![]() Highway 61 Revisited (1965) [ larger cover art ] |
Oh, God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe say, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No," Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin', you better run"
Well, Abe said, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God said, "Out on Highway 61"
Well, Georgia Sam, he had a bloody nose
Welfare Department, they wouldn't give him no clothes
He asked poor Howard, "Where can I go?"
Howard said, "There's only one place I know"
Sam said, "Tell me quick, man, I got to run"
Oh, Howard just pointed with his gun
And said, "That way down on Highway 61"
Well, Mack the Finger said to Louie the King
"I got forty red white and blue shoe strings
And a thousand telephones that don't ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things?"
And Louie the King said, "Let me think for a minute, son"
And he said, "Yes, I think it can be easily done
Just take everything down to Highway 61"
Now the fifth daughter on the twelfth night
Told the first father that things weren't right
"My complexion," she says, "is much too white"
He said, "Come here and step into the light" he says, "Hmm, you're right
Let me tell the second mother this has been done"
But the second mother was with the seventh son
And they were both out on Highway 61
Now the rovin' gambler, he was very bored
Tryin' to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said, "I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes, I think it can be very easily done
We'll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61"
| jhorton | Posted: May 11, 2012 - 17:32 Worst Dylan song ever! Just nasty to listen to. |
| Easyrider | Posted: Apr 10, 2012 - 00:16 lshinkawa wrote: I loathe this song.
Makes my ears bleed to hear so early in the morning😖 |
| lshinkawa (Berkeley, CA) | Posted: Apr 10, 2012 - 00:14 I loathe this song. |
| buddy | Posted: Mar 09, 2012 - 07:59 Guess you had to be there, kids. |
| buddy | Posted: Mar 09, 2012 - 07:58 Dinges,_the_Dude wrote: please skip this far-overrated artist! Yeah, and while you're at it get rid of those pesky Beatles! |
| dwlangham (Nowhere to be found) | Posted: Mar 09, 2012 - 07:58 Never saw the appeal to this song. |
| Dinges,_the_Dude (below sea-level, N52°22', E4°52') | Posted: Mar 09, 2012 - 07:53 please skip this far-overrated artist! |
| buddy | Posted: Mar 09, 2012 - 07:53 10 |
| SynapseRider (ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha) | Posted: Mar 09, 2012 - 07:51 *mute* |
| Catalytic (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) | Posted: Feb 06, 2012 - 14:58 It's just a whistle that pierces my calm and shreds it like a hatchet. I turn this tune off every time it comes on. Permanent "1". |
| d-don (Oregon) | Posted: Feb 06, 2012 - 14:57 It's just a damn whistle, folks. Lighten up. Jeez. ![]() |
| Lrobby99 (Wisconsin, USA) | Posted: Feb 06, 2012 - 14:54 What? No everyone in my hotel room be dancin'? |
| revolver (Templeton, California) | Posted: Feb 06, 2012 - 14:54 more dylan....what a suprise. |
| pamyoder (New York, NY) | Posted: Nov 03, 2011 - 10:11 The whistle is like a drill in the temple. Ouch! It's obnoxious. Otherwise I love Bob Dylan... |
| FlatCat (Chicago) | Posted: Oct 16, 2011 - 10:16 Funny what gets some people. I am so noise averse and yet I LOVE the whistle. It fits perfectly. |
| colt4x5 (scrambling.) | Posted: Oct 16, 2011 - 10:15 Funny timing. Just finished reading a friend's paper for graduate school — on Paradise Lost. You know, God, Satan, Adam, Eve. |
| On_The_Beach (The Blue Planet) | Posted: Oct 03, 2011 - 00:16 siandbeth wrote: Guess I really don't have to mention that the whistle blows. I'm in a cubicle environment and it's about the only song that makes my coworkers look at me and glare. The whistle "blows". Very (unintentionally?) clever. I agree, with both definitions, but I still love the song/album. |
| siandbeth (Santa Cruz California) | Posted: Sep 01, 2011 - 11:12 Guess I really don't have to mention that the whistle blows. I'm in a cubicle environment and it's about the only song that makes my coworkers look at me and glare. |
| kurtster (sometimes the statue and sometimes the pigeon) | Posted: Jul 14, 2011 - 04:59 michaelc wrote: Damn I just read a few of the comments You all need a drink more then I do. Yea, really. A flippin whistle ? A song is a snap shot in time. Once upon a time we were happy to just be able to take a black and white picture. Then we wanted color. And then, we are still not happy, we have photoshop. There is a whistle in a picture you don't like ? Well photoshop it out if you have the time, skill or care enough about it. Or just be happy and look at the other things in the picture. Bob Dylan is a black and white picture. People like Hendrix, the Byrds and others took a new picture of the same scene in color. The black and white picture still makes me smile. The color picture works, too. I'm happy to have both, and appreciate both. But I would still like the black and white picture if that's all there was, crude as it is. Or is it ? The picture still captures a moment in time and a context. Go ahead, remake Casablanca. It might work for people who don't believe or never knew that telephones had cords attached to a wall or dials instead of buttons. Even then, I doubt it. |
