“Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan”
by chuckofish
I was inspired by my mother’s blog post (and a suggestion from my brother) to do a Bob Dylan lyrics quiz. Of course, it isn’t quite the same as movie quotes, but maybe it will inspire you to dig out the old Bob Dylan records/YouTube.
Bob is the best. Confounding the media for decades. A master of the rhyming dictionary. But you can also totally tell that the Holy Spirit is at work in him. Anyway, take a gander at these quotes and see which you can identify (most of them have spoiler alerts). I could obviously have a post that goes on and on and on…but I’ll resist the temptation slash save it for another day.
All the people we used to know
They’re an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter’s wives
Don’t know how it all got started
I don’t what they do with their lives
But me, I’m still on the road
Heading for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in blue
Ahh princess on a steeple and all the pretty people
They’re all drinking, thinking that they’ve got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you better take your diamond ring, you better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him he calls you, you can’t refuse
When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You’re invisible now, you’ve got no secrets to conceal
I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there’s someone there, other time it’s only me
I am hanging in the balance of a finished plan
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand
Well, I try my best to be just like I am
But everybody wants you to be just like them
They say, “Sing while you slave” and I just get bored
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don’t need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows
You may be a construction worker working on a home
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome
You might own guns and you might even own tanks
You might be somebody’s landlord, you might even own banks
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody
Sometimes I feel so low-down and disgusted
Can’t help but wonder what’s happenin’ to my companions
Are they lost or are they found?
Have they counted the cost it’ll take to bring down
All their earthly principles they’re gonna have to abandon?
And take me disappearing 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
So long honey babe
Where I’m bound, I can’t tell
Goodbye is too good a word, babe
So I just say fare thee well
I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don’t mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don’t think twice, it’s all right


Ah–the favorite playlist of our cherished sing-a-longs! 🙂
I got the classics: Tangled Up in Blue, Like a Rolling Stone, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Gotta Serve Somebody, Mr. Tambourine Man, and Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright. I recognized some of the tunes from Slow Train Coming (I think) but I just can’t remember titles!! Great lyrics… I need to look up “Well, I try my best to be just like I am / But everybody wants you to be just like them” because I am feeling the vibe.
That’s Maggie’s Farm–which is one of my favorites.
I don’t even try to remember the titles, but these are great. I think I’ll go listen to some Dylan now.