WORDS FILL MY HEAD
Rough And Rowdy Ways
[Source: lyrics as sung by Bob Dylan on the released
album and transcribed by Daniel Mackay.]
I've
Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You
Today and tomorrow and yesterday too
The flowers are dyin’ like all things do
Follow me close, I’m going to Bally-na-lee
I’ll lose my mind if you don’t come with me
I fuss with my hair and I fight blood feuds
I contain multitudes
Got a tell-tale heart like Mr. Poe
Got skeletons in the walls of people you know
I’ll drink to the truth and to things we said
I’ll drink to the man that shares your bed
I paint landscapes and I paint nudes
I contain multitudes
Red Cadillac and a black moustache
Rings on my fingers that sparkle and flash
Tell me what’s next, what shall we do?
Half my soul, baby, belongs to you
I rollick and I frolic with all the young dudes
I contain multitudes
I’m just like Anne Frank, like Indiana Jones
And them British bad boys, the Rolling Stones
I go right to the edge, I go right to the end
I go right where all things lost are made good again
I sing the songs of experience like William Blake
I have no apologies to make
Everything’s flowing all at the same time
I live on a boulevard of crime
I drive fast cars and I eat fast foods
I contain multitudes
Pink pedal pushers, red blue jeans
All the pretty maids and all the old queens
All the old creeds from all my past lives
I carry four pistols and two large knives
I’m a man of contradictions, I’m a man of many moods
I contain multitudes
You greedy old wolf, I’ll show you my heart
But not all of it, only the hateful part
I’ll sell ya down the river and put a price on
your head
What more can I tell ya? I sleep with life and
death in the same bed
Get lost, madam, get up off my knee
Keep your mouth away from me
I’ll keep the path open, the path in my mind
I see to it that there’s no love left behind
I play Beethoven’s sonatas, Chopin’s preludes
I contain multitudes
Another day that don’t end – another ship goin’ out
Another day of anger, bitterness, and doubt
I know how it happened – I saw it begin
I opened my heart to the world and the world came in
Hello Mary Lou – Hello Miss Pearl
My fleet-footed guides from the underworld
No stars in the sky shine brighter than you
You girls mean business and I do too
Well, I’m the enemy of treason – a ‘enemy of strife
I’m the enemy of the unlived meaningless life
I ain’t no false prophet – I just know what I
know
I go where only the lonely can go
I’m first among equals – second to none
The last of the best – you can bury the rest
Bury ’em naked with their silver and gold
Put ’em six feet under and a-pray for their
soul
What are you lookin’ at – there’s nothing to see
Just a cool breeze that’s encircling me
Let’s go for a walk in the garden – so far and so wide
We can sit in the shade by the fountain side
I searched the world over for the Holy Grail
I sing songs of love – I sing songs of betrayal
Don’t care what I drink – I don’t care what I eat
I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet
You don’t know me darlin’ – ya never would
guess
I’m nothing like my ghostly appearance would suggest
I ain’t no False Prophet – I just said what I
said
I’m just here to bring vengeance on somebody’s head
Put out your hand – there’s nothin’ to hold
Open your mouth – I’ll stuff it with gold
Oh you poor Devil – look up if you will
The City of God is there on the hill
Hello stranger – Hello and goodbye
You rule the land, but so do I
Ya lusty old mule – you got a poisoned brain
I’ll marry you to a ball and chain
You know darlin’ the kind of life that I live
When your smile meets my smile – a-somethings got to give
I ain’t no false prophet – no, I’m nobody’s
bride
Can’t remember when I was born and I forgot
when I died
All through the summers, into January
I've been visiting morgues and monasteries
Looking for the necessary body parts
Limbs and livers and brains and hearts
I'll bring someone to life, is what I wanna do
I'm gonna create my own version of you
Well, it must be the winter of
my discontent
I wish you’d a-taken me with you wherever you went
They talk all night and they talk all day
Not for a minute, do I believe anything they say
I'm gonna bring someone to life, someone I've
never seen
You know what I mean, you know exactly what I mean
I'll take the Scarface Pacino & the Godfather Brando
Mix it up in a tank and get a robot commando
If I do it up right and put the head on
straight
I'll be saved by the creature that I create
I'll get blood from a cactus, gunpowder from ice
I don't gamble with cards and I don't shoot no
dice
Can you look in my face with your sightless eye?
