Desolation Row
Bob Dylan
From "Highway 61 Revisited"

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Capo 4th Fret
Intro:

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They're selling[C] postcards[F] of the[C] hanging
They're[F] painting the passports[C] brown
The [G]beauty parlor is filled with sailors
[F]The circus is in[C] town
[C]Here comes the blind commissioner
They've[F] got him in a[C] trance
One[G] hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
[F]The other is in his[C] pants
And the[F] riot squad they're restless
They[C] need somewhere to[F] go
As[C] Lady and I look[G] out tonight
From[F] Desolation[C] Row

Cinde[C]rella,[F] she seems so[C] easy
"It[F] takes one to know one," she[C] smiles
And[G] puts her hands in her back pockets
[F]Bette Davis style[C]
And[C] in comes Romeo, he's moaning
"You Be[F]long to Me I Be[C]lieve"
And [G]someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend
[F]You better[C] leave"
And the[F] only sound that's left
[C]After the ambulances[F] go
Is [C]Cinderella[G] sweeping up
On[F] Desolation[C] Row

Now the[C] moon is[F] almost[C] hidden
The[F] stars are beginning to[C] hide
The[G] fortunetelling lady
Has even[F] taken all her things in[C]side
All ex[C]cept for Cain and Abel
And the[F] hunchback of Notre[C] Dame
[G]Everybody is making love
Or[F] else expecting[C]rain
And the[F] Good Samaritan, he's dressing
He's getting[C] ready for the [F]show
He's[C] going to the[G] carnival tonight
On[F] Desolation[C] Row

Now O[C]phelia,[F] she's 'neath the[C] window
For[F]her I feel so af[C]raid
On her[G] twenty-second birthday
She al[C]ready is an old[F]maid
To[C] her, death is quite romantic
She[F] wears an iron[C] vest
Her pro[G]fession's her religion
Her[F] sin is her lifeless[C]ness
And [F]though her eyes are fixed upon
[C]Noah's great rain[F]bow
She[C] spends her time[G] peeking
Into[F] Desolation[C] Row

[C]Einstein,[F] disguised as[C] Robin Hood
With his[F] memories in a[C] trunk
[G]Passed this way an hour ago
With his[F] friend, a jealous[C] monk
He[C] looked so immaculately frightful
As he[F] bummed a cigar[C]ette
Then he[G] went off sniffing drainpipes
And re[F]citing the alpha[C]bet
Now[F] you would not think to look at him
But he was[C] famous long a[F]go
For[C] playing the electric[G] violin
On[F] Desolation[C] Row

Dr.[C] Filth,[F] he keeps his[C] world
In[F]side of a leather[C] cup
But[G] all his sexless patients
They're[F] trying to blow it[C] up
Now his[C] nurse, some local loser
She's in[F] charge of the cyanide[C] hole
And sh[G] also keeps the cards that read
"Have[F] Mercy on His[C] Soul"
[F]They all play on penny whistles
[C]You can hear them[F] blow
If you[C] lean your head out[G] far enough
From[F] Desolation[C] Row

Across the[C] street they've[F] nailed the[C] curtains
They're getting[F] ready for the[C] feast
The [G]Phantom of the Opera
A [F]perfect image of a[C]priest
They're[C] spoonfeeding Casanova
To[F] get him to feel more as[C]sured
Then they'll[G] kill him with self-confidence
After [F]poisoning him with[C] words
And the[F] Phantom's shouting to skinny girls
"Get[C] Outa Here If You Don't[F] Know
Casa[C]nova is just being[G] punished for going
To[F] Desolation[C] Row"

Now at[C] midnight[F] all the[C] agents
And the [F]superhuman[C] crew
Come[G] out and round up everyone
That[F] knows more than they[F] do
Then they[C] bring them to the factory
Where the[F] heart-attack mac[C]hine
Is[G] strapped across their shoulders
And[F] then the kero[C]sene
Is[F] brought down from the castles
By in[C]surance men who[F] go
Check to[C] see that nobody is es[G]caping
To[F] Desolation[C] Row

[C]Praise be to[F] Nero's[C] Neptune
The Ti[F]tanic sails at[C] dawn
And[G] everybody's shouting out
"[F]Which Side Are You[C] On?"
And[C] Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
[F]Fighting in the captain'[C] tower
While cal[G]ypso singers laugh at them
And[F]fishermen hold[C] flowers
Be[F]tween the windows of the sea
Where[C] lovely mermaids[F] flow
And[C] nobody has to[G] think too much
About [F]Desolation[C] Row

Yes, I re[C]ceived your[F] letter [C]yesterday
About the[F] time the door knob[C] broke
When you[G] asked how I was doing
Was [F]that some kind of[C]joke?
All these[C] people that you mention
Yes, I[F] know them, they're quite[C] lame
I had to[G] rearrange their faces
And give them[F] all another[C]name
[F]Right now I can't read too good
Don't[C] send me no more letters[F] no
[C]Not unless you[G] mail them
From [F]Desolation[C]Row