A vacation for the mind

As a break from our usual fare, here’s an entry that has absolutely nothing to do with any serious political or cultural subject. It is the lyrics of “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream,” from his 1965 album, Bringing it All Back Home. Of course, Dylan’s lyrics are not meant to be read but to be listened to. But these lyrics are so fun and funny that they can be enjoyed without the music and the performance. They may seem merely silly, but, as with so much of Dylan’s work which may be off-putting at first, they grow on you. Even now, after having listened to the song who knows how many times in my earlier days, simply reading the words on screen makes me laugh aloud. My favorite line, which cracks me up every time, is: “Now I didn’t mean to be nosy, but I went into a bank.” (You had to be there to understand.) By the way, for those of younger—or older—generations who have never heard the recording, “Arab” is pronounced like “Ahab.” (Here’s the recording.)

BOB DYLAN’S 115TH DREAM
(Words and Music by Bob Dylan)
1965 Warner Bros. Inc
Renewed 1993 Special Rider Music

I was riding on the Mayflower
When I thought I spied some land
I yelled for Captain Arab
I’ll have you understand
Who came running to the deck
He said, “Boys, forget the whale
We’re going over yonder
Cut the engines
Change the sail.”
“Haul on the bowline,”
We sang that melody
Like all tough sailors do
When they’re far away at sea.

“I think I’ll call it America,”
I said as we hit land
I took a deep breath
I fell down, I could not stand.
Captain Arab, he started
Writing up some deeds
He said, “Let’s set up a fort
And start buying the place with beads.”
Just then this cop comes down the street
Crazy as a loon
And throws us all in jail
For carryin’ harpoons.

Well, me I busted out
Don’t even ask me how
I went to get some help
I walked by a Guernsey cow
Who directed me down
To the Bowery slums
Where people carried signs around
Saying, “Ban the bums.”
I jumped right into line
Sayin’, “I hope that I’m not late”
When I realized I hadn’t eaten
For five days straight.

I went into a restaurant
Lookin’ for the cook
I told them I was the editor
Of a famous etiquette book.
The waitress he was handsome
He wore a powder blue cape
I ordered some suzette, I said,
“Could you please make that crepe.”
Just then the whole kitchen exploded
From boiling fat
Food was flying everywhere
And I left without my hat.

Now, I didn’t mean to be nosy
But I went into a bank
To get some bail for Arab
And our boys back in the tank.
They asked me for some collateral
And I pulled down my pants
They threw me in the alley
When up comes this girl from France
Who invited me to her house
I went, but she had a friend
Who knocked me out
And robbed my boots
And I was on the street again.

Well, I rapped upon a house
With the U.S. flag upon display
I said, “Could you help me out?
I got some friends down the way.”
The man said, “Get out of here
I’ll tear you limb from limb.”
I said, “You know they refused Jesus, too.”
He said, “You’re not him.
Get out of here before I break your bones
I ain’t your pop.”
I decided to have him arrested
And I went looking for a cop.

I ran right outside
I hopped inside a cab
I went out the other door
This Englishman said, “Fab!”
As he saw me leap a hot dog stand
And a chariot that stood
Parked across from a building
Advertising brotherhood.
I ran right through the front door
Like a hobo sailor does
But it was just a funeral parlor
And the man asked me who I was.

I repeated that my friends
Were all in jail, with a sigh
He gave me his card
He said, “Call me if they die.”
I shook his hand and said goodbye
And ran out to the street
When a bowling ball came down the road
And knocked me off my feet.
A pay phone was ringing
It just about blew my mind
When I picked it up and said hello
This foot came through the line.

Well, by this time I was fed up
At tryin’ to make a stab
At bringin’ back any help
For my friends and Captain Arab.
I decided to flip a coin
Like either heads or tails
To let me know if I should go
Back to ship or back to jail.
So I hocked my sailor suit
And I got a coin to flip.
It came up tails
It rhymed with sail
So I made it back to the ship. [get the joke?]

Well, I got back and took
The parking ticket off the mast
I was ripping it to shreds
When this Coast Guard boat went past.
They asked me my name
And I said, “Captain Kidd.”
They believed me but
They wanted to know
What exactly that I did.
I said for the Pope of Eruke
I was employed [an extremely obscure line]
They let me go right away
They were very paranoid.

Well, the last I heard of Arab
He was stuck on a whale
That was married to the deputy
Sheriff of the jail.
But the funniest thing was
When I was leavin’ the bay
I saw three ships sailin’
They were all heading my way.
I asked the captain what his name was
And how come he didn’t drive a truck
He said his name was Columbus
And I just said, “Good luck.”

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 05, 2005 07:52 PM | Send