bob dylan tombstone blues

[capparell]

I think the Commander&Chief may actually be relating with JohnTheBaptist, who has already established himself as a coward, by asking if there is a hole to get sick in. He says he is a coward too using word play: the sun, is actually The Son. It's a homonym.

[capparell]

@boardsaket but of course just because something doesn't make sense to you doesn't mean it doesn't make sense at all

[smallpower89]

I think "the sun's not yellow it's chicken" might be a play on the word yellow, because yellow can be used to call something cowardly. Either that or he's saying the sun is such a chicken it pissed itself. lol

[capparell]

this song would make for a great commercial for ''tombstone pizza". eh, stoners?

[capparell]

it took me like 5 years to realize wtf he meant by "the suns not yellow, its chicken" ... the Commander&Chief is calling JohnTheBaptist a COWARD!!!

[boardsaket]

@capparell i think it means the comader and chief is the prutain fate and that whatever the comader and chief says is true no matter it makes sense or not!

[lancekoz]

I would like to see some violent knitting

[Superstar12inch]

For all the nonsense and puns, this is one of the most clever (if confusing) pieces of social commentary I've ever heard.

[petocaan26]

this song is too cool if you break it down and think about what hes saying

[SuperPhilobeddoe]

i know: this song name must be temple stone bluues!!!

[imyurbabigurl]

congradulations Im the 63,000th viewer

[hespelledyalewitha6]

HFS...THIS SONG

[6699TOOT]

You got the wrong album cover!!!

[chicagocubbyguy218]

ugh I love listening to Mikey Bloomfield and Al Kooper. Not to mention Bob is _________

[Trappaud]

Yes, it's on Highway 61 and it is absolutely rocking!

[residentevlidead]

is tombstone blues a metaphor for death?

[MiniBoothPwnsU]

yeah it is 2nd song buddy!!

[littlealexdelarge1]

"mama is in a factory she ain't got no shoes."......

"daddy is in the alley he's looking for food"....

I'm in the kitchen with the tombstone blues.".....

[bigmathafaka]

the sun's not yellow it's CHIKEN

[brian777999]

I was sure that I heard a version of this on an old vinyl record that had a long extended guitar solo at the end but I have never been able to find it. Did I imagine it ? Did they shorten it when they transferred it to CD ?

[tomtebass]

you should fenintley look up richie havens cover of it .

[louiseduvee]

this sounds so good! Like vinyl on a great turntable. Thanks!

[uddiptab]

What a storyteller!

[MJLatora]

Once again, Dylan supported by outstanding drum work....Listen to his works from Highway 61 up to even today....of all the great bands and musicians he chooses to back him, there's always a fabulous drummer.

[MJLatora]

"The Commander In Chief answers him while chasing a fly, saying 'Death to all those who would whimper and cry'. "

........always reminds me of Robt Duvall as Colonel Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now"

[definemaybe]

in the kitchen ( w/ a needle and a spoon) back in the day of 1967 LOVE YOU BOB

[ZackVitus]

She violently knits. Great imagery there. :)

[RoyFive]

I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill--I'd set him in chains on top of a hill--then I'd send out for some pillars and Cecil B. De Mille. He could die happily ever after.

[hungryhippos41]

best lyrics ever in the song.

[KingBalah]

the suns not yellow its CHICKEN!!!!

[KnorpelDelux]

Why thumb down the sun is freakin CHICKEN

[bigbiscuit100]

"i'm in trouble with the tombstone blues." man, it still makes me shiver. my adolescence in 7 words.

[bigbiscuit100]

awesome song. one of my favorites. if you're gonna do electric, do it well.

[CROTALUSDIAMANTINUS]

the reencarnation of paul reever's horse

es bueno, fue bueno y siempre sera bueno, LARGA VIDA A BOB.

ra

[TheJoker14132]

That picture should be of "Highway 61 Revisited" not Blonde on Blonde

[LedZep2324]

word

[SAlpsu]

The sun's not yellow, it's a space station!

[miidaj]

hes good isn't he?

[SWsthia]

MARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

[morenzaek]

traidooor (L)

[koedude]

the sun is not yellow, its chicken

xD

[KnorpelDelux]

The sun is not yellow...its BORK BORK!

[Carlvskansas]

the national bank, at a profit, sells road maps for the soul to the old folks home and the college

I love that

[wildhias]

confusing phot - why putting the cover of blond on blonde on highway 61 R album?

[perleatsworld]

Why not?

