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"WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?"
bobdylan.com ^ | 1965 | Bob Dylan

Posted on 08/27/2004 5:18:55 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

....Praise be to Nero's Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody's shouting
"Which Side Are You On?"
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain's tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea
Where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row... Desolation Row


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: antiamerican; coldwar; communism; left; right; sixties; veterans; vietnam; wrong
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To: bmwcyle

No I didn't.


21 posted on 08/27/2004 5:47:01 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: liberty_lvr
I kept waiting for Steve D to pounce on him but instead he just sat there with that silly grin on his face and let Holbrooke get away with his unfounded ramblings. Unbelievable
22 posted on 08/27/2004 5:47:26 AM PDT by StudPilot
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

23 posted on 08/27/2004 5:47:36 AM PDT by Rome2000 (The ENEMY for Kerry!!!!!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Flipper was interviewing the 17 to 25 year olds in NYC. He had them admitting to knowing Kerry's Vice President Mr. Stu Ped.


24 posted on 08/27/2004 5:48:44 AM PDT by bmwcyle (<a href="http://www.johnkerry.com/" target="_blank">miserable failure)
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To: bmwcyle

Knowing or not knowing?


25 posted on 08/27/2004 5:51:56 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Rome2000

Oh! I LOVE that!!


26 posted on 08/27/2004 5:52:25 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

You may be right that it's a scab that needed to be picked, but picking it is DEPRESSING.


27 posted on 08/27/2004 6:06:24 AM PDT by walden
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To: walden

No it's NOT!

It's refreshing to be honest and talk about the ELEPHANT in the living room.


28 posted on 08/27/2004 6:09:18 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Thanks, and thanks for the great post too!


29 posted on 08/27/2004 6:14:33 AM PDT by Stars N Stripes ('... you burned me!! ... and you stole my new mama...' "Hells Angels '69")
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To: Stars N Stripes
I don't know if you've seen this: Kerry's Lost Opportunity. It's long but I think you'll find it interesting along with posts to the thread.
30 posted on 08/27/2004 6:23:01 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Republicans are the party of prevention. Democrats are the party of trying to fix things after the fact. Which one is better: Stopping yourself from accidently cutting off your arm before it happens or having to go to hospital so that you can have it sown back on?




By the way, this is one of my favorite Dylan songs. My all time favorite has to be 'Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands"


My other favorite part from this one, besides the one you posted, has to be:

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the door knob 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


31 posted on 08/27/2004 6:44:47 AM PDT by Big Guy and Rusty 99 ("You're the gayest thing since gay came to gaytown." - Master Shake [resident of NJ, by the way.])
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To: Big Guy and Rusty 99
***Republicans are the party of prevention. Democrats are the party of trying to fix things after the fact. Which one is better: Stopping yourself from accidently cutting off your arm before it happens or having to go to hospital so that you can have it sown back on? ***

That's what happens when one is an adult and one is a child.

32 posted on 08/27/2004 7:12:29 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
I've seen that article posted before but I just never got around to reading it.

WOW!

That was a profound piece. I will be bookmarking and re-reading it.

Thank you CW.

33 posted on 08/27/2004 7:26:32 AM PDT by Stars N Stripes ('... you burned me!! ... and you stole my new mama...' "Hells Angels '69")
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

people who want to be victims of society, don't want to grow up.


34 posted on 08/27/2004 7:34:05 AM PDT by Big Guy and Rusty 99 ("You're the gayest thing since gay came to gaytown." - Master Shake [resident of NJ, by the way.])
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To: Stars N Stripes
I thought it was a good piece too.

Thank you for your service Stars N Stripes!


35 posted on 08/27/2004 7:35:50 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Big Guy and Rusty 99
people who want to be victims of society, don't want to grow up.

That's very profound.

They don't want to do the heavy lifting and they're easy prey.

36 posted on 08/27/2004 7:38:41 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
>"Which side are you on?"


37 posted on 08/27/2004 7:43:46 AM PDT by theFIRMbss
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To: bmwcyle

OH the ignorance of this nation, I dont think I have ever heard such stupid people as I heard yesterday, when SHAWN introduced kerrys running mate as STU PID ,I was waiting for the gal to correct him ,she did not because she believed him.


38 posted on 08/27/2004 7:44:36 AM PDT by douglas1 (what JOHN KERRY DID AFTER HE CA)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

DESOLATION ROW
(Words and Music by Bob Dylan)
1965 Warner Bros. Inc
Renewed 1993 Special Rider Music

They're selling postcards of the hanging
They're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner
They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight
From Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy
"It takes one to know one," she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning
"You Belong to Me I Believe"
And someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend
You better leave"
And the only sound that's left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up
On Desolation Row

Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortunetelling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain
And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing
He's getting ready for the show
He's going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row

Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic
She wears an iron vest
Her profession's her religion
Her sin is her lifelessness
And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah's great rainbow
She spends her time peeking
Into Desolation Row

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
With his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago
With his friend, a jealous monk
He looked so immaculately frightful
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Now you would not think to look at him
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
On Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They're trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
She's in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
"Have Mercy on His Soul"
They all play on penny whistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row

Across the street they've nailed the curtains
They're getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera
A perfect image of a priest
They're spoonfeeding Casanova
To get him to feel more assured
Then they'll kill him with self-confidence
After poisoning him with words

And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls
"Get Outa Here If You Don't Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row"

Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Then they bring them to the factory
Where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders
And then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles
By insurance men who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
To Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero's Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody's shouting
"Which Side Are You On?"
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain's tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea
Where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the door knob 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


39 posted on 08/27/2004 7:45:43 AM PDT by Valin (It Could Be that the Purpose of Your Life is Only to Serve as a Warning to Others.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

basically, these wastes of skin have been spoiled by their parents and expect(demand) to be changed by mommy and daddy. The idea of potty training themselves to reduce dependence on the nanny state is beyond them.

Please excuse my venting. I detest most baby boomers. (not, the smart conservative ones) The only bad thing the greatest generation ever did was give their children everything they wanted.


40 posted on 08/27/2004 7:47:39 AM PDT by Big Guy and Rusty 99 ("You're the gayest thing since gay came to gaytown." - Master Shake [resident of NJ, by the way.])
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