6 Meanings
Add Yours
Share
Q&A

Floater (Too Much to Ask) Lyrics

Down over the window
Comes the dazzling sunlit rays
Through the back alleys - through the blinds
Another one of them endless days

Honeybees are buzzin'
Leaves begin to stir
I'm in love with my second cousin
I tell myself I could be happy forever with her

I keep listenin' for footsteps
But I ain't hearing any
From the boat I fish for bullheads
I catch a lot, sometimes too many

A summer breeze is blowing
A squall is settin' in
Sometimes it's just plain stupid
To get into any kind of wind

The old men 'round here, sometimes they get
On bad terms with the younger men
But old, young, age don't carry weight
It doesn't matter in the end

One of the boss' hangers-on
Comes to call at times you least expect
Try to bully ya - strong arm you - inspire you with fear
It has the opposite effect

There's a new grove of trees on the outskirts of town
The old one is long gone
Timber two-foot six across
Burns with the bark still on

They say times are hard, if you don't believe it
You can just follow your nose
It don't bother me - times are hard everywhere
We'll just have to see how it goes

My old man, he's like some feudal lord
Got more lives than a cat
Never seen him quarrel with my mother even once
Things come alive or they fall flat

You can smell the pine wood burnin'
You can hear the school bell ring
Gotta get up near the teacher if you can
If you wanna learn anything

Romeo, he said to Juliet, "You got a poor complexion.
It doesn't give your appearance a very youthful touch!"
Juliet said back to Romeo, "Why don't you just shove off
If it bothers you so much."

They all got out of here any way they could
The cold rain can give you the shivers
They went down the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee
All the rest of them rebel rivers

If you ever try to interfere with me or cross my path again
You do so at the peril of your own life
I'm not quite as cool or forgiving as I sound
I've seen enough heartaches and strife

My grandfather was a duck trapper
He could do it with just dragnets and ropes
My grandmother could sew new dresses out of old cloth
I don't know if they had any dreams or hopes

I had 'em once though, I suppose, to go along
With all the ring dancin' Christmas carols on all of the Christmas Eves
I left all my dreams and hopes
Buried under tobacco leaves

It's not always easy kicking someone out
Gotta wait a while - it can be an unpleasant task
Sometimes somebody wants you to give something up
And tears or not, it's too much to ask
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

6 Meanings

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Cover art for Floater (Too Much to Ask) lyrics by Bob Dylan

I find the 'second cousin' line very funny, and yet disturbing at the same time...

Cover art for Floater (Too Much to Ask) lyrics by Bob Dylan

yes. I think the whole concept of this album is very relaxed. Having a good time playin' and writin in a non-conceptual way. This song, as many others, are a lot of funny lines or thoughts put together without a particular order or correspondance of any kind.

Cover art for Floater (Too Much to Ask) lyrics by Bob Dylan

Yeah, I have no idea what this song is about, if anything. But it's one of my favorite Dylan songs of all time. It has a sense of timelessness, it could have been written in the 1930's.

Cover art for Floater (Too Much to Ask) lyrics by Bob Dylan

Yes the song sketches a relaxed scenery and is very nice to listen to. No problem in sight - except in the title ("Floater") and in the last two lines:

"Sometimes somebody wants you to give something up And tears or not, it's too much to ask"

Nobody loves to have an easy life questioned by any wish or need.

Similarly:

  • "People don't live or die, people just float" (Man in the Long Black Coat, Oh Mercy Album)
  • "I step outside back to the busy street, but nobody's going anywhere" (Highlands, Time out of Mind Album)
My Interpretation
Cover art for Floater (Too Much to Ask) lyrics by Bob Dylan

When I first the album the work ducktrapper jumped out. Like he chose it because he hadn't heard it in a song before and just wanted to take ownership of the word.

Cover art for Floater (Too Much to Ask) lyrics by Bob Dylan

..but no..the answer to the question why duck trapper? is..why not?