June 20: Bob Dylan Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking, Tel Aviv, Israel 2011 (video)

bob dylan tel aviv 2011

Gonna change my way of thinking
Make myself a different set of rules
Gonna change my way of thinking
Make myself a different set of rules
Gonna put my best friend forward
And stop being influenced by fools

Ramat Gan Stadium
Tel Aviv, Israel
20 June 2011

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & keyboard)
  • Stu Kimball (guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Donnie Herron (violin, mandolin, steel guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • George Receli (drums & percussion)






I’m sittin’ at the welcome table, I’m so hungry I could eat a horse
I’m sittin’ at the welcome table, I’m so hungry I could eat a horse
I’m gonna revitalize my thinking, I’m gonna let the law take its course

Jesus is calling, He’s coming back to gather up his jewels
Jesus is calling, He’s coming back to gather up his jewels
We living by the golden rule, whoever got the gold rules

The sun is shining, ain’t but one train on this track
The sun is shining, ain’t but one train on this track
I’m stepping out of the dark woods, I’m jumping on the monkey’s back

I’m all dressed up, I’m going to the county dance
I’m all dressed up, I’m going to the county dance
Every day you got to pray for guidance
Every day you got to give yourself a chance

Storms are on the ocean, storms out on the mountain, too
Storms are on the ocean, storms out on the mountain, too
Oh Lord, you know I have no friend like you

I’ll tell you something, things you never had you’ll never miss
I’ll tell you something, things you never had you’ll never miss
A brave man will kill you with a sword, a coward with a kiss

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-Egil

8 thoughts on “June 20: Bob Dylan Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking, Tel Aviv, Israel 2011 (video)”

  1. he was not singing “jew” in the third verse, it was “jewels” which is a lift from an old hank williams gospel song “when god comes to gather his jewels.”.

  2. I was there and I loved Bob’s opening song although unfortunately he wasn’t able to maintain this same level of energy till the end of the show and maybe his health problems caused him to play exactly the same set list as he had performed 2 days earlier in London was the reason, in any event below are the exact lyrics that he sung to ‘Gonna Change My Way of Thinking’ that evening and not the lyrics posted above and come and check out my Dylan articles at http://www.paullyrics.com – cheers:)!

    Gonna Change My Way of Thinking (5.20)
    (Bob Dylan, Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel 20/06/2011)

    I’m gonna change my way of thinking, make myself a different set of rules
    I’m gonna change my way of thinking, make myself a different set of rules
    I’ll put my best friend forward, stop being influenced by fools

    Sittin’ at the welcome table, so hungry I could eat a horse
    I’m sittin’ at the welcome table, so hungry I could eat a horse
    Well last night thinking, and let the law take its course

    (Je) sus is coming, coming on back to gather his Jew
    Coming on back to gather his Jew
    We’ll we’re living by the golden rule, whoever got the gold, rules

    You know the sun is shining, ain’t but one train on this track
    Well the sun is shining, ain’t but one train on this track
    I’m dipping out of the dark woods, I’m jumping on the monkey’s back

    Well I’m all dressed up, I’m going to the county dance
    You know I’m all dressed up, I’m a-going to the county dance
    Ev’ry day you got to keep a conscience
    Ev’ry day you got to give yourself another chance

    Well there’s storms out on the ocean, storms out on the mountain, too
    Said there’s storms on the ocean, storms out on the mountain, too
    Oh Lord, you know I’ve got no friend but you

    I’m gonna change my way of thinking, make myself a different set of rules
    I’m gonna change my way of thinking, make myself a different set of rules
    I’ll put my best friend forward, and stop being influenced by fools

  3. Wonderful version but it’s noticeable that Bob obscured the word ‘Jesus’ both times it comes up in the third verse. Seems like whilst he was kind of making some sort of point by playing this in Tel Aviv he couldn’t quite follow through on his convictions. Bit weird. After all, the song got a big cheer from Jew and Gentile alike in the audience.

  4. Hello, I love these daily outstanding posts by some of the very best performances of the World’s greatest songwriters and performers.

    I did note one small error in the post above. In providing the lyrics, it missed a very significant lyric change that comes at the 0.26 or 0.27 second mark in the 20 June 2011 performance at the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel.

    Play that video back and you will clearly hear “Gonna Put my BEST FRIEND forward, stop being influenced by fools,” instead of “Gonna put my good FOOT forward.”

    For the significance of this lyric change, see my blog post on this song at the following location:

    http://dougondylan.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-09-15T06:41:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=7&by-date=false

    Scroll down to where you see:
    Sunday, November 15, 2009

    Thanks for this outstanding daily dose of great music and insightful commentary!

    Doug

    1. “best friend” is obviously Jesus and considering that the conversion of all Jews must come before the end times (a preoccupation of Dylan’s for most of his life) I think we can see where he’s coming from here.

      (lol @ Jerry below, every other word is “obscured” these days and not through choice)

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