OP REIS MET BOB

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Na zijn aankomst in New York in 1961 presenteert Bob Dylan zich als een zwerver-muzikant a la Woody Guthrie. Daarna neemt hij nog vele gedaanten aan. ‘Electric thunderbolt’, mystieke sonnettenschrijver, countryzanger, woedende ex, jezusfreak, opa grabbelt in de oude doos, tot –recent- hernemer van van Sinatra-klassiekers.

Op de eerste LP “Bob Dylan” (1962) is de zanger nog sterk op de Woody Guthrie toer. Ontheemd, negens thuis, wegtrekken uit de Dust Bowl zijn weerkerende thema’s.

Hier een kind van een stoker een zijn vrouw. Een remmer als liefje. Vastzitten terwijl de trein naar de vrijheid langsrijdt. Dit is geen eigen werk , maar een ‘traditional’. Een uit de enorme voorraad ‘railroad songs’ in het American songbook.

"Freight Train Blues"

I was born in Dixie in a boomer shed
Just a little shanty by the railroad track
Freight train was it taught me how to cry
The holler of the driver was my lullaby

I got the freight train blues
Oh Lord mama, I got them in the bottom of my rambling shoes
And when the whistle blows I gotta go baby, don't you know
Well, it looks like I'm never gonna lose the freight train blues.

Well, my daddy was a fireman and my mama-ha
She was the only daughter of an engineer
My sweetheart was a brakeman and it ain't no joke
Seems a waste to get a good man broke

I got the freight train blues
Oh Lord mama, I got them in the bottom of my rambling shoes
And when the whistle blows I gotta go mama, don't you know
Well, it looks like I'm never gonna lose the freight train blues.

Well, the only thing that makes me laugh again
Is a southbound whistle on a southbound train
Every place I wanna go I never can go
Because you know I got the freight train blues

Oh Lord mama, I got them in the bottom of my rambling shoes.

Op de zelfde LP als Freight train blues staat de volgende song. Highway 51 is de straat waar zijn liefje woont. Het heeft er alle schijn van dat hij meer van de straat dan van zijn liefje houdt.

HIGHWAY 51 BLUES

Highway 51 runs right by my baby's door
Highway 51 runs right by my baby's door
If I don't get the girl I'm loving
Won't go down to Highway 51 no more.

Well, I know that highway like I know my hand
Yes, I know that highway like I know the back of my hand
Running from up Wisconsin way down to no man's land.

Well, if I should die before my time should come
And if I should die before my time should come
Won't you bury my body out on the Highway 51.

Highway 51 runs right by my baby's door
I said, Highway 51 runs right by my baby's door
If I don't get the girl I'm loving
Won't go down to Highway 51 no more.

In 1963 verschijnt de LP ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’. Een gokker heeft niets meer dan zijn koffer en zijn ‘highway shoes’. Zijn liefste is naar Italië vertrokken. Met onvervalst Amerikaans optimisme hoopt hij zowel in het spel als in de liefde weer goed terecht te komen. Raadsel is nog wel wie die ‘your’ is van wie de straten en de wegen zijn.

"Down The Highway"

Well, I'm walkin' down the highway
With my suitcase in my hand
Yes, I'm walkin' down the highway
With my suitcase in my hand
Lord, I really miss my baby
She's in some far-of land.

Well, your streets are gettin' empty
Lord your highway's gettin' filled
And your streets are gettin' empty
And your highway's gettin' filled
Well, the way I love that woman
I swear it's bound to get me killed.

Well, I been gamblin' so long
Lord, I ain't got much more to lose
Yes, I been gamblin' so long
Lord, I ain't got much more to lose
Right now I'm havin' trouble
Please don't take away my highway shoes.

Well, I'm bound to get lucky, baby
Or I'm bound to die tryin'
Yes, I'm a-bound to get lucky, baby
Lord, Lord I'm a-bound to die tryin'
Well, meet me in the middle of the ocean
And we'll leave this ol' highway behind.

Well, the ocean took my baby
My baby stole my heart from me
Yes, the ocean took my baby
My baby took my heart from me
She packed it all up in a suitcase
Lord, she took it away to Italy, Italy.

