Song Lyrics from "Another Side of Bob Dylan," (1964, 4th album)

List of Song Lyrics  (4th Album)
Side One

1. "All I Really Want to Do" 4:04

2. "Black Crow Blues" 3:14

3. "Spanish Harlem Incident" 2:24

4. "Chimes of Freedom" 7:10

5. "I Shall Be Free No. 10" 4:47

6. "To Ramona" 3:52

Side Two

1. "Motorpsycho Nitemare" 4:33

2. "My Back Pages" 4:22

3. "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" 4:22

4. "Ballad in Plain D" 8:16

5. "It Ain't Me Babe"

All I Really Want to Do

I ain't lookin' to compete with you
Beat or cheat or mistreat you
Simplify you, classify you
Deny, defy or crucify you
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you

No, and I ain't lookin' to fight with you
Frighten you or uptighten you
Drag you down or drain you down
Chain you down or bring you down
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you

I ain't lookin' to block you up
Shock or knock or lock you up
Analyze you, categorize you
Finalize you or advertise you
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you

I don't want to straight-face you
Race or chase you, track or trace you
Or disgrace you or displace you
Or define you or confine you
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you

I don't want to meet your kin
Make you spin or do you in
Or select you or dissect you
Or inspect you or reject you
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you

I don't want to fake you out
Take or shake or forsake you out
I ain't lookin' for you to feel like me
See like me or be like me
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you

Black Crow Blues

Woke in the mornin', wanderin'
Weary and worn out
I woke in the mornin', wanderin'
Weary and worn out
Wishin' my long-lost lover
Would walk to me, talk to me
Tell me what it's all about

I was standin' at the side road
Listenin' to the billboard knock
Standin' at the side road
Listenin' to the billboard knock
Well, my wrist was empty
But my nerves were kickin'
Tickin' like a clock

If I got anything you need, babe
Let me tell you in front
If I got anything you need, babe
Let me tell you in front
You can come to me sometime
Night time, day time
Any time you want

Sometimes I'm thinkin'
I'm too high to fall
Sometimes I'm thinkin'
I'm much too high to fall
Other times I'm thinkin'
I'm so low I don't know
If I can come up at all

Black crows in the meadow
Sleeping across a broad highway
Black crows in the meadow
Across a broad highway
Though it's funny, honey
I'm out of touch, don't feel much
Like a Scarecrow today

Spanish Harlem Incident

Gypsy gal, the hands of Harlem
Cannot hold you to its heat
Your temperature's too hot for taming
Your flaming feet burn up the street
I am homeless, come and take me
To reach of your rattling drums
Let me know, babe, about my fortune
Down along my restless palms

Gypsy gal, you got me swallowed
I have fallen far beneath
Your pearly eyes, so fast an' slashing
An' your flashing diamond teeth
The night is pitch black, come an' make my
Pale face fit into place, ah, please
Let me know, babe, I'm nearly drowning
If it's you my lifelines trace

I been wond'rin' all about me
Ever since I seen you there
On the cliffs of your wildcat charms I'm riding
I know I'm 'round you but I don't know where
You have slayed me, you have made me
I got to laugh halfways off my heels
I got to know, babe, will you surround me?
So I can tell if I'm really real

Chimes of Freedom

Far between sundown's finish an' midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Through the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden as the walls were tightening
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the bells of the lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsakened
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder
That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze
Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind
Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind
An' the poet and the painter far behind his rightful time
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

In the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
For the disrobed faceless forms of no position
Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
All down in taken-for-granted situations
Tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute
For the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chaineded an' cheated by pursuit
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flared
An' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
An' for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Starry-eyed an' laughing as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
Spellbound an' swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

I Shall Be Free No. 10

I'm just average, common too
I'm just like him, the same as you
I'm everybody's brother and son
I ain't different from anyone
It ain't no use a-talking to me
It's just the same as talking to you.

I was shadow-boxing earlier in the day
I figured I was ready for Cassius Clay
I said "Fee, fie, fo, fum, Cassius Clay, here I come
26, 27, 28, 29, I'm gonna make your face look just like mine
Five, four, three, two, one, Cassius Clay you'd better run
99, 100, 101, 102, your ma won't even recognize you
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, gonna knock him clean right out of his spleen."

Well, I don't know, but I've been told
The streets in heaven are lined with gold
I ask you how things could get much worse
If the Russians happen to get up there first.
Wowee! Pretty scary!

Now, I'm liberal, but to a degree
I want ev'rybody to be free
But if you think that I'll let Barry Goldwater
Move in next door and marry my daughter
You must think I'm crazy!
I wouldn't let him do it for all the farms in Cuba.

