Released: March 22, 1965
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producer: Tom Wilson (producer)
[Chorus]
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
[Verse 1]
Though I know that evening's empire has returned into sand
Vanished from my hand
Left me blindly here to stand, but still not sleeping
My weariness amazes me, I am branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And my ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming
[Chorus]
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
[Verse 2]
Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wandering
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancin' spell my way
I promise to go under it
[Chorus]
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
[Verse 3]
Though you might hear laughing, spinning, swinging madly across the sun
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escaping on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facing
And if you hear vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn't pay it any mind
It's just a shadow you're seeing that he's chasing
[Chorus]
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
[Verse 4]
And take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow
[Chorus]
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
[Verse 1]
Though I know that evening's empire has returned into sand
Vanished from my hand
Left me blindly here to stand, but still not sleeping
My weariness amazes me, I am branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And my ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming
[Chorus]
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
[Verse 2]
Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wandering
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancin' spell my way
I promise to go under it
[Chorus]
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
[Verse 3]
Though you might hear laughing, spinning, swinging madly across the sun
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escaping on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facing
And if you hear vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn't pay it any mind
It's just a shadow you're seeing that he's chasing
[Chorus]
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
[Verse 4]
And take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow
[Chorus]
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle mornin' I'll come followin' you
more tracks from the album
The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- If You Gotta Go, Go Now
- Who Killed Davey Moore?
- Mama, You Been on My Mind
- It Ain’t Me Babe
- To Ramona
- Spanish Harlem Incident
- All I Really Want to Do
- The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
- With God on Our Side
- Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues
- I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
- Gates of Eden
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Talkin’ World War III Blues
- Silver Dagger
From the albums
- Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
- Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits (1967)
- The Concert For Bangladesh (1971)
- Biograph (1985)
- Billboard Top Rock’n’Roll Hits - 1965 (1989)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue (2002)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall (2004)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (2005)
- The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (2010)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 (2015)
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