Braden+Finch-+Bob+Dylan



"I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I'll die like a poet." -Bob Dylan

**The sweet pretty things are in bed now of course ** **The city fathers they're trying to endorse ** **The reincarnation of Paul Revere's horse ** **But the town has no need to be nervous. ** **The ghost of Belle Star she hands down her wits ** **To Jezebel the nun she violently knits ** **A bald wig for Jack the Ripper who sits ** **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">At the head of the chamber of commerce. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Mama's in the fact'ry ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">She ain't got no shoes ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Daddy's in the alley ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">He's lookin' for food. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I'm in the kitchen ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With the tombstone blues. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The hysterical bride in the penny arcade ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Screaming she moans, "I've just been made" ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Then sends out for the doctor who pulls down the shade ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Says, "My advice is to not let the boys in". ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Now the medicine man comes and he shuffles inside ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">He walks with a swagger and he says to be bride ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">"Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">You will not die, it's not poison". ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Mama's in the fact'ry ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">She ain't got no shoes ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Daddy's in the alley ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">He's lookin' for food. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I'm in the kitchen ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With the tombstone blues. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Saying, "Tell me great hero, but please make it brief ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Is there a hole for me to get sick in ?" ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry" ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">And dropping a bar bell he points to the sky ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Saying, "The sun's not yellow it's chicken." ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Mama's in the fact'ry ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">She ain't got no shoes ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Daddy's in the alley ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">He's lookin' for food. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I'm in the kitchen ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With the tombstone blues. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The king of the Philistines his soldiers to save ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Put jawbones on their tombstones and flatters their graves ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Puts the pied pipers in prison and fattens the slaves ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Then sends them out to the jungle. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Gypsy Davey with a blowtorch he bums out their camps ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With his faithful slave Pedro behind him he tramps ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With a fantastic collection of stamps ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">To win friends and influence his uncle. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Mama's in the fact'ry ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">She ain't got no shoes ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Daddy's in the alley ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">He's lookin' for food. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I'm in trouble ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With the tombstone blues. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The geometry of innocent flesh on the bone ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Causes Galileo's math book to get thrown ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">At Delilah who's sitting worthlessly alone ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I would set him in chains at the top of the hill ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">He could die happily ever after. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Mama's in the fact'ry ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">She ain't got no shoes ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Daddy's in the alley ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">He's lookin' for food ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I'm in the kitchen ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With the tombstone blues. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Where Ma Raney and Beethoven once unwrapped their bed roll ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Tuba players now rehearse around the flagpole ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">And the National Bank at a profit sells road maps or the soul ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">To the old folks home and the college. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Now I wish I could write you a melody so plain ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">That could hold you dear lady from going insane ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">That could ease you and cool you and cease the pain ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Of your useless and pointless knowledge ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Mama's in the fact'ry ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">She ain't got no shoes ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Daddy's in the alley ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">He's lookin' for food ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I'm in the kitchen ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With the tombstone blues. ** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Bob Dylan's 1965 composition "Tombstone Blues" is certainly evocative of many of the songs true to his style: repeated refrains, surreal imagery, abstract reflections on current events of the period, and a large amount of cultural references. This particular work seems to emphasize the increasingly tumultuous decade of the 60s, taking an anti-authoritarian point of view and pointing out the hypocrisy of America's leaders. Dylan also points out the struggle of the everyday working man, particularly in the refrain, in facing poverty and the looming finality of death, shown in the titular "Tombstone Blues".
