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Length: 7:27
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Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child’s balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn
Plays wasted words, proves to warn
That he not busy being born is busy dying
Temptation’s page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover that you’d just be one more
Person crying
So don’t fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It’s alright, Ma, I’m only sighing
As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don’t hate nothing at all
Except hatred
Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Make everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It’s easy to see without looking too far
That not much is really sacred
While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked
An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged
It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge
And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it
Advertising signs they con
You into thinking you’re the one
That can do what’s never been done
That can win what’s never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you
You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks they really found you
A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit
To satisfy, insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to
Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to
For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something they invest in
While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him
While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society’s pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he’s in
But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him
Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn’t talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony
While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer’s pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death’s honesty
Won’t fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes must get lonely
My eyes collide head-on with stuffed
Graveyards, false gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
what else can you show me?
And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They’d probably put my head in a guillotine
But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only
Ahhhhhh.
"Piss and vinegar" Bob.
Preach on, brother.
thx anyway. Sad he knows so many chords and created so many delightful melodies but just can’t get out of his own way on this one. 👎🏼👎🏼
Shuddered when I heard "But even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked". Ugh!
Like a sermon on the Mount.
Read them.
Who cares about his voice.
Read the lyrics as he raps them out.
Profound and insightful of society then, and unfortunately, now.
Uh, um, ah . . . brilliant.
Yes, one of my favorite Dylan songs. But you know: tonight it sounds like Bob is rapping.
![](https://media.giphy.com/media/43FimD5Qmeanm/giphy.gif)
(aren't there missing lyrics in the middle? i think some were left out.)
Thank you RP for having a next button!
For those who love this, I'm happy for you. Enjoy, I'll see you later in the playlist.
![drool](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/eusa_drool.gif)
I scuff
At pettiness
Hopefully again with Trump
Wut? Whosat?
You are dedefinite not alone. This song is interminable and Dylan was a terrible musician.
My only response will be that you don't seem to understand what the word "terrible" means. Nor, as it turns out, dedefinite. or maybe it's me.
This Nobel laureate had and continues to have no equal within the category for which he was nominated and won. There were other worthy contenders.
Prize motivation: "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."
I heard Dylan play this song in concert sometime in the 70's after Nixon's resignation. When he sang these words, a huge roar erupted from the crowd. That's when.
Hopefully again with Trump
Sorry, once last comment:
NOBEL PRIZE!!!!
you can comment all you like on Bob songs with your moniker, idiot_wind :)
And like BillG said on the intro to this, there's NO WAY anyone else was writing lyrics like this and having it played on AM airwaves back in 1965.
Long Live RP and Zimmy!!
This why they give Nobel prizes.
Greaty song for a Friday morning.
Great song for this holiday and Christmas season.
Somehow have lived 48 years and never heard this. Spectacular and poignant.
Does he possibly do this live without a cheat sheet for lyrics?
Yes, I've seen him do this one in a seemingly hypnotic trance, no cheat sheet.
![cheers](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_cheers.gif)
Does he possibly do this live without a cheat sheet for lyrics?
NOBEL PRIZE!!!!
And some venues in the Midwest!!!
Road trip. Road trip? Road trip! Oooooooh. Yeah baby.
As one travels the roads, one call ponder these words, and start their own diatribes.
And contrary to most fans, I think this may be his best album, he's at the top of his game.
Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.
Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.
So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.
As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.
Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Made everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.
While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.
An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.
Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.
You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.
A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not fergit
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.
Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.
For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.
While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him.
While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.
But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.
Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony.
While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.
My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me?
And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.
Dylan's music is lost on the simple-minded.
Same for his lyrics.
It's cold here in the Midwest and we got the "after Christmas blues".
So, we need some cheerful music.
It's life...and life only.
Neil Young should not be singing on anything, but that's a topic for a different song comment section.
When?
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwn.
No, you just have to have good taste.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwn.
Droning whine.
As can you! Would HIGHLY prefer BD to YOUR whining.
Droning whine.
Except perhaps, Billie Eilish!! Not to compare the 2, by ANY stretch of the imagination but, that young artist certainly has quite the skill at putting together some serious lyrics!!
Droning whine.
Same can be said for the "whining" posts. Rather enjoy this.
Droning whine.
Ditto you.
You should let Bob know of your dislike for his music. I'm sure he will take it under consideration, along with tweets, polling data, user groups, and market research.
sfyi2001 wrote:
![](https://media.giphy.com/media/hrOSnyyh7O372/giphy.gif)
The 'immortal Robert Zimmerman' !
All the accolades in the world bestowed upon this piece don't make it a song,
Yay so the words are meaningful, call it a poem and let's hear some music.
EXCRUCIATING
![{#Crown} {#Crown}](https://graphics.radioparadise.com/emoji/crown.gif)
![](https://media.giphy.com/media/hrOSnyyh7O372/giphy.gif)
The 'immortal Robert Zimmerman' !
All the accolades in the world bestowed upon this piece don't make it a song,
Yay so the words are meaningful, call it a poem and let's hear some music.
EXCRUCIATING
![{#Crown} {#Crown}](https://graphics.radioparadise.com/emoji/crown.gif)
BOO HISS, and the video is from a different SONG of BD's so there (hehehe)
![](https://media.giphy.com/media/hrOSnyyh7O372/giphy.gif)
The 'immortal Robert Zimmerman' !
All the accolades in the world bestowed upon this piece don't make it a song,
Yay so the words are meaningful, call it a poem and let's hear some music.
EXCRUCIATING
![{#Crown} {#Crown}](http://graphics.radioparadise.com/emoji/crown.gif)
I would advise anyone who was born after the late 60's/early 70's to heed his call. Look at your world and consider your path forward.