Can you cross your heart and hope to die?
I'll bring someone to life, someone for real
Someone who feels the way that I feel
I study Sanskrit and Arabic to improve my mind
I wanna do things for the benefit of all
mankind
I say to the willow tree, "Don't weep for me"
I'm saying the hell to all things that used to be
Well, I get into trouble, then I hit the wall
No place to turn, no place at all
I'll pick a number between a-one and two
And I ask myself, "What would Julius Caesar do?"
I'll bring someone to life in more ways than one
Don't matter how long it takes, it'll be done when it's done
I'm gonna make you play the piano like Leon
Russell
Like Liberace, like St. John the Apostle
I'll play every number that I can play
I'll see you maybe on Judgment Day
After midnight, if you still wanna meet
I'll be at the Black Horse Tavern on Armageddon Street
Two doors down, not that far to walk
I'll hear your footsteps, you won't have to knock
I'll bring someone to life, balance the scales
I'm not gonna get involved in any
insignificant details
You can bring it to St. Peter, you can bring it to Jerome
You can bring it all the way over, bring it all the way home
Bring it to the corner where the children play
You can bring it to me on a silver tray
I'll bring someone to life, spare no expense
Do it with decency and common sense
Can you tell me what it means, to be or not to be?
You won't get away with foolin’ me
Can you help me walk that moonlight mile?
Can you give me the blessings of your smile?
I'll bring someone to life, use all of my
powers
Do it in the dark in the wee small hours
I can see the history of the whole human race
It's all right there, it's carved into your face
Should I break it all down? Should I fall on my knees?
Is there light at the end of the tunnel, can you tell me please?
Stand over there by the cypress tree
Where the Trojan women and children were sold into slavery
Long before the First Crusade
Way back ‘fore England or America were made
Step right into the burning hell
Where some of the best-known enemies of mankind dwell
Mr. Freud with his dreams, Mr. Marx with his axe
See the rawhide lash rip the skin from their backs
Got the right spirit, you can feel it you can hear it
You've got what they call the immortal spirit
You can feel it all night, you can feel it in the morn
It creeps in your body the day you were born
One strike of lightning is all that I need
And a blast of ‘lectricity that runs at top
speed
Show me your ribs, I'll stick in the knife
Gonna jump-start my creation to life
I wanna bring someone to life, turn back the
years
Do it with laughter and do it with tears
I’m sitting on my terrace, lost in the stars
Listening to the sounds of the sad guitars.
Been thinking it all over, and I thought it all through
I’ve made up my mind to give myself to you
I saw the first fall of snow
I saw the flowers come and go
I don’t think that anyone ever else ever knew
I’ve made up my mind to give myself to you
I’m giving myself to you, I am
From Salt Lake City to Birmingham
From East LA to San Antone
I don’t think I could bear to live my life alone
My eye is like a shooting star
It looks at nothing here or there, looks at nothing near or far
No one ever told me, it’s just something I knew
I’ve made up my mind to give myself to you
If I had the wings of a snow white dove
I’d preach the gospel, the gospel of love
A love so real, a love so true
I’ve made up my mind to give myself to you
Take me out traveling, you’re a traveling man
Show me something that I’ll understand
I’m not what I was, things aren’t what they were
I’m going far away from home with her
I traveled the long road of despair
I’ve met no other traveler there
Lotta people gone, a lotta people I knew
I’ve made up my mind to give myself to you.
