Released: August 30, 1965
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producer: Bob Johnston
[Verse 1]
Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe said, “Man, you must be puttin' me on”
God say, “No.”
Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want, Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run”
Well Abe said, “Where you want this killin' done?”
God said, “Out on Highway 61”
[Verse 2]
Well Georgia Sam, he had a bloody nose
Welfare Department, they wouldn’t give him no clothes
He asked poor Howard, "Where can I go?"
Howard said, "There’s only one place I know"
Sam said, "Tell me quick man, I got to run"
Oh Howard just pointed with his gun
And said, "That way, down Highway 61"
[Verse 3]
Well Mack the Finger said to Louie the King
"I got forty red, white and blue shoestrings
And a thousand telephones that don’t ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things?"
And Louie the King said "Let me think for a minute son"
And he said "Yes, I think it can be easily done
Just take everything down to Highway 61"
[Verse 4]
Now the fifth daughter on the twelfth night
Told the first father that things weren’t right
"My complexion" she says "is much too white"
He said "Come here and step into the light"
He says "Hmm you’re right
Let me tell the second mother this has been done"
But the second mother was with the seventh son
And they were both out on Highway 61
[Verse 5]
Now the rovin' gambler he was very bored
Tryin' to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said "I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes I think it can be very easily done
We’ll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61"
Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe said, “Man, you must be puttin' me on”
God say, “No.”
Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want, Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run”
Well Abe said, “Where you want this killin' done?”
God said, “Out on Highway 61”
[Verse 2]
Well Georgia Sam, he had a bloody nose
Welfare Department, they wouldn’t give him no clothes
He asked poor Howard, "Where can I go?"
Howard said, "There’s only one place I know"
Sam said, "Tell me quick man, I got to run"
Oh Howard just pointed with his gun
And said, "That way, down Highway 61"
[Verse 3]
Well Mack the Finger said to Louie the King
"I got forty red, white and blue shoestrings
And a thousand telephones that don’t ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things?"
And Louie the King said "Let me think for a minute son"
And he said "Yes, I think it can be easily done
Just take everything down to Highway 61"
[Verse 4]
Now the fifth daughter on the twelfth night
Told the first father that things weren’t right
"My complexion" she says "is much too white"
He said "Come here and step into the light"
He says "Hmm you’re right
Let me tell the second mother this has been done"
But the second mother was with the seventh son
And they were both out on Highway 61
[Verse 5]
Now the rovin' gambler he was very bored
Tryin' to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said "I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes I think it can be very easily done
We’ll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61"
The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- I Want You
- Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
- Leopard-Skin Pill Box Hat
- Just Like a Woman
- Absolutely Sweet Marie
- Farewell, Angelina
- Positively 4th Street
- I’ll Keep It with Mine
- If You Gotta Go, Go Now
- Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence
- She’s Your Lover Now
- California
- You Don’t Have to Do That
- Medicine Sunday
- One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
- Pledging My Time
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Tombstone Blues
- She Belongs to Me
- Love Minus Zero/No Limit
- Outlaw Blues
- On the Road Again
- Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
- Desolation Row
- Queen Jane Approximately
- Visions of Johanna
- Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?
- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
- Lunatic Princess
- 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