Title: Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag
Artist: Bob Dylan
Album: Complete Town Hall, April 12, 1963 (Track #19)
Duration: 03:18
Label: Sony Music Entertainment
I was sittin' on a stump down in New Orleans
I was feelin' kinda low down, dirty an' mean
Along come a fella an' he didn't even ask
He said, "I know of a woman who can fix you up fast.''
Well i didn't think twice, i just said like i should
"Let's go find this lady who can do me some good.''
We walked across Rampart on a sailin' spree
An' we come to a door called one-oh-three.
I's just about ready to give my little knock
When out comes a fella who couldn't even walk
He's linkin' an' a-slinkin', couldn't stand on his feet
An' he moaned an' he groaned an' he shuffled down the street.
Well, out of the door there comes another man
He couldn't even talk an' he couldn't even stand
He moaned an' he groaned an' he shuffled his feet
An' he slid slidin' backwards down on Rampart street.
Well, i peeked thru the key hole an' comin' down the hall
Was a long legged man who could hardly crawl
He had a terrible mean look in his eye
Like he'd just fall to burn, he's was ready to die.
Well somebody else with his hell of a miss
Fell out of the window an' he fell the test
Well he slid an' he slunk in broken french
An' he looked like he'd been thru a monkey wrench.
Well, by this time i was a-scared to knock
I was a-scared to move, i's in a state of shock
I hummed a little tune an' i shuffled my feet
An' i started walkin' backwards down Rampart street.
Well, i got to the corner i tried my best smile
I turned around the corner an' i ran a bloody mile
Man, i wasn't around for to meet my wife
I's just a-runnin' for to save my life.
Well, i's coughin' in my ears an' wheezin' in my chest
I musta run a mile in a minute or less
I tripped on a log an' i flumped on a stump
I caught a fast freight train with a one-arm jump.
So if you're travellin' down Louisiana way
An' you're feelin' kinda lonesome an' you need a place to stay
Man, you're better off in your misery
Than to tackle that lady in one-oh-three.
Recorded by Columbia Records for a proposed 1963 live album, eventually entitled In Concert. The LP (which also included material recorded at Carnegie Hall) was never issued. And, despite the sound quality, this show never will be, either. The reason? Dylan's vocal mic wasn't equipped with one of those little $1 foam guards. As a result, some of Bob's performance is punctuated with plenty of prominently placed p's (and some b's and c's, too). Dylan seems to adjust to the issue over the course of the show - leaning away from the mic while shouting out "Highway 51" - to the point where "Pretty Peggy-O" is problem free.