A log of new and notable lyric changes on the 2021 Bob Dylan tour. Unusually for this website, I will include credibly reported lyric changes not yet personally verified by me. Verified ones will have a link to play audio, and I will get to each, as recordings become available. Thank you to all who take time to share what they have heard! And thank you to Bob Dylan for his never-ending creativity.
Follow me at @dylyricus on Twitter. I also can be contacted at the Expecting Rain forums. Visit the main dylyricus.com page for dozens of other lyric variations throughout Dylan’s career.
EVERY GRAIN OF SAND
- Album: When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
- Nov 5: When the pool of tears beneath my feet reflect every newborn seed
- Nov 5: When the pool of tears beneath my feet reflect every newborn seed
- Album: I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
- Bootleg Series vol 1-3: I am hanging in the balance of a perfect finished plan
- Most other live versions except Jun 3, 1989: I’m hanging in the balance of a perfect finished plan
- Nov 5: I’m hanging in the balance of a perfect finished plan
FALSE PROPHET
- Album: Another day that don’t end – another ship going out
- bobdylan.com: Another day without end – another ship going out
- Nov 2: Another day without end – another ship going out
- Album: Let’s go for a walk in the garden, so far and so wide/ We can sit in the shade by the fountain side
- bobdylan.com: Let’s walk in the garden – so far and so wide
- Nov 2: Let’s go for a walk in the garden, in a garden so wide
- Nov 3: Let’s go for a walk in the garden, darlin’, a garden so wide (@matt_stike)
GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY
- This is the radically rewritten version debuted in 2018.
- Nov 20: Well, you might be in the White House/ Carving up the meat/ May look for a handout/ Up on easy street https://t.co/MVaekYl3yY (bobcelona, suemyassoff
I CONTAIN MULTITUDES
- Album: Today and tomorrow and yesterday too
- Nov 10: Yesterday & tomorrow & yesterday too (still go barefoot)
I’LL BE YOUR BABY, TONIGHT
- Album: Well, that mockingbird’s gonna sail away/ We’re gonna forget it/ That big, fat moon is gonna shine like a spoon/ But we’re gonna let it/ You won’t regret it
- Nov 2: Well, that mockingbird’s gonna sail away/ We’re gonna let it/ That big, fat moon gonna shine like a spoon/ You won’t regret it/ Not if you let it
- Nov 2: Well, that mockingbird’s gonna sail away/ We’re gonna let it/ That big, fat moon gonna shine like a spoon/ You won’t regret it/ Not if you let it
- Album: Shut the light, shut the shade/ You don’t have to be afraid
- Nov 5: Shut the door, shut it tight/ Shut it, and then keep it shut all night (@matt_stike)
- Nov 5: Shut the door, shut it tight/ Shut it, and then keep it shut all night (@matt_stike)
- Nov 15: Shut the light, shut the shade/ Tonight you’re gonna have it made (suemyassoff)
- Dec 2: You won’t regret it. Naaaaaw, you won’t regret it for a minute. (@matt_stike) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLfXMu1AWFk&t=5
I’VE MADE UP MY MIND TO GIVE MYSELF TO YOU
- Album: I’ve traveled from the mountains to the sea
- bobdylan.com: From the plains and the prairies – from the mountains to the sea
- Nov 2: I’ve traveled from the plains and mountains to the sea (@peter_hayward_)
- Nov 3: From the plains to the prairies, from the mountains to the sea (@peter_hayward_)
- Nov 6: From the mountains to the prairies, from the plains to the seas (@Negatively4thSt)
KEY WEST
- Album: McKinley hollered – McKinley squalled/ Doctor said McKinley – death is on the wall
- Nov 6: Doctor said, “McKinley, I see death on the wall” (@Negatively4thSt)
- Album: Amelia Street – Bay View Park/ Walkin’ in the shadows after dark
- Nov 2: Skippin’ in the shadows after dark (@whitecitycinema)
- Nov 2: Skippin’ in the shadows after dark (@whitecitycinema)
- Album: The fishtail ponds and the orchid trees/ They can give you the bleedin’ heart disease
- Nov 6: They give you that wailin’ heart disease (@Negatively4thSt)
- Nov 6: They give you that wailin’ heart disease (@Negatively4thSt)
- Album: I play the gumbo limbo spirituals/ I know all the Hindu rituals
- Nov 13: I love all the Hindu rituals (afamselzer)
MOST LIKELY YOU GO YOUR WAY (AND I’LL GO MINE)
- Nov 15:You say your leavin’, you’re always leavin’/ You’re always goin’ out the door/ Say your breakin’, always shakin’/ But you know you always ask for more (suemyassoff, stillgobarefoot)
MOTHER OF MUSES
- Album: I’ve already outlived my life by far
- Nov 2: I’ve already outgrown my life by far (@mattsimo9)
- Nov 3: I’ve already outgrown my light by far (@matt_stike)
- Nov 2: I’ve already outgrown my life by far (@mattsimo9)
MY OWN VERSION OF YOU
- Album: All through the summers and into January/ I’ve been visiting morgues and monasteries
- Nov 3: All through November into January (@peter_hayward_)
- Nov 5: All through the winters, to January
- Nov 3: All through November into January (@peter_hayward_)
- Album: They talk all night and they talk all day/ Not for a minute do I believe anything they say
- bobdylan.com: Not for a second do I believe what they say
- Nov 2: Not for a second do I believe anything they say (@matt_stike)
- Album: I want to bring someone to life – someone I’ve never seen/ You know what I mean? You know exactly what I mean
- Nov 5: You know what I mean? I know you know what I mean (@matt_stike)
- Nov 5: You know what I mean? I know you know what I mean (@matt_stike)
- Album: Two doors down not that far to walk/ I’ll hear your footsteps – you won’t have to knock
- Nov 10: You don’t have to knock, I’ll hear your footsteps (indecipherable) the next block.” Perhaps meant to be: “coming from the next block”? @suemyassoff
TO BE ALONE WITH YOU
- Shadow Kingdom:
- Generally singing the Shadow Kingdom version.
- Nov 2021: Has been singing “Without a doubt” in place of “Make me scream and shout” (VirgilKinsley)
- Nov 21: I’ll pound you to death, that’s just what I’ll do (dylan_mostly)
WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW
- Closely follows the Shadow Kingdom version.
WHEN I PAINT MY MASTERPIECE
- Closely follows the lyrics performed in 2019 and on Shadow Kingdom.
- Nov 15: Gonna lock the doors, stay there for a while, ain’t gonna see nobody (suemyassoff)
- Nov 16: Bob sang the “newspaper man eating candy” line in Masterpiece he quickly added “chocolate” and had a chuckle… (baltimore)