Just like a Rolling Stone (21)

Just like a Rolling Stone

1

I wandered through the aisles of an over-crowded hall

The entrance fee had left me with nothing to spend at all

With my jeans a cause for pity and my hair a tangled mess

I appeared to be a beatnik living under some duress

In the world that I had entered I was clearly down at heel

With no money left for drinking or to buy myself a meal

Well at least Joan Baez was there and about to play

Plus hopefully Bob Dylan, the new hero of the day

Chorus

Bob planned to go electric since paying folk his dues

He discarded Woody Guthrie after trying on his shoes

The folk crowd would be hit hard by the awful news

Bob Dylan played just like a Rolling Stone

2

Joan Baez looked amazing as she slipped onto the stage

She sang like a soprano and I loved the way she played

She was on a higher level to the street life I knew best

It was like she was an angel giving Paradise a rest

And then I noticed Dylan growing impatient I think

With no one to amuse him or to pay for his next drink

I was told about his Fender from a person in the know

And that Dylan was preparing to give rock music a go

Chorus

Bob planned to go electric since paying folk his dues

He discarded Woody Guthrie after trying on his shoes

The folk crowd would be hit hard by the awful news

Bob Dylan played just like a Rolling Stone

3

In accord with her nature, Joan invited Bob to play

His guitar was really battered like a thing to give away

He did not mention his Fender he was now playing a lot

With a band of desperadoes that supposedly were hot

When Joan Baez mentioned protest, Bob Dylan opted out

Despite children still dying in the Vietnam War no doubt

Joan was disappointed; she expected more from Bob

Before his sad conversion, Dylan was her heart-throb

Chorus

Bob planned to go electric since paying folk his dues

He discarded Woody Guthrie after trying on his shoes

The folk crowd would be hit hard by the awful news

Bob Dylan played just like a Rolling Stone

4

A little while later it was time to leave this hall

The show was now over; it was not a midnight ball

I stumbled through a time warp that aged me somehow

Joan Baez came soon after and Bob Dylan with a growl

There was some disappointment Bob failed to save the world

From the culture of destruction and the usual corporate crowd

The folk mob blamed Bob’s Fender for his conversion to “rock”

Yet the load was just too heavy for one member of the flock

Chorus

Bob planned to go electric since paying folk his dues

He discarded Woody Guthrie after trying on his shoes

The folk crowd would be hit hard by the awful news

Bob Dylan played just like a Rolling Stone

The End

© Frankie Spiritu