Desolation Row

DESOLATION ROW
AMERICA IN THE EARLY 1960’s
They’re selling postcards of the hanging
They’re painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner
They’ve got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they’re restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight
From Desolation Row
1

They’re selling postcards of the hanging
The record companies are selling message songs about the civil rights movement,
which of course opposed lynching. Now the Civil Rights Movement approves of it
as long as it a White cop.
They’re painting the passports brown
In order to get anywhere in the music business you have to write about negroes
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
Everything thing is the opposite of the way it should be, everything is perverted or
a small lounge or sitting room affording limited privacy, as at an inn or tavern, the
cafes of Greenwich Village are filled with militants.
The circus is in town
2

Circus Informal Something suggestive of a circus, as in frenetic activity or noisy
disorder
Here comes the blind commissioner
Sarcastic: Here comes the man who will give you record royalties, commissions,
who chooses who performs or records without the benefit of background
information that might prejudice the outcome or result. A liberal.
They’ve got him in a trance
The left has got him to believe in the Civil Rights Movement
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
His fate is tied to the racists like the KKK that ties a tight rope around Blacks
necks.
The other is in his pants
And this is what he exploits to make his money
And the riot squad they’re restless
“Restless” having or showing a persistent desire for change or action: "A restless
feeling of guilt would always be present with him" (James Joyce). Or “the natives
are restless.” It probably comes out of the old Tarzan films of the 1930's. It a sort
of racist statement where the white men are in Africa - and the natives are more
primitive or closer to nature. So the natives are sensing problems which the white
guys can't sense - because they're too civilized...And the Negros are rioting thanks
to the Civil Right Movement
They need somewhere to go
They can all go to hell as far as Dylan is concerned
As Lady and I look out tonight
As my poetry and I look out for our safety and well being
3

From Desolation Row
From America
Cinderella, she seems so easy
“It takes one to know one,” she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And in comes Romeo, he’s moaning
“You Belong to Me I Believe”
And someone says, “You’re in the wrong place my friend
You better leave”
And the only sound that’s left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up
On Desolation Row
Cinderella,
The word "Cinderella" has, by analogy, come to mean one whose attributes were
unrecognized, or one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a
period of obscurity and neglect. Is this about Fidel Castro?
She seems so easy
(sarcastic) Their success is likely to happen by accident or without intention
“It takes one to know one,” she smiles
Fidel cons America into believing he is a revolutionary like George Washington
and not a dirty low down communist
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Then puts her hands in someone who is part of a group or crew: the ship's hands
in a small pocket of political thought
Bette Davis style
4

Hollywood movie style
And in comes Romeo, he’s moaning
“You Belong to Me I Believe”
Then in comes John Kennedy he’s moaning, Cuba belongs to the Free World I
believe, in an insecure, wavering style
And someone says, “You’re in the wrong place my friend
You better leave”
You shouldn’t be president you should resign Place: High rank or status.
And the only sound that’s left
And the only speeches that are Leftist
After the ambulances go
After the Bay of Pigs
Is Cinderella sweeping up On Desolation Row
Is Fidel Castro forcing the United States into some kind of situation, condition, or
course of action; "They were swept up by the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis."
Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortune-telling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain
And the Good Samaritan, he’s dressing
He’s getting ready for the show
He’s going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row
5

Now the moon is almost hidden
Peace is unattainable, reaching for the moon
The stars are beginning to hide
Stars. The Four Star Generals are seeking shelter.
The fortune-telling lady
The military rank and file
Has even taken all her things inside
Has taken shelter along with their arms
All except for Cain and Abel
All except for the criminals
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
And those with physical problems that exempt them from draft
Everybody is making love
Everybody is trying to have kids which also exempts you
Or else expecting rain
Or else expecting rain, war as in Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. Expecting to go to war.
And the Good Samaritan, he’s dressing
The Army medic is getting his dressings ready
He’s getting ready for the show
He’s getting ready for casualties.
He’s going to the carnival tonight
6

