“Blonde on Blonde” by Bob Dylan album jacket cover
Blonde on Blonde (1966) is a double album and Bob Dylan’s seventh studio album. Although I can’t nudge “Planet Waves” out of #1 Bob Dylan album for me, Blonde on Blonde comes pretty close. The album has all great songs. This one’s actually a little bit of a downer but for people who are feeling down, there is catharsis in knowing one is not alone in it. There is a wealth of metaphor and hidden meaning to be found in the lyrics.
From wikipedia:
“Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” is the final track, lasting 11 minutes and 23 seconds, and occupies the entire fourth side of the double album. The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. The music is a waltz in 6/8 time.
Some writers have concluded that the song refers to Joan Baez, although most agree that it was composed for Dylan’s wife, Sara Lownds. Commentators have pointed to literary allusions in “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” which include William Blake’s “The Tyger”, Algernon Swinburne’s “Dolores”, and verses of the Bible.
Dylan’s lyrics polarized critics. On its release, several reviewers found them impenetrable, but rated the song favorably. Later writers often agree with this, praising the sound, dismissing the lyrics, and rating the song as amongst Dylan’s best work.
Dylan has never performed the song in concert. It has been covered by a variety of artists, including Baez, on Any Day Now (1968), and Richie Havens, on Mixed Bag II (1974). Dylan’s version has been cited as an influence by the former Pink Floyd bassist and songwriter Roger Waters, and George Harrison wrote that the track influenced aspects of the Beatles song “Long, Long, Long“.
With your mercury mouth in the missionary times
And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes
And your silver cross, and your voice like chimes
Oh who do they think could bury you.
With your pockets well protected at last
And your streetcar visions which you place on the grass
And your flesh like silk, and your face like glass
Who could they get to carry you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes
My warehouse hides my Arabian drums
Should I put them by your gate
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 prophet says that no man comes
My warehouse hides 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 prophet say that no man comes
My warehouse hides my Arabian drums
Should I leave them by your gate
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
Oh, the farmers and the businessmen, 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 a hoodlum wrapped up in your arms
How could they ever have persuaded you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes
My warehouse hides 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 enfold
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 hides my Arabian drums
Should I leave them by your gate
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Jim Adams is the host of Song Lyric Sunday. Jim says:
This week the theme is to find a song that made a great closing track on an album.
Tao Talk 
I think that if I could figure out what Bob meant when he sang, “Oh who do they think could bury you”, that I would something deep about this song, because I am pretty sure that it has nothing to do with “Arabian drums’, but I have been known to be wrong. The only thing that makes sense is that you have to be special in someone’s life to be responsible for their burial. Great choice, Lisa as I really enjoyed listening to this, as it made the perfect ending to SLS.
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Thanks, Jim. Dylan is so danged mysterious about his song lyrics and even when he answers there is no guarantee he’s telling the truth. Honestly as I read through the lyrics I have to wonder if he knew violinist Scarlet Rivera at that time. I was late posting mine today as had some things to take care of but it worked out well :)
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I never knew he never played this song live. Blonde on Blonde is a masterpiece and his last album he had of that…I can’t explain it…wordy method he used on the albums up to this one. After this, his songs were toned down a little and not as wordy and a “stream of conscious” feeling…that is probably the description I was looking for.
Springsteen did the same thing after Born To Run…he didn’t use the stream of conscious much after that.
Great song!
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Glad you learned something new about the song. Glad to learn something from you about he and Bruce. IIRC he was splitting up with Sara at this time and maybe this is his goodbye song to her? Also possible it is about neither Sara nor Joan. Some of those lyrics remind me of Scarlet, the violinist but not even sure if she was in the picture at this point.
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Sara and him split around 1975…thats in the Chris O’Dell book also. I think they were just beginning here or around this time in 65-66… the tour he did in 66 on this album is incredible…that is the one with the Band.
It’s too bad him and Sara couldn’t work it out.
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All good info, Max, thank you.
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Anytime!
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I have many of his albums that I purchased ” back in the day.” You know when that was? I recently bought a new vinyl disc of “Nashville Skyline” because my old one was lifted by our movers. Maybe, his greatest album and the one that drove all those long haired rockers to country music back in the early 70s. Without Dylan, there would have not been the Byrds, The Eagles and the Burrito Brothers.
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Phil your comment is much appreciated. Sometimes hearing that others hear what you hear is reassuring. I’ve always loved it. Good to know others do also. Sorry to hear someone lifted one of your albums. Uncool!