Well my heart’s like a river, a river that sings
Just takes me a while to realize things
I’ll see you at sunrise, I’ll see you at dawn
I’ll lay down beside you when everyone’s gone
I traveled from the mountains to the sea
I hope that the gods go easy with me
I knew you’d say yes, I’m saying it too
I’ve made up my mind to give myself to you
Black rider, black rider, you been living too hard
Been up all night, have to stay on your guard
The path that you’re walking – too narrow to walk
Every step of the way, another stumbling block
The road that you’re on – same road that you know
Just not the same as it was a minute ago
Black rider, black rider, you’ve seen it all
You’ve seen the great world, and you’ve seen the small
You fell into the fire, and you’re eating the flame
Better seal up your lips if you want to stay in the game
Be reasonable mister, be honest, be fair
Let all of your earthly thoughts be a prayer
Black rider, black rider, all dressed in black
I’m walking away, you try to make me look back
My heart is at rest, I’d like to keep it that way
I don’t want to fight, at least not today
Go home to your wife, stop visiting mine
One of these days, I’ll forget to be kind
Black rider, black rider, tell me when, tell me how
If there ever was a time, then let it be now
Let me go through, open the door
My soul is distressed, my mind is at war
Don’t hug me, don’t flatter me, don’t turn on the charm
I take a sword and hack off your arm
Black rider, black rider, hold it right there
The size of your cock won’t get you nowhere
I suffer in silence, I’ll not make a sound
Maybe I’ll take the high moral ground
Some enchanted evening, I’ll sing you a song
Black rider, black rider, you’ve been on the job too long
I live on a street named after a saint
Women in the churches wear powder and paint
Where the Jews and the Catholics and the Muslims all pray
I can tell the proddy from a mile away
Goodbye Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Reed indeed
Gimme that old time religion, it’s just what I need
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the Glory
Go tell it on the mountain, go tell the real story
Tell in that straightforward puritanical tone
In the mystic hours, where a person’s alone
Goodbye Jimmy Reed, Godspeed
Thump on the Bible, proclaim a creed
You won’t amount to much, the people all said
‘Cos I didn’t play guitar behind my head
Never pandered, never acted proud
Never took off my shoes, threw ‘em into
the crowd
Goodbye Jimmy Reed, goodbye and good
night
Put a jewel in your crown and I’ll put out the light
They threw everything at me, everything in the book
I had nothing to fight with but a butcher’s hook
They had no pity, they never lent a hand,
I can’t sing a song that I don’t understand
Goodbye Jimmy Reed, goodbye and good luck
I can’t play the record ‘cos my needle got stuck
Transparent woman in a transparent dress
Suits you well I must confess
I break open your grapes, I suck out that juice
I need you like my head needs a noose
Goodbye Jimmy Reed, goodbye and so long
I thought I could resist her, but I was so wrong
God be with you, brother dear
If you don’t mind me asking, what brings you here?
Ah nothing much, I’m just looking for the man
Came to see where he’s lying in this lost land
Goodbye Jimmy Reed, and everything within ya
Can’t you hear me calling from down in Virginia?
Mother of Muses sing for me
Sing of the mountains and the deep dark sea
Sing of the lakes and the nymphs of the forest
Sing your hearts out, all ya women of
the chorus
Sing of honor and faith, and glory be
Mother of Muses, sing for me
Mother of Muses, sing for my heart
Sing of a love, too soon to depart
Sing of the heroes who stood alone
Whose names are engraved on tablets of stone
Who struggled with pain so the world could go free
Mother of Muses, sing for me
Sing of Sherman, Montgomery, and Scott,
And of Zhukov, and Patton, and the battles they fought
Who cleared the path for Presley to sing,
Who carved the path for Martin Luther King
Who did what they dared and they went on their way
Man, I could tell their stories all day
I’m falling in love with Calliope
She don’t belong to anyone, why not give her to
me?
