The Best Of The

BOB DYLAN  The Best Of The Lyrics
1.Song To Woody(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

I'm out here a thousand miles from my home,
Walkin' a road other men have gone down.
I'm seein' your world of people and things,
Your paupers and peasants and princes and kings.

Hey, hey Woody Guthrie, I wrote you a song
'Bout a funny ol' world that's a-comin' along.
Seems sick an' it's hungry, it's tired an' it's torn,
It looks like it's a-dyin' an' it's hardly been born.

Hey, Woody Guthrie, but I know that you know
All the things that I'm a-sayin' an' a-many times more.
I'm a-singin' you the song, but I can't sing enough,
'Cause there's not many men that done the things that you've
done.

Here's to Cisco and Sonny and Leadbelly too,
An' to all the good people that traveled with you.
Here's to the hearts and the hands of the men
That come with the dust and are gone with the wind.

I'm a-leaving' tomorrow, but I could leave today,
Somewhere down the road someday.
The very last thing that I'd want to do
Is to say I've been hittin' some hard travelin' too.


2.Blowin' In The Wind(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

How many roads must a man walk down,
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail,
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must cannonballs fly,
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

How many years can a mountain exist,
Before it's washed to the seas
How many years can some people exist,
Before they're allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head,
Pretend that he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes and how many times must a man look up,
Before he can see the sky?
Yes and how many ears must one man have,
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes and how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind


3.The Times They Are A - Changin'(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.


4.Chimes Of Freedom(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

Far between sundown's finish an' midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing

Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden while the walls were tightening
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the bells of the lightning

Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder
That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze
Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder

Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind
Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind
An' the unpawned painter behind beyond his rightful time
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Through the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
For the disrobed faceless forms of no position
Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
All down in taken-for-granted situations

Tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute
Tolling for the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled
prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an' cheated by pursuit
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
An' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting

Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking
trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
An' for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Starry-eyed an' laughing as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
Spellbound an' swallowed 'til the tolling ended

Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones
an' worse
An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.


5.It Ain't Me Babe(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

Go away from my window
Leave at your own chosen speed
I'm not the one you want babe
I'm not the one you need

You say you're lookin' for someone
Never weak but always strong
To protect you an' defend you
Whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door

But it ain't me babe
No no no it sure ain't me babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for babe

Move lightly from the ledge babe
Move lightly on the ground
I'm not the one you want babe
I'll only let you down

You said you're lookin' for someone
Who'll promise never to part
Someone to close his eyes for you
Someone to close his heart
Someone who will die for you an' maybe more

But it still ain't me babe
No no no no it sure ain't me babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for babe

Go melt back into the night babe
Everything inside here is made of stone
Well there's nothing in here that's a moving
An' anyway i'm not alone

You say you're looking for someone
Pick you up at a time you fall
Someone to gather flowers constantly
An' come at a time you call
A lover for your life i've done much more

And it still ain't me babe
No no no it sure ain't me babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for babe


6.Subterranean Homesick Blues(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

Johnny's in the basement, mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement, thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat, badge out, laid off
Says 'He's got a bad cough, wants to get it paid off'

Look out kid, it's somethin' you did
God knows when but you're doin' it again
You better duck down the alley way, lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap, in the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills, you only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put, plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway, Maggie says that many say
'They must bust in early May, orders from the D.A'

Look out kid, don't matter what you did
But walk on your tip toes don't tie no bows
Better stay away from those that carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows

Oh get sick, get well, hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell, if anything is goin' to sell
Try hard, get barred, get back, write Braille
Get jailed, jump bail, join the army if you fail

Look out kid, you're gonna get hit
But losers, cheaters, six-time users
Hangin' around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool, lookin' for a new fool
Don't follow leaders, watch your parkin' meters

Oh get born, keep warm, short pants, romance
Learn to dance, get dressed, get blessed, try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts, don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift

Look out kid, they keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole, light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals, try to avoid the scandals
Don't wanna be a bum you better chew gum
The pump don't work, 'cause the vandals took the handles


7.Mr. Tambourine Man(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand,
Vanished from my hand,
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet,
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship,
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip,
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wanderin'.
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go under it.

