Blood on the Tracks is Dylan's best album.
Others may tell you that Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited or even Desire is
his best album, but they're wrong, and when pressed (up against the wall, and in
the presence of a .44, if necessary), they will eventually agree.
Blood on the Tracks is also Dylan's best album in its released form.
1 Shelter From The Storm note> there are 3 versions that were made for the album
so you can pick which one you like best....
Version A iE Album version
Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
I was layin' in bed
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
And I was standin' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I paid some dues gettin' through,
Tangled up in blue.
She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But I used a little too much force.
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out West
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin' away
I heard her say over my shoulder,
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue,"
Tangled up in blue.
I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell.
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
Right outside of Delacroix.
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind,
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
Tangled up in blue.
She was workin' in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer,
I just kept looking' at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear.
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I's just about to do the same,
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, "Don't I know your name?"
I muttered somethin' underneath my breath,
She studied the lines on my face.
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
Tangled up in blue.
She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
"I thought you'd never say hello," she said
"You look like the silent type."
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century.
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
Tangled up in blue,
I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs,
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air.
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died.
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside.
And when finally the bottom fell out I became withdrawn,
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin' on
Like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue.
So now I'm goin' back again,
I got to get to her somehow.
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 know what they're doin' with their lives.
But me, I'm still on the road
Headin' for another joint
We always did feel the same,
We just saw it from a different point of view,
Tangled up in blue.
Version Cut from the new york studio that was released on the bootleg V 1
Chords
Evii 000897
Dv 000675
042000
A 020120
xx2120
020020
054000
x02120
004340
[one verse guitar intro]
Evii Dv
Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
Evii Dv
he was layin' in bed
Evii Dv
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Evii Dv
Her folks they said their lives together
Evii Dv
Sure was gonna be rough
Evii Dv
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
And he was standin' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on his shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows he's paid some dues gettin' through,
Tangled up in blue.
. . | x3
Version from the Rolling Thunder Tour
Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
I was layin' in bed
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
And he was standin' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on his shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows he paid some dues gettin' through,
Tangled up in blue.
(etc)
2 Simple Twist of Fate
....NOTE>>>> there are lots of versions and variations of this song frankly too many to
up here soo this is the simplest one taken from the 3rd Album cut.
Standard tuning
They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark,
She looked at him and he felt a spark
/
tingle to his bones.
/
'Twas then he felt alone
and wished that he'd gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate
They walked along by the old canal
A little confused, I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel
with a neon burnin' bright.
He felt the heat of the night
hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate.
A saxophone someplace far off played
As she was walkin' by the arcade.
As the light bust through a beat-up shade
where he was wakin' up,
She dropped a coin into the cup
of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate.
He woke up, the room was bare
He didn't see her anywhere.
He told himself he didn't care,
pushed the window open wide,
Felt an emptiness inside
to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate.
He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks,
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks
where the sailers all come in.
Maybe she'll pick him out again,
how long must he wait
Once more for a simple twist of fate.
People tell me it's a sin
To know and feel too much within.
I still believe she was my twin,
but I lost the ring.
She was born in spring,
but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate
3 Your a big girl now
Our conversation was short and sweet
It nearly swept me off-a my feet.
And I'm back in the rain, oh
And you are on dry land,
You made it there somehow
You're a big girl now.
Bird on the horizon, sittin' on a fence,
He's singin' his song for me at his own expense
And I'm just like that bird, oh, oh,
Singin' just for you, mm-mm.
I hope that you can hear,
Hear me singin' through these tears.
Love is so simple, to quote a phrase,
You've known it all the time, I'm learnin' it these days .
Oh, I know where I can find You, oh, oh,
In somebody's room. m-mm
It's a price I have to pay
You're a big girl all the way.
Time is a jet plane, it moves too fast
Oh, but what a shame that all we've shared can't last.
I can change, I swear, mm-mm
See what you can do, mm-mm.
I can make it through,
You can make it too.
A change in the weather can be extreme
But it ain't like changing horses in midstream
I'm going out of my mind, mm-mm
With a pain that stops and starts, mm-aa
Like a corkscrew to my heart
Ever since we've been apart.
4 Idiot Wind
Someone's got it in for me, they're planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they'd cut it out quick but when they will I can only
guess.
They say I shot a man named Gray and took his wife to Italy,
She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me.
I can't help it if I'm lucky.
People see me all the time, I guess they just can't remember how to act
Their minds are filled with false ideas, images and distorted facts.
And even you, yesterday you had to ask me where it was at,
I couldn't believe after all these years, you didn't know me any better than that
Sweet lady.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth
Blowing down the backroads headin' south.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You're an idiot, babe.
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe.