[ffmcracdcftw]

This song convinced me to try and write a song, but I'm not very good I only worked on it for a small time but made two verses. I can make up lines but they just ramble,

should I just let my ramblings be or should I revise try to refine my story?

[MrBluesy91]

Let these ramblings be dude.

Randomness leads to creativity

our father hardly tried to talk to the bride

by saying to the groom don't turn the tide

go call your mighty wind and ride

and don't try to sell the door.

what does it mean? I don't know?!!

but i'm Sure that it will lead to somethin'.

[LightOurFire]

Tombstone Blues is from Highway 61 Revisited, not from Blonde on Blonde

[psycowitz91]

its like the bible, you can make your own interpretations, take it literally, think its great story, or a metaphor on how to live a richeous life

[8BILLL]

"And the National Bank at a profit sells road maps for the soul

To the old folks home in the college"

to the old folks; home in the college.......mmmmmm

[batitony]

"Death to all those who would whimper and cry"

"the sun's not yellow, it's chicken"

lol Dylan at his best

[pieisthe]

Dylan would never say lol.

[speedamod]

My advice is to not let the boys in, superb.

Put Highway 61 on when your painting the lounge the paint goes on easier, trust me i' ve tried it.

[GREENDOGSbitch]

When he says "the sun's not yellow; it's chicken" he is making a statement about the militaristic approach of political leaders. The Commander-in-Chief, who sits on his ass all day and doesn't have to deal with the horror of war, wants to attack anything. So when he calls the sun "chicken" he means he's going to get his army on anything in his way, regardless of what it is. That's my interpretation at least.

[xojbabyxo]

Only Dylan knows what he is truly writing about...we can all think of what it means but the truth is..there is no meaning to songs. "The words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page."...much of that quotes for all poet musicians...but of course the songs mean something..Bob Dylan is god! great song!

[shisha86]

yes, you are completely right. I think that even many poets do not really know what their lyrics mean or are supposed to mean

[kbjami]

great song.

long live bob dylan.

[turtledan2000]

I think tombstone blues is just a metephor for life. A half empty way of looking at things and the futility of life. Everybody in the story is preoccupied with something. the guy who sees the sun as chicken, thats his preoccupation with fighting thats just his point of view. But in the end hes sitting in the kitchen thinking about all his, seeing all the people outside scurrying about and hes commenting on how it all leads to the grave.

[samnichols26]

Hmm. That's interesting.

I thought it was more about surrealism for the sake of surrealism, a sort of push to see the world in a different light. Like saying, 'the sun isn't yellow, it's a chicken.'

Yellow is an antiquated term for cowardly. Maybe he's saying that you can look at the sun as a source of life, or you can look at it as a coward, running across the sky from the moon.

I don't know.

I have a feeling that if a Salvador Dali painting were to start singing, it might sing this.

[actnaturaljdr]

possibly my favorite dylan lyrics. i like highway 61 too. the god and abraham convo makes me laugh.

[EqualityPeaceLove]

I belive in Dylan, he is God.

[frob100]

"The city fathers, they are trying to endorse the reincarnation of Paul Revere's horse" so deliciously absurd!

[Florez531]

the "the suns not yellow its chicken" quote is a play on words... calling someone "yellow" was the same as calling them a chicken or a coward.

[beatlesfan778]

I love Bob Dylan and I love this song, the song's lyrics make no sense, which I love. I love the "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken" part.

[ufgatorfandyl6192]

They make plenty of sense.

[KazakageoftheSand]

to dylan i'm sure they did ^^

and i love all his allusions, awesome.

[satiristguyfunny]

it is actually quite ingenious and the fact that it is so memorable and even surreal is brilliant

[gbwealthy]

Mr Dylan's lyrics make plenty of sense to many people. It might help you to get a book of all his lyrics and study them as one would a poet for a lit class.

We may not all "get" the same meaning, but there is so much in most of Mr Dylan's lyrics that reflect on society, self and situations.

Digging in to study his lyrics may not be necessary for all ~ cause if you like to listen to it, then that is enough. However, reading his many verbose works is revealing and fun too. Enjoy anyway you can

[shisha86]

you can interpret anything from every text and then argue that way - it is just a matter of the amount of time you invest in and the abstract thoughts :-)

You can read an instruction and find different interpretations if you think long enough about it...

[gbwealthy]

Good point... I think the thing about poetry or lyrics is that "it means what it means" to the reader/listener. Frequently when artists (recording or otherwise) are asked "what does this mean?", they will often be elusive and allow the perception to be whatever it is to the one perceiving.

