06_hwy61/ballad_of_a_thin_man.htm

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   7 <title>Ballad of a Thin Man</title>
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  12
  13 <h1 class="songtitle">Ballad of a Thin Man</h1>
  14
  15
  16 <p>Words and music Bob Dylan<br />
  17 Released on <a class="recordlink" href="index.htm">Highway 61 Revisited</a> (1965) and in live versions on
  18 <em>Before the Flood</em> 1974), <a class="recordlink" href="../21_budokan/index.htm">At Budokan</a> (1978), <em><a href="../26_reallive/index.htm">Real
  19 Live</a></em> (1984), <a class="recordlink" href="../39_rah/index.htm">Live 1966</a> (1998), and  <a href="../44_bs7_ndh/index.htm" class="recordlink">No direction home</a> (2005).<br />
  20 Tabbed by Eyolf &Oslash;strem</p>
  21 <hr />
  22
  23 <p>Piano song, original key B minor. Here's a guitar version in Am, which
  24 is what he usually plays these days. The Dm can be played x03230,
  25 which makes the transition between Am and Dm quite smooth. I'm quite
  26 certain I've heard him play that himself, just can't remember
  27 where/when.</p>
  28
  29 <p>The chords of the initial descending bass line can be played with a
  30 sustained Am and a descending bass, or as in the more elaborate
  31 Budokan version (see below).</p>
  32
  33 <p>In the second verse (at least) there is a &ldquo;d&rdquo; sounding in the F of
  34 the last line, which would make it an F6 or a Dm/f.</p>
  35
  36 <p>The intro then goes like this:</p>
  37 <pre class="tab">
  38         Am           Dm  Am
  39         :      .     .     .
  40 ----||---------0---0-0---0--------||---
  41 ----||*--------1---1-3---1-------*||---
  42 ----||---------2---2-2---2--------||---
  43 ----||---------2---2-3---2--------||--- etc
  44 ----||*-0------------------------*||-0-
  45 --0-||-------------------------0--||---
  46 </pre>
  47
  48 <p>Or in a rhythm from the Never-Ending Tour (1995; in 1998 he's back to
  49 the version above):</p>
  50 <pre class="tab">
  51        Am           Dm  Am    Dm            Am
  52        :      .     .     .       :     .     .     .
  53 ---||---------0---0-0---0-----0-|-----------0-------------||
  54 ---||*--------1---1-3---1-----3-|-----------1------------*||
  55 ---||---------2---2-2---2-----2-|-----------2-------------||
  56 ---||---------2---2-3---2-----3-|-----------2-------------||
  57 ---||*-0------------------------|------------------------*||
  58 -0-||---------------------------|-------------------------||
  59 </pre>
  60
  61 <hr />
  62
  63 <h2 class="songversion">Album version</h2>
  64
  65 <p>Capo 2nd fret </p>
  66 <pre class="verse">
  67 Am
  68 You walk into the room
  69 /g#
  70 With your pencil in your hand
  71 /g
  72 You see somebody naked
  73        /f#
  74 And you say, &quot;Who is that man?&quot;
  75 F
  76 You try so hard
  77         Dm
  78 But you don't understand
  79 C                  Em
  80 Just what you will say
  81              Am
  82 When you get home
  83   C                  Em
  84 Because something is happening here
  85         Am
  86 But you don't know what it is
  87 F              Am
  88 Do you, Mister Jones?
  89
  90 You raise up your head *)
  91 And you ask, &quot;Is this where it is?&quot;
  92 And somebody points to you and says
  93 &quot;It's his&quot;
