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  #41  
Unread 10-07-2021, 03:08 PM
Roger Slater Roger Slater is offline
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Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes an' blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Now there's a wall between us, somethin' there's been lost
I took too much for granted, I got my signals crossed
Just to think that it all began on an uneventful morn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

I've heard newborn babies wailin' like a mournin' dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation and she gave me a lethal dose
I offered up my innocence I got repaid with scorn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Well, I'm livin' in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor's edge, someday I'll make it mine
If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
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  #42  
Unread 10-07-2021, 04:29 PM
John Riley John Riley is offline
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To refer back to the first post
**

There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief

Business men, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody offered his word
Hey, hey

No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us stop talkin' falsely now
The hour's getting late, hey

Hey

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too
Well, uh, outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl, hey

All along the watchtower

All along the watchtower
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  #43  
Unread 10-23-2021, 03:52 PM
James Brancheau James Brancheau is offline
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Those Dylan lyrics, alone, wouldn't survive here. I would hope. Razor's edge, blah blah. Pawns in the game I don't think came up... Dreadful, if you're putting your poet's cap on, or are being at all, in any way, unbiased. Which is more and more suspect here anyway. Dylan is good, and a good bullshitter. But you need the music, like any good romance. If you take the music away, and take time to read the lyrics, it falls apart. Like any good romance.
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  #44  
Unread 10-23-2021, 04:18 PM
Jack Land Jack Land is offline
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Deleted November 13, 2021

Last edited by Jack Land; 11-13-2021 at 12:55 AM.
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  #45  
Unread 10-23-2021, 04:59 PM
Roger Slater Roger Slater is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James Brancheau View Post
Those Dylan lyrics, alone, wouldn't survive here. I would hope. Razor's edge, blah blah. Pawns in the game I don't think came up... Dreadful, if you're putting your poet's cap on, or are being at all, in any way, unbiased. Which is more and more suspect here anyway. Dylan is good, and a good bullshitter. But you need the music, like any good romance. If you take the music away, and take time to read the lyrics, it falls apart. Like any good romance.
That's probably because they're songs. That's how it's supposed to work with songs. The lyrics were never meant to survive alone, nor do they have to. But it's not as if any old words set to that particular tune would have sounded just as good. In Dylan's case, the words were extraordinary companions to the music and, by association with the music, overcame any issues I might have while wearing my poet's cap.

Last edited by Roger Slater; 10-23-2021 at 05:02 PM.
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  #46  
Unread 10-23-2021, 06:54 PM
James Brancheau James Brancheau is offline
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Your, and others' fetish with Dylan is fine, Bob. Believe it or not, I like him, a majority of his stuff anyway. But what accompaniment? No, no. Words on the page are important. You can claim it's a different thing, sure. And I'd probably agree. (Though Paul Simon is better- not as sexy, but better) But then why bother to feature his mostly ridiculous, over the top, maudlin ~ you know, pick one~ lyrics on this thread? Wouldn't you expect to get hammered if you posted this shit? I know I would. So, you know, now I'll claim my band is just warming up.
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  #47  
Unread 10-23-2021, 07:53 PM
Roger Slater Roger Slater is offline
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In all likelihood, we would react differently to his lyrics on the page were we not familiar with the song they are from. But so what? They are not poems, they are songs. No one ever suggested that the music and performance were not vital elements that infused the words, but to say that the words aren't as good without the music is like saying Shakespeare's sonnets would not be as good if you took away the rhyme and meter. Well, duh!

You mention Paul Simon. Years ago I saw him interviewed and the interviewer tried to suggest that his songs were poems set to music. Simon corrected him, saying no, they were songs and not poems. He was right, of course. But it's not "cheating" in any way if a lyric becomes beloved on its own because it wheedled its way into your heart attached to a melody. It's not a trick many lyricists can claim to have mastered.

I won't scold you for accusing Dylan fans of being fetishists, though it's sort of an unkind way of expressing your disagreement, but I will correct you. If I worshipped his feet it would be a fetish, but admiring a body of work that won the Nobel Prize in Literature is merely a taste you do not share.
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  #48  
Unread 10-23-2021, 09:15 PM
Jack Land Jack Land is offline
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Deleted November 13, 2021

Last edited by Jack Land; 11-13-2021 at 12:55 AM.
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  #49  
Unread 10-24-2021, 04:19 AM
W T Clark W T Clark is offline
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I feel as if the "separating the art from the artist" conundrum shall soon rear its inscrutible head.
It seems very believable to me these alligations. As do the Michael Jackson ones. I've appreciated enough poets to understand the greatness of the poem has nothing to do with the greatness of character, or maybe even has an inverse relationship.

I am also in complete agreement with James.

Last edited by W T Clark; 10-24-2021 at 04:22 AM.
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  #50  
Unread 10-25-2021, 03:18 AM
Bill Dyes Bill Dyes is offline
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Default This is Why Bob Dylan Won the Nobel Prize

It has been demonstrated over and over to me that to call a singer in the rock-and-roll-era 'bad' is both bad form and mean spirited and may miss the point of an entire era.

Still, I must say this:
Bob Dylan is a brilliant lyricist, a terrible singer and a mediocre musician. If you possess a copy of the book "Bob Dylan: Lyrics 1962-2001" then you have the best of him. And the best evidence of why he won the Nobel Prize.

For me listening to him has always only served as a distraction to his lyrics. I grew up thinking that the voice is the first instrument. And that instrument can re-create a great song. This is not a Dylan composition but it strives toward my point:

https://youtu.be/Q60YUnpbbHQ
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