| michaelc (Walnut Creek, CA) | Posted: Jun 30, 2011 - 15:55 Damn I just read a few of the comments You all need a drink more then I do. |
| ziggytrix (Dallas, TX) | Posted: Jun 12, 2011 - 11:39 midreaming wrote: I guess I can just take this comment as your burning desire to use a ten penny word without knowing what you're talking about. Good for you. Feels good dudnit? ..this is it. No more response to the bubble gummers. You guys have the aesthetic depth and intellectual curiosity of a GAP ad. My assertion is that from this it follows: as Dylan's changed music history, and he's got the record deal, ..and that you clearly don't, what you consider obnoxious about the work of an artist like Bob Dylan is essentially irrelevant. It's like saying ahh geesh God got it ALLL wrong. Well you're a mortal. So what you think means squat. Babble like a chimp about how unfair it is you don't have opposable thumbs but do it somewhere else cause it's just noise to people who get it. Oh and to be clear, my comment was a response to this one.. "rescore" the song? Yea, I think I want to see this idiots gold record collection... I wouldn't mind checkin out yours too.. Patricula wrote: You're absurd. I, and many others, find that whistle to be fairly obnoxious. I'd even bet Bob felt it was obnoxious. I'm pretty sure that's the point. And I'm also pretty sure that all of that is irrelevant to the opinions of other people. If you think the whistle is a lovely sound that gently caresses your ear each time you hear it, then more power to you. You're as entitled to your absurd opinions as I am to mine. PS - "rescore" in Patricula's post plainly refers to changing the 1 rating to something higher, not rewriting the song. Someone as intellectually curious as you should not have missed that! PPS - I would like to ask you which word that I'd used was the one you thought was a ten penny word that I did not comprehend, but I fear the answer will be much too absurd. Dare I? |
| midreaming | Posted: Apr 28, 2011 - 13:06 Catalytic wrote: If someone were to play that whistle in my presence I'd snatch it out of their mouth, break it into pieces, and ram the shards into their ears with a hammer so they'd know what it feels like to me. Every single time this song comes up I turn radio paradise off. mmm. you're a bright little bulb aren't you? A person of your intellectual potency and obvious enthusiasm should be sweeping mine fields or hunting "bad people" in Iraq. What are you doing sitting down. Go sign up boy! My Gawd, your talents are being WASTED!! thERE ARE WHISTLES to SHATTER and EAR DRUMS to BURST! My God! Daylights a burnin' boy, get a move on!! (unless of course you're locked up, which can't be too far from anybody's guess, and in which case - I'm just curious here... how's the food?) |
| midreaming | Posted: Apr 28, 2011 - 13:05 ScottFromWyoming wrote: No, I'm saying (or implying) that your comment was stupid. |
| On_The_Beach (Vancouver BC, Bud) | Posted: Apr 28, 2011 - 12:52 pauleywalnuts wrote: No kidding. Somebody get this guy some medication. |
| pauleywalnuts (Ontario) | Posted: Apr 28, 2011 - 11:28 Catalytic wrote: If someone were to play that whistle in my presence I'd snatch it out of their mouth, break it into pieces, and ram the shards into their ears with a hammer so they'd know what it feels like to me. Every single time this song comes up I turn radio paradise off. |
| ScottFromWyoming (Powell) | Posted: Apr 28, 2011 - 11:28 midreaming wrote: Wait, you're saying (or implying) you have a record deal? No, I'm saying (or implying) that your comment was stupid. |
| Catalytic (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) | Posted: Mar 27, 2011 - 20:57 If someone were to play that whistle in my presence I'd snatch it out of their mouth, break it into pieces, and ram the shards into their ears with a hammer so they'd know what it feels like to me. Every single time this song comes up I turn radio paradise off. |
| Art_Carnage (DeepintheheartofTexas) | Posted: Mar 27, 2011 - 20:55 If only the slide whistle could be digitally removed. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. |
| midreaming | Posted: Feb 24, 2011 - 11:11 ziggytrix wrote: His opinion is irrelevant because Dylan made the record. You should get an Absurd Non Sequitur award for that logic! The identity of the person paid to make the record has nothing to do whatsoever with certain other people describing that obnoxious whistle as, well... obnoxious. My assertion is that from this it follows: as Dylan's changed music history, and he's got the record deal, ..and that you clearly don't, what you consider obnoxious about the work of an artist like Bob Dylan is essentially irrelevant. It's like saying ahh geesh God got it ALLL wrong. Well you're a mortal. So what you think means squat. Babble like a chimp about how unfair it is you don't have opposable thumbs but do it somewhere else cause it's just noise to people who get it. Oh and to be clear, my comment was a response to this one.. "rescore" the song? Yea, I think I want to see this idiots gold record collection... I wouldn't mind checkin out yours too.. Patricula wrote: |
