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Desolation Row chords
Bob Dylan
E E E Esus4 E 2x
They're Eselling postcards of the hanging,
they're Apainting the passports Ebrown;
the B7beauty parlor is filled with sailors,
the Acircus is in Etown
Here comes the blind commissioner,
they've Agot him in a Etrance;
B7one hand is tied to the tight-rope walker,
the Aother is in his Epants
And the Ariot squad they're restless,
they Eneed somewhere to Ago;
as Elady and I look B7out tonight,
A E E Esus4 E 3x
from Desolation Row
ECinderella, she seems so easy,
&quoAt;it takes one to know one,&Equot; she smiles;
and B7puts her hands in her back pockets,
ABette Davis Estyle
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning,
"yAou belong to meE I believe";
and B7someone says," you're in the wrong place, my friend,
Ayou better Eleave"
And the Aonly sound that's left,
Eafter the ambulances Ago;
is ECinderella B7sweeping up,
A E E Esus4 E 3x
on Desolation Row
Now the Emoon is almost hidden,
the Astars are beginning to Ehide;
the B7fortunetelling lady,
has Aeven taken all her things inEside
All except for Cain and Abel,
and the Ahunchback of Notre EDame;
B7everybody is making love,
or Aelse expecting Erain
And the AGood Samaritan, he's dressing,
he's getting Eready for the Ashow;
he's Egoing to the B7carnival tonight,
A E E Esus4 E 3x
on Desolation Row
Now OEphelia, she's 'neath the window,
for Aher I feel so aEfraid;
on her B7twenty-second birthday,
she alAready is an old Emaid
To her, death is quite romantic,
she Awears an iron Evest;
her proB7fession's her religion,
her Asin is her lifelessEness
And Athough her eyes are fixed upon,
ENoah's great rainAbow;
she Espends her time B7peeking,
A E E Esus4 E 3x
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 spoon feeding 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
A E E Esus4 E 2x
About Desolation Row
E A E B7 A E A E B7 A E A E A E B7 A E
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
A E E Esus4 E 2x
From Desolation Row
E A E B7 A E A E B7 A E A E A E B7 A E
Set8