Once upon a time you dressed so fine
Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People call say 'beware doll, you're bound to fall'
You thought they were all kidding you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hanging out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging your next meal
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Ahh you've gone to the finest schools, alright Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street
And now you're gonna have to get used to it
You say you never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say do you want to make a deal?
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home
A complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Ah you never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discovered that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To have on your own, with no direction home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Ahh princess on a steeple and all the pretty people
They're all drinking, thinking that they've got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you better take your diamond ring, you better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him he calls you, you can't refuse
When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to conceal
How does it feel, ah how does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People call say 'beware doll, you're bound to fall'
You thought they were all kidding you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hanging out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging your next meal
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Ahh you've gone to the finest schools, alright Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street
And now you're gonna have to get used to it
You say you never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say do you want to make a deal?
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home
A complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Ah you never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discovered that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To have on your own, with no direction home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Ahh princess on a steeple and all the pretty people
They're all drinking, thinking that they've got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you better take your diamond ring, you better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him he calls you, you can't refuse
When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to conceal
How does it feel, ah how does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by sparrowhawk73
Like a Rolling Stone Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
The song is about socialite, Edie Palmer. A one time girlfriend of Bob Dylan, who cheated on him, with a number of people, while he was an up and coming musician, and eventually left him for the artist Andy Warhol. Their lives went different ways, with Dylan moving on to fame and fortune, and Palmer becoming destitute, and dying a homeless drug addict. Sadly, the song is black humour on Dylans part, mocking the girl after she was dumped by Warhol, and quickly lost the brief fame she had as his girlfriend.
Most of the song hints at a rich, fame hungry girl, who was maybe destined for a fall. But there are many hints to what happened to her, after falling on hard times:
“You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns. When they all come down and did tricks for you”
This refers to the many suitors that Palmer had. Many men, trying to impress and court her, and how much she loved it. Dylan refers to them as “jugglers and clowns”, as in, men trying to entertain her, trying to catch her attention. Dylan thought of them quite literally as desperate clowns. He comments that she had little care for their feelings, and probably refers to himself as one of these “clowns”, as he was well known to have pursued Palmer vigorously, as a younger man.
“You said you'd never compromise. With the mystery tramp, but now you realize. He's not selling any alibis. As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes. And ask him do you want to make a deal?”
This refers to the fact that Palmer resorted to prostitution, not literally, but in Dylans eyes. It was well known that Palmer slept about a lot, mostly for gifts, and fame – generally sleeping with anyone she though of as “hip” – Dylan being one of them. He’s commenting that she used to make fun of “working class people”, and considered herself a better class, but at the same time was (in Dylan’s opinion) prostituting herself to the same people, for fame.
“You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat. Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat. Ain't it hard when you discover that. He really wasn't where it's at, after he took from you everything he could steal.”
“The diplomat” was one of many names Dylan referred to the artist Andy Warhol. Dylan and Warhol were known enemies of the New York art scene. Dylan, the legitimate artist, and star, whereas Warhol was more “shock” value person, who attained fame by courting the media, and trying to shock. Dylan disliked Warhol, and his “factory” immensely, and felt of them as untalented wannabes. He called him “the diplomat”, as although he had an exterior image as a wild artist, he was in his early 40s, and very wealthy, so Dylan felt it was all an act, and he was in fact a very establish piece of New York society. “Chrome Horse” he is obviously referring to a car. The Siamese cat line is referring to Warhol’s almost comedic artistic decadence. The imagery of a man walking around town with a Siamese cat (very rare at the time) on his shoulder, was Dylan explaining how ridiculous he felt Warhol was, and how much attention he craved. “He really wasn't where it's at, after he took from you everything he could steal”. Warhol’s 60s fame was seen as a “fad” at the time, and Dylan was basically saying “you backed the wrong horse”, as in the late 60s, Dylan really was the biggest artist/star in the world, rivalling the Beatles, and Warhol had slipped into obscurity.
“You used to be so amused At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse. When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.”
Someone touched on this earlier, claiming “Napoleon in rags” was referring to himself, Bob Dylan. Nice, but sadly wrong. “Napoleon in rags” was another Dylan (mocking) nickname of the artist Andy Warhol. As stated earlier, Warhol painted himself as a beatnik/struggling artist, yet, he was immensely wealthy, middle class, and powerful, in the new york scene. He was also at least 20 years older than Dylan at the time. “Napoleon in rags” was basically Dylan mocking the image Warhol tried to convey of himself, stating that he was actually, underneath all the rags, and imagery, a little, ageing powerful man, who dictated himself to people. As a parting shot “Go to him now”, Dylan is telling Palmer to go to the man she left him for, and states that they are both “invisible”, as in, not famous, whereas, he was world start. Basically stating what a mistake she actually made.
