: You are informed
That Jolene is queen.

"Jolene" -- not the Dolly Parton song of the same name -- is an inoffensive enough song on "Together Through Life." The lyrics reinforce one major point:

"Baby, I am the king and you're the queen."

Jolene's other qualities include walking down High Street in the sun, making dead men rise because of her charms, making Bob get a gun and sleep by your door, making Bob willing to sacrifice himself for you, arousing Bob toward feelings of possessing you, making him keep his hands in his pockets and moving along, steering Bob toward thoughts of gambling, her big brown eyes that set off sparks and her ability to make a pessimist feel like an optimist.

It's All Good

It's all bad, really.
People make trouble and fight.
Why should I worry?

There's nothing I don't love about Bob Dylan's 2009 album "Together Through Life," and "It's All Good," the last song, is no exception. The song is a catalogue of misery, topped by Dylan's insistence of, whatever, it's all good.

1. Talk about me. Stir the pot. I'd do it too. You know what they say...
2. Politicians tell lies. Restaurant kitchen has flies. You know what they say...
3. Wives leaving their husbands. I wouldn't change it. You know what they say...
4. You could drown in a teacup. You know what they say...
5. People on the land are sick. They would move away if they could. You know what they say...
6. Widow cry. Orphan plea. More misery everywhere you look. Come with me, baby. You know what they say...
7. Killer stalking the town. Cop cars at a crime scene. Buildings falling down. You know what they say...
8. I'll remove your beard and throw it in your face. I'll be eating your lunch tomorrow. You kow what they say...

I'll Be Home for Christmas

Bob says he'll be home
For Christmas. But we all know:
He's always on tour.

That's not at all what the song is about, and I told myself that I wouldn't write meta-haiku. This one I kept as an exception.

The song was written by Kim Gannon and Walter Kent who wanted to write a song about anyone who couldn't be with their family at Christmas time. Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1943, and it became a big hit for military personnel abroad during World War Two, as well as their families. It's written from the point of view of a military man posted abroad.

Dylan performed the song on the 2009 album "Christmas in the Heart."

If You Ever Go to Houston

Bob's Houston advice
Should keep you safe from the cops,
But not loneliness.

"If You Ever Go to Houston" is another one of Dylan's recent rueful songs of lessons learned late. It's also a beautiful song. It borrows the title line from the song "Midnight Special," but heads in its own direction from there. It's a time-warp trip through the oil city of today and the old days of the Texas republic, steeped in barbeque sauce and regret:

Instructions for Houston trip:
1. Walk right. 
2. Hands in pockets.
3. Don't look for a fight.
4. Watch out for the sheriff at the corner of Bagby and Lamar.
5. Know where you're going or stay where you are.

Instructions for Dallas trip:
1. Say hellow to Mary Anne.
2. Tell her I've still got my finger on the trigger.
3. If you see her sister Lucy, apologize for my absence.
4. Tell her sister Betsy to pray for this sinner.

Why Bob knows all this:
1. He nearly got killed there in the Mexican war.
2. Something keeps him coming back.
3. He knows about restlessness and having to keep moving forward.

Instructions for policeman:
1. Please find my gal.
2. She was last seen at the Magnolia Hotel.
3. Be my friend.

Instructions for trip to Austin, Fort Worth and San Antonio:

1. Visit the bar rooms I used to get lost in.
2. Send me home my memories.
3. Put my tears in a bottle. Seal fast.

What's at the corner of Bagby and Lamar:
1. Deloitte & Touche human resources office
2. Houston Public Library - central branch
3. Sam Houston Park
4. The Heritage Society
5. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co
6. Societe Generale
7. Houston Volunteer Lawyers
8. Bus stop for routes 18, 36, 37 and 40.

Regarding Bagby and Lamar:

Who was Thomas Bagby (1814-1868)? He was a businessman and civic leader from Virginia who moved to Texas. He petitioned the legislature to emancipate a black female slave in 1847, but his petition was rejected. He was a Mason, a Presbyterian and an alderman of Houston's Fourth Ward.

Who was Mirabeau Bounaparte Lamar (1798-1859)? He was the president of the Republic of Texas, born near Louisville, Georgia. He played an instrumental role in repulsing the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto, and called for the execution of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. His two opponents for presidency of the republic killed themselves on the same day, providing him with an easy win. He later died of a heart attack, having survived the death of his daughter.

I Feel a Change Comin' On

We're gonna be friends,
Lovers together at last,
Now that I am old.

"I Feel a Change Comin' On" is the second-to-last song on the 2009 album "Together Through Life." It feels like a valedictory, the finale to the album, whereas the last song, "It's All Good," is more like an epilogue. This song is an invitiation to an old man's current sweetheart to take the relationship one step further. As Bob sings, "If you want to live easy, Baby, pack your clothes with mine." The repeated reference to the "fourth part of the day," which is "already gone," sounds like the beginning of Act V, often the last act in a Shakespeare play. And of course, all the world's a stage, so it's easy to see this sweet, sentimental song as a preparation for death.

