This magnificent song popped into my head a week or so ago. Hadn't listened to it in years - it is awfully long, after all. But listening to it again after so long, and after my tastes have evolved, was enlightening. I wasn't sure of some of the words, so I went looking for them on the internet. That's what led me here - great site, very well constructed and maintained.
But I did notice some discrepancies between what is printed here and what he sings. Some are minor - a letter not capitaized at the start of a line, stuff like that - some are more critical - the way he changes "prophet" between singular and plural, for instance. I've taken the time to listen through a few times and type up all the corrected lyrics. The corrected lines are marked with * which of course should be removed. I'm presenting them below in the hopes they will be incorporated into the lyric file here.
I don't know how much of it matters - it does seem as though some of these errors resulted from him not remembering, the recording going late into the night, and there being so many words - but it would be great if there were at least one site on the web that was 100% accurate. His own site isn't, which is disheartening. I used the official youtube video, so I assume it's the definitive version - ie, the actual version from "Blonde On Blonde." I don't know what the real words are - what is written, or what he sings - but this is a transcription of what he sings.
I don't wish to be seen as persnickety, but it is important to be accurate. Accuracy allows the internet to be reliable. That's my goal. Thanks!
PS: In the fourth chorus he really does say, "Where the sad-eyed prophets say that no man's come." This allows an odd double entendre. And in the fifth chorus he doesn't match subject and verb. As I said, this is a transcription. I don't presume to guess his intent.
PPS: In the third and seventh lines of the verses, I don't hear the G7 chord. Or any chord change there. I think it should be as follows:
"F C/e Dm C" - which still provides the bass line movement. (I sketched out the chords in a text file using Courier.) Thanks.
C G/b F/a G7
With your mercury mouth in the missionary times,
C G/b F/a G7
And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes,
F C/e Dm G7 C
And your silver cross, and your voice like chimes,
C Dm G7sus4 G7 G7sus2 G7
*Oh, who did they think could bury you?
C G/b F/a G7
With your pockets well protected at last,
C G/b F/a G7
And your streetcar visions which you place on the grass,
F C/e Dm G7 C
And your flesh like silk, and your face like glass,
C Dm G7sus4 G7 G7sus2 G7
*Who could they get to carry you?
Dm C G
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
Dm C G7
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes,
C G/b F/a C/g F C/e G7
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
Dm G7sus4 G7 G7sus2 G7
Should I put them by your gate,
Dm C
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
With your sheets like metal and your belt like lace,
And your deck of cards missing the jack and the ace,
And your basement clothes and your hollow face,
Who among them can think he could outguess you?
With your silhouette when the sunlight dims
Into your eyes where the moonlight swims,
*And your matchbook songs and your gypsy hymns,
Who among them would try to impress you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
*Where the sad-eyed prophets say that no man comes,
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
*Should I put them by your gate,
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
The kings of Tyrus with their convict list
Are waiting in line for their geranium kiss,
And you wouldn't know it would happen like this,
But who among them really wants just to kiss you?
With your childhood flames on your midnight rug,
And your Spanish manners and your mother's drugs,
And your cowboy mouth and your curfew plugs,
Who among them do you think could resist you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
*Where the sad-eyed prophets say that no man comes,
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
Should I leave them by your gate,
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
*Oh, the farmers and the businessman, they all did decide
*To show you where the dead angels are that they used to hide.
But why did they pick you to sympathize with their side?
*How could they ever mistake you?
They wished you'd accepted the blame for the farm,
But with the sea at your feet and the phony false alarm,
*And with the child of the hoodlum wrapped up in your arms,
*How could they ever have persuaded you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
*Where the sad-eyed prophets say that no man's come,
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
Should I leave them by your gate,
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
With your sheet-metal memory of Cannery Row,
*And your magazine husband who one day just had to go,
And your gentleness now, which you just can't help but show,
Who among them do you think would employ you?
Now you stand with your thief, you're on his parole
*With your holy medallion in your fingertips now that fold,
And your saintlike face and your ghostlike soul,
*Who among them could ever think he could destroy you
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
*Where the sad-eyed prophet say that no man comes,
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
Should I leave them by your gate,
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?