“They're selling postcards of the hanging They're painting the passports brown The beauty parlor is filled with sailorsThe circus is in townHere comes the blind commissionerThey've got him in a tranceOne hand is tied to the tight-rope walkerThe other is in his pantsAnd the riot squad they're restlessThey need somewhere to goAs Lady and I look out tonightFrom Desolation Row.”
“Well my ship’s been split to splinters and it’s sinkin' fast I’m drownin’ in the poison, got no future, got no past But my heart is not weary, it’s light and it’s free I’ve got nothin’ but affection for all those who’ve sailed with meEverybody movin’ if they ain’t already there Everybody got to move somewhere Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow Things should start to get interestin' right about nowMy clothes are wet, tight on my skin Not as tight as the corner that I painted myself in I know that fortune is waitin’ to be kind So give me your hand and say you’ll be mineWell, the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way Only one thing I did wrong Stayed in Mississippi a day too long -Bob Dylan, “Mississippi”
“Yes, I received your letter yesterday (About the time the doorknob broke) When you asked how I was doing Was that some kind of joke?All these people that you mention Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame I had to rearrange their faces And give them all another name Right now I can’t read too good Don’t send me no more letters, no Not unless you mail them From Desolation Row-Bob Dylan, “Desolation Row” (1965)”
“You don't necessarily have to write to be a poet. Some people work in gas stations and they're poets. I don't call myself a poet, because I don't like the word. I'm a trapeze artist.”
“So now I'm going back againI got to get her somehowAll the people we used to knowThey're an illusion to me nowSome are mathematiciansSome are carpenter's wivesDon't know how it all got startedI don't what they're doing with their livesBut me I'm still on the roadHeading for another jointWe always did feel the sameWe just saw it from a different point of viewTangled up in Blue.”
“Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands”
“Technology to wipe out truth is now available. Not everybody can afford it but it's available. When the cost comes down, look out!”