He’s going to the carnival sarcastic: war tonight
On Desolation Row
While he is still in America.
The first thing is to find words with similar meanings or connotations . This tells
us it is the military:
Now Ophelia, she’s ’neath the window
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid
To her, death is quite romantic
She wears an iron vest
Her profession’s her religion
Her sin is her lifelessness
And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah’s great rainbow
She spends her time peeking
Into Desolation Row
Now Ophelia, she’s ’neath the window
An interval of time during which an activity can or must take place: a window of
vulnerability when the air force was subject to attack.
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid
The soldier will never be able to marry because he will be killed at an early age.
To her, death is quite romantic
Killing is imbued with idealism, a desire for adventure, etc.
She wears an iron vest
7

Body armor vest: Inflexible; unyielding: iron resolve. To place authority in the
control of a person or group.
Her profession’s her religion
Something of overwhelming importance to a person
Her sin is her lifelessness
Not inhabited by living beings or capable of sustaining life: a lifeless planet.
And though her eyes are fixed upon
To direct steadily: site to put in position for operation, as artillery.
Noah’s great rainbow
The promise not to destroy every living creature on earth
She spends her time peeking
looking or peering furtively, as from a place of concealment.
Into Desolation Row
Making it a possibility for America.
Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
With his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago
With his friend, a jealous monk
He looked so immaculately frightful
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Now you would not think to look at him
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
On Desolation Row
8

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
A genius disguised as a Communist Woody Guthrie
With his memories in a trunk
Who is retired from folk singing and his remembrances are packed away in trunk:
Also “trunk” the main Woody stem of a tree as distinct from its branches and
roots.
Passed this way an hour ago
Passed for a genius recently
With his friend, a jealous monk
With his fan a communist union member “join the monks, the CIA” – Tiny
Montgomery
He looked so immaculately frightful
Excessive; extreme: morally pure; free from sin or corruption
He had a degenerative nervous disorder Huntington’s Chorea:
As he bummed a cigarette
9

Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Huntington’s Chorea drove him nuts and he ended up a state mental hospital.
Now you would not think to look at him
You would think to look at him in the medical state that he was in.
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
For playing folk music
On Desolation Row
In America
Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They’re trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
She’s in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
“Have Mercy on His Soul”
They all play on pennywhistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row
Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
10

Sigmund Freud bases psychoanalysis on sexual perversion: Slang Of or relating to
the wearing of leather, or patronized by people who wear leather, especially as a
sexual fetish: a leather bar. Cup bra size.
But all his sexless patients
They’re trying to blow it up
But he is wrong because his patients who do not suffer from sexual problems
explode his thesis by being violent
Now his nurse, some local loser
Now the psychiatrist, the disciple of Freud
She’s in charge of the cyanide hole
Can send someone to the gas chamber by saying they were sane when they
committed their crime
And she also keeps the cards that read
“Have Mercy on His Soul”
Or get them off the hook. I remember reading this in a book by Lenny Bruce.
They all play on pennywhistles
Penis shaped musical instruments
You can hear them blow
Blow: suck cock
11

If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row
If you threaten to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and end up in Bellevue Psych ward
for observation as Dylan did in 1961. Lilly, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts “he
done a lot of bad things even once tried suicide” and he write about this in the
liner notes to The Times They are A-changing.
Across the street they’ve nailed the curtains
They’re getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera
In a perfect image of a priest
They’re spoon feeding Casanova
To get him to feel more assured
Then they’ll kill him with self-confidence
After poisoning him with words
And the Phantom’s shouting to skinny girls
“Get Outa Here If You Don’t Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row”
Across the street
In another venue
They’ve nailed the curtains
They have nailed down everything that could possibly be stolen by corrupt cops
They’re getting ready for the feast
They are getting ready for the predatory Irish Catholic cops to feast on Lenny
Bruce. To bust his ass.
The Phantom of the Opera
12

