Released: August 10, 1981
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producer: Chuck Plotkin Bob Dylan
[Verse 1]
Uttering idle words from a reprobate mind
Clinging to strange promises, dying on the vine
Never being able to separate the good from the bad
Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it
It’s making me feel so sad
[Chorus]
Dead man, dead man
When will you arise?
Cobwebs in your mind
Dust upon your eyes
[Verse 2]
Satan got you by the heel, there’s a bird’s nest in your hair
Do you have any faith at all? Do you have any love to share?
The way that you hold your head, cursing God with every move
Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it
What are you trying to prove?
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
The glamour and the bright lights and the politics of sin
The ghetto that you build for me is the one you end up in
The race of the engine that overrules your heart
Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it
Pretending that you’re so smart
[Chorus]
[Verse 4]
What are you trying to overpower me with, the doctrine or the gun?
My back is already to the wall, where can I run?
The tuxedo that you’re wearing, the flower in your lapel
Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it
You want to take me down to hell
[Chorus]
Uttering idle words from a reprobate mind
Clinging to strange promises, dying on the vine
Never being able to separate the good from the bad
Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it
It’s making me feel so sad
[Chorus]
Dead man, dead man
When will you arise?
Cobwebs in your mind
Dust upon your eyes
[Verse 2]
Satan got you by the heel, there’s a bird’s nest in your hair
Do you have any faith at all? Do you have any love to share?
The way that you hold your head, cursing God with every move
Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it
What are you trying to prove?
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
The glamour and the bright lights and the politics of sin
The ghetto that you build for me is the one you end up in
The race of the engine that overrules your heart
Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it
Pretending that you’re so smart
[Chorus]
[Verse 4]
What are you trying to overpower me with, the doctrine or the gun?
My back is already to the wall, where can I run?
The tuxedo that you’re wearing, the flower in your lapel
Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it
You want to take me down to hell
[Chorus]
more tracks from the album
The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981
- Man Gave Names to All the Animals
- Covenant Woman
- What Can I Do for You?
- Solid Rock
- Pressing On
- In the Garden
- Saving Grace
- Dead Man, Dead Man
- Making a Liar Out of Me
- Saved
- Are You Ready
- Gotta Serve Somebody
- Precious Angel
- I Believe in You
- Slow Train
- Gonna Change My Way of Thinking
- Do Right to Me Baby (Do Unto Others)
- When You Gonna Wake Up
- When He Returns
- Rise Again
From the albums
Bob Dylan popular songs
- 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