Making a statement that these are the best Bob Dylan lyrics is bold, to say the least, especially when you look at the volume of outrageously great lyrics that man has produced. There are many of his lyrics taken out of context that are absolute gems, so any attempt to say that the lyrics in this entire Dylan song are the best ever will be met with different opinions and opposition. But regardless, I have to say that some of the greatest verses ever written by Dylan are in Desolation Row.
Desolation Row starts with a line that is actually a piece of history: "They're selling postcards of the hanging." When public hangings happened in the late 1800's and even the early 1900's in the United States, they used to take pictures of the man hanging there at the end of the rope and make postcards of these and then sell them. Unbelievable - but even more astonishing that Dylan started the song with that line, because it sets the stage for us to take a good look at our culture as a primitive one, though the technological advances and glitter may obscure that fact.
This surreal song is a combination of real people and fictional literary characters that are all on this mythical place called Desolation Row, and the song paints a panoramic kaleidoscope of planet Earth's foibles and yet points us to change the situation for a better future.
I won't go into excruciating detail about the lyrics (I'll leave that to you), but in the last verse Dylan lays out what the song is all about with: "All these people that you mention, yes, I know them, they're quite lame. I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name. Right now I can't read too good, don't send me no more letters, no. Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row."
You may not agree with what I have chosen as the best Bob Dylan lyrics in a single song, but you'd have a hard time saying that the lyrics of Desolation Row are not some of the most graphic, succinct and unique verses in his exposition on our current culture.Desolation Row starts with a line that is actually a piece of history: "They're selling postcards of the hanging." When public hangings happened in the late 1800's and even the early 1900's in the United States, they used to take pictures of the man hanging there at the end of the rope and make postcards of these and then sell them. Unbelievable - but even more astonishing that Dylan started the song with that line, because it sets the stage for us to take a good look at our culture as a primitive one, though the technological advances and glitter may obscure that fact.
This surreal song is a combination of real people and fictional literary characters that are all on this mythical place called Desolation Row, and the song paints a panoramic kaleidoscope of planet Earth's foibles and yet points us to change the situation for a better future.
I won't go into excruciating detail about the lyrics (I'll leave that to you), but in the last verse Dylan lays out what the song is all about with: "All these people that you mention, yes, I know them, they're quite lame. I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name. Right now I can't read too good, don't send me no more letters, no. Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row."
If you like Bob Dylan's lyrics, then you might like to check out His songs exhibit a lot of Dylan influence. And while he's definitely not Dylan, I think you might like his songs.
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