This is exactly why I tell folks to listen to Bob's WORDS, or at the very least, READ them, before claiming it 'sucks.' And with all the iterations of Bob, including his 'Christian' phase, there's something to be heeded, like looking out for a slow train coming.....Long Live BD and RP!!
I occasionally move my eating to a 10 as well. Meanwhile, my rating is still an 8. It's alright, Ma, I'm only drinking.
Find song lyrics here: https://www.lyricsfreak.com/
Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry"
And, dropping a barbell, he points to the sky
Saying, "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken"
Yeah. Nobel prize.
The sermon has started.
Also well put. Where do you see lyrics like this today?
I don't think BD really cares one way or the other, although I believe the WORDS he wrote ARE worthy of the grand prize he was awarded.
I wanted to copy & paste a few bits from this tune, and really had a hard time finding ONLY a few because the entire song resonates so well - then (summer of 1964!!) and now (fall of 2018) - so I'll let you investigate further...starting with the following passage from the Wiki page for this song (and I went 9→10 on this one today...and Long Live RP!!)
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and first released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. It was written in the summer of 1964, first performed live on October 10, 1964, and recorded on January 15, 1965. Described by Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as a "grim masterpiece," the song features some of Dylan's most memorable lyrical images. Among the well-known lines sung in the song are "He not busy being born is busy dying," "Money doesn't talk, it swears," "Although the masters make the rules, for the wisemen and the fools" and "But even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked." The lyrics express Dylan's anger at what he sees as the hypocrisy, commercialism, consumerism, and war mentality inherent in contemporary American culture. Dylan's preoccupations in the lyrics, nevertheless, extend beyond the socio-political, expressing existential concerns, touching on urgent matters of personal experience.
Well said. He is brilliant and deserved the award.
Droning whine.
It is - sung by Roger McGuinn :)
ahhh, thank you!!
It is - sung by Roger McGuinn :)
I don't think BD really cares one way or the other, although I believe the WORDS he wrote ARE worthy of the grand prize he was awarded.
I wanted to copy & paste a few bits from this tune, and really had a hard time finding ONLY a few because the entire song resonates so well - then (summer of 1964!!) and now (fall of 2018) - so I'll let you investigate further...starting with the following passage from the Wiki page for this song (and I went 9→10 on this one today...and Long Live RP!!)
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and first released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. It was written in the summer of 1964, first performed live on October 10, 1964, and recorded on January 15, 1965. Described by Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as a "grim masterpiece," the song features some of Dylan's most memorable lyrical images. Among the well-known lines sung in the song are "He not busy being born is busy dying," "Money doesn't talk, it swears," "Although the masters make the rules, for the wisemen and the fools" and "But even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked." The lyrics express Dylan's anger at what he sees as the hypocrisy, commercialism, consumerism, and war mentality inherent in contemporary American culture. Dylan's preoccupations in the lyrics, nevertheless, extend beyond the socio-political, expressing existential concerns, touching on urgent matters of personal experience.
I think Twain said something similar (obviously not about BD) - something along the lines of "to the 1/2 wit, he and the 3/2 wit are equal" - my memory of this is from 11th grade, although a lot of quotes are attached to Twain that he NEVER said...so maybe that's the story here too....
And I came here to post another "Happy 77th BD to BD!!" Long Live RP!!
You are dedefinite not alone. This song is interminable and Dylan was a terrible musician.
Everybody in my hotel room agrees with you, On_The_Beach... this song is a masterpiece... hope life is grand for you right now! Love Radio Paradise!
this was horrible then
there are both pretty bad in any era
Shut up Bob, yer shite.
This song illustrates why Dylan received a Nobel prize.
![https://mysticalnumbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Number-11-red.png](https://mysticalnumbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Number-11-red.png)
![https://mysticalnumbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Number-11-red.png](https://mysticalnumbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Number-11-red.png)
Maybe the site has a 533-word limit.
GOOD! We need more of it!
Bad things happen when you listen to this song:
Nah, George Clooney was listening to horses when his ride blew up.
(Michael Clayton)
I would advise anyone who was born after the late 60's/early 70's to heed his call. Look at your world and consider your path forward.
More than one, I think. Needs remediation.
OK, I will address this song.
Good morning, Song.
You bore me.
Goodbye.
1) How could anyone like this whiny crap?
2) Children, you don't understand! I was there when this came out and you weren't and you had to be there and I'm much smarter than you because I never got over the 60's.
3) I met Bob Dylan once at an exclusive party with my producer and drummer. Such a delightful man.
4) Does this song have an ending?
5) His poetry is eternal and universal. No wonder he won the Nobel Prize! (conveniently forgetting that his followers dumped him in droves with much criticism when he went through his Born Again Christian phase).
he's trying to drag us into his hole
Yes, indeed, hayduke2... well said... as for this song, everybody in my hotel room thinks it is great poetry with a melody... we love it... love Radio Paradise...
Uh, um, ah . . . brilliant.
![{#Stop} {#Stop}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_stop.gif)
he's trying to drag us into his hole
There was a cover version in the film "Easy Rider" - I think it was by some iteration of The Byrds or maybe just Roger McGuinn on his own. I haven't seen the movie in years.
In the movie, it's a McGuinn solo cover version, accompanied by Gene Parsons on harmonica.
According to Wiki, Peter Fonda wanted to use the orig. version but he ultimately couldn't get the rights to it.
Bad things happen when you listen to this song:
Amen to that brother.....................
There was a cover version in the film "Easy Rider" - I think it was by some iteration of The Byrds or maybe just Roger McGuinn on his own. I haven't seen the movie in years.