In conclusion, the crux of the song is the fact that Eadie Palmer, left Dylan, as a struggling musician, in the new york scene, to date the 40 year old artist, Andy Warhol, for what Dylan felt were money related issues. He was very rich and famous in the early 60s after all. Dylan, rather darkly, is mocking them both, and basically stating that “you left me for money, but now look at you – your nothing, and I’m huge”.
Yes. I really think he was referring to Andy Worhal in the Chrome Horse and Diplomat part. Not only because this story is very much like Edie's but also because he didnt have a liking for Worhal. Worhal apparently video-taped Dylan when he was picking up Edie and in return. Dylan stole one of his paintings and used it as a dart board!
Edie also came from a very RICH RICH family.
"With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes"
Cheer
As others have noted, Warhol was homosexual/asexual. Both he and Dylan became famous at about the same time (early 60s). I have to wonder if the author of this comment has ever seen a photo of Andy Warhol if he/she would describe him as a beatnik.
If we can believe Wikipedia, Dylan did not meet Edie Sedgwick until after she had left Warhol's circle, in 1965, well after Dylan had established a hugely successful career.
Lastly, even thirty years after his death, Andy Warhol is not "obscure" and he certainly was a relevant figure in popular culture throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
The song may be about Sedgwick--who knows? Dylan has described it as a "revenge" song, so perhaps he wrote it to get the last word on a lover who jilted him. Others have described it as a "liberation" song (the woman is finally free of the material possessions/ emotional entanglements that bound her).
But it's not about Andy Warhol.
A 'chrome horse' I believe is slang for a motorcycle.
As with any Dylan song, he dresses it up quite obliquely and is addressing things on multiple levels here, but the heroin references are everywhere ...
Now, getting 'juiced' just refers to getting drunk, but that was back in school ... so that's how the addiction cycle started. Then it graduated to opiates, which people told her to 'beware' of or she'd be sucked in, but she didn't believe them.
The terms 'kicks' and 'hanging out' are both junkie terms for dope withdrawals. The general term 'kicking drugs' is derived from the phenomenon of 'the kicks', which are uncontrollable leg spasms that occur in opiate withdrawals. Early-on, she apparently thought addiction couldn't happen to her ... to the point where she laughed at people who were dope-sick (i.e. 'hanging out').
At the beginning of the song, the 'living on the streets' refers to how you have to go to bad neighborhoods chasing down the dope man ... and as an addict, you have to 'get used to it'. By the end of the song, she probably literally was living on the streets.
The 'mystery tramp' is the drug dealer(s), pure and simple. And I've got my suspicions that Napoleon is the drug habit itself ... it starts out 'amusing', but then eventually it becomes an addiction ... which in turn just calls you, and indeed, you can't refuse.
Due to her addiction, she ends up in life of misery and despair, pawning her possessions for drug money, and basically 'invisible' to the world, possibly homeless ... if not literally, then figuratively at least ... as addicts tend to drive everyone away from themselves.
"You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?"...a dime referring to a small amount of drugs for personal use. Many rich people (or any person for that matter) new to the drug scene are asked by people who have been in the scene for a while to "hook them up"...this being a reference to her, the rich girl, "hooking them up with a dime bag".
"You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you". Now, later in the song, she is more popular in these areas, and this is an allusion to the people, when they see her, running to her trying to be the dealer to score the sale.
"You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you". Kicks being used in a different way here, I believe, than the OP intended, referring to the drug itself, as one can never trust another person to score the drugs they are seeking out. You never know what else is added or how much is skimmed.
Just my 2 cent addition to the original posters ideas , which I also feel, hit this song right on the head.
I've heard that the Dylan songs Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat and Just Like a Woman were also Edie-inspired, but I doubt it.
hit me up bandersnatch5703@yahoo.com
Edie also came from a very RICH RICH family.
There's a great book, simply titled "Edie", that should be on everyone's reading list.
i dunno it just makes me think of a rock tumbling down a hill about to smash into cars on a highway for some reason.....
"When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose. You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal".
Outstanding.
it's a really tragic story. Also see 'Factory Girl'