When the children were babies and played on the beach
You came up behind me, I saw you go by
You were always so close and still within reach
Whatever made you want to change your mind
Sara, oh Sara
So easy to look at, so hard to define
They run to the water their buckets to fill
I can still see the shells fallin' out of their hands
As they follow each other back up the hill
Sweet virgin angel, sweet love of my life
Sara, oh Sara
Radiant jewel, mystical wife
Drinkin' white rum in a Portugal bar
Them playin' leapfrog and hearin' about Snow White
You in the marketplace in Savanna-la-Mar
It's all so clear, I could never forget
Sara, oh Sara
Lovin' you is the one thing I'll never regret
I'd taken the cure and had just gotten through
Stayin' up for days in the Chelsea Hotel
Writin' sad-eyed lady of the lowlands for you
Wherever we travel we're never apart
Sara, oh Sara
Beautiful lady, so dear to my heart
A messenger sent me in a tropical storm
You were there in the winter, moonlight on the snow
And on Lily Pond Lane when the weather was warm
Scorpio Sphinx in a calico dress
Sara, oh Sara
You must forgive me my unworthiness
And a piece of an old ship that lies on the shore
You always responded when I needed your help
You gimme a map and a key to your door
Glamorous nymph with an arrow and bow
Sara, oh Sara
Don't ever leave me, don't ever go
Well what do you say? The man who never wrote a song explicitly about ANYONE in his entire career. (You who are so good with words and with keeping things vague.) A career that's spanned, well Jesus, forever, thousands of songs. One song. One. If this isn't a song that affects you I don't know what would? This is a man begging his wife not to leave him. Simple. The worst period of Dylan's songwriting career was when he was happy. From '69-'74 Dylan was gone, disappeared. The music was awful. But he was a man living in Woodstock, NY with a wife and two children. Them playing leap frog and hearing about snow white... But then what? Now what? Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp. Many Dylan fans will argue that the only woman he ever truly loved was Sara Lownds. Maybe Ruth, maybe Joan, but when Joan asked Bob years later (80s?) why they hadn't married when they were in love, he responded by saying that he married the woman he was in love with. This song is heart-wrenching. On an album (following BOTT!) where he's taken up song-writing in an entirely different way, this song doesn't fit. It doesn't fit with the story-telling-ballad theme of the album, it doesn't fit with the mysteriousness of Blood and it doesn't fit with the anger of the (underrated) Planet Waves, where he was attempt a song like Dirge, a pivotal song in his career. This song, obviously at a time where his career would drastically change and he'd tour endlessly (no really, endlessly), and he'd be divorced and he'd take up faith in a way that astounded the music world, this song is unique in every dimension. It hurts to listen to.
allen ginsberg
writes in the liner notes
of DESIRE:
Sara, is profound ancient tune revealing family paradigm- telling Wife & World the last secrets of solitary weeping art: "Staying up for days at the Chelsea Hotel Writing Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands for you" Who woulda thought he'd say it, so everybody'd finally know him, same soul crying vulnerable caught in a body we all are? -enough Person revealed to make Whitman's whole nation weep. And behind it all the vast lone space of No God, or God, mindful conscious compassion, lifetime awareness, we're here in America at last, redeemed. O Generation keep on working!
hehe...thats my song!
nope, sorry, i think its mine
It moves me. A beautiful tribute to his wife.
So beautiful Dylan knows how to write a song to a woman....
This song, sung live, is perhaps dylans finest work. You can hear the blood coming out his fucking ears. Check out the version of this on live '75, not very clean musically, but dylans voice is always better live.
This is such moving song, probably because it is so personal, as is much of Dylan's work. Could you possibly imagine all of his powers of poetry aimed to write a song for YOU?! whoa
A great song, especially on Rolling Thunder Revue as someone mentioned...too bad it didn't do much in the long run to prevent the divorce of Dylan and his wife.
I've always been obsessed with "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands". I think is the best love song I have ever heard, no kidding. But what stroke me about "Sara" is the incredible amount of honesty, especially coming from Dylan, who is always so misterious. And he seems to come out of his hiding with his chest wide open, revealing his love, and opening the door to his private life, to his real family memories and his most private feelings. So sincere. So touching.