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1992-01-29
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From ruckerm@gtephx.UUCP Tue Jan 28 17:09:54 1992
From: ruckerm@gtephx.UUCP (Mike Rucker)
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Jokerman lyrics (take 3 - multiple 'send' problems...)
Date: 24 Jan 92 18:48:12 GMT
Organization: gte
In article <UdSo=z200Uh705Qlwy@andrew.cmu.edu>, lr1b+@andrew.cmu.edu (Lisa M. Roraback) writes:
> hello, i was wondering if anyone out there could email me the lyrics to
> jokerman. it would be a great help to me. thank you very much.
>
> lisa
Dylan's finest song (hey, that's sure to stir up some argument...).
The best poetry he ever wrote, and he saved it for writing about
his Savior. The night is the end of the world - the 2nd coming of
Jesus. The last verse is about the anti-christ being talked about
in Revelation. I love the line where the bad guy and the preacher
are both identified as seeking the same down-and-outers; which one
will get there first?
Just an incredible, incredible song.
Here's my best from-memory attempt at it:
jokerman
standin' on the water casting your bread
while the eyes of the idol with the iron head
are glowin'
distant ships sailin' into the mist
you were born with a snake in both of your fists
while a hurricane was blowin'
freedom just around the corner for you
but with truth so far off what good would it do?
jokerman dance to the nightingale's tune
bird fly high by the light of the moon
oh, jokerman
so swiftly the sun sets in the sky
you rise up and say goodbye to no one
fools rush in where angels fear to tread
both of their futures so full of dread
you don't show one
shedding off one more layer of skin
keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within
jokerman dance to the nightingale's tune
bird fly high by the light of the moon
oh, jokerman
you're a man of the mountains, you can walk on the clouds
manipulator of crowds
you're a dream twister
you go to Sodom and Gomorrah, but what do you care?
ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister
a friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame
you look into the fiery furnace - see the rich man without any name
jokerman dance to the nightingale's tune
bird fly high by the light of the moon
oh, jokerman
well the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy
the law of the jungle and the sea
are your only teachers
in the smoke of the twilight --- on a milk-white steed
Michelangelo indeed could have carved out your features
resting in the fields far from the turbulent space
half asleep neath the stars with a small dog licking your face
jokerman dance to the nightingale's tune
bird fly high by the light of the moon
oh, jokerman
well the (mafia?) man stalkin' the sick and the lame
preacher man seeks the same
who'll get there first is uncertain
matchsticks and water cannons --- teargas, padlocks
molotav cocktails and rocks
behind every curtain
false-hearted judges dyin' in the webs that they spin
only a matter of time til night comes steppin' in
jokerman dance to the nightingale's tune
bird fly high by the light of the moon
oh, jokerman
it's a shadowy world - skies are slippery grey
a woman just gave birth to a prince today
and dressed him in scarlet
he'll put the priest in his pocket - put the blade to the heat
take the motherless children off the street
and place them at the feet of a harlot
oh jokerman you know what he wants
oh jokerman you don't show any response
jokerman dance to the nightingale's tune
bird fly high by the light of the moon
oh, jokerman
Mike Rucker, AG Communication Systems, Phoenix, Arizona