So, I'm walkin' down your highway
Just as far my poor eyes can see
Yes, I'm a-walkin' down your highway
Just as far my eyes can see
From the Golden Gate Bridge
All the way to the Statue of Liberty.

In 1964 verschijnt de LP ‘Another side of Bob Dylan’. Een reiziger moet ook een slaapplaats voor de nacht vinden. Wat je dan kunt overkomen horen we in ‘Motorspycho Nightmare’. Het verhaal verwijst naar de Hitchcockfilm Psycho uit 1960.

Als de reiziger belooft van boerendochter Rita aft te blijven en ’s morgens de koeien te melken mag hij blijven. Maar in de nacht sluipt Rita naar zijn kamer –looking like Tony Perkins- en suggereert hem een douche. Maar onze held heeft Psycho gezien en weet wat hem te doen staat: zo gauw mogelijk wegwezen. Maar de boer en zijn geweer dan? Het ergste wat je in die jaren in Amerika kunt zeggen is ‘I like Fidel Castro’. Dat is genoeg om door boer en dochter de boerderij uitgejaagd te worden.
"The sun was comin' up
And I was runnin' down the road."

"Motorpsycho Nightmare"

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' must 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"v 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
He said "I guess, you're tired"
He said, kinds sly
I said, "Yes, ten thousand miles
Today I drove"
He said, "I got a bed for you
Underneath the stove
Just one condition
You got 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 movie 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 Castrov I think you heard me right"
And I 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 of the door
In two seconds flat
"Your 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 chrashed 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 sky
He wants to turn me in
To the FBI
Me, I romp and stomping
Thankful as a romp
Without freedom of speech
I might be in the swamp.

In 1965 verschijnt de LP ‘Bringing it all back home’.

In een droom vloeien twee ‘ontdekkers’ van Amerika: Columbus en Christopher Jones (de kapitein van de Mayfower) samen in kapitein Arab (Captain Ahab op jacht naar Moby Dick). De held van het verhaal is een matroos op de Mayflower. Na een aantal woeste avonturen op het vasteland maakt de matroos het terug naar zijn schip. Hij kijkt de zee op en:

I saw three ships a-sailin'
There were all heading my way
I asked the captain what his name was
And how come he didn't drive a truck
He said his name was Columbus
I just said, "Good luck".

"Bob Dylan's 115th Dream"

I was riding on the Mayflower
When I thought I spied some land
I yelled for Captain Arab
I have yuh understand
Who came running to the deck
Said, "Boys, forget the whale
Look on over yonder
Cut the engines
Change the sail
Haul on the bowline"
We sang that melody
Like all tough sailors do
When they are far away at sea.

"I think I'll call it America"
I said as we hit the land
I took a deep breath
I fell down, I could not stand
Captain Arab he started
Writing up some deeds
He said, "Let's set up a fort
And start buying the place with beads"
Just then this cop comes down the street
Crazy as a loon
He throw us all in jail
For carryin' harpoons.

Ah me I busted out
Don't even ask me how
I went to get some help
I walked by a Guernsey cow
Who directed me down
To the Bowery slums
Where people carried signs around
Saying, "Ban the bums"
I jumped right into line
Sayin' "I hope that I'm not late"
When I realized I hadn't eaten
For five days straight.

I went into a restaurant
Lookin' for the cook
I told him I was the editor
Of a famous etiquette book
The waitress he was handsome
He wore a powder blue cape
I ordered some suzette, I said
"Could you please make that crepe"
Just then the whole kitchen exploded
From boillin' fat
Food was flying anywhere
And I left without my had.

Now, I didn't mean to be nosy
But I went into a bank
To get some bail for Arab
And all the boys back in the tank
They asked me for some collateral
And I pulled down my pants
They threw me in the alley
When up comes this girl from France
Who invited me to her house
I went, but she had a friend
Who knocked me out
And robbed my boots
And I was on the street again.

Well, I rapped upon a house
With the US flag upon display
I said, "Could you help me out
I got some friends down the way
" The man says, "Get out of here
I'll tear you limp from limb"
I said, "You know they refused Jesus, too"
He said, "You're not Him
Get out of here before I break your bones
I ain't your pop"
I decided to have him arrested
And I went lookin for a cop.

I ran right outside
And I hopped inside a cab
I went out the other door
This Englishman said, "Fab"
As he saw me leap a hot dog stand
And a chariot that stood
Parked across from a building
Advertising brotherhood
I ran right through the front door
Like a hobo sailor does
But it was just a funeral parlor
And the man asked me who I was.

I repeated that my friends
Where all in jail, with a sigh
He gave me his card
He said, "Call me if they die"
I shook his hand and said goodbye
Ran out to the street
When a bowling ball came down the road
And knocked me off my feet
A pay phone was ringing
It just about blew my mind
When I picked it up and said hello
This foot came through the line.

Well, by this time I was feed up
At tryin'g to make a stab
At bringin' back any help
For my friends and captain Arab
I decided to flip a coin
Like either heads or tails
Would let me know if I should go
Back to the ship or back to jail
So I hooked my sailor suit
And I got a coin to flip
It came up tails
It rhymed with sails
So I made it back to the ship.

Well, I got back and took
The parkin' ticket off the mast
I was ripping it to shreds
When this coastguard boat went past
They asked me my name
And I said, "Captain Kidd"
They believed me but
They wanted to know
What exactly that I did
I said for the Pope of Eruke
I was employed
They let me go right away
They were very paranoid.

Well, the last I heard of Arab
He was stuck on a whale
That was married to the deputy
Sheriff of the jail
But the funniest thing was
When I was leavin' the bay
I saw three ships a-sailin'
There were all heading my way
I asked the captain what his name was
And how come he didn't drive a truck
He said his name was Columbus
I just said, "Good luck".

Highway 61 Revisited(1965). Highway 61 gaat van Duluth Minnesota (geboorteplaats van Dylan) helemaal naar New Orleans in het zuiden. De weg volgt de Missisippi voor een groot deel. Het was een belangrijk traject voor ex-slaven en hun nazaten voor de trek naar het noorden. Daarmee kwam ook nieuwe muziek naar het noorden. Op Highway 61 kunnen diverse absurde problemen opgelost worden.

"Highway 61 Revisited"

Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What ?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done ?"
God says. "Out on Highway 61".

Well Georgia Sam he had a bloody nose
Welfare Department they wouldn't give him no clothes
He asked poor Howard where can I go
Howard said there's only one place I know
Sam said tell me quick man I got to run
Ol' Howard just pointed with his gun
And said that way down on Highway 61.

Well Mack the finger said to Louie the King
I got forty red white and blue shoe strings
And a thousand telephones that don't ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things
And Louie the King said let me think for a minute son
And he said yes I think it can be easily done
Just take everything down to Highway 61.

Now the fifth daughter on the twelfth night
Told the first father that things weren't right
My complexion she said is much too white
He said come here and step into the light he says hmmm you're right
Let me tell second mother this has been done
But the second mother was with the seventh son
And they were both out on Highway 61.

Now the rovin' gambler he was very bored
He was tryin' to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes I think it can be very easily done
We'll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61.

Van Bringing it all back home (1965). De ik-figuur is vertrokken bij zijn vrouw en -vooral- bij zijn schoonfamilie. De surreëel-bedreigende omgeving en personages doen je lang mijmeren over ‘de schoonfamilie’ als metafoor. Aan het eind nodigt hij zijn lief uit om ook te verhuizen. De titel doet denken aan de roman On the Road van Jack Kerouac (zie de rubriek Letteren van deze site), maar ook aan de traditional blues On the Road uitgevoerd door de Memphis Jug Band.

"On The Road Again"

Well, I wake up in the morning
There's frogs inside my socks
Your mama, she's a-hidin'
Inside the icebox
Your daddy walks in wearin'
A Napoleon Bonarparte mask
Then you ask why I don't live here
Honey, do you have to ask ?

Well, I got to pet your monkey
I get a face full of claws
I ask who's in the fireplace
And you tell me Santa Claus
The milkman comes in
He's wearing a derby hat
And you ask why I don't live here
Honey, how come you have to ask me that ?

Well, I asked for something to eat
I'm hungry as a hog
So I get brown rice, seaweed
And a dirty hot dog
I've got a hole
Where my stomach disappeared
Then you ask why I don't live here
Honey, I gotta think you're really weird.

Your grandpa's cane
It turns into a sword
Your grandma prays to pictures
That are pasted on a board
Everything inside my pockets
Your uncle steals
And you ask me why I don't live here
Honey, I can't believe that you're for real.

Well, there's fist fight in the kitchen
They're enough to make me cry
The mailman comes in
Even he's gotta take a side
Even the butler
He's got something to prove
Then you ask me why I don't live here
Honey, how come you don't move ?

dylan 2

From a Buick 6 (ook van Bringing it all back home)

buick 6

Gebaseerd op de ‘Milk Cow Blues uit de dertiger jaren. De volmaakte ‘buitenvrouw’ die alles goed maakt en overal voor zorgt. Ook als hij ‘cracked up’(emotioneel instorten en een ongeluk krijgen) onderweg of aan de waterkant.

"From A Buick 6"

I got this graveyard woman, you know she keeps my kid
But my soulful mama, you know she keeps me hid
She's a junkyard angel and she always gives me bred
Well, if I go down dyin' you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.

Well, when the pipeline gets broken and I'm lost on the river bridge
I'm cracked up on the highway and on the water's edge
She comes down the thruway ready to sew me up with thread
Well, if I go down dyin' you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.

Well, she don't make me nervous, she don't talk too much
She walks like Bo Diddley and she don't need no crutch
She keeps this four-ten all loaded with lead
Well, if I go down dyin' you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.

Well, you know I need a steam shovel mama to keep away the dead
I need a dump truck baby to unload my head
She brings me everything and more, and just like I said
Well, if I go down dyin' you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.

De mysterieuze plaat Self Portait (1970) had de nodige door anderen geschreven songs. Gotta Travel On is er een van. Geschreven door Paul Clayton., een vriend van Dylan uit de vroege New York jaren.

"Gotta Travel On"

Done laid around, done stayed around
This old town too long
Summer's almost gone, winter's coming on
Done laid around, done stayed around
This old town too long
And it seems like I've got to travel on
And it seems like I've got to travel on.

Papa writes to Johnny, "Johnny, can't you come home ?
Johnny, can't you come home ? Johnny, can't you come home ?"
Papa writes to Johnny, "Johnny, can't you come home ?"
Johnny's been out on the road too long
Done laid around, done stayed around
This old town too long
And it seems like I've got to travel on
And it seems like I've got to travel on.

That silly wind will soon begin and I'll be on my way
Going home to stay, going home to stay
That silly wind will soon begin and I'll be on my way
And I feel like I just want to travel on
Done laid around, done stayed around
This old town too long
And it seems like I've got to travel on
And it seems like I've got to travel on.

There's a lonesome freight at 6.08 coming through the town
I'll be homward bound, I'll be homeward bound
There's a lonesome freight at 6.08 coming through the town
And I feel like I just want to travel on
Done laid around, done stayed around
This old town too long
And it seems like I've got to travel on
And it seems like I've got to travel on.

De plaat Slow Train Coming uit 1979 is gevuld met Christelijke bekering. Het nummer Slow Train bevat geen Bijbelse referenties (behalve Satan). Eigenlijk een lied helemaal in de protestsong-traditie. De trein kan twee betekenissen hebben. In de gospel-traditie is de Train ‘bound for Glory’, een symbool van verlossing. Maar als het een slow train is en we hebben WOII achter de rug kan het een komende apocalyps zijn. Gelukkig is de trein vertraagd, dus het is nog niet zo ver.

"SlowTrain"

Sometimes I feel so low-down and disgusted
Can't help but wonder what's happening to my companions
Are they lost or are they found, have they counted the cost it'll take to bring down
All their earthly principles they're gonna have to abandon ?
There's slow, slow train coming up around the bend.

I had a woman down in Alabama
She was a backwoods girl, but she sure was realistic
She said, Boy, without a doubt, have to quit your mess and straighten out
You could die down here, be just another accident statistic
There's slow, slow train coming up around the bend.

All that foreign oil controlling American soil
Look around you, it's just bound to make you embarrassed
Sheiks walking around like kings, wearing fancy jewels and nose rings
Deciding America's future from Amsterdam and to Paris
And there's slow, slow train coming up around the bend.

Man's ego is inflated, his laws are outdated, they don't apply no more
You can't rely no more to be standing around waiting
In the home of the brave, Jefferson turning over in his grave
Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan
And there's slow, slow train coming up around the bend.

Big-time negotiators, false healers and woman haters
Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition
But the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency
All non-believers and men stealers talking in the name of religion
And there's slow, there's slow train coming up around the bend.

People starving and thirsting, grain elevators are bursting
Oh, you know it costs more to store the food than it do to give it
They say lose your inhibitions, follow your own ambitions
They talk about a life of brotherly love, show me someone who knows how to live it
There's slow, slow train coming up around the bend.

Well, my baby went to Illinois with some bad-talking boy she could destroy
A real suicide case, but there was nothing I could do to stop it
I don't care about economy, I don't care about astronomy
But it's sure do bother me to see my loved ones turning into puppets
There's slow, slow train coming up around the bend.

Down in the Groove is van 1988 en bevat opnamen uit gemaakt vanaf 1983. Grote moeite met eigen werk maken en (weer) veel werk van anderen. Ninety Miles an Hour is van Hal Blair en Don Robertson die veel voor Elvis Presley hebben gemaakt. (bijv. Please help me, I’m falling.) De lustrazernij van vreemdgaan; dat kan niet goed aflopen.

"Ninety Miles An Hour"

I took you home from a party and we kissed in fun
A few stolen kisses and no harm was done
Instead of stopping when we could we went right on
Till suddenly we found that the brakes were gone.

You belong to someone else, and I do too
It's just crazy bein' here with you
As a bad motorcycle with the devil in the seat
Going ninety miles an hour down a dead end street
Ninety miles an hour down a dead end street.

I didn't want to want you, but now I have no choice
It's too late to listen to that warning voice
All I hear is thunder of two hearts beat
Going ninety miles an hour down a dead end street
Ninety miles an hour down a dead end street.

You're not free to belong to me
And you know I could never be your own
Your lips on mine are like a sweet, sweet wine
But we're heading for a wall of stone.

Warning signs are flashing ev'ry where, but we pay no heed
'Stead of slowing down the place, we keep a pickin' up speed
Disaster's getting closer ev'ry time we meet
Going ninety miles an hour down a dead end street
Yeah, ninety miles an hour down a dead end street
Well, ninety miles an hour down a dead end street.

In 1997 verschijnt Time Out of Mind. Een droevige plaat. Gebukt onder luduvuddu wordt door de stad gelopen. Soms laait de woede op en ‘I wanna take to the road and plunder.’ Maar het verlangen blijft.

"Love Sick"

I'm walkin' through streets that are dead
Walkin', walkin' with you in my head
My feet are so tired
My brain is so wired
And the clouds are weepin'.

Did I hear someone tell a lie?
Did I hear someone's distant cry?
I spoke like a child
You destroyed me with a smile
While I was sleepin'.

I'm sick of love that I'm in the thick of it
This kind of love, I'm so sick of it.

I see, I see lovers in the meadow
I see, I see silhouettes in the window
I'll watch them 'til they're gone
And they leave me hangin' on
To a shadow.

I'm sick of love, I hear the clock tick
This kind of love, ah, I'm love sick.

Sometimes the silence can be like thunder
Sometimes I wanna take to the road and plunder
Could you ever be true
I think of you
And I wonder.

I'm sick of love, I wish I'd never met you
I'm sick of love, I'm tryin' to forget you.

Just don't know what to do
I'd give anything to
Be with you.

The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006 van 2008 bevatte o.a. ‘Marchin’ to the city’. Opgenomen tijdens de opnamen voor Time Out of Mind (1997). Alweer ontheemd, eenzaam en liefdesverdriet. Maar uiteindelijk…
"When I'm gone you'll remember my name
I'm gonna win my way to wealth and fame"

"Marchin' To The City"

Well I'm sittin' in church in an old wooden chair
I knew nobody would look for me there
Sorrow and pity rule the earth and the skies
Looking for nothin' in anyone's eyes

Once I had a pretty gal, did me wrong
Now I'm marching to the city and the road ain't long

Snowflakes are fallin' around my head
Lord have mercy, it feel heavy like lead
I been hit too hard, seen too much
Nothing can heal me now but your touch

Once I had a pretty gal, she did me wrong
Now I'm marching to the city and the road ain't long

Loneliness got a mind of its own
The more people around, the more you feel alone
I'm chained to the earth like a silent slave
Trying to break free out of death's dark cave

Once I had a pretty gal, done me wrong
Now I'm marching to the city and the road ain't long

Boys in the street beginnin' to play
Girls like birds flyin' away
I'm carryin' the roses that were given to me
And I'm thinkin' about paradise wonderin' where it might be

Once I had a pretty gal, she done me wrong
Now I'm marching to the city and the road ain't long

Go over to London, maybe gay Paris
Follow the river you get to the sea
I was hopin' we could drink from life's clear streams
I was hopin' we could dream life's pleasant dreams

Once I had a pretty gal, but she done me wrong
Now I'm marching to the city and the road ain't long

Well the weak get weaker and the strong stay strong
The train keeps rollin' all night long
She looked at me with an irresistable glance
With a smile that could make all the planets dance

Once I had a pretty gal, she did me wrong
Now I'm marching to the city and the road ain't long

My house is on fire, burnin' to the skies
I thought the rain clouds, but the clouds passed by
When I'm gone you'll remember my name
I'm gonna win my way to wealth and fame

Once I had a pretty gal, but she did me wrong
Now I'm marching to the city and the road ain't long

In 2010 verschijnen The Witmark Demos 1964-1964. #9 uit The Bootlegseries. Het zijn opnamen ooit gemaakt als demo’s voor zijn nieuwe muziekuitgever M. Witmark &Sons. Hier is de nog heel jonge zanger aan het werk. Het liften is nog een erg levendige herinnering.

Standing on the highway

Well, I’m standing on the highway
Trying to bum a ride, Trying to bum a ride
Trying to bum a ride
Well, I’m standing on the highway
Trying to bum a ride, Trying to bum a ride
Trying to bum a ride
Nobody seem to know me
Everybody pass me by

Well, I’m standing on the highway
Trying to hold up, Trying to hold up
Trying to hold up and be brave
Well, I’m standing on the highway
Trying to hold up, Trying to hold up and be brave
One road’s going to the bright lights
The other’s going down to my grave

Well, I’m looking down at two cards
They seem to be handmade
Well, I’m looking down at two cards
They seem to be handmade
One looks like it’s the ace of diamonds
The other looks like it is the ace of spades

Well, I’m standing on the highway
Watching my life roll by
Well, I’m standing on the highway
Watching my life roll by
Well, I’m standing on the highway
Trying to bum a ride

Well, I’m standing on the highway
Wondering where everybody went
Wondering where everybody went
Wondering where everybody went
Well, I’m standing on the highway
Wondering where everybody went
Wondering where everybody went
Wondering where everybody went
Please mister, pick me up
I swear I ain’t gonna kill nobody’s kids

I wonder if my good gal
I wonder if she knows I’m here
Nobody else seems to know I’m here
I wonder if my good gal
I wonder if she knows I’m here
Nobody else seems to know I’m here
If she knows I’m here, Lawd
I wonder if she said a prayer

Ook van de Witmark Demos: Hier het verhaal van een hobo die langs de spoorlijn loopt. Hij maakt zich zorgen over zijn meisje, en zijn geld, maar zolang hij goede schoenen heeft….

Walking down the line