Posted on 06/19/2002 11:45:18 AM PDT by dennisw
Amazing Dylan lyrics on Israel. Must read the entire lyrics.
___________________________
The Neighborhood Bully
by Bob Dylan - 1983
Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man,
His enemies say he's on their land.
They got him outnumbered about a million to one,
He got no place to escape to, no place to run.
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully just lives to survive,
He's criticized and condemned for being alive.
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin,
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in.
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land,
He's wandered the earth an exiled man.
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn,
He's always on trial for just being born.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized,
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad.
The bombs were meant for him.
He was supposed to feel bad.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
That he'll live by the rules that the world makes for him,
'Cause there's a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac.
He's the neighborhood bully.
He got no allies to really speak of.
What he gets he must pay for, he don't get it out of love.
He buys obsolete weapons and he won't be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he's surrounded by pacifists who all want peace,
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease.
Now, they wouldn't hurt a fly.
To hurt one they would weep.
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Every empire that's enslaved him is gone,
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon.
He's made a garden of paradise in the desert sand,
In bed with nobody, under no one's command.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Now his holiest books have been trampled upon,
No contract he signed was worth what it was written on.
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth,
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health.
He's the neighborhood bully.
What's anybody indebted to him for?
Nothin', they say.
He just likes to cause war.
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed,
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed.
He's the neighborhood bully.
What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?
Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill,
Running out the clock, time standing still,
Neighborhood bully.
His son is talented too. Jakob Dylan's I've Been Delivered:
Wallflowers - I've Been Delivered
I could break free from the wood of a coffin if I need
But nothin's hard as Gettin' free from places I've already been
I've been waste-deep in the burnin' meadows of my mind
In the engine In cold December shootin' fire from the hose
Now turn off your lights
'cause I'm not comin' home
'til I'm delivered for the first time
I was first-born to a parade that follows in rows
down a narrow cold black river faceless shadows movin' slow
I would move swift when the sounds of a trumpet would blow
I've been the puppet, I've been the strings, I know the vacant face it brings
Now the bells of curfew They may ring before I'm through
But soon I'll be delivered for the first time
You might keep clean in the back of an angel motorcade
It doesn't matter who walks in you know, the joke is still the same
You'll just wake up like a disposable lover decomposed
I've been gone, I've been remembered, I've been alive, I've been a ghost
So now, if downtown explodes
I'll still be on this road
'til I'm delivered for the first time
I have drawn blood from the neckline when vampires were in fashion
You know I'd even learn to cut my throat If I thought I could fit in
'Cause I, I once heard that you gotta learn how to blend in to this mess
Where nothin's hard nothin's precious and nothin's smooth or flawless
Now, no more amused
just screaming to be delivered
for the first time
Now I'm 10 miles in the deep and mighty blue sea
Looking back, towards a long white beach burnin' up into yellow flames
And I just wave back like a little boy up on a pony in a show
'cause I can't fix something this complex any more than I can build a rose
So just keep on letting go
'cause I must be close
to being delivered for the first time
Now I'd rather bleed out a long stream from being lonely and feel blessed
Well than drown, laying face down in a puddle of respect
I was once lost in the corridors of the arena in blindfolds
I've been the bull, I've been the whip, I just pulled down the matador
So now, turn on your lights
'cause I'm comin' home
I've been delivered for the first time
Wanted to send some cheer from google, but didnt know which youd like. You like even numbers, so probably #4, but Ill send them all.
Its actually a reference to a clinton scandal.
I am curious about the whole thing regarding Dylan. Do you know anything about his politics or who he was influenced by?
If youve seen LL often you know hes big on parentage and grand-parentage per the Nuremburg Law standards.
A Christian might accept his conversion, as a Jew, I would accept him as a Christian, but to a Nazi, hed be a Jew, and with Jewish parents off to the camps with him.
Isnt this underlying current of hatred despicable. Its like the jihadist posters. Come out and say what they are, make their case. I for one would be glad to talk to them.
I'm not that big a fan, but here I am defending him anyway, against notheing, because he's a Christian with Jewish parents, and he's from Minnesota.
It's a Bob Dylan thread Larry. Care to join the real world?
Being a devout Catholic, I think I'll pass, but I appreciate the info. Regards.
There's a line that actually says "Fools glorify themselves trying to man-ip-u-late Satan" - He breaks it up really weird.
If you KNOW what he says and listen, it couldn't be clearer.
Typically Dylan ;^)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.