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I Shall Be Free Lyrics
Well, I took me a woman late last night,
I's three-fourths drunk, she looked alright.
'Til she started peelin' off her onion gook
She ook off her wig, said, "How do I look" ?
I's high flyin', bare naked
Out the window.
Well, sometimes I might get drunk,
Walk like a duck and stomp like a skunk.
Don't hurt me none, don't hurt my pride
'Cause I got my little lady right by my side.
She's a-tryin' to hide
Pretendin' she don't know me.
I's out there paintin' on the old woodshed
When a can o' black paint it fell on my head.
I went down to scrub and rub
But I had to sit in back of the tub.
Cost a quarter.
Half price!
Well, my telephone rang it would not stop,
It's President Kennedy callin' me up.
He said, "My friend, Bob, what do we need to make the country grow?"
I said, "My friend, John, Brigitte Bardot,
Anita Ekberg,
Sophia Loren."
Country'll grow.
Well, I got a woman five feet short,
She yells and hollers and screams and snorts.
She tickles my nose pats me on the head
Blows me over and kicks me out of bed
She's a man eater
Meat grinder
Bad loser.
Oh, there ain't no use in me workin' all the time,
I got a woman who works herself blind
Works up to her britches, up to her neck
Writes me letters and sends me checks
She's a humdinger
Folk singer.
Late one day in the middle of the week,
Eyes were closed I was half asleep.
I chased me a woman up the hill,
Right in the middle of an air raid drill.
I jumped a fallout shelter
I jumped the string bean
I jumped the TV dinner
I jumped the shot gun.
Now, the man on the stand he wants my vote,
He's a-runnin' for office on the ballot note.
He's out there preachin' in front of the steeple,
Tellin' me he loves all kinds-a people.
He's eatin' bagels
He's eatin' pizza
He's eatin' chitlins.
Oh, set me down on a television floor,
I'll flip the channel to number four.
Out of the shower comes a grown-up man
With a bottle of hair oil in his hand.
Greasy kid stuff
What I want to know, Mr. Football Man, is
What do you do about Willy Mays
Martin Luther King
Olatunji
Well, the funniest woman I ever seen
Was the great-granddaughter of Mr. Clean.
She takes about fifteen baths a day,
Wants me to grow a mustache on my face.
She's insane.
Well, ask me why I'm drunk all the time,
It levels my head and eases my mind.
I just walk along and stroll and sing,
I see better days and I do better things.
I catch dinosaurs
I make love to Elizabeth Taylor
Catch hell from Richard Burton.
Took me a while to notice the reference to racial segregation in the third verse. Used to think it was just playful nonsense.
that took me a while too :) bob is just brilliant. i wonder what else has gone over my head in some of his songs!
that took me a while too :) bob is just brilliant. i wonder what else has gone over my head in some of his songs!
@BraveSirRobin
@BraveSirRobin
@BraveSirRobin I thought I was alone noticing this, it's so subtle. What a great writer
@BraveSirRobin I thought I was alone noticing this, it's so subtle. What a great writer
@BraveSirRobin thank you for saying that. Didn't notice either.
@BraveSirRobin thank you for saying that. Didn't notice either.
Easily my favorite Dylan song... if it's not yours, it should be! Not that anybody's gonna read this, but... yeah, it covers the full Dylan spectrum- insightful, political, sometimes nonsensical, completely hysterical. Gotta love the noble-sounding title and the constrasting, irreverent content. I love it!
"He's eatin' bagels, he's eatin' pizza, he's eatin' chitlins" makes me grin every time :)
I figured out where the 'greasy kid stuff' line comes from. When Ted Kennedy got elected to the US senate for the first time in 1962, his older brother President Kennedy joked with him. Ted recalled: "I was down at the White House this afternoon with some suggestions for the State of the Union address, but all I got from him was, "Are you still using that greasy kid stuff on your hair?"
HAHAH you're not perverted, abel bob is! lol
i hear ya, amazing, but "don't think twice, it's alright" is my real fave
"i just along and stroll and sing i see better days and i do better things"
Right on, Jack, for transcribing the song and putting it on here. There's one correction to point out, though. "Oula Tunjee" should be "Olatunji", as in Babatunde Olatunji, the musician from Nigeria.
Is the part about Kennedy a sexual pun? You know, these beautiful women would make people "grow". Or perhaps I'm just a pervert or dude with a fertile imagination.
anyone know who the "football man" on the TV he was referring to?
Well, my telephone rang it would not stop, It's President Kennedy callin' me up. He said, 'My friend, Bob, what do we need to make the country grow?' I said, 'My friend, John, Brigitte Bardot, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren.'
HAhahaha.....i love this verse....