From: nates@ll.mit.edu ( Nate Smith)
Subject: Re: Which song? (Dylan)
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 20:46:12 GMT

In article <1993Jan24.220922.25922@tdb.uu.se> t89par@tdb.uu.se (Par Svensson) writes:
>
>I would like to know the name of, and also if there is
>a tab around for, a song by Bob Dylan. I heard it on
>the Dylan Tribute concert recently. It was the second
>song he played, and it had a really catchy guitar line.
>
>/Par

dylan did "Song to Woody", "Its Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
and then they all did some together, then he came out and did
"Girl From the North Country".  i assume you want "It's
Alright Ma ..."

Its Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleedin'    -  B. Dylan, circa.1964

Darkness at the break of noon shadows even the silver spoon
The hand made blade, the child's balloon eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon there is no sense in trying
Pointed threats they bluff with scorn, suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece, the hollow horn
Plays wasted words, proves to warn That he not busy being born is busy dying
Temptation's page flies out the door, you follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar, you feel to moan but unlike before
You discover that you' just be one more person crying
So don't fear if you hear a foreign sound to your ear
It's alright ma, I'm only sighing

As some warn victory, some downfall, private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all except hatred
Disillusioned words like bullets bark as human gods aim for their mark
Make everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh coloured Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far that not much is really sacred
While preachers preach of evil fates teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred dollar plates, goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have to stand naked
And though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you've got to dodge
And it's alright ma, I can make it

Advertising signs that con you into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done, that can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on all around you
You lose yourself, you reappear you suddenly find you've got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near when a trembling distant voice unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear That somebody thinks they really found you
A question in your nerves is lit yet you know there is no answer fit
To satisfy, ensure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he or she or them or it that you belong to
Although the masters make the rules for the wise men and the fools
I've got nothing, ma, to live up to

----------------------------HE LEFT OUT THIS VERSE AT MSG-------------------
For them that must obey authority that they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be nothing more than something they invest in
While some unprinciples baptize too strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise, outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize and say 'God bless him'
While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers, cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole that he's in
But I mean no harm nor put fault on anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, ma, if I can't please him
-------------------------------------------------end LEFT OUT VERSE---------

Old lady judges watch people in pairs, limited in sex they dare
To push fake morals, insultant stares While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares, propaganda all is phony
While them that defend what they cannot see With a killer's pride, security
It blows the mind most bitterly for them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally life sometimes must get lonely
My eyes collide head on with stuffed graveyards, false goals, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough, walk upside down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off, say OK I've had enough
What else can you show me And if my thought dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright ma, it's life and life only

-------------------------------------------------------------------

now as near as i can tell, you tune both E strings down to D, put
the capo on the 2nd fret and use D chord shapes:

000230  000230  000230-230  000230-230
000233  000233/55-33  000230  000230  ... etc

on the record (Bringing It All Back Home), he picks out a base
note line:

-2---- -00230 x4  "...break of noon"
0----- -00230 x4  "...silver spoon"
-3---- -00230 x4  "...child's balloon"
-2---- -00230 x4  "...sun and moon"
-1---- -00230 x4  "...know too soon"
0----- 000230  0--- -00230-00230  000233/55-33 etc.
 "there's no sense in trying"

when he gets to the chorus:

000230         202222       000230           020033
so dont fear   if you hear  a foreign sound  to your ear
0-----  -0----  -2----  -0---- -02222        000230
its     all     right   ma .......i'm only   sighing

at MSG it sounds like he only tuned the low E down to D,
then he played some higher patterns to get the 33/55-33 effect
with, i might add here, a lot less menacing feel.

- nate
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