Album: Farewell, Angelina (1965)

License This Song 

• Farewell, Angelina, the bells of the crown
  Are being stolen by bandits, I must follow the sound
  The triangle tingles and the trumpets play slow
  Farewell, Angelina, the sky is on fire and I must go
  
  There's no need for anger, there's no need for blame
  There's nothing to prove everything's still the same
  Just a table standing empty by the edge of the sea
  Means farewell, Angelina, the sky is trembling and I must leave
  
  The jacks and queens have forsake the courtyard
  Fifty-two gypsies now file past the guards
  In the space where the deuce and the ace once ran wild
  Farewell, Angelina, the sky is falling
  I'll see you in a while
  
  See the cross-eyed pirates sit perched in the sun
  Shooting tin cans with a sawed-off shotgun
  And the neighbors they clap and they cheer with each blast
  But farewell, Angelina, the sky's changing color and I must leave fast
  
  King Kong, little elves on the rooftops they dance
  Valentino-type tangos while the makeup man's hands
  Shut the eyes of the dead, not to embarrass anyone
  But farewell, Angelina, the sky is embarrassed
  And I must be gone
  
  The machine guns are roaring, the puppets heave rocks
  The fiends nail time bombs to the hands of the clocks
  Call me any name you like, I will never deny it
  But farewell, Angelina, the sky is erupting
  I must go where it's quiet Writer/s: Bob Dylan
  Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 3

• Laurel from Sedona AzThis is one of my favorite Dylan songs. To me it evokes the Vietnam War and all its horrors: the gypsies (soldiers as disposable playing cards) filing by the guards (the draft board), the cross-eyed pirate shooting tin cans (My Lai?) while the neighbors (the American people) cheer, the makeup man shutting the eyes of the dead American soldiers so the politicians aren’t embarrassed, and finally, “the machine guns are roaring while the puppets heave rocks, while fiends nail time bombs to the hands of the clocks” is pretty descriptive of war. And each verse ending line describes how or where or why the narrator “must go”. And the last lines are the most evocative of that time: Call me any name you like, I will never deny it…I must go where it’s quiet.” He is fleeing to Canada rather than go and likely die in a politically motivated, useless war, which is grinding up young American men like hamburger for no good reason, and he is willing to be called a draft-dodger, a traitor, and any other derogatory names used for those who wouldn’t go to be sacrificed in the Cold War.
• MelanieFarewell, Angelina is the most hauntingly, beautiful, surrealistic song I think Dylan ever wrote and I love how Paul Anka does this song
• Zale from Cambria Ca.Farewell Angelina seems to fit the moment of the Pandemic perfectly and it is a dark picture indeed Joan Baezs voice is the only soothing thing about this Dali painting. Dylan / Dali ..... they certainly had similar ways of expressing their thoughts.

More Songfacts:

Lips Are MovinMeghan Trainor

Meghan Trainor wrote "Lips Are Movin" in just eight minutes with her writing partner Kevin Kadish. Inspiration for the song was frustration with Trainor's record label.

BurnEllie Goulding

Ellie Goulding's hit single "Burn" was originally demoed by Leona Lewis for her 2011 Glassheart album. She scrapped the tune when the project was retooled to include more ballads.

PanamaVan Halen

"Panama" by Van Halen is not about the country or the canal, but about a stripper David Lee Roth met in Arizona.

Zoot Suit RiotCherry Poppin' Daddies

"Zoot Suit Riot" isn't just a Cherry Poppin' Daddies song - the Zoot Suit Riots were real riots in Los Angeles that took place in 1943 and inspired the song's lyrics.

At This MomentBilly Vera & the Beaters

"At This Moment" was first released by Billy Vera & the Beaters in 1981, and hit #79. After it was used in two episodes of Family Ties in 1985-1986, it went to #1.

Kiss On My ListHall & Oates

"Kiss On My List" by Hall & Oates is actually an anti-love song - the kiss is just one item on a list, and by no means the best.

Editor's Picks

00s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

Do you know the girl singer on Eminem's "Stan"? If so, this quiz is for you.

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

Randy NewmanSongwriting Legends

Newman makes it look easy these days, but in this 1974 interview, he reveals the paranoia and pressures that made him yearn for his old 9-5 job.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."