 * Tombstone Blues**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Structurally, the poem is consistent, as with many of Dylan's other songs. Like most of his work, there is not really any variety of meter present. Two stanzas comprise the verses, which are followed by the repeated chorus. The number of lines and the rhyme scheme remain consistent in the verses, with the first three lines rhyming and the fourth as a stand alone. This structure allows the poem to flow more freely and the surreal imagery blends together in a more cohesive fashion. The reader/listener is then taken to the refrain of "Mama's in the factory, she ain't got no shoes, Daddy's in the alley, he's lookin' for food, I'm in the kitchen with the tombstone blues". The chorus serves as the central component of the song both structurally and thematically, in that it draws the reader/listener back to the central themes of life's struggle, depression and eventual death.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The poem evokes a large degree of religious imagery, and uses it as a connection to present day metaphors. One good example of this is the discussion between the characters of John the Baptist and the Commander-in-Chief (possibly referring to then president Lyndon B. Johnson) in stanzas 7 and 8. John the Baptist is depicted as a sort of mindless drone to the leader, willing to do whatever he is told and accept anything the Commander says as fact. The corruption and incompetence of the Commander is apparent when he utters the ridiculous phrase "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken". Dylan also uses other cultural references to point out the corruption of political leaders of the era, such as <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">"The ghost of Belle Star she hands down her wits To Jezebel the nun she violently knits A bald wig for Jack the Ripper who sits At the head of the chamber of commerce." All the figures mentioned in this stanza were notorious outlaws (Belle Star), murderous queens (Jezebel) or serial killers (Jack the Ripper). The fact that these figures are "at the head of the chamber of commerce" clearly states Dylan's extremely negative regards to the political leaders of the day. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Dylan also discusses other cultural conflicts in the poem, such as what could be interpreted as a conflict between science and religion in stanzas 13 and 14. "Galileo's math book", representing the scientific world, is thrown at Delilah, a biblical figure present in the Old Testament story of Sampson, where she successfully manipulates him away from God. This conflict between two powerful figures in the areas of science and religion, although presented a surreal and cryptic manner, represents more chaos America went through in the 60s, perhaps indicating the clash between the counter-cultural movement and the establishment. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The second to last stanza reflects Dylan's somewhat cynical point of view in wishing to create a healing force with his music, but deep down knowing that it will all be inconsequential. Both the shared experiences and the conflicts everyday citizens have been caught up in are ultimately of no consequence, which ties back into Dylan's central theme of inevitable death. []



<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Darkness at the break of noon <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Shadows even the silver spoon <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">The handmade blade, the child's balloon <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Eclipses both the sun and moon <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">To understand you know too soon <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">There is no sense in trying. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Suicide remarks are torn <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">From the fools gold mouthpiece <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">The hollow horn plays wasted words <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Proved to warn <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That he not busy being born <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Is busy dying. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Temptation's page flies out the door <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">You follow, find yourself at war <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Watch waterfalls of pity roar <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">You feel to moan but unlike before <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">You discover <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That you'd just be <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">One more person crying. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">So don't fear if you hear <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">A foreign sound to you ear <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">As some warn victory, some downfall <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Private reasons great or small <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Can be seen in the eyes of those that call <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">To make all that should be killed to crawl <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">While others say don't hate nothing at all <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Except hatred. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Disillusioned words like bullets bark <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">As human gods aim for their marks <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Made everything from toy guns that sparks <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">It's easy to see without looking too far <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That not much <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Is really sacred. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">While preachers preach of evil fates <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Teachers teach that knowledge waits <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Can lead to hundred-dollar plates <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Goodness hides behind its gates <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">But even the President of the United States <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Sometimes must have <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">To stand naked. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">An' though the rules of the road have been lodged <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">It's only people's games that you got to dodge <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">And it's alright, Ma, I can make it. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Advertising signs that con you <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Into thinking you're the one <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That can do what's never been done <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That can win what's never been won <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Meantime life outside goes on <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">All around you. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">You loose yourself, you reappear <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">You suddenly find you got nothing to fear <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Alone you stand without nobody near <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">When a trembling distant voice, unclear <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Startles your sleeping ears to hear <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That somebody thinks <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">They really found you. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">A question in your nerves is lit <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Insure you not to quit <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">To keep it in your mind and not forget <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That it is not he or she or them or it <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That you belong to. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Although the masters make the rules <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">For the wise men and the fools <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">I got nothing, Ma, to live up to. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">For them that must obey authority <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That they do not respect in any degree <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Who despite their jobs, their destinies <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Speak jealously of them that are free <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Cultivate their flowers to be <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Nothing more than something <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">They invest in. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">While some on principles baptized <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">To strict party platforms ties <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Social clubs in drag disguise <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Outsiders they can freely criticize <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Tell nothing except who to idolize <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">And then say God Bless him. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">While one who sings with his tongue on fire <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Gargles in the rat race choir <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Bent out of shape from society's pliers <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Cares not to come up any higher <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">But rather get you down in the hole <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">That he's in. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">But I mean no harm nor put fault <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">On anyone that lives in a vault <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Old lady judges, watch people in pairs <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Limited in sex, they dare <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">To push fake morals, insult and stare <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">While money doesn't talk, it swears <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Obscenity, who really cares <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Propaganda, all is phony. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">While them that defend what they cannot see <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">With a killer's pride, security <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">It blows the minds most bitterly <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">For them that think death's honesty <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Won't fall upon them naturally <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Life sometimes <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Must get lonely. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">False gods, I scuff <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">At pettiness which plays so rough <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Walk upside-down inside handcuffs <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Kick my legs to crash it off <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Say okay, I have had enough <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">What else can you show me ? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">And if my thought-dreams could been seen <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">They'd probably put my head in a guillotine <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #676767; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">This song, in contrast to the one above, was composed earlier on in Bob Dylan's career and reflects a more philosophical and realistic tone. While still speaking out against the establishment and challenging conventional social norms of the period, he does it in a less abstract way than "Tombstone Blues", therefore making this particular poem much more straightforward and clear in its message. I enjoy this poem as well because it exemplifies Dylan's versatility as a lyricist. Much of his work has depth and meaning, but is portrayed in an eclectic manner with lots of cultural and religious references. In "It's Alright Ma", this surrealism is traded in for simple yet emotional lyrics. It is certainly easier to relate with this poem rather than the previous one. However, Dylan's wit is still quite intact and while the lyrics are straightforward, they still remain quite thought provoking.
 * It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> This poem also has a fairly noticeable shift in tone. In the first poem, Dylan seems to be more of a storyteller: he doesn't directly express his views through the narration, he simply narrates the strange events that are happening. While all of them are highly symbolic, they are not depicted with any subjectivity. In this poem, there is definitely an opinionated tone to the speaker, and he is not just narrating an odd story but speaking directly to his mother. The tone is one of general dissatisfaction: the speaker is fed up with the hypocrisy and lies of society, and envisions himself as a challenge and eventual martyr against it. Much of the poem seems to be challenging the conservatives of the day; not a unusual theme for musicians. The overall tone of the poem seems to be quite a bleak one as well, pointing out that this "darkness" is overcoming what people should truly value in their lives.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">The poem's opening stanza depicts an unknown form of darkness destroying the innocent peoples' lives, and that "there is no sense in trying". This intro with its desperation and hopelessness, sets the dark tone of the poem, and Dylan eventually seems to reveal that the darkness is the hypocrisy of the government, religious organizations, and various conservative movements. He goes on to remark that the main hypocritical things these institutions are doing is selling themselves out for money, such as "flesh colored Christs that glow in the dark" and "tiny toy guns that spark" in stanza 6. He then points out the key point that "Not much is really sacred", emphasizing that what these groups say they stand for is really just a facade for profit and power.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Dylan goes on to point out the negative impact all this hypocrisy is having on society, as " <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society's pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he's in". This imagery points out that even radical opponents of these ideas will be conformed into the dull monotony of the working world, trying to pull down others to there lowly state. In the following stanza, Dylan seems to point out the hypocrisy of social conservatives, who push "fake morals" when ultimately it doesn't matter. Bob Dylan certainly stands by the right to say what you want when you want, and to not have to be pushed down by society's strict rules on vulgarity and censorship. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The speaker concludes the poem with a remark that implies they would be a martyr for the cause, as he views himself as so radical that the establishment would step in and have him executed.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Again, the meter is consistent but not of a specific form, and the structure of the poem is similar to most songs: several stanzas comprising verses and a refrain, albeit with some slight variation. This refrain in particular stood out to me, because despite all the negativity and criticism rife within the work, the refrain actually provides a word of comfort as they speaker assures his mother (or whatever protective figure it is intended to be) that everything will be all right, and, after all, it is "life and life only." <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> []