| ziggytrix (Dallas, TX) | Posted: Feb 24, 2011 - 10:08 midreaming wrote: The brilliance of your idea to leave the whistle out would have been as irrelevant then as it is today mostly because, I believe, Dylan has the record deal, you don't. His opinion is irrelevant because Dylan made the record. You should get an Absurd Non Sequitur award for that logic! The identity of the person paid to make the record has nothing to do whatsoever with certain other people describing that obnoxious whistle as, well... obnoxious. |
| Rotterdam | Posted: Nov 22, 2010 - 01:50 johnjconn wrote: God said to Abraham , SHUT UP Bob Now, johnjconn, that was really rude. And funny. Thank you. From my heart. |
| Ja300Mes (North Fork) | Posted: Nov 03, 2010 - 19:17 johnjconn wrote: God said to Abraham , SHUT UP Bob Pretty damn funny! |
| johnjconn (chicago land) | Posted: Nov 03, 2010 - 19:13 God said to Abraham , SHUT UP Bob |
| midreaming | Posted: Oct 21, 2010 - 10:03 ScottFromWyoming wrote: Ha ha ha ha good point! Wait a minute: no it isn't.I'm just kiddin, of course you knew that. I have a record deal too and I'm on here all the time. In fact I bet most of us here probably do.. |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Oct 21, 2010 - 09:43 Umm, I'm with the other folks - the whistle is like a cold icepick in the ear. . . could do without that part. . . ![]() |
| ScottFromWyoming (Powell) | Posted: Oct 21, 2010 - 09:39 midreaming wrote: We'll pretend for a second you're an expert on every kind of music and have the essence of rock and roll on the tip of every taste bud and follicle on your head. The brilliance of your idea to leave the whistle out would have been as irrelevant then as it is today mostly because, I believe, Dylan has the record deal, you don't. Ha ha ha ha good point! Wait a minute: no it isn't. |
| Chumbawamba-1984 | Posted: Sep 19, 2010 - 16:47 rmmartins wrote: Can he ever get a song wrong? Yes every time he tries to sing. One octave tessiture and a whining nasal tone. What else ? |
| drews (London, Blighty) | Posted: Sep 01, 2010 - 04:32 I prefer the rockier live version featuring Mick Taylor on guitar, from the (little loved) 'Real Live' album |
| rmmartins (Terra Brazilis) | Posted: Aug 18, 2010 - 15:57 Can he ever get a song wrong? |
| kurtster (Area code 216) | Posted: Jul 17, 2010 - 17:45 Great, but for a giddy up Dylan, I would really like to hear Rainy Day Women 12&35. Not played since 2003. Nice segue though. |
| calypsus_1 | Posted: May 29, 2010 - 00:33 ![]() Bob on guitar. by ~RockNRoll-Suicide Irene ©2008-2010 ~RockNRoll-Suicide Mi devi insegnare a far diventare i colori così belli! ~LilyanWilbury . |
| midreaming | Posted: May 28, 2010 - 11:37 Patricula wrote: This got a 1 from me at the first use of that whistle. As the song progressed I was thinking that I'd re-score it higher.... but then the whistle returned. No excuse for it at all. None. We'll pretend for a second you're an expert on every kind of music and have the essence of rock and roll on the tip of every taste bud and follicle on your head. The brilliance of your idea to leave the whistle out would have been as irrelevant then as it is today mostly because, I believe, Dylan has the record deal, you don't. |
| vicariance (awesome like a billion hot dogs) | Posted: May 28, 2010 - 11:33 What kind of satist blows that hellish zippy noisemaker that dylan does at the end of this song?? It's the kind of thing a four-year old does to annoy the adults for attention. |
| Phlegmaticman (270 miles south of Paradise, CA) | Posted: May 28, 2010 - 11:23 I could do without the siren whistle.. otherwise, great song! |
| Patricula (Ohio) | Posted: May 28, 2010 - 11:23 This got a 1 from me at the first use of that whistle. As the song progressed I was thinking that I'd re-score it higher.... but then the whistle returned. No excuse for it at all. None. |
| ziakut (Chicago, IL) | Posted: May 28, 2010 - 11:22 I guess we have to take the good with the bad. I do like the ending of this song...it leads to another RP track. Too bad it's not Highway 86! |
| crustygates | Posted: May 28, 2010 - 11:21 I'm getting really tired of my daily dose of Bob Dylan, Cold Play, and Neil Young! It would be good to let these wonderful artists have a rest, lest they become unlistenable through overplay! PLEASE!!!! |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Apr 26, 2010 - 18:44 This song is good for the external auditory meatus... |
| sirdroseph (Tokyo) | Posted: Apr 13, 2010 - 07:53 a_genuine_find wrote: ![]() |
| bobcat1963 (the netherlands) | Posted: Mar 26, 2010 - 03:46 God said to abraham kill me a son, so he did it, of course (he always did what he'd been told...) and so in return God put BOB DYLAN on earth, as a gift that's another example of God's good tast... ![]() |


Wait a minute: no it isn't.


