22_slowtrain/gotta_serve_somebody.htm

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   7 <title>Gotta Serve Somebody</title>
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  12
  13 <h1 class="songtitle">Gotta Serve Somebody</h1>
  14
  15
  16 <p>Words and music Bob Dylan<br />
  17 Released on <a class="recordlink" href="index.htm">Slow Train Coming</a> (1979) and on <a class="recordlink" href="../28_biograph/index.htm">Biograph</a>
  18 (1985). Played in a new arrangment during the summer 2001 tour<br />
  19 Tabbed (a tremendous achievement, indeed...) by Eyolf &Oslash;strem </p>
  20
  21 <p>The A should be treated &ldquo;bluesily&rdquo;, which means that Am sounds just
  22 as good.</p>
  23
  24 <hr />
  25
  26 <pre class="verse">
  27 A
  28 You may be an ambassador to England or France,
  29
  30 You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
  31
  32 You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
  33
  34 You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
  35 </pre>
  36
  37 <pre class="refrain">
  38                          D
  39 But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
  40                      A
  41 You're gonna have to serve somebody,
  42       E                      D7
  43 Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
  44                          A
  45 But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
  46 </pre>
  47
  48 <pre class="verse">
  49 You might be a rock 'n' roll addict prancing on the stage,
  50 You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage,
  51 You may be a business man or some high degree thief,
  52 They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
  53
  54 You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk,
  55 You may be the head of some big TV network,
  56 You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame,
  57 You may be living in another country under another name
  58
  59 You may be a construction worker working on a home,
  60 You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome,
  61 You might own guns and you might even own tanks,
  62 You might be somebody's landlord, you might even own banks
  63
  64 You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride,
  65 You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side,
  66 You may be workin' in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair,
  67 You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir
  68
  69 Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk,
  70 Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk,
  71 You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread,
  72 You may be sleeping on the floor, sleeping in a king-sized bed
  73
  74 You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy,
  75 You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy,
  76 You may call me R. J., you may call me Ray,
  77 You may call me anything but no matter what you say
  78 </pre>
  79
  80 <hr />
  81
  82 <h2 class="songversion">Stirling Castle, July 13 2001</h2>
  83
  84 <p>For the summer tour (it was played like this at least in Gothenburg
  85 some weeks before Stirling) he changed the arrangment of the chorus,
  86 dragging it out, much in the same way as he changed Trying to get to
  87 heaven in 2000, thus slowing down the harmonic rhythm: instead of
  88 beginning the &ldquo;It might be the devil...&rdquo; bit on the dominant
  89 (i.e. the chord on the fifth step of the scale) and quickly descending
  90 to the key note, he instead builds up an ascent, that never reaches
  91 higher than the fourth step (the subdominant). Quite nice, actually.<br />
  92 The lyrics keep changing all the time, of course; the following is
  93 just a suggestion. I may gather together some other lyric variations
  94 from throughout the years one of these days.</p>
  95
  96 <pre class="verse">
  97 G
  98 Might be an ambassador to England or France,
  99
 100 Might like to gamble, might like to dance,
 101
 102 Might be the heavyweight champion of the world,
 103
 104 May be a socialite with a long string of pearls
 105 </pre>
 106
 107 <pre class="refrain">
 108           C
 109 You gotta serve somebody
 110 G
 111 serve somebody,
 112 G
 113 Might be the devil
 114 G7/b
 115 might be the Lord
 116 C
 117 Yeeeah
 118 F
 119 But you
 120       G
 121 gotta serve somebody.
 122 </pre>
 123
 124 <pre class="verse">
 125 Might be a city councilman taking bribes on the side,
 126 somebody's husband, somebody's bride
 127 May be rich or poor, may be blind or lame
 128 Living in another country, under another name
 129 </pre>
 130
 131 <pre class="refrain">
 132 You gotta serve somebody
 133 serve somebody
 134 Might be the devil
 135 Might be the lord
 136 But you, yeah,
 137 but you, but you gotta serve somebody.
 138 </pre>
 139
 140 <pre class="verse">
 141 Might own guns, might even own tanks
 142 Might believe in [luxury or] somebody's bank
 143 Maybe sleeping on the highway, sleeping in the road
 144 Walking down the highbrow, or you're carrying a heavy load
 145
 146 Might be [...], walkin' down the floor
 147 Might be headin' for the moon, walking out the door.
 148 Maybe living in a [dream], sleepin' in a feather bed
 149 Might feel like you're living, might even feel like a living dead.
 150 </pre>
 151
 152 <hr />
 153
 154 <h2 class="songversion">Other lyric variations</h2>
 155
 156 <p>Submitted by Heinrich K&uuml;ttler</p>
 157
 158 <pre class="verse">
 159 Knoxville, February 5, 1980,
 160 Los Angeles (22nd Grammy Award), February 22, 1980,
 161 Toronto, April 20, 1980:
 162
 163 ... might have drugs in your pocket, ...
 164
 165 May like to drink whiskey, might like to blow smoke,
 166 You may have money-power  or you may be broke,
 167 You may think you're living, you may think you're dead,
 168 Maybe sleeping on nails, may be sleeping in a feather bed
 169
 170
 171 New Orleans, November 10, 1981:
 172
 173 You might be laid upon [tie may?], sleeping on the train
 174 Maybe [hold it next] just  all [but in] the rain
 175 You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame,
 176 May be living in another country under another name
 177
 178 Maybe you're a [huckster], maybe hold [far way?]
 179 Maybe [seeping on dead man], sleeping every day
 180 Maybe think you're living, maybe even think you're dead,
 181 Maybe sleeping on nails, sleeping in a feather bed
 182
 183
 184 Houston, November 12, 1981:
 185
 186 (french introduction)
 187
 188 You might be rocking on [nails bann], sleeping in the wind,
 189 Maybe you're upon the [grands stand], tapping on good gin,
 190 You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame,
 191 You may living in another country  under another name
 192
 193   Still gonna serve somebody
 194   Yes indeed, one of these [days], serve somebody,
 195   It might be the devil, it might be the Lord
 196   But you gonna serve somebody.
 197
 198 Maybe high on [nail], rocking in the breeze
 199 Maybe [stuck/stole] a high time on your knees
 200 Maybe think you're living, maybe even think you're dead,
 201 Maybe sleeping on nails, sleeping in a feather bed
 202
 203   Still gonna serve somebody
 204   Well, if you not you will be serve[d?] somebody
 205   It might be the devil, it might be the Lord
 206   But you gonna serve somebody
 207
 208
 209 Portsmouth, September 24, 2000:
 210
 211 They might call you Bono, they might call you Sting,
 212 They might call you [Jose], might call you anything,
 213 You might be rich or poor, may be blind or lame
 214 Living in another country, under another name
 215
 216 Might [go under], you might own [tanks]
 217 May be living by the [wooden fakes ??? ;)]
 218 They might call you even, might say you're dead
 219 May be sleeping on nails, sleepin' in a feather bed
 220 </pre>
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