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Oh, it wasn’t just one, it was an entire box of my favorites, some still in the plastic wrapping. I figured around 70 albums total and a hundred CDs. ” All My Sons” moving company, keep them in mind.
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OH NO. Can’t you go after them? Seriously! If it is a business take them to small claims court. They might get wise and return them to you to avoid court.
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I’m replacing them via Half Price Book, but it will take years. I tried a few letters and calls, no way to prove it without a picture or a witness. Good news is, I still have a few hundred of my original albums and two good hearing aids. I’m okay for now. My son is also a collector and a pack-rat, he has albums to spare, so he is gifting me some of the lost jewels.
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“A few hundred” albums sounds like enough to get by lol. But still! Glad your son follows his dad’s footsteps <3 Do you and he have similar musical taste?
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Yep, so do all the grandchildren.
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:)
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A great track from a great Album 💜💜
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Ain’t it though. Thanks for listening <3
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A pleasure 💜😊
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Great choice: I like the waltz tempo.!
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Marina it really pulls you in doesn’t it. Glad you like the song :)
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Blond on Blond is my second favorite Dylan – I have to admit that Highway 61 Revisited is my favorite. Anyway, great song :).
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Well said! I don’t know what other songs sound like they were having as much fun recording as “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” and “Highway 61 Revisited”.
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The entire album is very surrealistic…
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Glad you know it and love it. I know some of the songs from H61R but surprisingly don’t have that album in any format.
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I’ll admit that of the ten (give or take) Dylan albums I have, “Planet Waves” isn’t one of them. Looking it up, I do know and like most of the songs on it.
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You probably know that The Band backs him up on this album and that’s one of the reasons why I cherish it so much. He also did the album cover artwork. Don’t ask me why, but there is something about the song, Hazel, on there that “strikes a match in me” (a lyric from another song on the album.)
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A great choice for today’s theme. A Bob epic!
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Thanks much, Clive :)
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Just adore his work. I think this was one of the first double albums in the genre too.
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Oh really! Good bit of music trivia to know, thank you! I do adore me my Dylan :)
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In my judgmental moments (lol) I think that if people don’t like Dylan they are deeply flawed (I mean missing out) :)
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lol <3
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I don’t know why but I just couldn’t ‘dig’ Dylan. It must be the voice because I do like a lot of cover versions of his songs.
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I understand. There are some bands and singers that people adore and they just don’t do it for me either. Rush is one of those bands I cannot and will not listen to.
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Well, thanks. I hadn’t listened to this album in a long time. I just listened all the way through and it made my morning.
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Steve, that’s very cool. May I ask, what’s your favorite song on it? I love the pillbox hat one.
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I’m not very good at picking favorites. How about a favorite line for now – “to live outside the law you must be honest” (from Absolutely Sweet Marie”), the best explanation of anarchism I’ve ever heard. I also like that in “Sara” he sings “writing ‘Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’ for you” in case there was any doubt. And that “Obviously 5 Believers” uses the riff from “You Don’t Love Me”, which took the riff from Bo Diddley’s 1955 song “She’s Mine, She’s Fine”.
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I like that line you chose. He’s got so many perfectly wise lines like that, either directly or implied, in his lyrics.
Oh yes and right, someone else mentioned the song Sara and it confirming this one was for her. At wiki it says that he and Sara had just gotten married but this song does not seem to sing about honeymoon love as much as sunset love, although it is permeated with love.
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I used to love Dylan. I don’t know why I don’t search out his music any more. You might have inspired me!
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Luanne, I hope you do! Have you heard him with The Traveling Wilburys?
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No, is it good?
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I love that song, Lisa. Even though I’ve listened to “Blonde on Blonde” in the past (though not recently), I didn’t remember that track – makes me want to revisit the entire album! :-)
BTW, my favorite Dylan album is “Highway 61 Revisited” – that said, I’m by no means a Dylan expert. While I know songs from throughout his career, I’ve only listened to some of his albums in their entirety.
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Christian, maybe because it took up a whole album side? It looks like you are in good company with H61R as a favorite.
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Maybe – though you’d think I remember a track that takes an entire side! Then again, I don’t own the album on vinyl, and these are the kind of details that unfortunately get lost with music streaming!
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“And your deck of cards missing the jack and the ace”–one of my favorite Dylan lines. Joan does a great version. “Any Day Now” is also full of gems. (K)
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Kerfe, that is brilliant. Bob is a boddhisatva in my opinion. YES on Any Day Now. Look at how much light he has brought to the human condition.
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More than we can bear it seems sometimes.
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A brilliant lyric!
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Indeed!
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