Billy Lyrics

Lyric discussion by crawdaddy 

Cover art for Billy lyrics by Bob Dylan

There's always another stranger sneaking glances Some trigger-happy fool willing to take chances Some old whore from San Pedro'll make advances Advances on your spirit and your soul.

The "old whore from San Padro" reference is an obvious tribute to one of Dylan's early mentors in the Greenwich village folk scene, Dave Van Ronk. Van Ronk often included an a capella version of the bawdy song "The Whores of San Pedro" in his set and recorded it on his "Going Back to Brooklyn" album. The lyrics if I remember them go something like this:

All the whores of San Pedro are older than God And their beards tumble down to their tits With one single bump of their ponderous rump They can grind your poor pecker to bits

Soooo....here's to the whore of San Padro To that marvelous fucking machine If I had my way we could see her today On the cover of Time magazine