Bob Dylan And The Selfie Rhyme Twister

By Larry Fyffe

Though it may be by mere coincidence, seems that singer/songwriter Bob Dylan not only borrows rhymes, often twisting the around a bit, from songs and poems by others. And he borrows them from his own works too, giving them a twist as well.

In the song verse below, end-rhymed be ~ ‘dawn’/’gone’/’on’:

When your rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window, I'll be gone
You're the reason I'm a-travelling on
(Bob Dylan: Don't Think Twice, It's all Right)

In the following song lyrics, ‘dawn’/’on’ be the rhyme:

Praise be to Nero's Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn
Everybody's shouting,  'Which side are you on?'
(Bob Dylan: Desolation Row)

In the song lyrics below, rhymed be ~ ‘dawn’/’gone’:

They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn
Honey, you wouldn't know it by me
Every day's been darkness since you've been gone
(Bob Dylan: Meet Me In The Morning)

Internally rhymed be ~ ‘swan’/’on’ in the following song yrics:

The swan on the river goes gliding by
The swan on the river goes gliding by
(Bob Dylan: The Ballad Of The Gliding Swan ~ Dylan/Jones)*
(*May be from traditional song)

Below, an end-twist thereon ~ ‘dawn’/’swan’:

My heart's in the Highland at the break of dawn
By the beautiful Lake of the Black Swan
(Bob Dylan: Highland)

In the lyrics below, the end-rhyme is ~ ‘arrive’/’survive’:

I'll be waiting at the station for her to arrive
Seven more days, all I gotta do is survive
(Bob Dylan: Seven Days)

Selfie-referenced in the following lyrics with the twist ~ ‘arrived’/’survived’:

There's new day at dawn, and I finally arrived
If I'm there in the morning,  baby, you'll know I survived
(Bob Dylan: Where Are You Tonight)

In the song lyrics beneath, the rhyme sequence is ~ ‘spirit’/’hear it’:

It's the ways of the flesh to war against the spirit
Twenty-four hours a day, you can feel it, and you can hear it
(Bob Dylan: Solid Rock)

In the following lyrics, it’s ~ ‘hear it’/’spirit’:

Got the right spirit, you can feel it, and you can hear it
You've got what they call 'the immortal spirit'
(Bob Dylan: My Own Version Of You)

Below, rhymed be ~ ‘road’/’explodes’:

The fiddler he now steps to the road .....
While my conscience explodes
(Bob Dylan: Visions Of Johanna)

But below it’s  ~ ‘explode’/’road’:

To live it you have to explode ....
Sacrifice was the code of the road
(Bob Dylan: Where Are You Tonight)

In the next song lyrics, rhymed is ~ ‘concertina’/’Angelina’:

Where the current is strong, and the monkey dances
To the tune of the concertina....
But whatever it could be, makes me think you've seen me before
Angelina
(Bob Dylan: Angelina)

However, the rhyme’s borrowed from a verse by another songwriter ~ ‘Angelina”/’concertina’:

Angelina, Angelina
Please bring down your concertina
And play a welcome for me 'cause I'll be home from the sea
(Harry Belafonte: Angelina ~ Burgie)

What else?

There are details of some of our more recent articles listed on our home page.  You’ll also find, at the top of the page, and index to some of our series established over the years.

If you have an article or an idea for an article which could be published on Untold Dylan, please do write to Tony@schools.co.uk with the details – or indeed the article itself.

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