I ran into the fortune teller, she said beware 'cause some lightning might strike.
I haven't known about peace and quiet now for so long I don't even remember what it's like.
There's a lone soldier on the cross, smoke pourin' out of a boxcar door,
He didn't know it, he never thought it could be done, but at the final shot he won the war
After losin' every battle.
I woke up on the roadside, daydreamin' 'bout the way things really are
Visions of your smokin' shoot through my head and are makin' me see stars.
You hurt the ones that I love best and cover up the truth with lies.
One day you'll be in the grave, flies buzzin' around your eyes,
Blood on your saddle.
Idiot wind, blowing through the flowers on your tomb,
Blowing through the curtains in your room.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You're an idiot, babe.
It's a wonder that you still can even breathe.
It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart
You tamed the lion in my cage but it wasn't enough to change my heart.
Now everything's a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,
What's good is bad, what's bad is good, you'll find out when you reach the top
You're on the bottom.
I noticed at the ceremony, that your corrupt ways had finally made you blind
I can't recall your face anymore, your mouth has changed and your eyes don't look into mine.
The priest wore black on the seventh day and sat stone-faced while the building burned.
I waited for you on the running boards, near the cypress trees, while the springtime
turned Slowly into autumn.
Idiot wind, blowing like a circle around my skull,
From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You're an idiot, babe.
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe.
I can't feel you anymore, I can't even touch the clothes you wear
Every time I come into your door, you leave me standing in the middle of the air..
Down the highway, down the tracks, down the road to ecstasy,
I followed you beneath the stars, hounded by your memory
And all your ragin' glory.
I been double-crossed now for the very last time and I think I finally see,
I kissed goodbye the howling beast on the borderline which separated you from me.
You'll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise above,
And I'll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kind of love,
And it makes me feel so sorry.
Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats,
Blowing through the letters that we wrote.
Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves,
We're idiots, babe.
It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves.
5 Your Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
Chords:
054000
004340
A 020120
x02120
222222
' 020100 ()
' 002100 ()
I've seen love go by my door
It's never been this close before
Never been so easy or so slow.
Been shooting in the dark too long
When somethin's not right it's wrong
. . .
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Dragon clouds so high above
I've only known careless love,
It always has hit me from below.
But this time around it's more correct
Right on target, so direct,
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Purple clover, Queen Anne lace,
Crimson hair across your face,
You could make me cry if you don't know.
Can't remember what I was thinkin' of
You might be spoilin' me too much, love,
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go
Flowers on the hillside, bloomin' crazy,
Crickets talkin' back and forth in rhyme,
Blue river runnin' slow and lazy,
'
I could stay with you forever
'
And never realize the time.
Situations have ended sad,
Relationships have all been bad.
Mine have been like Verlaine's and Rimbaud.
But there's no way I can compare
All them scenes to this affair,
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Yer gonna make me wonder what I'm doin',
Stayin' far behind without you.
Yer gonna make me wonder what I'm sayin',
Yer gonna make me give myself a good talkin' to.
I'll look for you in old Honolulu,
San Francisco, Ashtabula,
Yer gonna have to leave me now, I know.
But I'll see you in the sky above,
In the tall grass, in the ones I love,
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go.
6 Meet Me In The Morning
000000
A 020120
000030
xx7775
and interlude (more or less)
(=lick 1)
(=lick 2) Meet me
| . | |
Meet me in the morning, 56th and Wabasha (2x lick 2)
| (2x lick 1)
Meet me in the morning, 56th and Wabasha
Honey, we could be in Kansas
By time the snow begins to thaw.
They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn
They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn
But you wouldn't know it by me
Every day's been darkness since you been gone.
Little rooster crowin', there must be something on his mind
Little rooster crowin', there must be something on his mind
Well, I feel just like that rooster
Honey, ya treat me so unkind.
The birds are flyin' low babe, honey I feel so exposed
Well, the birds are flyin' low babe, honey I feel so exposed
Well now, I ain't got any matches
And the station doors are closed.
Well, I struggled through barbed wire, felt the hail fall from above
Well, I struggled through barbed wire, felt the hail fall from above
Well, you know I even outran the hound dogs
Honey, you know I've earned your love.
Look at the sun sinkin' like a ship
Look at the sun sinkin' like a ship
Ain't that just like my heart, babe
When you kissed my lips?
7 Lilly Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts (quite possibly Dylans best storytelling song)
I'll give you 2 versions cause i really love this song..
Version 1
Open tuning ( )
Chords:
054000 (or 054300, which simplifies the slide to )
A 020100 or 020120
x02100
(ii) 042000 (or 042300)
The festival was over, the boys were all plannin' for a fall,
The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall -
The curfew had been lifted and the gamblin' wheel shut down,
Anyone with any sense had already left town.
