Sidetracks lyrics

(Bob Dylan)

Crimson flames tied through my ears

Rollin' high and mighty traps

Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps

"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I

Proud 'neath heated brow

Ah, but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth

"Rip down all hate," I screamed

I was fresh out of the service
It was back in ‘82
I raised some Cain when I come back to town
I left to be all I could be
Come home without a clue
Now, I married Dawn and had to settle down

So I hired on at the prison
Guess I always knew I would
Just like my dad and both my uncles done
And I worked on every cell block
Now, things're goin' good

An elaborate tale
So convincingly real
Things can seem so amazing
’til you get up close
And see they’re no big deal
Like the stars in the sky
Or the one on the stage
Just a big ball of gas
And a regular guy
Fresh out of minimum wage

In a jackalope space
On a jackalope high
I’m staring you down
Creepy jackalope eye

Many things in this life
Are not what they appear

Walkin’ down the road with a pistol in your waist
Johnny too bad, woh oh oh
Walkin’ down the road with a ratchet in your waist
Johnny too bad, woh oh oh
You’re just robbin’ and stabbin’ and lootin’ and shootin’
Johnny too bad
You’re just robbin’ and stabbin’ and lootin’ and shootin’
Johnny too bad

The eagle looked down on the river below
And he wrapped his wings round him and he fell like a stone
And the big salmon fought but the talons held true
And he shuddered as the world turned from silver to blue
I stood there in awe though I’d seen it before
I was born in these mountains and I’ll die here for sure

I’ve traveled around I’ve seen city lights

A letter came today from my draft board
With trembling hands I read the questionnaire
It asked me lots of things about my mamma and poppa
Now that ain’t what I call exactly fair

So I’m headed for the nearest foreign border
Vancouver may be my kind of town
Cause they don’t need the kind of law and order
That tends to keep a good man underground

Just open your window
On a night like tonight
No matter which way the wind blows
Let your heart out to ride
High above all the care and woe
In the world down below
Just open your window
Then you’ll know where to go

On a big city sidewalk
All alone in a crowd
No one listenin’ when he talks
To himself right out loud
He was somebody’s darlin’ boy

(Lowell T. George)

I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow

I'm drunk and dirty, don't ya know,
And I'm still willin'

Out on the road late last night,

Seen my pretty Alice in every head light

Alice, Dallas Alice

I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari

Tehachapi to Tonapah

Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made

(Joseph Chambers, Willie Chambers)

Time has come today

Young hearts can go that way
Can't put it off another day

I don't care what others say

They say we don't listen anyway

Time has come today

The rules have changed today

I have no place to stay

Thinking about the subway

The love has flown away

My tears have come and gone

Oh my lord, I have to roam

(Steve Earle)

(instrumental)

(Steve Earle)

(instrumental)

I don't care
I don't care
I don't care
I don't care
I don't care
Care if I'm old

I don't mind
I don't mind
I don't mind
I don't mind
Mind
Don't have a mind

Get away
Get away
Get away
Get away
Get away
Away from your home

I'm afraid
I'm afraid
I'm afraid
I'm afraid
Fraid, of a ghost

Even if you have
Even if you need
I don't mean to stare

(Steve Earle)

When I was a little guy
My daddy told me "Mister,
Don't ever try to climb too high
'Cause it's the fall that gets ya
And some dreams can never come true
They'll never come true"

Well, I heard every word he said
But I don't guess I listened
But every time I banged my head
Against the wall or system
Yeah, some dreams don't ever come true