Title: Talkin' World War III Blues (Carnegie Hall, 10-26-63)
Artist: Bob Dylan
Album: 50th Anniversary Collection: 1963 (Track #11)
Duration: 04:50
Label:
Some time ago a crazy dream came to me,
I dreamt I was walkin' into World War Three,
I went to the doctor the very next day
To see what kinda words he could say.
He said it was a bad dream.
I wouldn't worry 'bout it none, though,
They were my own dreams and they're only in my head.
I said, "Hold it, Doc, a World War passed through my brain."
He said, "Nurse, get your pad, this boy's insane,"
He grabbed my arm, I said "Ouch!"
As I landed on the psychiatric couch,
He said, "Tell me about it."
Well, the whole thing started at 3 o'clock fast,
It was all over by quarter past.
I was down in the sewer with some little lover
When I peeked out from a manhole cover
Wondering who turned the lights on.
Well, I got up and walked around
And up and down the lonesome town.
I stood a-wondering which way to go,
I lit a cigarette on a parking meter
And walked on down the road.
It was a normal day.
Well, I rung the fallout shelter bell
And I leaned my head and I gave a yell,
"Give me a string bean, I'm a hungry man."
A shotgun fired and away I ran.
I don't blame them too much though,
I know I look funny.
Down at the corner by a hot-dog stand
I seen a man, I said, "Howdy friend,
I guess there's just us two."
He screamed a bit and away he flew.
Thought I was a Communist.
Well, I spied a girl and before she could leave,
"Let's go and play Adam and Eve."
I took her by the hand and my heart it was thumpin'
When she said, "Hey man, you crazy or sumpin',
You see what happened last time they started."
Well, I seen a Cadillac window uptown
And there was nobody aroun',
I got into the driver's seat
And I drove 42nd Street
In my Cadillac.
Good car to drive after a war.
Well, I remember seein' some ad,
So I turned on my Conelrad.
But I didn't pay my Con Ed bill,
So the radio didn't work so well.
Turned on my player-
It was Rock-A-Day, Johnny singin',
"Tell Your Ma, Tell Your Pa,
Our Loves Are Gonna Grow Ooh-wah, Ooh-wah."
I was feelin' kinda lonesome and blue,
I needed somebody to talk to.
So I called up the operator of time
Just to hear a voice of some kind.
"When you hear the beep
It will be three o'clock,"
She said that for over an hour
And I hung it up.
Well, the doctor interrupted me just about then,
Sayin, "Hey I've been havin' the same old dreams,
But mine was a little different you see.
I dreamt that the only person left after the war was me.
I didn't see you around."
Well, now time passed and now it seems
Everybody's having them dreams.
Everybody sees themselves walkin' around with no one else.
Half of the people can be part right all of the time,
Some of the people can be all right part of the time.
But all the people can't be all right all the time
I think Abraham Lincoln said that.
"I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours,"
I said that.
The 50th Anniversary Collection 1963 is the second Bob Dylan collection released by Sony Music to prevent the recordings from legally entering the public domain in Europe. Released on vinyl only in November 2013 only 100 copies of the six-LP set were produced.
Track listing
LP 1 Side A
Eternal Circle (Take 4)
Percys Song (Take 1)
Thats All Right, Mama/Sally Free and Easy (Take 1)
Hero Blues (Take 3)
East Laredo Blues (Take 1)
Bob Dylans New Orleans Rag (Take 2)
tracks 1 & 4 recorded 12 August 1963, tracks 2, 3 & 5 recorded 23 October, track 6 recorded 24 October during The Times They Are a-Changin sessions
LP 1 Side B The Banjo Tape
Lonesome River Edge
Back Door Blues
Bob Dylans Dream
You Can Get Her
Farewell
All Over You
Instrumental in Gerdes Basement/Jam
Keep Your Hands Off Her (Leadbelly)
Honey Babe
Goin Back To Rome
Stealin'
all tracks recorded 2 August 1963 at the Basement of Gerdes Folk City. Tracks 7, 9, 12 with Happy Traum, track 12 with Gil Turner
LP 2 Side C
Ballad of Hollis Brown
recorded for the Folk Songs and More Folk Songs TV Special, 3 March 1963
Girl from the North Country
Only A Hobo
tracks 2 & 3 recorded for the Oscar Brand Show/World of Folk Music, March 1963
Ramblin Down Through the World
Bob Dylans Dream
Talkin New York
Hiding Too Long
LP 2 Side D
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Walls of Red Wing
All Over You
Talkin John Birch Paranoid Blues
Boots of Spanish Leather
LP 3 Side E
Hero Blues
John Brown
A Hard Rains a-Gonna Fall
Dusty Old Fairgrounds
Who Killed Davey Moore?
LP 3 Side F
Seven Curses
Highway 51?
Pretty Peggy-O
Bob Dylans New Orleans Rag
Dont Think Twice, Its All Right
With God On Our Side
tracks 47, side C and sides D-F recorded at the Town Hall, New York City, 12 April 1963
LP 4 Side G
James Alley Blues
Long Time Gone
Only a Hobo
Untitled Blues Jam
A Hard Rains a-Gonna Fall
tracks 15 recorded at the home of Eve and Mac McKenzie, 18 April 1963
Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
Talkin John Birch Paranoid Blues
LP 4 Side H
Bob Dylans Dream
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Talkin World War III Blues
A Hard Rains a-Gonna Fall
With God on Our Side
tracks 67, side G and side H recorded at The Bear folk club, Chicago, 25 April 1963
LP 5 Side I
Farewell
A Hard Rains a-Gonna Fall
Bob Dylans Dream
Boots of Spanish Leather
John Brown
LP 5 Side J
Who Killed Davey Moore?
Blowin in the Wind
Tracks 1 & 2, side J recorded for the Studs Terkel Wax Museum radio show, Chicago, 26 April 1963
Blowin in the Wind
Only a Pawn in Their Game
tracks 3 & 4 recorded for the Songs of Freedom TV show, New York City, 30 July 1963
When the Ship Comes In
Only a Pawn in Their Game
tracks 5 & 6 recorded at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, 28 August 1963. Track 5 with Joan Baez
LP 6 Side K
Blowin in the Wind
Percys Song
Seven Curses
Walls of Red Wing
LP 6 Side L
Talkin World War III Blues
Dont Think Twice, Its All Right
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Masters of War
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
sides K & L recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York City, 26 October 1963