  94 And you say, &quot;What's mine?&quot;
  95 And somebody else says, &quot;Where what is?&quot;
  96 And you say, &quot;Oh my God
  97 Am I here all alone?&quot;
  98
  99 Because something is happening here
 100 But you don't know what it is
 101 Do you, Mister Jones?
 102
 103 You hand in your ticket
 104 And you go watch the geek
 105 Who immediately walks up to you
 106 When he hears you speak
 107 And says, &quot;How does it feel
 108 To be such a freak?&quot;
 109 And you say, &quot;Impossible&quot;
 110 As he hands you a bone
 111
 112 Because something is happening here
 113 But you don't know what it is
 114 Do you, Mister Jones?
 115 </pre>
 116
 117 <pre class="bridge">
 118 Am
 119 You have many contacts
 120 C
 121 Among the lumberjacks
 122    F
 123 To get you facts
 124                                Am
 125 When someone attacks your imagination
 126
 127 But nobody has any respect
 128 C
 129 Anyway they already expect you
 130    F
 131 To just give a check
 132    Dm                           G         (/g#)
 133 To tax-deductible charity organizations
 134 </pre>
 135
 136 <pre class="verse">
 137 You've been with the professors
 138 And they've all liked your looks
 139 With great lawyers **) you have
 140 Discussed lepers and crooks
 141 You've been through all of
 142 F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
 143 You're very well read
 144 It's well known
 145
 146 Because something is happening here
 147 But you don't know what it is
 148 Do you, Mister Jones?
 149
 150 Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you
 151 And then he kneels
 152 He crosses himself
 153 And then he clicks his high heels
 154 And without further notice
 155 He asks you how it feels ***)
 156 And he says, &quot;Here is your throat back
 157 Thanks for the loan&quot;
 158
 159 Because something is happening here
 160 But you don't know what it is
 161 Do you, Mister Jones?
 162
 163 Now you see this one-eyed midget
 164 Shouting the word &quot;NOW&quot;
 165 And you say, &quot;For what reason?&quot;
 166 And he says, &quot;How?&quot;
 167 And you say, &quot;What does this mean?&quot;
 168 And he screams back, &quot;You're a cow
 169 Give me some milk
 170 Or else go home&quot;
 171
 172 Because something is happening here
 173 But you don't know what it is ****)
 174 Do you, Mister Jones?
 175
 176 Well, you walk into the room
 177 Like a camel and then you frown
 178 You put your eyes in your pocket
 179 And your nose on the ground
 180 There ought to be a law
 181 Against you comin' around
 182 You should be made
 183 To wear earphones *****)
 184
 185 Because something is happening here
 186 But you don't know what it is
 187 Do you, Mister Jones?
 188 </pre>
 189
 190 <hr />
 191
 192 <h2 class="songversion">Lyric variations from <a class="recordlink" href="../39_rah/index.htm">Live 1966</a></h2>
 193
 194 <p>*) &ldquo;You walk in so politely&rdquo;<br />
 195 **) &ldquo;With lawyers and scholars&rdquo;<br />
 196 ***) &ldquo;&rdquo;He <em>tells</em> you how it feels&rdquo;<br />
 197 ****) &ldquo;Yes, and now you're positive something's happening, and you
 198 wish you knew what it was. Don't you, Mr Jones?&rdquo;<br />
 199 *****) &ldquo;You should be made to be wearing at all times a
 200 telephone&rdquo;. Other variants: &ldquo;Next time you do, please remember to
 201 telephone&rdquo;</p>
 202
 203 <hr />
 204
 205 <p>Most live versions are faithful to the album version. The variations
 206 (apart from the placement of the capo &ndash; usually 1st or 2nd fret or no
 207 capo) occur in two places: the &ldquo;what you will say when you get home&rdquo;
 208 line, where most versions incorporate the intro figure, and the end of
 209 the bridge (&ldquo;tax deductible charity organizations&rdquo;), where at least