She’s speaking to me, speaking with her eyes
I’ve grown so tired of chasing lies
Mother of Muses, wherever you are
I’ve already outlived my life by far
Mother of Muses, unleash your wrath
Things I can’t see, they’re blocking the path
Show me your wisdom, tell me my fate
Put me upright, make me walk straight
Forge my identity from the inside out
You know what I’m talking about
Take me to the river, release your charms
Let me lay down awhile in your sweet lovin’
arms
Wake me, shake me, free me from sin
Make me invisible like the wind
Got a mind to ramble, got a mind to roam
I’m travelin’ light, and I’m a-slow comin’ home
I crossed the Rubicon on the 14th day of the most dangerous month
of the year
At the worst time, at the worst place – that’s all I seem to hear
I got up early so I could greet the Goddess of the Dawn
I painted my wagon “abandon all hope,” and I crossed the Rubicon
Well, the Rubicon is the Red River, going gently as she flows
Redder then your ruby lips and the blood that
flows from the rose
Three miles north of Purgatory – one step from the great beyond
I prayed to the cross, I kissed the girls, and I crossed the Rubicon
What are these dark days I see in this world so badly bent
How can I redeem the time – the time so idly spent
How much longer can it last – how long can it go on
I embraced my love, put down my head, and I crossed the Rubicon
I can feel the bones beneath my skin, and they’re tremblin’
with rage
I’ll make your wife a widow – you’ll never see old age
Show me one good man in sight that the sun shines down upon
I pawned my watch, I paid my debts, and I crossed the Rubicon
Put my heart upon the hill where some happiness there I’ll find
If I survive, then let me love – let the hour be mine
Take the high road – take the low, take any one you’re on
I poured the cup, I passed it along, and I crossed the Rubicon
Well, you defiled the most lovely flower in all
of womanhood
Others can be tolerant – others can be good
I’ll cut ya up with a crooked knife, Lord and
I’ll miss ya when you’re gone
I stood between heaven and earth and I crossed
the Rubicon
You won’t find any happiness here – no happiness or joy
Go back to the gutter, try your luck – find ya
some nice pretty boy
Tell me how many men I need, and who can I count upon
I strapped my belt, I buttoned my coat, and I crossed the Rubicon
I feel the Holy Spirit inside, see the light that freedom gives
I believe it’s in the reach of every man who lives
Keep as far away as possible – it’s darkest ‘fore the dawn
(O Lord)
I turned the key and broke it off, and I crossed the Rubicon
Mona Baby, are you still in my mind – I truly believe that you are
Couldn’t be anybody else but you who’s come with me this far
The killing frost is on the ground and the autumn leaves are gone
I lit the torch, I looked to the east, and I crossed the Rubicon
McKinley hollered, McKinley squalled
Doctor said, "McKinley, death is on the wall.
Say it to me if you've got something to confess"
I heard all about it, he was goin’ down
slow
I heard it on the wireless radio
From down in the boondocks, way down in Key West
I’m searching for love, for inspiration
On that pirate radio station
Coming out of Luxembourg and Budapest
Radio signal clear as can be
I’m so deep in love that I can hardly see
Down on the flat lands, way down in Key West
Key West is the place to be
If you’re looking for immortality
Stay on the road, follow the highway sign
Key West is fine and fair
If you lost your mind, you’ll find it there
Key West is on the horizon line
I was born on the wrong side of the railroad track
Like Ginsberg, Corso, and Kerouac
Like Louis and Jimmie and Buddy and all the rest
Well, it might not be the thing to do
But I’m sticking with you through and through
Down in the flatlands, way down in Key West
I got both my feet planted square on the ground
Got my right hand high with the thumb down
Such is life, such is happiness
Hibiscus flowers, they grow everywhere here
If you wear one, put it behind your ear
Down on the bottom, way down in Key West
Key West is the place to go
Down by the Gulf of Mexico
Beyond the sea, beyond the shifting sand
Key West is the gateway key
To innocence and purity
Key West, Key West is the enchanted land
I’ve never lived in the land of Oz
Or wasted my time with an unworthy cause
It’s hot down here, and you can’t be overdressed
Tiny blossoms of a toxic plant
They can make you dizzy, I’d like to help you
but I can’t
Down in the flatlands, way down in Key West
Well the fishtail ponds, and the orchid
trees
They can give you that bleeding heart disease
People tell me I ought to try a little tenderness
On Newton Street, Bayview Park
Walking in the shadows after dark
Down under, way down in Key West
I played gumbo limbo spirituals
I know all the Hindu rituals
People tell me that I’m truly blessed
Bougainvillea blooming in the summer, in the spring
Winter here is an unknown thing
Down in the flatlands, way down in Key West
Key West is under the sun
Under the radar, under the gun
You stay to the left, and then you lean to the right
Feel the sunlight on your skin
And the healing virtues of the wind
Key West, Key West is the land of light
Wherever I travel, wherever I roam
I’m not that far from the convent home
I do what I think is right, what I think is best
History street off of Mallory Square
Truman had his White House there
East bound, west bound, way down in Key West
Twelve years old, they put me in a suit
Forced me to marry a prostitute
There were gold fringes on her wedding dress
That’s my story, but not where it ends
She’s still cute, and we’re still friends
Down on the bottom, way down in Key West
I play both sides against the middle
Trying to pick up that pirate radio signal
I heard the news, I heard your last request
Fly around my pretty little Miss
I don’t love nobody, give me a kiss
Down on the bottom, way down in Key West
Key West is the place to be
If you’re looking for immortality
Key West is paradise divine
Key West is fine and fair
If you lost your mind, you’ll find it there
Key West is on the horizon line
1.
