| It's just about time for this blog's 4th Anniversary and I'm jumping the gun a little with this, but I'm ready to post it now, and since it's my blog, I can. This anniversary post is unlike those I've done before ... while I'll probably add a few items about the past year's blog history later on, mainly, I won't. This year, I just wanted to post the above video as a thank you gift for frequenting Doug Dawgz Blog, just for your sensory enjoyment. This post has nothing whatsoever to do with Oklahoma City history, even if it has some bearing on mine, described below. In addition to watching the above video as much as you care to, you can download an mp3 file containing the song, as follows: If you're using Firefox, right-click on the upcoming link and chose "Save Link As..." and then identify where you want to save the file to on your computer. For IExplorer users, right-click on the link and chose "Save Target As ..." in the pop-up menu. Right-click here and do what I just said. If anyone is interested in downloading the actual flash files associated with the above video, say so in a comment and I see about making that possible. I've been a big-time Bob Dylan fan since I learned of him in the early-1960s ... and I suppose you can even say that he has an Oklahoma connection since Woodie Guthrie was one his earliest influences ... but this post isn't about that. Back then, in my late teens-early 20s, of course, I didn't care about that sort of thing. I just liked his sandpapery nasal sound, his harmonica, and his sometimes mysterious words.  Of all of his many tunes, the one that has stuck with me most vividly is his Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, a tune which is about 11½ minutes long and occupies the full side of one of the two LP's contained in his fantastic 1966 Blonde On Blonde album. Click the image to see the full album cover. For some reason, getting this old album out and hearing Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands was in my waking dreams this morning ... I am NOT kidding ... and upon getting out of bed I knew what I wanted my 4th Anniversary blog post to be ... the tune and, better still if available, the tune with a video. Low and behold, I found the perfect mix at Google Videos, and the video there is substantially the same as the video at the top of this page ... I tinkered with it just a little and saved it to my own web host for faster loading here. Unfortunately, the person who put the video together so very nicely is not identified at the Google source, but I thank him or her for the good job done, just the same. Until doing research this morning about the tune, all these years I had no or little understanding of what the lyrics might have meant to Dylan. I just knew that, when I was in law school and for many years after that I could lay down on the floor, particularly if I was stressed, put a stereo speaker on each side of my head, close my eyes, and be mesmerized by the droning, repetitious, and intriguing imagery which spun out of the tune and lyrics. Over and over I would listen ... if ever there was stress reliever, this was it, for me. Having read up on the subject this morning, the lyrics now make better sense. If you want help with that, I recommend this location at AllMusic.com. Who was the lady? See this link for the answer. Whoever put the video together was clearly rooted in the meaning to Dylan when assembling the video's imagery which is very nearly as well done as were Bob's lyrics which match the video above, below (other on-line lyric renditions don't exactly track those that were used in the album). |
| With your mercury mouth in the missionary times, And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes, And your silver cross, and your voice like chimes, Oh, who do they think could bury you? With your pockets well protected at last, And your streetcar visions which you place on the grass, And your flesh like silk, and your face like glass, Who could they get to carry you? Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands, Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes, My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums, Should I put them by your gate, Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait? |
| With your sheets like metal and your belt like lace, And your deck of cards missing the jack and the ace, And your basement clothes and your hollow face, Who among them can think he could outguess you? With your silhouette when the sunlight dims Into your eyes where the moonlight swims, And your match-book songs and your gypsy hymns, Who among them would try to impress you? Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands, Where the sad-eyed prophets say that no man comes, My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums, Should I put them by your gate, Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait? |
| The kings of Tyrus with their convict list Are waiting in line for their geranium kiss, And you wouldn't know it would happen like this, But who among them really wants just to kiss you? With your childhood flames on your midnight rug, And your Spanish manners and your mother's drugs, And your cowboy mouth and your curfew plugs, Who among them do you think could resist you? Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands, Where the sad-eyed prophets say that no man comes, My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums, Should I leave them by your gate, Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait? |
| Oh, the farmers and the businessmen, they all did decide To show you where the dead angels are that they used to hide. But why did they pick you to sympathize with their side? How could they ever mistake you? They wished you'd accepted the blame for the farm, But with the sea at your feet and the phony false alarm, And with the child of a hoodlum wrapped up in your arms, How could they ever have persuaded you? Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands, Where the sad-eyed prophets say that no man comes, My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums, Should I leave them by your gate, Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait? |
| With your sheet-metal memory of Cannery Row, And your magazine-husband who one day just had to go, And your gentleness now, which you just can't help but show, Who among them do you think would employ you? Now you stand with your thief, you're on his parole With your holy medallion which your fingertips fold, And your saintlike face and your ghostlike soul, Who among them could ever think he could destroy you. Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands, Where the sad-eyed prophets say that no man comes, My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums, Should I leave them by your gate, Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait? |
| The song lingers on after that with Dylan's harmonica doing the rest, slowly trailing off into silence. But, the song should be set for automatic immediate replay because there is no way to digest all this without at least half a dozen plays. But, maybe, that's just me. If you want to read biographies of Bob Dylan, here are a couple of links: Click here for Biographies.com's bio ... it includes two or three very nicely done biographical videos which, unfortunately, are not capable of being embedding elsewhere. Another well-done biography appears here at Wikipedia. At age 69, Dylan is still going strong. According to Wimgo.com, Bob Dylan and His Band will be appearing Friday, August 6, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. at the OKC Zoo Amphitheatre. Admission is $39.50 for lawn seats and $69.50 for VIP seating. Don't expect to hear Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, though. If what I read on-line this morning is correct, he has never made a live performance of this magical song. |
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