Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

Album: Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Play Video
  • When you're lost in the rain
    In Juarez and it's Easter time, too
    And your gravity's down
    And negativity don't get you through
    Just don't put on any airs
    When you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue
    They got some hungry women there
    And they really make a mess out of you

    If you see Saint Annie
    Please tell her thanks a lot
    I cannot move, my fingers
    They are all even in a knot
    I don't have the strength
    To get up and take another shot
    And my best friend, my doctor
    Won't even say what it is I've got

    Sweet Melinda, the peasants call her
    The goddess of gloom
    She speaks good English
    And she invites you up into her room
    And you're so kind and careful
    Not to go to her too soon
    And she steals your voice
    And leaves you screaming at the moon

    Up on Housing Project Hill
    It's either fortune or fame
    You must pick one or the other
    Neither of them are to be what they claim
    If you're lookin' to get silly
    You better go back to from where you came
    Because the cops don't need you
    And man, they expect the same

    Now, all the authorities
    They just stand around and boast
    How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms
    Into getting up and leaving his post
    And picking up Angel
    Who just arrived from the coast
    Who looked so fine at first
    But left looking just like a ghost

    I started out on burgundy
    But soon hit the harder stuff
    Everybody said they'd stand behind me
    When the game got rough
    Yes, but the joke was on me
    There was nobody even there to call my bluff
    I'm going back to New York City
    I do believe I've had enough Writer/s: Bob Dylan
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • Armin from Dallas/fort WorthThis is just another reason why Highway 61 is Dylan's greatest album. Sorry, but Blonde on Blonde doesn't even get close. The Poe reference by Dylan is awesome; my two favorite authors tied together. Word is that Rue Morgue is a fictitious locale chosen by Poe for the very Parisian sound of the name.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in Songs

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80s

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80sSongwriter Interviews

'80s music ambassadors Wang Chung pick their top tracks of the decade, explaining what makes each one so special.

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Philip Cody

Philip CodySongwriter Interviews

A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."