WORDS FILL MY HEAD

 

Rolling Thunder

 

Going Going Gone

San Antonio Version

Oklahoma City Version

If You See Her, Say Hello

Lay Lady Lay

Sara

Simple Twist Of Fate

Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

 

Going Going Gone

San Antonio version

 

Well, I've just reached a place

Where the willow don't bend

There's no more to be said

It's the top of the end

I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

I've been walking lonely

Sleeping in the dust

Now I've just gotta go

And you know that I must

I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

I've been here too long

And I've heard what you said

But I just got the rope

Oh well, I can't sleep in my bed

So I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

Grandma says "Son, go and follow your heart"

You'll be fine at the end of the line

All that's gold isn't meant to shine

Don't you and that long long dream ever part."

 

Now I'm in love with you baby

But you gotta understand

That you got to be free

So let go of my hand

I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

Grandma says "Son, go and follow your heart

You'll be fine at the end of the line

All that's gold isn't meant to shine

Don't you and that long long dream ever part."

 

I believe in you baby

For the change of some truce

But I just got to go

So please turn me loose

I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

[Source: tape from San Antonio, Texas, 11 May 1976, with help from Åke Jonsson]

 

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Oklahoma City version

 

Well, I've just reached a place

Where the willow don't bend

There's no more to be said

It's the beginning of the end

I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

I'm in love with you baby

But I think it might be too late

So we better start again

And get it straight

Oh, I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

I've been walking on the clouds

Sleeping in the dust

Now I've just gotta move

Before it's all diamonds and rust

So I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

Grandma says "Son, go and follow your heart

You'll be fine at the end of the line

All that's gold isn't meant to shine

Don't you and that life long dream ever part."

 

I'm in love with you baby

I don't mean any harm

But you want to be free

So let go of my arm

I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

Grandma says "Son, go and follow your heart

You'll be fine at the end of the line

All that's gold isn't meant to shine

Don't you and that life long dream ever part."

 

I'm in love with you baby

Please understand

That you got to be free

So let go of my hand

I'm going,

I'm going,

I'm gone.

 

[Source: tape from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 18 May 1976, with help from Åke Jonsson]

 

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If You See Her, Say Hello

 

If you see her say hello, she might be in North Saigon

She left here in a hurry, I don't know what she was on.

You might say that I'm in disarray and for me time's standing still

Boy, you've never gotten over her, I don't think I ever will.

 

The evil ______________________________ then suddenly you stole

It's one of them wreckless situations which nobody control

__________________________________ eyes

___________ do the best we can which should come as no surprise

 

If you're makin' love to her watch it from the rear

You'll never know when I'll be back or liable to appear

Oh, it's natural to dream of peace as it id for rules to break

And right now I got not much to lose, so you better stay awake.

 

Sundown, silver moon, hittin' on the days

My head can't understand no more, what my heart don't tolerate

And I know she'll be back some day of that there is no doubt

And when that moment comes, Lord, give me the strength to keep her out.

 

[Source: tape from Lakeland, Florida, 18 April 1976, with help from Rebecca Buck]

 

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Lay Lady Lay

 

Lay, lady, lay,

Lay across my big brass bed

Lay, lady, lay,

Lay across my big brass bed

Whatever colors you have in your mind

I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine

Lay, lady, lay,

Lay across my big brass bed

 

Forget this dance,

Let's go upstairs

Let's take a chance

Who really cares

Why don't you know you got nothin' to prove

It's all in your eyes and the way that you move

Forget this dance,

Let's go upstairs

 

Why wait any longer, I don't mean too complain

You can have love but you might lose it

Why run any longer when you're runnin' in vain

You can have the truth but you've got to choose it

 

Stay, lady, stay

Stay with you man awhile

Til the break of day

Love to see you make him smile

I long to see you in the morning light

I long to hold you in the night

Stay, lady, stay

Stay with you man awhile

 

[Source: Hard Rain album liner notes]

 

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Sara

 

I laid on a dune, and I looked at the sky,

When the children were babies and played on the beach.

You came up behind me, I saw you go by,

You were always so close and still within reach.

 

Sara, Sara,

Whatever made you want to change your mind?

Sara, Sara,

So easy to look at, so hard to define.

 

I can still see them playin' with their pails in the sand,

They run to the water their buckets to fill.

I can still see the shells fallin' out of their hands

As they follow each other back up the hill.

 

Sara, Sara,

Sweet virgin angel, sweet love of my life.

Sara, Sara,

Radiant jewel, mystical wife.

 

Sleepin' in the woods near the fire in the night.

Where you fought for my soul and went up against the odds

I was too young to know you were doin' it right

And you did it with strength that belonged to the gods.

 

Sara, Sara,

Wherever we travel, we're never apart

Sara, Sara,

Beautiful lady so dear to my heart.

 

I can still hear the sounds of those Methodist bells,

I'd taken the cure and had just gotten through,

Stayin' up for days in the Chelsea Hotel,

Writin' "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" for you.

 

Sara, Sara,

It's all so clear, I could never forget

Sara, oh Sara,

Lovin' you is the one thing I'll never regret

 

Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp

And a piece of an old ship that lies on the shore.

You always responded when I needed your help,

You gave a map and a key to your door.

 

Sara, oh Sara,

Glamorous nymph with an arrow and bow,

Sara, oh Sara,

Don't ever leave me, don't ever go.

 

[Source tape from the evening show in Boston, Massachusetts, 21 November 1975]

 

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Simple Twist Of Fate

 

They sat together in the park

As the evening sky got dark

She looked at him and he felt a spark tingle to his bones

Twas then he felt alone and wished that he'd gone straight

And watched out for a simple twist of fate.

 

They walked along by the old canal

A little confused, I remember well

And stopped into an old hotel with the neon burning bright

He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train

Moving with a simple twist of fate.

 

A clarinet some place softly played

As she was walking on by the arcade

She heard the melody rise and fade, the sun was comin' up

She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate

And forgot about a simple twist of fate.

 

He woke up and she was gone

He didn't see nothin' but the dawn

He got out of bed and put his clothes back on, pushed back the blinds

Found a note she'd left behind, to which he just could not relate

All about a simple twist of fate.

 

He hears the ticking of the clocks

Walks alone through the city blocks

Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailors all come in

Maybe she'll see him once again, how long must he wait

One more time for a simple twist of fate.

 

People tell me it's a crime

To feel too much at any one time

She should have caught me in my prime, she would have stayed with me

Instead of goin' off to sea and leavin' me to meditate

Upon a simple twist of fate.

 

[Source: tape from John Hammond Tribute, 10 September 1975, with help from Ron Mura]

 

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Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

 

Threw my ticket in the wind

Threw my mattress out there too

Threw my letters in the sand

Cause you've got to understand

That tonight I'll be staying here with you

 

I would have left this town by noon

By tonight have been in some place new

But I was feeling a little bit scattered

And your love was all that mattered

So tonight I'll be staying here with you

Get ready

Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you

 

Is it really any wonder?

The changes that we run upon each others heads

You come on to me like rolling thunder

I left my dreams on the river bed

 

I can hear that whistle blowing

Hear that sunrise rolling too

If there's a driver on the road

Let him have my load

Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you

 

I can hear that lonesome whistle blowing

Hear that sunrise rolling too

If there's a driver on the road

Let him have my load

Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you

Yes tonight I'll be staying here with you

 

[Source: The Telegraph # 7, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1 December 1975]

 

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This page last updated 20 May 2001.