‘Twas a dark day in Dallas – November ‘63
The day that will live on in infamy
President Kennedy was a-riding high
Good day to be living and a good day to die
Being led to the slaughter like a sacrificial lamb
He said wait a minute boys, you know who I am?
Of course we do, we know who you are
Then they blew off his head while he was still in the car
Shot down like a dog in broad daylight
‘Twas a matter of timing and the timing was right
You got unpaid debts – we’ve come to collect
We’re gonna kill you with hatred, without any
respect
We’ll mock you and shock you, and we’ll grin in your face
We’ve already got someone here to take your place
The day they blew out the brains of the king
Thousands were watching, no one saw a thing
It happened so quickly – so quick by surprise
Right there in front of everyone’s eyes
Greatest magic trick ever under the sun
Perfectly executed, skillfully done
Wolfman, oh wolfman, oh wolfman, howl
Rub a dub dub – it’s a murder most foul
2.
Hush little children, you’ll understand
The Beatles are coming they’re gonna hold your
hand
Slide down the bannister, go get your coat
Ferry ‘cross the Mersey and go for the throat
There’s three bums comin’
all dressed in rags
Pick up the pieces and lower the flags
I’m going to Woodstock, it’s the Aquarian Age
Then I’ll go over to Altamont and sit near the stage
Put your head out the window, let the good times roll
There’s a party going on behind the grassy knoll
Stack up the bricks, pour the cement
Don’t say Dallas don’t love you, Mr. President
Put your foot in the tank and then step on the gas
Try to make it to the triple underpass
Black face singer – white face clown
Better not show your faces after the sun goes down
I’m in the red-light district like a cop on the beat
Living in a nightmare on Elm Street
When you’re down on deep Ellum put your money
in your shoe
Don’t ask what your country can do for you
Cash on the barrel head, money to burn
Dealey Plaza, make a left hand turn
I’m going down to the crossroads, gonna flag a
ride
The place where Faith, Hope and Charity died
Shoot ‘em while he runs, boy, shoot ‘em while you can
See if you can shoot the Invisible Man
Goodbye, Charlie, goodbye Uncle Sam
Frankly, Miss Scarlet, I don’t give a damn
What is the truth – where did it go
Ask Oswald and Ruby – they oughta know
Shut your mouth, say the wise old owl
Business is business and it’s murder most foul
3.
Tommy can you hear me, I’m the Acid Queen
I’m ridin’ in a long black Lincoln limousine
Ridin’ in the back seat, next to my wife
Heading straight on into the afterlife
I’m leaning to the left, got my head in her lap
Oh Lord, I’ve been led into some kind of a trap
Well, we ask no quarter, no quarter do we give
We’re right down the street from the street where you live
They mutilated his body and they took out his
brain
What more could they do, they piled on the pain
But his soul was not there where it was supposed to be at
For the last fifty years they’ve been searching for that
Freedom, oh freedom, freedom over me
I hate to tell you, Mister, but only dead men are free
Send me some loving – tell me no lie
Throw the gun in the gutter and walk on by
Wake Up, Little Suzie, let’s go for a drive
Cross the Trinity River, let’s keep hope alive
Turn the radio on, don’t touch the dials
Parkland Hospital only six more miles
You got me Dizzy Miss Lizzy, you filled me with lead
That magic bullet of yours has gone to my head
I’m just a patsy like Patsy Cline
Never shot anyone from in front or behind
Got blood in my eye, got blood in my ear
I’m never gonna make it to the New Frontier
Zapruder’s film, I’ve seen that before
Seen it thirty-three times, maybe more
It’s vile and deceitful – it’s cruel and it’s mean
Ugliest thing that you ever have seen
They killed him once, and they killed him twice
Killed him like a human sacrifice
The day that they killed him, someone said to me, “Son,
The age of the anti-Christ has just only begun.”
