I got my back to the sun 'cause the light is too intense
I can see what everybody in the world is up against
You can't turn back you can't come back, sometimes we push too far
One day you'll open up your eyes and you'll see where we are

Sugar Baby get on down the road
You ain't got no brains, no how
You went years without me
Might as well keep going now

Some of these bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff
Plenty of places to hide things here if you want to hide 'em bad enough
I'm staying with Aunt Sally, but you know, she's not really my aunt
Some of these memories you can learn to live with and some of them you can't

Sugar Baby get on down the line
You ain't got no brains, no how
You went years without me
You might as well keep going now

The ladies down in Darktown, they're doing the Darktown Strut
You always got to be prepared but you never know for what
There ain't no limit to the amount of trouble women bring
Love is pleasing, love is teasing, love's not an evil thing

Sugar Baby, get on down the road
You ain't got no brains, no how
You went years without me
Might as well keep going now

Every moment of existence seems like some dirty trick
Happiness can come suddenly and leave just as quick
Any minute of the day the bubble could burst
Try to make things better
For someone, sometimes you just end up making it a thousand times worse

Sugar Baby, get on down the road
You ain't got no brains no how
You went years without me
Might as well keep going now

Your charms have broken many a heart and mine is surely one
You got a way of tearing a world apart, love, see what you done
Just as sure as we're living, just as sure as you're born
Look up, look up seek your Maker 'fore Gabriel blows his horn

Sugar Baby, get on down the line
You ain't got no sense, no how
You went years without me
Might as well keep going now


Lyrics submitted by SquidOmelet

Sugar Baby Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Sugar Baby song meanings
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8 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    I can't believe nobody has written anything about this song. It's a great song. Then again I can see now that there's really not much to say about it It's pretty self-explanitory But it's just so good I had to give it the attention it deserves.

    Me: Hi, song.

    Song: Hi there.

    Me: You're incredible.

    Song: Thanks.

    TheThornBirdson February 09, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    I can't figure out the references to Darktown, but overall this song seems to be about a man trying to get on with his life after having his heart broken by a Sugar Baby.

    She's probably younger than the narrator (as suggested by him calling her a "baby"), and thus has less experience dealing with people with whom she's intimately involved. The narrator was blinded by her charms at first, but then he possibly had to turn "his back to the sun" because she just became too much to handle. Now that he's regained his sight and that his sense has returned, he can see what "everyone in the world is up against" in terms of resisting Sugar Baby's come ons.

    I think before he reached the state of mind this song represents, he had "tr[ied] to make things better for someone," but he ended up "just making it a thousand times worse", perhaps by "pushing too far". He now realized there's nothing more he can do, so he's telling her to move on as well, but not without getting in some jabs and trying to get her to "see what she's done" -- that she's "got a way of tearing the world apart". The stanza about bootleggers hiding their stash and whether or not people can live with their memories may refer to some past event in Sugar Baby's that she has not confronted. He predicts that if she doesn't start doing something to change her ways possibly by "Look[ing] up, look[ing] up" and "Seek[ing her] Maker", she's gonna go through some personally apocalyptic experiences.

    I think an older man narrates this due to his peacefully resigned attitude towards love. Even though he calls existence "a dirty trick" and laments that "happiness..can leave just [so] quick", he ultimately believes that "love's not an evil thing". However, you gotta appreciate the fact that Dylan didn't make the narrator so wise and settled that he couldn't resist telling her she ain't got no sense or brains.

    distopiandreamguyon July 26, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    The song is a lament for Christianity, the bride of the Christ, going her own way not asking for any real directions or feedback from her groom. Her brain and her senses have become stunted and lost their functions by not being used adequately.

    • Her eyes are closed so she does not see where she and her groom are.
    • The male members offer illegal drugs (useless emotions) instead of healthy "bread of life".
    • The female members are beautiful traps instead of pleasant enrichments of life.
    • The situation is out of control and the chances for help close to zero.
    • The singer himself was one of the victims.

      The advice is to "seek your maker before Gabriel blows his horn", i.e. to replace unquestioned beliefs by work on clarification without prejudice.

    Mikeschon July 06, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Discovered this song like an hour before. Being a big Dylan buff, whatever he does speaks to me. This song is pretty cool too. The song is pretty much self explanatory. Probably some Biblical references are hiding here and there, someone with a knowledge in that field might wanna enlighten us.

    sujiton September 13, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    seems to say if you want to write hits for the sake of it go ahead on your way and i'll go mine

    sdz896542on February 28, 2016   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    or maybe that you give love a bad name

    sdz896542on August 12, 2016   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think it is about his son, jakob.

    paul106666on August 17, 2016   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I can't blame you for not understanding this song. It's about my bust. Some clues sally is sally port bootleggers

    ajwebermanon February 20, 2024   Link

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