Released: August 10, 1981
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producer: Chuck Plotkin Bob Dylan
[Verse 1]
In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There’s a dyin’ voice within me reaching out somewhere
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair
[Verse 2]
Don’t have the inclination to look back on any mistake
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master’s hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand
[Verse 3]
Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer
The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay
[Verse 4]
I gaze into the doorway of temptation’s angry flame
And every time I pass that way I always hear my name
Then onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand
[Verse 5]
I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer’s dream, in the chill of a wintry light
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face
[Verse 6]
I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there’s someone there, other times it’s only me
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand
[Harmonica solo]
In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There’s a dyin’ voice within me reaching out somewhere
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair
[Verse 2]
Don’t have the inclination to look back on any mistake
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master’s hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand
[Verse 3]
Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer
The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay
[Verse 4]
I gaze into the doorway of temptation’s angry flame
And every time I pass that way I always hear my name
Then onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand
[Verse 5]
I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer’s dream, in the chill of a wintry light
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face
[Verse 6]
I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there’s someone there, other times it’s only me
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand
[Harmonica solo]
Biograph
- Forever Young (Demo)
- Romance in Durango
- Million Dollar Bash
- You Angel You
- On a Night Like This
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
- I Shall Be Released
- Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
- Time Passes Slowly
- If Not for You
- Lay Lady Lay
- Positively 4th Street
- Isis
- Solid Rock
- I Wanna Be Your Lover
- Baby, I’m in the Mood for You
- Up to Me
- Caribbean Wind
- Jet Pilot
- Mixed-Up Confusion
- Percy’s Song
- I’ll Keep It with Mine
- The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar
- Heart of Mine
- Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
- Lay Down Your Weary Tune
- Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)
- Tangled Up in Blue
- Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?
- Visions of Johanna
- All Along the Watchtower
- You’re a Big Girl Now
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Masters of War
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- Tombstone Blues
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Gotta Serve Somebody
- I Believe in You
- Abandoned Love
- I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
- Dear Landlord
- It Ain’t Me Babe
- To Ramona
- The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
- Every Grain of Sand
- Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)
- Just Like a Woman
- I Want You
- I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- Shot of Love (1981)
- Biograph (1985)
- The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 (1991)
- Murder Most Foul
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- All Along the Watchtower
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Make You Feel My Love
- Hurricane
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- Desolation Row
- Tangled Up in Blue
- Masters of War
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
- It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
- Girl from the North Country
- Tempest
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
- Ballad of a Thin Man
- Visions of Johanna
- I Contain Multitudes
- To Fall in Love with You
- Shelter from the Storm