Originally recorded under the pseudonym of Blind Boy Grunt:
1 August 1971, Madison Square Garden, New York:
Playlist of the entire albumBringing It All Back Home:
VISIONS OF JOHANNA
Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be
so quiet? We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin' you to defy it Lights flicker from the opposite loft In this room the heat pipes just cough The country music station plays soft
But there's nothing, really nothing to turn off Just Louise and her lover so entwined And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind
In the empty lot where the ladies play blindman's bluff with the key
chain And the all-night girls they whisper of escapades out on the "D" train We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight, ask himself if
it's him or them that's insane Louise, she's all right, she's just near She's delicate and seems like the mirror But she just makes it all too concise and too clear That Johanna's not here The ghost of 'lectricity howls in the bones of her face Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place
Now, little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously
He brags of his misery, he likes to live dangerously
And when bringing her name up he speaks of a farewell kiss to me
He's sure got a lotta gall to be so useless and all
Muttering small talk at the wall while I'm in the hall
How can I explain? It's so hard to get on
And these visions of Johanna, they kept me up past the dawn
Inside the museums, infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo "This is what salvation must be like after a while"
But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues--you can tell by the way
she smiles
See the primitive wallflower freeze
When the jelly-faced women all sneeze
Hear the one with the mustache say, "Jeez, I can't find my knees"
Oh, jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule
But these visions of Johanna, they make it all seem so cruel
The peddler now speaks to the countess who's pretending to care for
him
Sayin', "Name me someone that's not a parasite and I'll go out and say
a prayer for him"
But like Louise always says "Ya can't look at much, can ya man?" As
she, herself, prepares for him
And Madonna, she still has not showed
We see this empty cage now corrode
Where her cape of the stage once had flowed
The fiddler, he now steps to the road
He writes everything's been returned which was owed
On the back of the fish truck that loads
While my conscience explodes
The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain
And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain
Dylan covers Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come”:
Dylan interprets an Irish folk-song:
Duet by Bob & Willie Nelson (who co-wrote the song with Bob):
Dylan with members of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers:
Bob Dylan and Susan Tedeschi perform “Highway 61 Revisited” on November 20, 1999 at Newark, Delaware:
Better than the studio version. Live with Petty & Heartbreakers, 1986:
Live at the Supper Club, NYC, Nov. 1993:
Live at Woodstock, 1994 with the Neverending Tour Band:
The official music video of ‘When the Deal Goes Down,’ directed by Academy Award winner Bennet Miller and starring Scarlet Johanssen:
PO’ BOY
Man comes to the door—I say, “For whom are you looking?”
He says, “Your wife,” I say, “She’s busy in the kitchen cookin’”
Poor boy—-where you been?
I already tol’ you—-won’t tell you again
I say, “How much you want for that?” I go into the store
The man says, “Three dollars.” “All right,” I say, “Will you take four?”
Poor boy—-never say die
Things will be all right by and by
Been workin’ on the mainline—-workin’ like the devil
The game is the same-—it’s just on a different level
Poor boy—dressed in black
Police at your back
Poor boy in a red hot town
Out beyond the twinklin’ stars
Ridin’ first-class trains—-making the rounds
Tryin’ to keep from fallin’ between the cars
Othello told Desdemona, “I’m cold, cover me with a blanket
By the way, what happened to that poison wine?”
She says, “I gave it to you, you drank it”
Poor boy, layin’ ’em straight—-
pickin’ up the cherries fallin’ off the plate
Time and love has branded me with its claws
Had to go to Florida, dodgin’ them Georgia laws
Poor boy, in the hotel called the Palace of Gloom
Calls down to room service, says send up a room
My mother was a daughter of a wealthy farmer
My father was a traveling salesman, I never met him
When my mother died, my uncle took me in—=he ran a funeral parlor
He did a lot of nice things for me and I won’t forget him
All I know is that I’m thrilled by your kiss
I don’t know any more than this
Poor boy, pickin’ up sticks
Build ya a house out of mortar and bricks
Knockin’ on the door, I say, “Who is it and where are you from?”
Man says, “Freddy!” I say, “Freddy who?” He says, “Freddy or not
here I come”
Poor boy ’neath the stars that shine
Washin’ them dishes, feedin’ them swine
Doctor, doctor tell me the time of day Another bottle's empty, another penny spent He turned around and he slowly walked away They shot him in the back and down he went
Shine your light Movin' on You burned so bright Roll on, John
From the Liverpool docks to the red-light Hamburg streets Down in the quarry with the Quarry men Playing to the big crowds, playing to the cheap seats Another day in the life on your way to your journey's end
Shine your light Movin' on You burned so bright Roll on, John
Sailin' through the trade winds bound for the south Rags on your back just like any other slave They tied your hands and they clamped your mouth Wasn't no way out of that deep dark cave
Shine your light Movin' on You burned so bright Roll on, John
I heard the news today, oh boy They hauled your ship up on the shore Now the city gone dark, there is no more joy They tore the heart right out and cut him to the core
Shine your light Movin' on You burned so bright Roll on, John
Put on your bags and get 'em packed Leave right now, you won't be far from wrong The sooner you go the quicker you'll be back You've been cooped up on an island far too long
Shine your light Movin' on You burned so bright Roll on, John
Slow down you're moving way too fast Come together right now over me Your bones are weary, you're about to breathe your last Lord, you know how hard that it can be
Shine your light Movin' on You burned so bright Roll on, John
Roll on, John, roll through the rain and snow Take the right-hand road and go where the buffalo roam They'll trap you in an ambush before you know Too late now to sail back home
Shine your light Movin' on You burned so bright Roll on, John
Tyger, tyger burning bright I pray the Lord my soul to keep In the forests of the night Cover 'em over and let him sleep
Shine your light Movin' on You burned so bright Roll on, John
by Bob Dylan
Old song on which the above song is loosely based:
Wonderful time-lapse photography here:
Playlist of entire album (all official videos) of “Rough and Rowdy Ways”:
Dylan song about the JFK assassination:
ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB, RADIO ANNOUNCER AND SELECTOR OF SONGS:
