Well, you must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun
Crying like a fire in the sun
Look out, the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, baby blue

Well, the highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence
The empty-handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets
The sky, too, is folding under you
Yes, and it's all over now, baby blue

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
All your reindeer armies, they're all going home
The lover who has just walked out the door
Has taken all of his blankets from the floor
The carpet, too, is moving under you
Yes, and it's all over now, baby blue

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
Strike another match, go start anew
Yes, and it's all over now, baby blue


Lyrics submitted by bird, edited by rb3868, bertram114

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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It's All Over Now, Baby Blue song meanings
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  • +3
    General Comment

    I think there is one line here that is misunderstood, and it is pretty nifty.

    When Dylan is wrapping up the song, and he's telling the woman to leave the dead and to start over, he says the line "strike another match girl, start anew" I really think it's "girl" and not "go"-- if you listen to the song it could go either way, but just here me out.

    I think this line reference to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl," in which a vagabond child selling matches sees visions of warm, safe places she will never be a part of, and each time she lights a match she sees a new scene, a new life. At the end of the fairy-tale, she lights her final match and dies... but in Dylan's case, when he says to "light another match, girl" he's not talking about a REAL death, he's talking about a change. Like the girl in the story, the subject of this song is down-and-out, she thought she was in a safe place, but she's not-- the carpet's being pulled right out from under her. She needs to figuratively "light a match" and see the possibilities for a new life, and she needs to accept, even embrace this change and join the vagabond outside to start a new journey.

    Great song.

    mkoch2on June 19, 2008   Link

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