He was standin' in the doorway looking' like the Jack of Hearts.
He moved across the mirrored room, "Set it up for everyone," he said,
Then everyone commenced to do what they were doin' before he turned their heads.
Then he walked up to a stranger and he asked him with a grin,
"Could you kindly tell me, friend, what time the show begins?"
Then he moved into the corner, face down like the Jack of Hearts.
Backstage the girls were playin' five-card stud by the stairs,
Lily had two queens, she was hopin' for a third to match her pair.
Outside the streets were fillin' up, the window was open wide,
A gentle breeze was blowin', you could feel it from inside.
Lily called another bet and drew up the Jack of Hearts.
Big Jim was no one's fool, he owned the town's only diamond mine,
He made his usual entrance looking' so dandy and so fine.
With his bodyguards and silver cane and every hair in place,
He took whatever he wanted to and he laid it all to waste.
But his bodyguards and silver cane were no match for the Jack of Hearts.
Rosemary combed her hair and took a carriage into town,
She slipped in through the side door looking' like a queen without a crown.
She fluttered her false eyelashes and whispered in his ear,
"Sorry, darlin', that I'm late," but he didn't seem to hear.
He was starin' into space over at the Jack of Hearts .
"I know I've seen that face before," Big Jim was thinkin' to himself,
"Maybe down in Mexico or a picture up on somebody's shelf."
But then the crowd began to stamp their feet and the house lights did dim
And in the darkness of the room there was only Jim and him,
Starin' at the butterfly who just drew the Jack of Hearts.
Lily was a princess, she was fair-skinned and precious as a child,
She did whatever she had to do, she had that certain flash every time she smiled.
She'd come away from a broken home, had lots of strange affairs
With men in every walk of life which took her everywhere.
But she'd never met anyone quite like the Jack of Hearts.
The hangin' judge came in unnoticed and was being wined and dined,
The drillin' in the wall kept up but no one seemed to pay it any mind.
It was known all around that Lily had Jim's ring
And nothing would ever come between Lily and the king.
No, nothin' ever would except maybe the Jack of Hearts.
Rosemary started drinkin' hard and seein' her reflection in the knife,
She was tired of the attention, tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's wife.
She had done a lot of bad things, even once tried suicide,
Was looking' to do just one good deed before she died.
She was gazin' to the future, riding on the Jack of Hearts.
Lily washed her face, took her dress off and buried it away.
"Has your luck run out?" she laughed at him,
"Well, I guess you must have known it would someday.
Be careful not to touch the wall, there's a brand-new coat of paint,
I'm glad to see you're still alive, you're looking' like a saint."
Down the hallway footsteps were comin' for the Jack of Hearts.
The backstage manager was pacing all around by his chair.
"There's something funny going on," he said, "I can just feel it in the air."
He went to get the hangin' judge, but the hangin' judge was drunk,
As the leading actor hurried by in the costume of a monk.
There was no actor anywhere better than the Jack of Hearts.
Lily's arms were locked around the man that she dearly loved to touch,
She forgot all about the man she couldn't stand who hounded her so much.
"I've missed you so," she said to him, and he felt she was sincere,
But just beyond the door he felt jealousy and fear.
Just another night in the life of the Jack of Hearts.
No one knew the circumstance but they say that it happened pretty quick,
The door to the dressing room burst open and a cold revolver clicked.
And Big Jim was standin' there, ya couldn't say surprised,
Rosemary right beside him, steady in her eyes.
She was with Big Jim but she was leanin' to the Jack of Hearts.
Two doors down the boys finally made it through the wall
And cleaned out the bank safe, It's said they got off quite a haul
In the darkness by the riverbed they waited on the ground
For one more member who had business back in town.
But they couldn't go no further without the Jack of Hearts.
The next day was hangin' day, the sky was overcast and black,
Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back.
And Rosemary on the gallows, she didn't even blink,
The hangin' judge was sober, he hadn't had a drink.
The only person on the scene missin' was the Jack of Hearts.
The cabaret was empty now, a sign said, "Closed for repair,"
Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair.
She was thinkin' 'bout her father, who she very rarely saw,
Thinkin' 'bout Rosemary and thinkin' about the law.
But most of all she was thinkin' 'bout the Jack of Hearts.
Version 2
Standard tuning. Could very well be played with capo on the 2nd fret with the chords ,
and ()
The festival was over, the boys were all plannin' for a fall,
The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall -
The curfew had been lifted and the gamblin' wheel shut down,
Anyone with any sense had already left town.
