Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

Bob Dylan

About Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" is a song written by Bob Dylan that appears on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. The album version also appears on 1971's Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II. An early studio take, done in a faster cut-time, was released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack in 2005. As the recording indicates, Dylan had difficulty fitting the words to the tempo, and evidently this led to its rearrangement, as heard on Blonde on Blonde, in a more "rock"-oriented 4/4 time. A live version of this song appears on the 1976 album Hard Rain, and was also released as a single with "Rita May" as the B-side. 


Year:
2010
108 
#3

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Oh, the ragman draws circles
Up and down the block
I'd ask him what the matter was
But I know that he don't talk
And the ladies treat me kindly
And furnish me with tape
But deep inside my heart
I know I can't escape

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

Well, Shakespeare, he's in the alley
With his pointed shoes and his bells
Speaking to some French girl
Who says she knows me well
And I would send a message
To find out if she's talked
But the post office has been stolen
And the mailbox is locked

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

Mona tried to tell me
To stay away from the train line
She said that all the railroad men
Just drink up your blood like wine
An' I said, "Oh, I didn't know that
But then again, there's only one I've met
An' he just smoked my eyelids
An' punched my cigarette"

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

Grandpa died last week
And now he's buried in the rocks
But everybody still talks about
How badly they were shocked
But me, I expected it to happen
I knew he'd lost control
When he built a fire on Main Street
And shot it full of holes

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

Now the senator came down here
Showing ev'ryone his gun
Handing out free tickets
To the wedding of his son
An' me, I nearly got busted
An' wouldn't it be my luck?
To get caught without a ticket
And be discovered beneath a truck

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

Now the preacher looked so baffled
When I asked him why he dressed
With twenty pounds of headlines
Stapled to his chest
But he cursed me when I proved it to him
Then I whispered, "Not even you can hide
You see, you're just like me
I hope you're satisfied"

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

Now the rain man gave me two cures
Then he said, "Jump right in"
The one was Texas medicine
The other was just railroad gin
An' like a fool I mixed them
An' it strangled up my mind
An' now people just get uglier
An' I have no sense of time

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

When Ruthie says come see her
In her honky-tonk lagoon
Where I can watch her waltz for free
'Neath her Panamanian moon
An' I say, "Aw come on now
You must know about my debutante"
An' she says, "Your debutante just knows what you need
But I know what you want"

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

Now the bricks lay on Grand Street
Where the neon madmen climb
They all fall there so perfectly
It all seems so well timed
An' here I sit so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get out of
Going through all these things twice

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan ( /ˈdɪlən/; born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and artist. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of Dylan's early songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving his initial base in the culture of folk music behind, Dylan's six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" has been described as radically altering the parameters of popular music in … more »

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Written by: Bob Dylan

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind


10 facts about this song

Release Details
"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The song was released in the year 1966, on Dylan's landmark double album "Blonde on Blonde".
Content Origin
Dylan confessed that the strange and surreal lyrics of the song were influenced by the French Surrealist poets like Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine.
Style of Song
The song follows a blues format, but the melody structure is quite different from traditional blues, reflecting Bob Dylan's innovative songwriting style during the 1960s.
Recording Process
There are 20 known outtakes of the song during the recording process which indicates Dylan was very meticulous in creating the final version on the album.
Popular Covers
Many artists have covered "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again", including Elvis Costello, Cat Power, Grateful Dead, and Old Crow Medicine Show, among others.
Uses in Media
This song was also used in films. It was part of the soundtrack for the 2007 movie "I’m Not There", which is a biographical musical drama inspired by the life of Bob Dylan himself, and also in 1976's film "The Story of Joanna".
Song's Length
The song runs for seven minutes and five seconds, making it one of the longest songs by Dylan.
Notable Live Performance
The live performance of this song that took place during Bob Dylan's 1976 Rolling Thunder Revue has been noted for its energetic and passionate rendition.
Unique Lyrics
The song's lyrics have been puzzled over for the years and it is well known for its distinctive and whimsical refrain: "Oh, mama, could this really be the end, to be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again."
Grammy Hall of Fame
The album "Blonde on Blonde", which features the song, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and have qualitative or historical significance.

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