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Though you might hear laughin', spinnin', swingin' madly across
the sun,
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'.
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind,
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
Seein' that he's chasing.

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.


8.Like A Rolling Stone(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

Once upon a time you dressed so fine,
threw the bums a dime, in your prime, didn't you?
People called said beware doll; you're bound to fall
You thought they were all a-kiddin' you
You use to laugh about everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud, now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging your next meal

How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone

Oh you've gone through the finest school all right miss lonely
But you know you only use to get juiced in it
Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street
And now you're gonna have to get used to it
You say you never compromise with a mystery tramp but now you
realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say do you want to make a deal?

How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To be on your own
Without a direction home
A complete unknown
Like a rolling stone

Oh you've never turned around to see the frowns on the
Jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you
Never understand that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You use to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that he really wasn't where it's
at?
After he took from you everything he could steal

How does it feel?
How does it feel?
Ham on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone
Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people they all
Drinkin,'thinkin' that they got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you better take a diamond ring
You better pawn it babe
You use to be so amused
And Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now he calls ya, ya can't refuse
When ya ain't got nothing, ya got nothing to lose
You're invisible now you've got no secrets to conceal

How does it feel?
Oh how does it feel?
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone


9.Tombstone Blues(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

The sweet pretty things are in bed now of course
The city fathers they're trying to endorse
The reincarnation of Paul Revere's horse
But the town has no need to be nervous

The ghost of Belle Starr she hands down her wits
To Jezebel the nun she violently knits
A bald wig for Jack the Ripper who sits
At the head of the chamber of commerce

Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for the fuse
I'm in the streets
With the tombstone blues

The hysterical bride in the penny arcade
Screaming she moans, 'I've just been made'
Then sends out for the doctor who pulls down the shade
Says, 'My advice is to not let the boys in'

Now the medicine man comes and he shuffles inside
He walks with a swagger and he says to the bride
'Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride
You will not die, it's not poison'

Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for the fuse
I'm in the streets
With the tombstone blues

Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, 'Tell me great hero, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?'

The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, 'Death to all those who would whimper and cry'
And dropping a bar bell he points to the sky
Saving, 'The sun's not yellow it's chicken'

Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for the fuse
I'm in the streets
With the tombstone blues

The king of the Philistines his soldiers to save
Puts jawbones on their tombstones and flatters their graves
Puts the pied pipers in prison and fattens the slaves
Then sends them out to the jungle

Gypsy Davey with a blowtorch he burns out their camps
With his faithful slave Pedro behind him he tramps
With a fantastic collection of stamps
To win friends and influence his uncle

Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for the fuse
I'm in the streets
With the tombstone blues

The geometry of innocent flesh on the bone
Causes Galileo's math book to get thrown
At Delilah who sits worthlessly alone
But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter

Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill
I would set him in chains at the top of the hill
Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille
He could die happily ever after

Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for the fuse
I'm in the streets
With the tombstone blues

Where Ma Raney and Beethoven once unwrapped their bed roll
Tuba players now rehearse around the flagpole
And the National Bank at a profit sells road maps for the soul
To the old folks home and the college

Now I wish I could write you a melody so plain
That could hold you dear lady from going insane
That could ease you and cool you and cease the pain
Of your useless and pointless knowledge

Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for the fuse
I'm in the streets
With the tombstone blues


10.Positively 4th Street(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

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

I know the reason that
you talk behind my back
I used to be among the
crowd You're in with

Do you take me for such a fool
To think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don't know to begin with

You see me on the street
You always act surprised
You say, 'How are you?' 'Good luck'
But you don't mean it

When you know as well as me
You'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just
come out once and scream it

No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I'd rob them

And now I know you're dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don't you understand
it's not my problem

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you

Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
Then you'd know what a
drag it is to see you


11.Rainy Day Women #12 & 35(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

Well, they'll stone ya when you're trying to be so good,
They'll stone ya just a-like they said they would.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to go home.
Then they'll stone ya when you're there all alone.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.