Air Force One coming in through the gate
Johnson sworn in at two thirty-eight
Let me know when you decide to throw in the towel
It is what it is and it’s murder most foul
4.
What’s New Pussycat – wha’d I say
I said the soul of a nation been torn away
And it’s beginning to go into a slow decay
And that it’s thirty-six hours past Judgment Day
Wolfman Jack, he’s speaking in tongues
He’s going on and on at the top of his lungs
Play me a song, Mr. Wolfman Jack
Play it for me in my long Cadillac
Play me that Only The Good Die Young
Take me to the place Tom Dooley was hung
Play St. James Infirmary in the court of King James
If you want to remember, you better write down the names
Play Etta James too, play I’d Rather Go Blind
Play it for the man with the telepathic mind
Play John Lee Hooker, play Scratch My Back
Play it for that strip club owner named Jack
Guitar Slim – Goin’ Down Slow
Play it for me and for Marilyn Monroe
Play please, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Play it for the First Lady, she ain’t feeling
too good
Play Don Henley – play Glenn Frey
Take it to the Limit and lettin’ it go by
Play it for Carl Wilson, too
Lookin’ far, far away down Gower Avenue
Play Tragedy, play Twilight Time
Take Me Back to Tulsa to the scene of the crime
Play another one and Another One Bites the Dust
Play the Old Rugged Cross and in G-d We Trust
Ride the Pink Horse down that Long, Lonesome Road
Stand there and wait for his head to explode
Play Mystery Train for Mr. Mystery
The man who fell down dead like a rootless tree
Play it for the Reverend, play it for the Pastor
Play it for the dog that got no master
Play Oscar Peterson, play Stan Getz
Play Blue Sky, play Dickie Betts
Play Art Pepper, Thelonious Monk
Charlie Parker and all that junk
All that junk and All That Jazz
Play something for The Birdman of Alcatraz
Play Buster Keaton play Harold Lloyd
Play Bugsy Siegel play Pretty Boy Floyd
Play the numbers, play the odds
Play Cry Me A River for the Lord of the Gods
Play number nine, play number six
Play it for Lindsey and Stevie Nicks
Play Nat King Cole, play Nature Boy
Play Down in the Boondocks for Terry Malloy
Play It Happened One Night and One Night of Sin
There’s twelve million souls that are listening
in
Play Merchant of Venice, play merchants of death
Play Stella by Starlight for Lady Macbeth
Don’t worry, Mr. President, help’s on the way
Your brothers are comin’, there’ll be hell to
pay
Brothers? What brothers? What’s this about hell?
Tell ‘em we’re waitin’
– keep coming – we’ll get them as well
Love Field is where his plane touched down
But it never did get back up off the ground
Was a hard act to follow, second to none
They killed him on the altar of the Rising Sun
Play Misty for me and that Old Devil Moon
Play Anything Goes and Memphis in June
Play Lonely at the Top and Lonely Are the Brave
Play it for Houdini spinning around in his grave
Play Jelly Roll Morton, play Lucille
Play Deep in a Dream and play Drivin’ Wheel
Play Moonlight Sonata in F sharp
And a Key to the Highway by the king of the harp
Play Marchin’ Through Georgia and Dumbarton’s
Drums
Play Darkness and death will come when it comes
Play Love Me or Leave Me by the great Bud Powell
Play the Blood Stained Banner – play Murder
Most Foul