1. Bob sees the world in front of him and, zooming in, sees his sweetheart coming his way, along with the village priest (time to get married).
2. They have a lot in common, and "I just can't wait for us to become friends."
3. Life is for love; love is blind. Let's get together.
4. Why dream? They don't work anyway and we have better things to do in the waking world.
5. She's so sexy, she could start a fire. She drives him crazy, robs him of reason.
6. Meanwhile! He is listening to Billy Joe Shaver and reading James Joyce. And to make the rhyme complete, he notes that "Some people they tell me I got the blood of the land in my voice."
7. Everybody else has: money, nice clothes, flowers. Bob doesn't have a single rose (except you, of course)

Here Comes Santa Claus

Hide in your beds, kids.
Santa will come in your house
With a gift for you.

Horse opera star Gene Autry wrote this in 1947. As he notes:

So hang your stockings and say your prayers.
So jump in bed, and cover your head.
He'll come around when chimes ring out.

Bob recorded this for his Christmas album, as you might expect.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Have a good Christmas.
Even if things suck, they will
Be better next year.

This Christmas carol comes from the 1944 movie "Meet Me in St. Louis." The writers Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane changed some lyrics under pressure to make the song lighter. In particular, they changed "Have yourself a merry little Christmas/It may be your last/Next year we may all be living in the past" to the line about "Let your heart be light." Frank Sinatra, in his version, asked Hugh Martin to change "Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow" because the name of his album for which he recorded the song was "A Jolly Christmas." The Wikipedia entry for this song says Sinatra said, "The name of my album is A Jolly Christmas. Do you think you could jolly up that line for me?" This is where the "highest bough" line comes from. Dylan recorded the song for his album "Christmas in the Heart."

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on, 
our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years 
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now. 

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

The angels have news
About a new birth in town.
You'd better listen.

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is a song by Charles Wesley from 1739. It appears on Bob Dylan's Christmas album, "Christmas in the Heart." This is one of the big carols, and pretty well known. Here are the lyrics, which I think tell you all you need to know about how I came up with the haiku.

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Forgetful Heart

When the heart forgets
How it used to love, the mind
Is doomed to recall.

The Bob Dylan of recent years writes elegies to love and companionship, but usually with a dose of misanthropy. I loved you, you loved me. We parted, and you know what? I'm lonely and I'm in pain with loneliness, but screw it, I've had enough of people. Get off my lawn. "Forgetful Heart" from 2009 doesn't contain any "get off my lawn." It's regret and loss in fifth gear.

1. Heart forgets the good times. Of all the organs, who would remember them better? That's a tragedy.
2. Heart and I used to laugh. Heart was the answer to my prayer. Now it's just one day to the next.
3. Heart and I loved love. Surviving alone is intolerable.
4. Insomnia, pain, the door is closed to heart. There's a strong chance that there never even was a door.

Truly dough without a levity agent, as it were.

Here is a live version from Berlin in 2013.

The First Noel

News flash: Jesus born.
Three kings confirm the story.
We repeat the facts.

You know this song, and you know the haiku is right on. Here are lyrics in case you need a refresher. Dylan released this on his album "Christmas in the Heart" in 2009. He rumbles through it like a road paver with a full set of flat tires. I love it.

The First Noel, the Angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

They looked up and saw a star
Shining in the East beyond them far
And to the earth it gave great light
And so it continued both day and night.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

And by the light of that same star
Three Wise men came from country far
To seek for a King was their intent
And to follow the star wherever it went.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

This star drew nigh to the northwest
O'er Bethlehem it took its rest
And there it did both Pause and stay
Right o'er the place where Jesus lay.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

Then entered in those Wise men three
Full reverently upon their knee
And offered there in His presence
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel! 

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made Heaven and earth of nought
And with his blood mankind has bought.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

Dreamin' of You

He still dreams of you

After a life on the stage.

He's going insane.

"Dreamin' of You" didn't make the "Oh Mercy" album so Sony released it on the eighth volume of the Bootleg Series. It's another in the shifting series of autumnal Dylan songs -- bittersweet, lonely, searching kind of stuff. The music video, starring Harry Dean Stanton, centers on the old alterna-rock myth of a lonely man wearing a suit, driving in the desert. It's not Harry Dean Stanton's first road-trip through the hipper-than-thou wastes of the southwestern United States. Wim Wenders cast him in the unlovable loser role in the film "Paris Texas" from 1984, but here he stumbles across an old stash of Dylan records in a garage, rather than his estranged wife Nastassja Kinski in a peep show booth. "Dreamin' of You" is strictly Austin cool with a side of mesquite and ominous rumblings of destiny. You know...

1. For whom do those bells toll? I'll give you three guesses.
2. I'm in pain, dreaming of you, going insane. Shadowy past etc etc.
3. I wish we were together. It won't happen tonight.
4. I was locked in a cage on the stage. Nobody told me why (I was a rock star)
5. I'm like a ghost in love. I'm separated from everybody. I miss you, hence insane.
6. A brief report on the weather.
7. I'm on the run. Missing you, hence insane.