Well, they'll stone ya when you're walkin' 'long the street.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to keep your seat.
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' on the floor.
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' to the door.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.

They'll stone ya when you're at the breakfast table.
They'll stone ya when you are young and able.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to make a buck.
They'll stone ya and then they'll say, 'good luck.'
Tell ya what, I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.

Well, they'll stone you and say that it's the end.
Then they'll stone you and then they'll come back again.
They'll stone you when you're riding in your car.
They'll stone you when you're playing your guitar.
Yes, but I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.

Well, they'll stone you when you walk all alone.
They'll stone you when you are walking home.
They'll stone you and then say you are brave.
They'll stone you when you are set down in your grave.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.


12.Just Like A Woman(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

Nobody feels any pain
Tonight as I stand inside the rain
Ev'rybody knows
That Baby's got new clothes
But lately I see her ribbons and her bows
Have fallen from her curls.
She takes just like a woman, yes, she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl.

Queen Mary, she's my friend
Yes, I believe I'll go see her again
Nobody has to guess
That Baby can't be blessed
Till she sees finally that she's like all the rest
With her fog, her amphetamine and her pearls.
She takes just like a woman, yes, she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl.

It was raining from the first
And I was dying there of thirst
So I came in here
And your long-time curse hurts
But what's worse
Is this pain in here
I can't stay in here
Ain't it clear that

I just can't fit
Yes, I believe it's time for us to quit
When we meet again
Introduced as friends
Please don't let on that you knew me when
I was hungry and it was your world.
Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes, you do
You make love just like a woman, yes, you do
Then you ache just like a woman
But you break just like a little girl.


13.I Want You(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

The guilty undertaker signs
The lonesome organ grinder cries
The sliver saxophones say i should
Refuse you
Cracked bells and washed out horns
Blow into my face with scorn
It's not that way
I wasn't born to lose you

I want you
I want you
I want you
So bad

Drunken politicians leap
Under the streets where mothers weep
Saviours lying fast asleep
They wait for you
I wait for them to interrupt me
Drinking from my broken cup
And ask for me
To open up the gate for you

I want you
I want you
I want you
So bad

All my fathers, they've gone down
True love, they live without it
And all their daughters, they still put me down
Because I think about it

I returned to the Queen of Spades
Talked with my chambermaid
She knows that I'm not afraid to look at her
She's good to me
There's nothing she don't see
She knows where I would rather be
But that doesn't matter

Dancing child with his shiny suit
He spoke to me, I took his flute
No, I wasn't that cute to him
Was I?
I did it all because
He lied
Because he took you for a ride
Because time was on his side
Because I want you
I want you
I want you
So bad


14.I'll Be Your Baby Tonight(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

Close your eyes, close the door
You don't have to worry any more
Cause I'll be your baby tonight

Shut the lights and shut the shade
You don't have to be afraid
'Cause I'll be your baby tonight

Well, that mockingbird's gonna sail away
We're gonna forget it
That big fat moon
Is gonna shine like a spoon
But we're gonna let it
You won't regret it

Kick your shoes off
And don't you fear
Bring that bottle over here
Cause I'll be your baby tonight

Well, that mockingbird's gonna sail away
We're gonna forget it
That big fat moon
Is gonna shine like a spoon
But we're gonna let it
You won't regret it

Kick your shoes off
And don't you fear
Bring that bottle over here
Cause I'll be your baby tonight
Cause I'll be your baby tonight
Cause I'll be your baby tonight, tonight


15.All Along The Watchtower(2010 Mono Version)

Lyricist:Bob Dylan
Writer(s):Bob Dylan

'There must be some way out of here,' said the joker to the
thief,
'There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth.'

'No reason to get excited,' the thief, he kindly spoke,
'There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our
fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.'

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.