Bob Dylan

Songwriter: Bob Dylan

Producer: Don DeVito Jeff Rosen

[Verse 1]
Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying

[Verse 2]
Pointed threats they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fools gold mouthpiece the hollow horn
Plays wasted words, proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying

[Verse 3]
Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan, but unlike before
You discover that you'd just be one more
Person crying

[Chorus]
So don't fear, if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing

[Verse 4]
As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons, great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred

[Verse 5]
Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Make everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without lookin' too far
That not much is really sacred

[Verse 6]
Preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked

[Chorus]
Though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's people's games that you've got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it

[Verse 7]
Advertising signs that con
You into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime, life outside goes on
All around you

[Verse 8]
You lose yourself and then you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand, with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
Somebody thinks they really have found you

[Verse 9]
A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know that there is no answer fit
To satisfy, ensure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he, or she, or them, or it
That you belong to

[Chorus]
Though the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to

[Verse 10]
Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony

[Verse 11]
While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon 'em naturally
Life sometimes must get lonely

[Verse 12]
My eyes collide head-on with stuffed
Graveyards, false goals, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Tell, alright, I've had enough
What else can you show me?

[Chorus]
And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only

Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman May 24, 1941), is an American singer-songwriter, writer, and artist who has influenced popular music and culture for more than five decades. Dylan has especially played a critical role in the American folk music revival.

Dylan’s songs are built from myriad political, social, philosophical and literary influences. Many of his anti-war and civil-rights-influenced songs set social unrest, as journalists widely named him the “spokesman for his generation” in the 1960s.

The musician has a signature change in voice and style in many different albums of his throughout the decades. He has notably explored and experimented with the genres of folk, rap, blues, and rock.

more tracks from the album

Bob Dylan - The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration

From the album

Bob Dylan - The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (1993)

Bob Dylan popular songs

It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) (Dylan 30th Anniversary)Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan - The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration