Sirens ring, the shots ring out
A stranger cries, screams out loud
I had my world strapped against my back
I held my hands, never knew how to act

And the same black line that was drawn on you
Was drawn on me
And now it's drawn me in
6th Avenue heartache

Below me was a homeless man
I'm singin' songs I knew complete
On the steps alone, his guitar in hand
It's fifty years, stood where he stands

Now walkin' home on those streets
The river winds move my feet
Subway steam, like silhouettes in dreams
They stood by me, just like moonbeams

Look out the window, down upon that street
And gone like a midnight was that man
But I see his six strings laid against that wall
And all his things, they all look so small

I got my fingers crossed on a shooting star
Just like me just moved on


Lyrics submitted by 3ssence

6th Avenue Heartache Lyrics as written by Jakob Dylan

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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6th Avenue Heartache song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    I think that this song is a communication with his father. Probably, he'd always told himself that he would never be an artist, a poet. In the first verse, he clearly feels the call to comment on society, which is how his father got his start. I suppose the early Dylan could be seen as a minstrel - someone who has the world and his art, quite literally, strapped across his back. Something that always struck me about Bob Dylan is how he seemed so alone when he performed - see the movie Don't Look Back to see what I an talking about. His father would have been about 50 when he wrote this song. And, surely, he was singing songs that Jacob knew complete.

    So, I think he's telling his father that the same artistic curse that was laid on him is now being visited upon the son. Any other interpreation of the song leaves unexplained the enigmatic line---- "The same black line that was drawn on you Was drawn on me "

    montresoron December 25, 2004   Link

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