William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger
At a Baltimore hotel society gath’rin’
And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him
As they rode him in custody down to the station
And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain’t the time for your tears
–
The story I took out of the newspaper and I only changed the words. It’s, er… ..Well, I changed, er… the reporters view into… I used it I used it for something I wanted to say, er, and I used his view, the Maryland reporters view to get at what I wanted to say and turn it that way. And I used a true story, that’s all. I could have used a made-up story.
~Bob Dylan (to Steve Allen – Feb. 1964)
Performances:
128 times acoustic w/ band – top year 2003 (17 times)
62 times acoustic – top year – top year 1988 (16 times)
104 times w/band – top year 1975 (18 times)
–
First played: Oct 26, 1963, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
Last performance: Oct 20, 2012, Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento, CA
When you’re lost in the rain in Juarez
And it’s Eastertime too
And your gravity fails
And negativity don’t pull you through
Don’t put on any airs
When you’re down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there
And they really make a mess outta you
–
This reminds me of Kerouac’s “On The Road” – conjuring up a dusty character lost somewhere in America, or South America, down on his luck, wanting to go home and singing off with the bleak but also funny line: “I’m going back to New York City/I do believe I’ve had enough.” ~Howard Souness (His 40 Greatest songs – Uncut Magazine)
Tom Thumb´s Blues has been performed:
2 times acoustic w/ band – both in 2002
234 times w/band – top year 1974 (39 times)
First live performance:
Forest Hills Tennis Stadium
New York City, New York
28 August 1965
Last live performance:
Trädgårdsföreningen
Gothenburg, Sweden
15 July 2014
My love she speaks like silence
Without ideals or violence
She doesn’t have to say she’s faithful
Yet she’s true, like ice, like fire
People carry roses
Make promises by the hours
My love she laughs like the flowers
Valentines can’t buy her
–
One of his sweetest love songs – apart from the brothel, death and Apocalypse references.
“My love she speaks like silence.” Tricky, but then she is quite a woman: true, morally elevated, yet winking and laughing like the flowers. The very scent of her swirls through this honeyed river of song, borne along on gentle tumbles and ripples of guitar. Frankly, we’re all enamoured … Until that bastard bridge at midnight trembles, the wind howls like a hammer, and she’s suddenly a raven at the window. So- what?- she’s death?With a broken wing too? Now we’re confused, now we’re in a bit of a pickle. Romance over? What happened? What does it mean? Sigh.
– MOJO Magzine – 100 Greatest Dylan Songs
Performances:
163 times acoustic w/ band – top year 1994 (24 times)
119 times acoustic – top year – top year 1992 (48 times)
1 time as an instrumental – 1978
90 times w/band – top year 1978 (60 times)
–
First performance: Troy, New York – February 12 , 1965
Last played: Broomfield, Colorado – October 30, 2012
A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There’s a woman on my lap and she’s drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin’s eyes
I’m looking up into the sapphire-tinted skies
I’m well dressed, waiting on the last train
Lets just start with Dylan´s cool acceptance speech for Winning the “Original Song: 2001 Oscar”:
Bob Dylan scholars have determined that “To Ramona” is a song about Joan Baez; Dylan’s warning her that the folk protest movement will draw her in deep, but he recognizes that she doesn’t necessarily have a problem with that, and much as he loves and wants her, he has to let her think for herself, both for her sake and for his.
-Patrick Robbins (covermesongs.com)
–
Quite whom the singer is trying to mollify (and/or seduce) remains pure guesswork. One possibility must be Sara Lowndes, who became close to Dylan in the aftermath of his breakup with Suze. She could be said to have “cracked country lips,” being a Delaware girl, and her bronzed skin and dusky features may have suggested Spanish ances- try—and the Mediterranean goddess status the name “Ramona” implies.
– Clinton Heylin (Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973)
Whoever it might be, it´s a great song.
It´s been performed:
137 times acoustic w/ band – top year 2000 (33 times)
99 times acoustic – top year – top year 1986 (33 times)
1 time as an instrumental – Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia – 20 March 1978
127 times w/band – top year 1978 (64 times)
First live performance:
Freebody Park, Newport, Rhode Island – 26 July 1964
Newport Folk Festival.
Last live performance:
Port Chester, New York, Capitol Theatre – June 14, 2017
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