He was standin' in the doorway looking' like the Jack of Hearts
8 if you see her say hello
Capo 2nd fret (sounding key major)
At the /g in the last line the 2nd guitar plays a very pronounced b, which gives the
a strong 'ish flavor.
| . . . . . . | . . . . . | . . . . . . . |
| . . . . . . | . . . . . . | . . . . . . |
| . . . . . . . |
[Bass run: --]
If you see her, say hello, she might be in Tangier
. . .
She left here last early spring, is livin' there, I hear
Say for me that I'm all right though things get kind of slow
She might think that I've forgotten her, don't tell her it isn't so.
. : .
We had...
We had a falling-out, like lovers often will
And to think of how she left that night, it still brings me a chill
And though our separation, it pierced me to the heart
She still lives inside of me, we've never been apart.
If you get close to her, kiss her once for me
I always have respected her for doin' what she did and gettin' free
Oh, whatever makes her happy, I won't stand in the way.
Oh, the bitter taste still lingers on,
from that night I tried to make her stay.
I see a lot of people as I make the rounds
And I hear her name here and there as I go from town to town
And I've never gotten used to it, I've just learned to turn it off
Either I'm too sensitive or else I'm gettin' soft.
Sundown, yellow moon, I replay the past
I know every scene by heart, they all went by so fast
If she's passin' back this way, I'm not that hard to find
Tell her she can look me up if she's got the time.
or i perfer
Capo 2nd fret
It's hard to tell if he really changes to in lines 1, 2 and 4, or to in the first line.
()
If you see her say hello, she might be in North Saigon
Dsus4sus2
She left here in a hurry; I don't know what she was on
You might say that I'm in disarray and for me time's standing still
Oh I've never gotten over her, I don't think I ever will
A bright light from me I saw, a shattering of souls
Just one of them reckless situations, which nobody controls
Well, the menagerie of life rolls by, right before my eyes
[And we?] all do the best we can, which should come as no surprise
If you're making love to her, watch it from the rear
You'll never know when I'll be back, or liable to appear
For it's natural to dream of peace as it is for rules to break
And right now I've got not much to lose, so you'd better stay awake
Sundown, silver moon, hitting on the days
My head can't toler...understand no more, what my heart don't tolerate
Well I know she'll be back someday, of that there is no doubt
And when that moment comes Lord, give me the strength to keep her out
9 Shelter From the Storm
'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form.
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you 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 you 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 you 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 you 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 you shelter from the storm."
Now there's a wall between us, somethin' there's been lost
I took too much for granted, got my signals crossed.
Just to think that it all began on a long-forgotten morn.
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you 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 you 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 you shelter from the storm."
In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an' they gave me a lethal dose.
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you 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 you shelter from the storm."
or
'Twas in another life time,
One of toil and blood.
When blackness was a virtue
And the road was full of mud.
I came in from the wilderness,
A creature void of form.
"Come in" she said,
"I'll give you,
Shelter from the storm."
10 Buckets of Rain >>>a very unexpectable
Open tuning
The notes within parentheses in the tab below aren't really pull-offs, they are just the
removal of the first finger from the third string in the chord change (which is as
to a pull-off as you can get). The easiest way to play it is to disregard them, and just
the chords as indicated above the systems.
The song can be strummed to the chords that are implied in the tab. Since the 5th string
never played in the finger-picked version, there is no way to decide whether an
an is implied. I've made a suggestion, but do as you wish.
054000 or 000000
000100
020100
(vii) x00707
(v) x00505
(iii) 004300
, interlude 1 and verse:
(vii) (v) (iii)
Buckets of rain
Buckets of tears
Got all them buckets comin' out of my ears.
Buckets of moonbeams in my hand,
I got all the love, honey baby,
You can stand.
I been meek
And hard like an oak
I seen pretty people disappear like smoke.
Friends will arrive, friends will disappear,
If you want me, honey baby,
I'll be here.
I like your smile
And your fingertips
I like the way that you move your lips.
I like the cool way you look at me,
Everything about you is bringing me
Misery.
Little red wagon
Little red bike
I ain't no monkey but I know what I like.
I like the way you love me strong and slow,
I'm takin' you with me, honey baby,
When I go.
Life is sad
Life is a bust
All ya can do is do what you must.
You do what you must do and ya do it well,
I'll do it for you, honey baby,
Can't you tell?
There she Is BOTT wow i really cant believe im done ive been writting this one for 3 hrs
i reallllly hope it goes up.
If it makes it up i hope everyone finds it accurate and useful.I've really worked hard
this one not its all me bad spelling and tabbmanship lol.
I'll leave you w/h a quote
"A man who does'nt think for himself does;nt think at all"
Oscar Wilde
"I'll let you be in my dream if i can be in your dream"
Bob Dylan
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>tabbed by DoC
https://lyrics.primoaccordo.net/bob-dylan/blood-on-the-tracks-album.htm