 210 <em>Real Live</em> strongly emphasizes the chromatic bass line G-G#-A.</p>
 211
 212 <h2 class="songversion">Before the flood version (1974)</h2>
 213 <pre class="verse">
 214 Am                Em
 215 what you're gonna say
 216              Am
 217 When you get home
 218 </pre>
 219
 220 <hr />
 221
 222 <h2 class="songversion">Budokan version (1978)</h2>
 223
 224 <p>Chords: </p>
 225 <pre class="chords">
 226 Am    002210
 227 E+    022110
 228 C/g   332010
 229 D9    xx0210 or x54530 or x54550
 230 </pre>
 231
 232 <p>Capo 2nd fret </p>
 233 <pre class="verse">
 234 Am
 235 You walk into the room
 236 E+
 237 With your pencil in your hand
 238 C/g
 239 You see somebody naked
 240               D9
 241 And you say, &quot;Who is that man?&quot;
 242 F
 243 You try so hard
 244         Dm
 245 But you don't understand
 246 Am                     Em
 247 just what you're gonna say
 248              Am     Am Am Dm Am (=intro figure)
 249 When you get home
 250 C             Em/b
 251  something is happening
 252         Am                    C/g
 253 But you don't know what it is
 254 F       Dm     Am     Am Am Dm Am (=intro figure)
 255 Do you, Mister Jones?
 256
 257 You sneak in through the window
 258 And you say, &quot;Is this where it is?&quot;
 259 somebody points his finger at you and says
 260 &quot;It's his&quot;
 261 And you say, &quot;What's mine?&quot;
 262 someone else says, &quot;Where what is?&quot;
 263 you say, &quot;Oh my God
 264 Am I here all alone?&quot;
 265
 266 Something is happening
 267 But you don't know what it is
 268 Do you, Mister Jones?
 269
 270 You hand in your ticket
 271 to go see the geek
 272 Who walks up to ya
 273 When he hears you speak
 274 And says, &quot;How does it feel
 275 To be such a freak?&quot;
 276 And you say, &quot;Impossible&quot;
 277 As he hands you a bone
 278
 279 something is happening
 280 and you don't know what it is
 281 Do you, Mister Jones?
 282 </pre>
 283
 284 <pre class="bridge">
 285 Am
 286 You have many contacts
 287 C
 288 Among the lumberjacks
 289    F
 290 To get you facts
 291                                Am       Am Am Dm Am
 292 When someone attacks your imagination ('ma-gi-na-tion)
 293
 294 But noone has any respect
 295 C
 296 Anyway they just expect you
 297    F
 298 To hand over your check to
 299 Dm                           G
 300 tax-deductible charity organizations
 301 </pre>
 302
 303 <pre class="verse">
 304 Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you
 305 And then he kneels
 306 He crosses himself
 307 And then he clicks his high heels
 308 And without further notice
 309 asks you how it feels
 310 And says, &quot;Here is your throat back
 311 Thanks for the loan&quot;
 312
 313 something is happening
 314 and you don't know what it is
 315 Do you, Mister Jones?
 316
 317 You crawl into the room
 318 Like a camel and then you frown
 319 You put your eyes in your pocket
 320 And you put your nose on the ground
 321 There ought to be a law
 322 Against you comin' around
 323 You gotta be made
 324 To be wearing a telephone
 325
 326 Because something is happening here
 327 But you don't know what it is
 328 Do you, Mister Jones?
 329 </pre>
 330
 331 <hr />
 332
 333 <h2 class="songversion">Real Live version (1984)</h2>
 334 <pre class="verse">
 335 Am
 336 You walk into the room
 337 /g#
 338 With your pencil in your hand
 339 /g
 340 You see somebody naked
 341        /f#
 342 And you say, &quot;Who is that man?&quot;
 343 F
 344 You try so hard
 345         Dm
 346 But you don't understand
 347 Am                Dm/f Am
 348 what you're gonna say
 349                   Am Dm/f Am   (intro figure)
 350 When you get home
 351   C                  Em/b
 352 Because something is happening here
 353         Am                 C/g
 354 But you don't know what it is
 355 F       Dm     Am     (intro figure)
 356 Do you, Mister Jones?
 357
 358 . . .
 359
 360    Dm                           G  .  .  .  E/g# (or just E)
 361 To tax-deductible charity organizations
 362 </pre>
 363
 364 <hr />
 365
 366 <h2 class="songversion">Recent live versions (ca. 1995)</h2>
 367 <pre class="verse">
 368 Am                Dm/f Am
 369 what you're gonna say
 370                   Am Dm/f Am (=intro figure)
 371 When you get home
 372 </pre>
 373
 374 <p>Last lines:</p>
 375 <pre class="verse">
 376         Am                 C/g
 377 But you don't know what it is
 378 F       Dm     Am     (intro figure)
 379 Do you, Mister Jones?
 380 </pre>
 381 </body></html>