Released: June 26, 1975
Songwriter: Richard Manuel Robbie Robertson
Producer: Bob Dylan The Band
Wrote a letter this mornin'
Put it in your hat
Cause no one to read it
And I know that you knew that
I bought a joke, a trick or two
Just to bring and show you
Caught ya with the trickster too
Sometimes I wonder how ya knew
A hypnotist, fancy talker
Ruben Remus ain't no doctor
I knew the man and tried to remember
Just where it was I'd seen his face
Long ago in a movie show
He was like that man singin' bass
Knew him by his nurs'ry rhyme:
The story of the rabbit man
Fell right in and said to him
"I'd like to help you if I can"
I know the film would only shock ya
Ruben Remus ain't no doctor!
He only needed what you had
Asked for nothing more
Said he'd like to take you on
But it's been done before
You couldn't see he's a travelin' man
And he cannot take your hand
It's very hard to understand
Why his songs were never banned
Medicine man would never knock ya
Ruben Remus ain't no doctor!
No one seen ya since he's been gone
It's been a day, maybe more
I took a walk in your yard
And knocked on your back door
Why won't you let me in?
I'm not the one who did ya in
Is Mr. Remus still your friend?
You say you don't remember him
Turn me down, would ya?
Well, I've got news for you
Turn me down would ya
Can't ya tell
I'm gonna change your mind before I'm...
Through
Put it in your hat
Cause no one to read it
And I know that you knew that
I bought a joke, a trick or two
Just to bring and show you
Caught ya with the trickster too
Sometimes I wonder how ya knew
A hypnotist, fancy talker
Ruben Remus ain't no doctor
I knew the man and tried to remember
Just where it was I'd seen his face
Long ago in a movie show
He was like that man singin' bass
Knew him by his nurs'ry rhyme:
The story of the rabbit man
Fell right in and said to him
"I'd like to help you if I can"
I know the film would only shock ya
Ruben Remus ain't no doctor!
He only needed what you had
Asked for nothing more
Said he'd like to take you on
But it's been done before
You couldn't see he's a travelin' man
And he cannot take your hand
It's very hard to understand
Why his songs were never banned
Medicine man would never knock ya
Ruben Remus ain't no doctor!
No one seen ya since he's been gone
It's been a day, maybe more
I took a walk in your yard
And knocked on your back door
Why won't you let me in?
I'm not the one who did ya in
Is Mr. Remus still your friend?
You say you don't remember him
Turn me down, would ya?
Well, I've got news for you
Turn me down would ya
Can't ya tell
I'm gonna change your mind before I'm...
Through
more tracks from the album
The Basement Tapes
- Tears of Rage
- Tiny Montgomery
- Don’t Ya Tell Henry
- Nothing Was Delivered
- Open the Door, Homer
- This Wheel’s on Fire
- Orange Juice Blues (Blues for Breakfast)
- Katie’s Been Gone
- Yazoo Street Scandal
- Bessie Smith
- Long Distance Operator
- Ain’t No More Cane
- Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
- You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
- Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)
- Odds and Ends
- Million Dollar Bash
- Goin’ to Acapulco
- Lo and Behold!
- Clothes Line Saga
- Apple Suckling Tree
- Please, Mrs. Henry
- Too Much of Nothing
- Ruben Remus
From the album
- The Basement Tapes (1975)
Bob Dylan & The Band popular songs
- You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
- This Wheel’s on Fire
- Tears of Rage
- Katie’s Been Gone
- Yazoo Street Scandal
- Orange Juice Blues (Blues for Breakfast)
- Bessie Smith
- Long Distance Operator
- Ruben Remus
- Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)
- Odds and Ends
- Million Dollar Bash
- Goin’ to Acapulco
- Lo and Behold!
- Clothes Line Saga
- Apple Suckling Tree
- Please, Mrs. Henry
- Too Much of Nothing
- Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
- Ain’t No More Cane
- Tiny Montgomery
- Don’t Ya Tell Henry
- Nothing Was Delivered
- Open the Door, Homer