Do you know any Bob Dylan    (intro)

 

               C                                   F

1. At the age of nineteen, I was young, I was keen,

                C                                   G

     and I had just one burning ambition :

         C                          F

    to be a folksinger, a dope-smoking swinger,

             C                          G                 C

    sing songs that were steeped in tradition.

 

              F                                C

    So I bought a guitar and I practiced real hard,

        F                                            G

    I wasn't much good, but I was willin',

         C                            F

    till to my chagrin, my girlfriend came in,

                   C                      G            C

    and she said: "Can you sing any Dylan?"

 

            C                F

I said "No! No! A thousand times no!

      C                                     G

I'd rather see my lifeblood spillin'.

      C                               F

I'd sing anything, even 'God Save The King',

         C                     G             C

but I just won't sing any Bob Dylan."

 

             C                       F

2. And with my guitar I traveled real far,

      C                          G

    trying to get recognition.

       C                                           F

    I sang 'The Wild Rover' from Dundee to Dover,

          C                      G                   C

    in pubs, clubs and in seaman's missions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           F                             C

    I travelled the road for seven long years,

           F                           G

    my pace, it really was killin'.

            C                                      F

    And everywhere I went from Guaya to Gwent,

                       C               G                   C

    they would say: "Can you sing any Dylan?"

 

            C                F

I said "No! No! A thousand times no!

      C                                     G

I'd rather see my lifeblood spillin'.

      C                               F

I'd sing anything, even 'God Save The King',

         C                     G             C

but I just won't sing any Bob Dylan."

 

             C                                    F

3. Well, I struggled on, but the magic was gone,

       C                                       G

    I only had a deep sense of failure.

          C                                        F

    I thought then I'd go to where all failures go,

              C              G               C

    so I boarded a ship for Australia.

 

                  F                                C

    When I landed at Sydney the sun it shone down,

                  F                                       G

    'twas a view that was lovely and thrillin',

            C                                    F

    till spotting my case with a smile on his face,

                  C                     G                C

    custom said: "Can you sing any Dylan, mate?"

 

+ CHORUS

 

             C                          F

4. And ever since then, again and again,

                    C                                       G

    I've been asked the same bloody question,

 

 

 

 

 

 

              C                             F

    and I usually reply in me own quiet way,

               C            G               C

    with a totally indecent suggestion.

 

                 F                                     C

    But the last time came on at the local motel,

                  F                                       G

    when I had a young girl who was willin'.

                  C                                     F

    As she slipped off her dress she said, "I'll say yes,

        C            G                      C

    if only you sing some Bob Dylan." (Big boy. Big big big boy)

 

            C                F

I said "No! No! A thousand times no!

      C                                     G

I'd rather see my lifeblood spillin'.

      C                               F

I'd sing anything, even 'God Save The King',

         C                     G             C

but I just won't sing any Bob Dylan."

 

             C                              F

5. But I tell you, my friends, that was the end,

         C                               G

    of all my traditional aspirations,

         C                                    F

    if bein' a folkie was gonna cut off my nookie,

                      C                G                C

    there was one way to end my frustration.

 

             F                                  C

    The next night I sang at my local folk club,

                      F                                     G

    where the audience as usual was millin',

            C                                F

    till I took off my coat and I ruptured my throat,

              C      G                   C

    and I sang just like Bob Dylan:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(sing first verse of ‘The times they are a-changin'

in a very distorted and nasal way)

 

                   C                                         F

6. Well the audience went wild, mans, womans and childs,

                     C                                                   G

    and they clapped till their raw hands were bleedin',

             C                                      F

    and said so to speak that my style was unique,

                     C                    G                       C

    and just what this great folk scene was needin'.

 

          F                                        C

    So all you young folkies who bash out the cart,

         F                                      G

    if you want to attain the top billin',

              C                                  F

    just murder good prose and sing through your nose,

             C                     G                  C         - F - C

    and then you'll sing just like Bob Dylan.

 

    (Eric Bogle)