Desolation Row chords by Bob Dylan

Chords with lyrics (Ver. 2)

Desolation Row chords
Bob Dylan

E MajorE E E MajorE Esus4Esus4 E MajorE 2x

    E MajorE
They're selling postcards of the hanging,
    A augmentedA           E MajorE
they're painting the passports brown;
  B7B7
the beauty parlor is filled with sailors,
  A augmentedA      E MajorE
the circus is in town

Here comes the blind commissioner,
    A augmentedA      E MajorE
they've got him in a trance;
B7B7
one hand is tied to the tight-rope walker,
  A augmentedA        E MajorE
the other is in his pants
    A augmentedA
And the riot squad they're restless,
   E MajorE         A augmentedA
they need somewhere to go;
  E MajorE        B7B7
as lady and I look out tonight,
   A augmentedA     E MajorE  E MajorE Esus4Esus4 E MajorE 3x
from Desolation Row

E MajorE
Cinderella, she seems so easy,
  A augmentedA              E MajorE
"it takes one to know one," she smiles;
  B7B7
and puts her hands in her back pockets,
A augmentedA      E MajorE
Bette Davis style

And in comes Romeo, he's moaning,
    A augmentedA       E MajorE
"you belong to me I believe";
  B7B7
and someone says," you're in the wrong place, my friend,
A augmentedA     E MajorE
you better leave"
    A augmentedA
And the only sound that's left,
E MajorE          A augmentedA
after the ambulances go;
  E MajorE     B7B7
is Cinderella sweeping up,
  A augmentedA     E MajorE  E MajorE Esus4Esus4 E MajorE 3x
on Desolation Row

    E MajorE
Now the moon is almost hidden,
  A augmentedA           E MajorE
the stars are beginning to hide;
  B7B7
the fortunetelling lady,
  A augmentedA              E MajorE
has even taken all her things inside

All except for Cain and Abel,
    A augmentedA         E MajorE
and the hunchback of Notre Dame;
B7B7
everybody is making love,
  A augmentedA       E MajorE
or else expecting rain
    A augmentedA
And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing,
       E MajorE       A augmentedA
he's getting ready for the show;
   E MajorE      B7B7
he's going to the carnival tonight,
  A augmentedA     E MajorE E MajorE Esus4Esus4 E MajorE 3x
on Desolation Row

   E MajorE
Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window,
  A augmentedA       E MajorE
for her I feel so afraid;
    B7B7
on her twenty-second birthday,
   A augmentedA        E MajorE
she already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic,
  A augmentedA       E MajorE
she wears an iron vest;
    B7B7
her profession's her religion,
  A augmentedA         E MajorE
her sin is her lifelessness
  A augmentedA
And though her eyes are fixed upon,
E MajorE        A augmentedA
Noah's great rainbow;
  E MajorE        B7B7
she spends her time peeking,
   A augmentedA     E MajorE  E MajorE Esus4Esus4 E MajorE 3x
into Desolation Row

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

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 penny whistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row

Across the street they've nailed the curtains
They're getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera
A augmentedA 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"

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

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
   A augmentedA     E MajorE E MajorE Esus4Esus4 E MajorE 2x
About Desolation Row

E MajorE A augmentedA E MajorE B7B7 A augmentedA E MajorE A augmentedA E MajorE B7B7 A augmentedA E MajorE A augmentedA E MajorE A augmentedA E MajorE B7B7 A augmentedA E MajorE

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the door knob 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
   A augmentedA     E MajorE  E MajorE Esus4Esus4 E MajorE 2x
From Desolation Row

E MajorE A augmentedA E MajorE B7B7 A augmentedA E MajorE A augmentedA E MajorE B7B7 A augmentedA E MajorE A augmentedA E MajorE A augmentedA E MajorE B7B7 A augmentedA E MajorE


Set8

Other versions of Desolation Row

Alternative guitar chords and tabs for Desolation row by Bob Dylan