09-Desolation Row
Bob Dylan Lyrics

They're selling postcards of the hanging
People are selling postcards of the execution on the street

They're painting the passports brown
Someone is changing the passports' color to brown

The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
Lots of sailors are inside the salon

The circus is in town
The circus has come to town

Here comes the blind commissioner
A commissioner that is blind is coming

They've got him in a trance
They are holding him frozen

One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
One of his hands is tied to the tightrope walker

The other is in his pants
He has one hand in his pants

And the riot squad, they're restless
The riot squad is uneasy

They need somewhere to go
The riot squad wants to move to another place

As lady and I look out tonight, from Desolation Row
We are looking at the scene from Desolation Row with a woman

Cinderella, she seems so easy
Cinderella appears to be simple

"It takes one to know one," she smiles
She says 'it takes one to know one' and smiles

And puts her hands in her back pockets, Bette Davis-style
She puts her hands in her back pockets like Bette Davis did

And in comes Romeo, he's moaning
Romeo comes in making noise

"You Belong to me, I believe"
He says 'You belong to me, I believe'

And someone says, "You're in the wrong place
Someone tells him he is in the wrong place

My friend, you better leave"
He is adviced to leave

And the only sound that's left after the ambulances go
The only sound heard after the ambulances have left

Is Cinderella sweeping up on Desolation Row
Cinderella is sweeping on Desolation row

Now the moon is almost hidden
The moon is about to disappear

The stars are beginning to hide
The stars are hiding

The fortune telling lady
The woman who reads the future

Has even taken all her things inside
Closed her shop and packed her belongings

All except for Cain and Abel and the hunchback of Notre Dame
Except for Cain and Abel and the hunchback of Notre Dame, she took everything

Everybody is making love or else expecting rain
The people are either making love or anticipating the rain

And the good Samaritan, he's dressing
The good Samaritan is getting ready

He's getting ready for the show
He is preparing for the event

He's going to the carnival tonight on Desolation Row
He is heading to the carnival at Desolation Row tonight

Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window
Ophelia is standing below the window

For her I feel so afraid
I am concerned for her

On her twenty-second birthday she already is an old maid
She is already 22 years old and still unmarried

To her, death is quite romantic, she wears an iron vest
She thinks death is romantic and wears an iron vest

Her profession's her religion, her sin is her lifelessness
Her profession is her belief, and her dullness is her wrongdoing

And though her eyes are fixed upon Noah's great rainbow
Even though she is watching a great rainbow like Noah's

She spends her time peeking into Desolation Row
She is studying the scene on Desolation Row secretly

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
Einstein appearing as Robin Hood in disguise

With his memories in a trunk
Carrying his thoughts in his suitcase

Passed this way an hour ago with his friend, a jealous monk
An hour ago, he passed here with his jealous monk friend

He looked so immaculately frightful as he bummed a cigarette
He looked terribly good as he smoked a cigarette

As he went off sniffing drainpipes and reciting the alphabet
He was smelling drain pipes and reciting the alphabet as he walked away

Now you would not think to look at him
You could not imagine by looking at him

But he was famous long ago
He used to be famous a long time ago

For playing the electric violin on Desolation Row
For playing the electric violin on Desolation Row, he became famous

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world inside of a leather cup
Dr. Filth keeps his world inside a container made of leather

But all his sexless patients, they're trying to blow it up
But his sexless patients are attempting to destroy it

Now his nurse, some local loser
His nurse, who is a loser

She's in charge of the cyanide hole
She manages the cyanide container

And she also keeps the cards that read
She also manages the cards that say

"Have mercy on his soul"
"Show mercy to his spirit"

They all play on the penny whistles, you can hear them blow
Everyone plays a penny whistle, and it can be heard from afar

If you lean your head out far enough from Desolation Row
If you lean your head out far enough from Desolation Row, you can hear them playing

Across the street they've nailed the curtains
They have hung curtains across the street

They're getting ready for the feast
They are preparing for the banquet

The Phantom of the Opera, a perfect image of a priest
The Phantom of the Opera looks exactly like a priest

They're spoon-feeding Casanova
Casanova is being spoon-fed

To get him to feel more assured
To make him feel more confident

Then they'll kill him with self-confidence
Then they'll destroy him with his own overconfidence

After poisoning him with words
After poisoning him with false flattery

And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls
The Phantom is shouting at skinny girls

"Get outta here if you don't know
"Leave if you don't belong here

Casanova is just being punished for going to Desolation Row"
Casanova is being punished merely for being in Desolation Row

Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew
At midnight, agents and superhuman team all come out

Come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do
They round up people who are more knowledgeable than them

Then they bring them to the factory
They take them to the factory

Where the heart-attack machine
The heart-attack gadget

Is strapped across their shoulders and then the kerosene
Is placed on their shoulders, and kerosene afterwards

Is brought down from the castles by insurance men who go
Insurance people bring it from the castles

Check to see that nobody is escaping to Desolation Row
They check to make sure no one is fleeing to Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero's Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn
Praise Nero's Neptune, Titanic starts its journey at sunrise

And everybody's shouting, "Which side are you on?"
Everyone is yelling, "Which side are you on?"

And Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot fighting in the captain's tower
Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot fighting on the captain's deck

While calypso singers laugh at them
Calypso singers mock them

And fishermen hold flowers
Fishermen hold flowers

Between the windows of the sea where lovely mermaids flow
Amidst the sea's windows where charming mermaids roam

And nobody has to think too much about Desolation row
Nobody has to think too much about Desolation Row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
I got your letter yesterday

About the time the doorknob broke
The letter was about the time the doorknob broke

When you asked me how I was doing
When you inquired about my well-being

Was that some kind of joke?
Was that supposed to be funny?

All these people that you mention
All the people you mentioned

Yes, I know them, they're quite lame
Yes, I know them well, they are quite boring

I had to rearrange their faces
I had to alter their looks

And give them all another name
And give them all different names

Right now, I can't read too good
At the moment, I cannot read very well

Don't send me no more letters, no
Do not send me any more letters

Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row
Unless you send them from Desolation Row