Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
Bob Dylan
Oh the rag-man draws circles Up and down the block. I'd ask him what the matter was But I know that he don't talk. And the ladies treat me kindly And furnish me with tape But deep inside my heart I know I can't escape [Refrain :] Oh Mama, Can this really be the end ? To be stuck inside of Mobile, with the Memphis blues again ? Well, Shakespeare, he's in the alley With his pointed shoes and his bells. Speaking to a French girl, Who says she knows me well. And I would send a message To find out if she's talked, But the post office has been stolen And the mail box is locked. [Refrain] Mona tried to tell me To stay far away from the railroad line. She said that all the railroad men Drink your blood like wine. An'I said "Oh, I didn't know that But then again there's only one I've me An'he just smoked my eyelids An'punched my cigarette" [Refrain] Grandpa died last week And now he's buried in the rock But everybody talk about How badly they were shocked. But me I expected it to happen I knew he'd lost control When he built a fire on main street And shot it full of holes. [Refrain] Now the senator came down here Showing everyone his gun. Handing out free tickets To the wedding of his son. An'me I nearly got busted An wouldn't it be my luck To get Caught without a ticket And be discovered beneath a truck [Refrain] Now the preacher looked so baffled When I asked him why he dressed With twenty pounds of headlines Stapled to his chest But he cursed when I proved to him Then I whispered not even you can hide. You see you're just like me I hope your satisfied [Refrain] Now the rainman gave me two cures Then he said "Jump right in" The one was Texas medicine The other railroad gin. An like a fool I mixed them An'it strangled up my mind An'now people just get uglier An'I have no sense of time. [Refrain] When Ruthie says come see her In her honkey-tonk lagoon, Where I can watch her waltz for free 'Neath her Panamanian moon. An'I say, "Aw come on now You must know about my debutante." An'she says, "Your debutante knows just what you need But I know what you want." [Refrain] Now the bricks lay on Grand Street Where the neon madmen climb They all fall there so perfectly. It all seems so well timed. An'here I sit so patiently Waiting to find out what price You have to pay to get out of Going through all these things twice [Refrain]