Time is a jet plane, and it moves so fast
Oh, but what a shame all we’ve shared can’t last
I can change, I swear
See what you can do
I don’t need to be blue
For me or for you
Time is a jet plane, it moves too fast
Oh, but what a shame if all we’ve shared can’t last
I can change, I swear,
See what you can do
I can make it through
You can make it too
Love is so simple, to quote a phrase
I’ve known it all the time, I’m learnin’ it these days
But I know where I can find you
Yes, but I ain’t ever gonna look
I’m gonna put my order in with the cook
And hang my coat up on a hook
Love is so simple, to quote a phrase
You’ve known it all the time, I’m learnin’ it these days
I know where I can find you
In somebody’s care
But I ain’t gonna look there
You’re a big girl, (hold/go and) share
Love is so simple, to quote a phrase
You’ve known it all the time, I’m learnin’ it these days
Oh, I know where I can find you, oh, oh
In somebody’s room
It’s a price I have to pay
You’re a big girl all the way
Ten thousand men standin‘ on a hill
Ten thousand men on a hill
Some of ’m goin’ down, some of ’m gonna get killed
Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue
Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue
Drummin’ and a-hummin’ and a-heavin’, they’ll be coming for you
I want to thank you, baby, thank you for my tea!
I want to thank you, baby, thank you for my tea!
Well, it’s really so nice of you to be so good to me
Ten thousand men on a hill
Ten thousand men on a hill
Some of ’m goin’ down, some of ’m gonna get killed
Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue
Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue
Drummin’ in the morning, in the evening they’ll be coming for you
Ooh, baby, thank you for my tea!
Baby, thank you for my tea!
It’s so sweet of you to be so nice to me
Even before you hear these new lyrics it’s the music that hits you. The band is playing a minor reworking of Every Grain of Sand while Dylan is singing I Threw It All Away. There were only two performances of this song in 2000, on consecutive nights, and here they are. Towards the end of the second outing, Dylan pleads, “Please don’t throw it all away!” These could well be the most radical lyric changes to the song since 1978’s “Must have been deceived” line.
Once I was waiting, fortunately in love
And rivers, rivers that ran, rivers that ran through ev’ry day
But I must have been insane
Had no reason to complain
‘Cause I, ’cause I threw it all away
I don’t know why!
But I, but I threw it all away
Once I had mountains in the palm of my hand
And rivers that ran through ev’ry day
But I must have been crazy
Or else I must have got lazy
Ah Lord, I threw it all away
I must have had some reason!
Yes, I threw it all away
Once I had mountains in the palm of my hand
And rivers that ran through ev’ry day
I must have been mad
I never knew what I had
Until I threw it all away
Today, you’ve been seeing some – another type
It hurts me all over, you know it just doesn’t feel right
To know that some other man is holdin’ you tight
It hurts me all over, it doesn’t seem right
Broken lines, broken strings
Broken switches on broken swings
Broken idols, broken heads
People sleepin’ in broken beds
Take a deep breath, ah… just jokin’
Everything is broken.
Broken cutters, broken saws
Broken buckles, broken laws
Broken bodies, broken bones
Broken voices on broken phones
Take a deep breath, feel like you’re chokin’
Everything is broken
For a long time after this song was released on 1979’s Slow Train Coming album, live versions used lyrics which were very faithful to that recording. However, it later became a vehicle for improvised-on-the-spot lyric changes that that bore absolutely no relation to the original. In these versions, the performance would begin with a couple of standard verses and then the fun would start. This is one of many examples.
Maybe you’re highbrow or maybe you’re low
May be on earth, got nowhere to go
May be walking on the sidewalk
May be walking down on the street
But maybe you’re hot in the staggering heat
You’ve gotta serve somebody
Yeah, you’ve gotta serve somebody
It might be the devil, it might be the Lord
But you gotta serve somebody
¯_(ツ)_/¯
These are two of only three outings of this song in 1989, each with a different take on a newly featured giraffe verse. The final performance of the year was performed just a few days after these but the giraffe simply didn’t make the cut. The original version from the Slow Train Coming album named several animals, including a bear, a cow, a bull, a pig, and a sheep, but no giraffe.
Well, he saw an animal up walkin’ all alone
Great big neck and approachin’ out the day
It looked like his neck was goin’ for a mile and a half
“Ah, I think I’ll call it a giraffe”
He saw an animal out to stay
Walking fifty miles away on a different day
That baby tried, and he tried to laugh
“Ah, I think I’ll call it a giraffe”
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Soul of a nation is under the knife
Death is standing in the doorway of life
In the next room, a man’s fighting with his wife
Over dignity