Well, I set my monkey on the log
And ordered him to do the Dog
He wagged his tail and shook his head
And he went and did the Cat instead
He's a weird monkey, very funky.

I sat with my high-heeled sneakers on
Waiting to play tennis in the noonday sun
I had my white shorts rolled up past my waist
And my wig-hat was falling in my face
But they wouldn't let me on the tennis court.

I gotta woman, she's so mean
She sticks my boots in the washing machine
Sticks me with buckshot when I'm nude
Puts bubblegum in my food
She's funny, wants my money, calls me "honey."

Now I gotta friend who spends his life
Stabbing my picture with a bowie-knife
Dreams of strangling me with a scarf
When my name comes up he pretends to barf.
I've got a million friends!

Now they asked me to read a poem
At the sorority sister's home
I got knocked down and my head was swimmin'
I wound up with the Dean of Women
Yippee! I'm a poet, and I know it.
Hope I don't blow it.

I'm gonna grow my hair down to my feet so strange
So I look like a walking mountain range
And I'm gonna ride into Omaha on a horse
Out to the country club and the golf course.
Carry the New York Times, shoot a few holes, blow their minds.

Now you're probably wondering by now
Just what this song is all about
What's probably got you baffled more
Is what this thing here is for.
It's nothing
It's something I learned over in England.

To Ramona

Ramona, come closer
Shut softly your watery eyes
The pangs of your sadness
Will pass as your senses will rise
For the flowers of the city
Though breathlike, get deathlike sometimes
And there's no use in tryin'
To deal with the dyin'
Though I cannot explain that in lines

Your cracked country lips
I still wish to kiss
As to be under the strength of your skin
Your magnetic movements
Still capture the minutes I'm in
But it grieves my heart, love
To see you tryin' to be a part of
A world that just don't exist
It's all just a dream, babe
A vacuum, a scheme, babe
That sucks you into feelin' like this

I can see that your head
Has been twisted and fed
With worthless foam from the mouth
I can tell you are torn
Between stayin' and returnin'
Back to the South
You've been fooled into thinking
That the finishin' end is at hand
Yet there's no one to beat you
No one t' defeat you
'Cept the thoughts of yourself feeling bad

I've heard you say many times
That you're better than no one
And no one is better than you
If you really believe that
You know you have
Nothing to win and nothing to lose
From fixtures and forces and friends
Your sorrow does stem
That hype you and type you
Making you feel
That you gotta be exactly like them

I'd forever talk to you
But soon my words
Would turn into a meaningless ring
For deep in my heart
I know there is no help I can bring
Everything passes
Everything changes
Just do what you think you should do
And someday maybe
Who knows, baby
I'll come and be cryin' to you

Motorpsycho Nitemare

I pounded on a farmhouse

Lookin’ for a place to stay

I was mighty, mighty tired

I had come a long, long way

I said, “Hey, hey, in there

Is there anybody home?”

I was standin’ on the steps

Feelin’ most alone

Well, out comes a farmer

He must have thought that I was nuts

He immediately looked at me

And stuck a gun into my guts

I fell down

To my bended knees

Saying, “I dig farmers

Don’t shoot me, please!”

He cocked his rifle

And began to shout

“You’re that travelin’ salesman

That I have heard about”

I said, “No! No! No!

I’m a doctor and it’s true

I’m a clean-cut kid

And I been to college, too”

Then in comes his daughter

Whose name was Rita

She looked like she stepped out of

La Dolce Vita

I immediately tried to cool it

With her dad

And told him what a

Nice, pretty farm he had

He said, “What do doctors

Know about farms, pray tell?”

I said, “I was born

At the bottom of a wishing well”

Well, by the dirt ’neath my nails

I guess he knew I wouldn’t lie

“I guess you’re tired”

He said, kinda sly

I said, “Yes, ten thousand miles

Today I drove”

He said, “I got a bed for you

Underneath the stove

Just one condition

And you go to sleep right now

That you don’t touch my daughter

And in the morning, milk the cow”

I was sleepin’ like a rat

When I heard something jerkin’

There stood Rita

Lookin’ just like Tony Perkins

She said, “Would you like to take a shower?

I’ll show you up to the door”

I said, “Oh, no! no!

I’ve been through this before”

I knew I had to split

But I didn’t know how

When she said

“Would you like to take that shower, now?”