However saying that, I still take issue with anyone that says "Dylan's lyrics don't make sense" ~ they just don't make sense to that person.

Peace

[drummerdemon]

when you get into studying something thoroughly, everyone ends up being wrong. Everyone can have their own opinions, but that's all they'll be.

[karledge26]

we don't know either...lol. Dylan is famously obtuse. Only he truly knows. Just appreciate the imagery.

[MrsPeteDoherty]

No many people can say they changed the world with a pen, paper and guitar but dylan's one of them.

[corinthian129]

I always thought the "John the Baptist" bit was about how the idealistic follower who does awful things for a cause he's been told is good and noble. Afterwards, being human, he expresses his disgust at what he's done, but the "commander in chief", who doesn't do those things personally and just has superficial strength, but isn't concerned about John's morality and just tells him not to object or he's a chicken.

George W. Bush anyone? A lot of stuff on this album was oddly prophetic.

[gageman70]

@corinthian129 I had the same thought, but I see the "chicken" bit kind of portrays god as this childish being that man has created and feels he must appease and follow blindly, no matter how ridiculous and irrelevant his claims are.

[InebriateDan]

I think this song is about spreading pain through love and corruption. The irony of when John the baptist after 'torturing a theif' askes jesus if there is a place in hell for him (his commander in cheif), jesus replies and says 'the sun is not yellow its chicken.' this black humor symbolises how people of power can be scared (pun chicken). listen to the verse after, you'l hear what i mean.

[alarmclocktimebomb]

this song is like some early skeleton of punk

that drum beat back in 64 would have been standing pretty much alone, its stil used in countless punk bands today

this song rocks

[eheinbaugh]

This song is not on Blonde on Blonde like the picture insinuates. It's on Highway 61.

[stenw17]

The sun's not yellow... It's chicken.

[lordyfordy]

It's who the song refers too, I think.

[sophia8emskimos]

Bob dylan is a genius!!

[MrsPeteDoherty]

Really like this song but what does the term tombstone blues actually refer to anyone?

[lordyfordy]

yup, Tom Jones

[MrsPeteDoherty]

What do you mean tom jones?

[deathdying]

yes, this is my favorite song, how did you know that? took me like 5 minutes to think of the name. lmao

[twiinkii0725]

love it. awesome song (:

[splugrosh]

Good candidate for Mike Bloomfield's finest minutes; amazing guitar playing

[b96er3]

Paul Revere was the colonial guy who road his horse saying "The British Are Coming!" He is referring to that horse

[mysweetzoe]

man, i must say i almost understand nothing at all about the sense of the lyrics.. might be because english is not my mother tounge... can you or somebody else tell me some more about this great song?

[deadgirl17]

Check out the references..John the Baptist, Beethoven, Ma Rainey, Jack the Ripper, Delilah,Galileo, Cecil B.DeMille; it's basically surrealism applied to a blues song. Any help?

[sennheiserjohn]

does someone know who is Paul Revere's horse?

[ssir9]

greatest song writer of all time. They dont make shit like this anymore man. This is a good song but still not as good as "its alright ma(im just bleeding)"

[sanit999]

i know wat fuckin cover this is leave it the hell alone it dont matter

[somekidfromtexas]

@sanit999 You have excellent grammar.

[Fishdogpigsquirrel]

@sanit999 Hey dude............wrong cover nigga

[Beefgog]

Go back one album.

[psychedelichobo]

wrong album cover, lol

but this is a great song thinks for posting it on youtube!!

[opinionhead444]

Dylan's best song, period!

[1992252]

six total minutes of heaven.... will anybody ever be able to tell it like dylan again? i just don't fucking think so... his disection of the eternal human condition is unparalleled!

...stop all this weeping and swallow your pride, you will not die, it's not poison...

[KevC15]

you saying he looks like a witch?

[glimmer2158]

In that photo Dylan looks a little like Margaret Hamilton

[sergiotakaro]

great!!!!!

[jesterof84]

good tune

[Redneck479]

i'm in the kitchen with the tombstone blues. i love the little solo things after that.

[Kapinjala]

Isn't that the cover for Blonde on Blonde?

[greentortouise]

Yup.

[letsgocubs13]

I love this song. Thanks.

[sanit999]

if u want more song from bob and other artits just den me a message or leave a comment

[parabol]

going to acapulco

[Rhyull]

Hey I get to be first to say thanks for uploading this great track!