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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll Lyrics
William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger
At a Baltimore hotel society gath'rin'.
And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him
As they rode him in custody down to the station
And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder.
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.
William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years
Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres
With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him
And high office relations in the politics of Maryland,
Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders
And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was snarling,
In a matter of minutes on bail was out walking.
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.
Hattie Carroll was a maid of the kitchen.
She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children
Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage
And never sat once at the head of the table
And didn't even talk to the people at the table
Who just cleaned up all the food from the table
And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level,
Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane
That sailed through the air and came down through the room,
Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle.
And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger.
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.
In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level
And show that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom,
Stared at the person who killed for no reason
Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'.
And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished,
And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance,
William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence.
Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Bury the rag deep in your face.
For now's the time for your tears.
This is Dylan's powerful version of a true story; see this link (users.powernet.co.uk/barrett/The-Telegraph/extracts/zanzinger42.html) for the full details.
Great song, I love the way Bob gets the ultimate point of the song across. I highly recommend the live version of this song from The Rolling Thunder Review.
Yeah - Wikipedia has a good article on it too. The real guy, Zantzinger, has gotten into loads of trouble in recent years and is serving more time now then he did when he killed her...but it seems like Mr. Z is so hated just for being mean cause some reports say he didn't hit her & others say if he did it wasn't near hard enough to kill the lady...that she was literally scared to death by him & died of a heart condition.
i love the juxtaposition of this song with Percy's song on biograph, even though bobby probably wasn't responsible for that
@CoryGreenwell Good call on the back-to-back placement of Hattie Carroll and Percy’s song, two meditations on the American “justice” system.
@CoryGreenwell Good call on the back-to-back placement of Hattie Carroll and Percy’s song, two meditations on the American “justice” system.
He doesn’t shove it down our throats but it’s clear that if someone is rich and/or white, they’re probably going to receive leniency while the opposite will probably happen to someone without the ways-and-means is more likely to be locked up and forgotten about.
He doesn’t shove it down our throats but it’s clear that if someone is rich and/or white, they’re probably going to receive leniency while the opposite will probably happen to someone without the ways-and-means is more likely to be locked up and forgotten about.
This song here is a masterpiece. The last verse is pure genius cuz Dylan doesn't say there was any fault in the trail - he just leaves the conclusions to the listener. And i love the built up in the choruses and the first time i heard the song i was surprised at the last one.
Isn't it funny that later Zanzieger spent 19 months in jail for misdemeanor, but for killing the poor woman he was sentenced 6... Well now he's dead and i'm kinda glad - one bad man lesser.
very easy to play on guitar.
Yep larch ive got that on video, black n white copy really good
what an excellent song, even though the live version is much better on the DVD "Don't Look Back." On the DVD it is much faster, which sounds so much better. I hear the live version first, then the studio second, and i thing the studio doesn't compare to the live one.
I love this song but since my english isn't perfect I don't really understand the meaning of "But you philosophize disgrace and critizise all fears...and so on". I mean, I understand the words but not the meaning. So, what does it mean?
@Leviathan1 Those who “philosophize disgrace” might be people who speak abstractly about social issues from a distance, but don’t get involved with the pain and “fears” of real people. Once the full story is told and it is plain that justice was not served because of the system, “now is the time for your tears.” It’s an invitation to get involved, to feel the pain of real people, and then be part of the struggle to change things.
@Leviathan1 Those who “philosophize disgrace” might be people who speak abstractly about social issues from a distance, but don’t get involved with the pain and “fears” of real people. Once the full story is told and it is plain that justice was not served because of the system, “now is the time for your tears.” It’s an invitation to get involved, to feel the pain of real people, and then be part of the struggle to change things.
dylan is not rubbish live now, unless ur a new fan who just wants him to play his greatest hits
Its not even about him playing his hits or not...its just that his voice is pretty much gone.