Well, I couldn’t leave

Unless the old man chased me out

’Cause I’d already promised

That I’d milk his cows

I had to say something

To strike him very weird

So I yelled out

“I like Fidel Castro and his beard”

Rita looked offended

But she got out of the way

As he came charging down the stairs

Sayin’, “What’s that I heard you say?”

I said, “I like Fidel Castro

I think you heard me right”

And ducked as he swung

At me with all his might

Rita mumbled something

’Bout her mother on the hill

As his fist hit the icebox

He said he’s going to kill me

If I don’t get out the door

In two seconds flat

“You unpatriotic

Rotten doctor Commie rat”

Well, he threw a Reader’s Digest

At my head and I did run

I did a somersault

As I seen him get his gun

And crashed through the window

At a hundred miles an hour

And landed fully blast

In his garden flowers

Rita said, “Come back!”

As he started to load

The sun was comin’ up

And I was runnin’ down the road

Well, I don’t figure I’ll be back

There for a spell

Even though Rita moved away

And got a job in a motel

He still waits for me

Constant, on the sly

He wants to turn me in

To the F.B.I.

Me, I romp and stomp

Thankful as I romp

Without freedom of speech

I might be in the swamp

My Back Pages

Crimson flames tied through my ears, rollin' high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon, " said I, proud 'neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth, "rip down all hate, " I screamed
Lies that life is black and white spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now

Girls' faces formed the forward path from phony jealousy
To memorizing politics of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists, unthought of, though somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now

A self-ordained professor's tongue too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty is just equality in school
"Equality, " I spoke the word as if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand at the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I'd become my enemy in the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats, mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now

I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)

I can't understand,
She let go of my hand
An' left me here facing the wall.
I'd sure like t' know
Why she did go,
But I can't get close t' her at all.
Though we kissed through the wild blazing nighttime,
She said she would never forget.
But now mornin's clear,
It's like I ain't here,
She just acts like we never have met.

It's all new t' me,
Like some mystery,
It could even be like a myth.
Yet it's hard t' think on,
That she's the same one
That last night I was with.
From darkness, dreams're deserted,
Am I still dreamin' yet?
I wish she'd unlock
Her voice once an' talk,
'Stead of acting like we never have met.

If she ain't feelin' well,
Then why don't she tell
'Stead of turnin' her back t' my face?
Without any doubt,
She seems too far out
For me t' return t' her chase.
Though the night ran swirling an' whirling,
I remember her whispering yet.
But evidently she don't
An' evidently she won't,
She just acts like we never have met.

If I didn't have t' guess,
I'd gladly confess
T' anything I might've tried.
If I was with 'er too long
Or have done something wrong,
I wish she'd tell me what it is, I'll run an' hide.
Though her skirt it swayed as a guitar played,
Her mouth was watery and wet.
But now something has changed
For she ain't the same,
She just acts like we never have met.

I'm leavin' today,
I'll be on my way
Of this I can't say very much.
But if you want me to,
I can be just like you
An' pretend that we never have touched.
An' if anybody asks me, "Is it easy to forget?"
I'll say, "It's easily done,
You just pick anyone,
An' pretend that you never have met!"

Ballad in Plain D

I once loved a girl, her skin it was bronze

With the innocence of a lamb, she was gentle like a fawn

I courted her proudly but now she is gone

Gone as the season she's taken

In a young summer's youth, I stole her away

From her mother and sister, though close did they stay

Each one of them suffering from the failures of their day

With strings of guilt they tried hard to guide us

Of the two sisters, I loved the young

With sensitive instincts, she was the creative one

The constant scrapegoat, she was easily undone

By the jealousy of others around her

For her parasite sister, I had no respect

Bound by her boredom, her pride to protect

Countless visions of the other she'd reflect

As a crutch for her scenes and her society

It Ain't Me Babe

Go 'way from my window
Leave at your own chosen speed
I'm not the one you want, babe
I'm not the one you need
You say you're lookin' for someone
Who's never weak but always strong
To protect you an' defend you
Whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door
But it ain't me, babe
No, no, no, it ain't me babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe

Go lightly from the ledge, babe
Go lightly on the ground
I'm not the one you want, babe
I will only let your down
You say you're lookin' for someone
Who will promise never to part
Someone to close his eyes for you
Someone to close his heart
Someone who will die for you an' more
But it ain't me, babe
No, no, no, it ain't me babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe

Go melt back in the night
Everything inside is made of stone
There's nothing in here moving
An' anyway I'm not alone
You say you're looking for someone
Who'll pick you up each time you fall
To gather flowers constantly
An' to come each time you call
A lover for your life an' nothing more
But it ain't me, babe
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe