#-------------------------------PLEASE NOTE-------------------------------------#
# This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
# song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------#
Desolation Row chords
Bob Dylan

E E E Esus4 E 2x

        E
They're selling postcards of the hanging,
        A                      E
they're painting the passports brown;
    B7
the beauty parlor is filled with sailors,
    A            E
the circus is in town
     
Here comes the blind commissioner,
        A            E
they've got him in a trance;
B7
one hand is tied to the tight-rope walker,
    A               E
the other is in his pants
        A
And the riot squad they're restless,
     E                 A
they need somewhere to go;
   E               B7
as lady and I look out tonight,
     A          E   E Esus4 E 3x
from Desolation Row

E
Cinderella, she seems so easy,
    A                           E
"it takes one to know one," she smiles;
    B7
and puts her hands in her back pockets,
A           E
Bette Davis style
    
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning,
       A              E
"you belong to me I believe";
    B7
and someone says," you're in the wrong place, my friend,
A          E
you better leave"
        A
And the only sound that's left,
E                    A
after the ambulances go;
   E          B7
is Cinderella sweeping up,
   A          E   E Esus4 E 3x
on Desolation Row

        E
Now the moon is almost hidden,
    A                      E
the stars are beginning to hide;
    B7
the fortunetelling lady,
    A                           E
has even taken all her things inside
      
All except for Cain and Abel,
        A                  E
and the hunchback of Notre Dame;
B7
everybody is making love,
   A              E
or else expecting rain
        A
And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing,
             E             A
he's getting ready for the show;
     E            B7
he's going to the carnival tonight,
   A          E  E Esus4 E 3x
on Desolation Row

     E
Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window,
    A              E
for her I feel so afraid;
       B7
on her twenty-second birthday,
      A               E
she already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic,
    A             E
she wears an iron vest;
       B7
her profession's her religion,
    A                  E
her sin is her lifelessness
    A                   
And though her eyes are fixed upon,
E                A
Noah's great rainbow;
    E               B7
she spends her time peeking,
     A          E   E Esus4 E 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 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          E  E Esus4 E 2x
About Desolation Row

E A E B7 A E A E B7 A E A E A E B7 A E

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          E   E Esus4 E 2x
From Desolation Row

E A E B7 A E A E B7 A E A E A E B7 A E


Set8