Lyric research by Parker Fishel
“Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” is a tale of one man’s surreal misadventures in the tropics, featuring allusions to Malcolm Lowry, Arthur Rimbaud, and Jack Kerouac.
Recorded on August 2, 1965, it took 16 takes for Dylan and the band to successfully record the lyricall...
[Verse 1]
When you're lost in the rain in Juarez
When it's Easter time too
And your gravity fails
And negativity don't pull you through
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 outta you
[Verse 2]
Now if you see Saint Annie
Please tell her "Thanks a lot"
I cannot move
My fingers are all 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
[Verse 3]
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 takes your voice
And leaves you howling at the moon
[Verse 4]
Up on Housing Project Hill
It's either fortune or fame
You must pick one or the other
Though 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
[Verse 5]
Now all the authorities
They just stand around and boast
How they blackmailed the Sergeant-at-Arms
Into leaving his post
And picking up Angel
Who just arrived here from the coast
Who looked so fine at first
But left lookin' just like a ghost
[Verse 6]
I started out on Burgundy
But soon hit the harder stuff
Everybody said they'd stand behind me
When the game got rough
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
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues was written by Bob Dylan.
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues was produced by Bob Johnston.
Bob Dylan released Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues on Mon Aug 30 1965.