A performer who has everyone scared to death
In a perfect image of a priest
Lenny Bruce: Impersonating a Priest Miami, FL 23-Apr-1951
They’re spoon feeding
Casanova
They are selectively feeding information to a puritanical judge
Sarcastic Italian adventurer noted for his Mémoires, a vivid account of his sexual
adventures and of contemporary society. Lenny Bruce used four letter words in
his act.
To get him to feel more assured.
To get him to feel more assured that locking up Lenny is the right thing.
Then they’ll kill him with self-confidence.
Informal. To overcome completely or with irresistible effect: That comedian kills
me. Of, relating to, or involving a swindle or fraud: a confidence scheme; a
confidence trickster.
13

After poisoning him with words
After reading the judge a list of words Lenny used in his act.
And the Phantom’s shouting to skinny girls
And Lenny is telling reporters: Inside information; the real facts: learned the
skinny on their falling-out.
“Get Outa Here
You are putting me on
If You Don’t Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row”
It’s the Judge who is really being punished for being part of America in the early
1960’s.
Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Then they bring them to the factory
Where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders
And then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles
By insurance men who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
To Desolation Row
Now at midnight
At the darkest hour
All the agents
14

A representative or official of a government or administrative department of a
government: a Gestapo agent.
And the superhuman crew
And the rest of the Master race
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Arrest all the Jews who are really smarter than these Krauts will ever be.
Then they bring them to the factory
Then the bring them to the factory’s of death
Where the heart-attack machine
Where they are worked to death
Is strapped across their shoulders
Against their will
And then the kerosene
And then their death is sealed, they are to be cremated
Is brought down from the castles
By those in a place of privacy, security, or refuge who disappoint or dispirit: The
cancellation of the ballgame brought us down..
By insurance men who go
By American capitalists who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
Breaking loose from confinement; getting free: escaping from death by being
given asylum in….
15

To Desolation Row
The United States.
Praise be to Nero’s Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody’s shouting
“Which Side Are You On?”
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain’s tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea
Where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row
Praise be
(Theology) the extolling of a deity or the rendering of homage and gratitude to a
deity
to Nero’s Neptune Senator Joseph McCarthy
Emperor of Rome (54-68) whose early reign was dominated by his mother,
Agrippina the Younger. He had his mother and wife murdered, and he was
accused of setting the Great Fire of Rome (64). He committed suicide after being
deposed by the Senate.
The Titanic
Something Of enormous scope, power, or influence:
sails to make an attack (on) violently with words
at dawn
16

To begin to be perceived that Communists had infiltrated the US Government
with the intent to overthrow it or spy on it on behalf of the Sovs.
And everybody’s shouting
“Which Side Are You On?”
Are you for America or are you for Russia?
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
And the Senate fascists and Jew haters
Fighting in the captain’s tower
A commissioned rank in the US Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above
first lieutenant and below major. Tail-gunner Joe.
While calypso singers laugh at them
Folk singers including Dylan A type of music that originated in the West Indies,
notably in Trinidad, and is characterized by improvised lyrics on topical or broadly
humorous subjects.
And fishermen hold flowers
Zimmerman holds the best examples of art.
Between the windows of the sea
Between the perceptions of the masses
Where lovely mermaids flow
Where mindless love songs once flowed
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row
Fisherman is Zimmerman.
17

skull caps climb
by themselves out of manholes
Newsweek Magazine exposes me as a Jew.
an' shoeboxes ride
the cracks of the sidewalk
And my career is dependent of these wisecracks.
fishermen - - Zimmerman (Newsweek published his real name)
i've suddenly been turned into
a fish (a jew)
but does anybody
wanna be a fisherman (Zimmerman)
any more 'n i
don't wanna be a fish (Jew)
Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the doorknob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name
Right now I can’t read too good
Don’t send me no more letters, no
Not unless you mail them
18

From Desolation Row
Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the doorknob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name
Right now I can’t read too good
Don’t send me no more letters, no
Not unless you mail them
From Desolation Row
Copyright © 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music
19

20