"DESOLATION ROW" - Randy Brook - Bob Dylan song - "Coffee-House Songs" #5

-----CLICK HERE OR "MORE INFO" FOR NOTES & LYRICS-----
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(Copyright music and lyrics reproduced by kind permission of Special Rider -- for original, exclusive
performances by Bob Dylan, check-out the official channel at www.youtube.com/bobdylan )
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"Desolation Row" is the closing track to Dylan's sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited. Rolling Stone ranked the song as number 187 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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There has been a lot of controversy about where Desolation Row is. I see it as a mythical strip of ground representing the state of the world, but if you want to see a live version, go visit the Venice Beach "Boardwalk". They're all there.
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LYRICS
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They're selling postcards of the hanging
They're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner
They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight
From Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy
"It takes one to know one," she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning
"You Belong to Me I Believe"
And someone says, "You're in the wrong place my friend
You better leave"
And the only sound that's left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up
On Desolation Row

Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortune-telling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain
And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing
He's getting ready for the show
He's going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row

Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid
To her, death is quite romantic
She wears an iron vest
Her profession's her religion
Her sin is her lifelessness
And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah's great rainbow
She spends her time peeking
Into Desolation Row

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
With his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago
With his friend, a jealous monk
He looked so immaculately frightful
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Now you would not think to look at him
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
On Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They're trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
She's in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
"Have Mercy on His Soul"
They all play on pennywhistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row

Across the street they've nailed the curtains
They're getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera
A perfect image of a priest
They're spoonfeeding Casanova
To get him to feel more assured
Then they'll kill him with self-confidence
After poisoning him with words
And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls
"Get Outa Here If You Don't Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row"

Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Then they bring them to the factory
Where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders
And then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles
By insurance men who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
To Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero's Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody's shouting
"Which Side Are You On?"
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain's tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea
Where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the doorknob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they're quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name
Right now I can't read too good
Don't send me no more letters, no
Not unless you mail them
From Desolation Row

Copyright © 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music

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• DESOLATION

[dukstuf]

This is the best recorded version of this song that I have had the pleasure to hear. It's got Dylan's feel and general rebeliousness intact, but has it's own unique appeal, and is easier to understand than Dylan's voice- it's more comprehensible.

Just excellent.

[RandyBrook100]

"As a fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise." Proverbs 27:21

Thanks duk...and you have quite a gift for words yourself. The elements you cite are all things that I was shooting for when I recorded this song, and your reaction to it is just what I hope for every time I perform. Stay tuned, I really DO intend to record "Hard Rains" soon, and it is one of those "out of the park" Dylan songs...and today's headline to boot.

[sundance34567]

Transcendental performance of one of the greatest songs of all time. Thank you Randy. No more problems after desolation row.

[RandyBrook100]

thanks sundance...your check is in the mail...lol....hey, i had an idea....it would be cool if people would start saying what their favorite line from the song is...anyway, i need to figure out what I did right in recording this song, and then bottle it...because if i could figure out how to get such favorable responses with everything I sing, I could actually make some money doing it...anyway, it really makes me feel good to know that you and others like the performance...

[dixonmole]

my favourite dylan song and you've given it a whole new dimension, i love your cover and could listen to it all night... brilliant job mate!!

[RandyBrook100]

thanks so much, dix...i have to say that it's really blowing my mind how many kind and favorable responses I have been getting to this particular performance...what did shakespeare say?..."The Play's The Thing."?...no way I'm getting these kinds of responses to my version of "Louie Louie"...Desolation Row is one phenomenal song... and, by the way, so is "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"...which is more topical now than when Dylan first wrote it... I hope to have my own version up soon...

[ravipipal7]

Aww you happy soul! It's simply the best. Enjoy your life :)

[sundance34567]

The Moon is almoust hidden.

[thomassneade]

Nice to hear some one who can actually play the harp and guitar....Great cover . Have a listen to my abridged version if you find time...

[Mariekesone]

Agree with all i read above...I just love your Dylan, in fact i love the Bob in Randy Brook:-)

[sundance34567]

Best Dylan tribute of all time.

[hopelesswait]

This is a fantastic rendition. I love it so much I'm putting your cover song into my Bob Dylan's playlist. Thank you, Randy.

[Izatar]

Thank you for this EXCELLENT cover. It is the best one out there!!!

I really enjoyed it and embeded it on my website,

[ernesto56052]

REALLY ENJOY THIS VERSION