Let me come baby. We’ve found song number 600. But can you write the lyrics?

Commentary by Tony Attwood; research by Aaron Galbraith; lyrics decoded by Larry Fyffe

The video which was previously available on line for this song has been removed.  If you know of another, please do put a note in comments or write to Tony@schools.co.uk

This is not a newly discovered song, but rather a song that I (Tony) very stupidly missed reviewing when we went through all the bits and pieces from After the Empire.

This means that we had actually reached 600 Dylan songs to review a little while ago, but I never realised and so didn’t fill in the gap caused by not reviewing this song.  But fortunately, I don’t think we have any rivals in this endeavour so we were not overtaken en route.

And just to be absolutely clear, this is not the 600th song Bob Dylan wrote, but the 600th song composed or co-composed by Dylan which we have reviewed.

So onto the album and the music…

This album was an unofficial release of 15 of the recordings that Dylan and co made during the Empire Burlesque sessions, and which were then deemed not suitable for the album.

And it is not too difficult to see why it was rejected.  For the song consists of three chords played over and over with a melody and lyrics woven around it.   The singular problem with the song, however, is that neither the melody nor the lyrics are particularly memorable, and so there is nothing to hold our attention.

There indeed may have been more to the song, but the fade out arrives fairly suddenly, and we’re gone.  I suspect Bob knew that the song wasn’t ready, and for it to be usable it was going to have to have work done in one of those two departments mentioned above.  I can imagine him turning away from the mic and waving at the engineer who rapidly fades it down.  And that’s it.

The musicians throughout the sessions are reported as being, Vito San Filippo (bass), Raymond Pounds (drums) Carolyn Dennis , Madlyn Quebec, Elisecia Wright
background vocals, which leaves Bob playing guitar throughout although surely there is a second guitar there as well, seemingly played by an unnamed musician. 

Now I don’t want to show my ignorance too much but I had not heard of Vito San Filippo and Raymond Pounds before, and my attempts to look them up have not taken me much further.  If you know these musicians, please do write in and tell us all, what else they have done.

As to the overall sound, this suggests that there had been very little rehearsal before, with the bass and percussion filling in as directed, and perhaps seeing if the song “Won’t go back” can actually be taken any further or sent in a completely different direction.   However “Won’t go back” did have some work done on it by Dylan before letting the tape run, so maybe the songs were written the other way round.  This one first, then “Won’t go back” emerging from it.

As for the lyrics, no one seems to be have been brave enough to transcribe them, so here again I must throw myself on the mercy of the audience and say, if you can make out the lyrics please do write them in as a comment below.  I’ll then move them into the main body of the text, with fulsome credits, as not everyone goes on to read the comments.

Here are the lyrics from Larry

Let Me Come Baby

Guess I hop on a train to ride
Hauling a country
Come a ways down by the river side
Honey, I need ya
I love seeing you hold my hand
What I need is a loving plan

Won't you come here, here she comes, baby
One more time on your door again
There she comes baby, all around
Let me come baby
Haul down your door again
I'm gonna leave that thieving town

If the upper train arrive
On the way to pick up town
Guess I'll be on winner's side
Over where the water come running down
I'll be on the river edge
I'll be into your father's head

If you do need a prayer
I'll be on the town of Jerricho
Here she comes baby
One more time around the bend
Hardly ever there
You'll think that it'll never end

Here she come baby one more time again
Over by the river side
Ah, there's no God knows where
If I was a fad for you
I might-a pulled a plug
And she blessed my soul

What else is on the site?

We have a very lively discussion group “Untold Dylan” on Facebook with over 3400 active members.  (Try imagining a place where it is always safe and warm).  Just type the phrase “Untold Dylan” in, on your Facebook page or follow this link 

You’ll find some notes about our latest posts arranged by themes and subjects on the home page of this site.  You can also see details of our main sections on this site at the top of this page under the picture.

The index to all the 599 Dylan compositions and co-compositions that we have found on the A to Z page.

If you are interested in Dylan’s work from a particular year or era, your best place to start is Bob Dylan year by year.

On the other hand if you would like to write for this website, or indeed have an idea for a series of articles that the regular writers might want to have a go at, please do drop a line with details of your idea, or if you prefer, a whole article to Tony@schools.co.uk

And please do note our friends at  The Bob Dylan Project, which lists every Dylan song in alphabetical order, and has links to licensed recordings and performances by Dylan and by other artists, plus links back to our reviews (which we do appreciate).

35 Comments

  1. Here’s some possibilities beginning with the last verse:

    Oh, you think that it will never end
    Here she comes baby, one more time again
    Over by the riverside
    Oh, there’s no God knows where

    If you ever do need a fare
    I’ll be out of town on the day she calls
    Here she comes, baby, one more time without a dare
    I’ll be never there

  2. If the other train arrives on her way to pick-up town
    This time on the riverside, oh where the water’s coming down
    I’ll be on the river’s edge
    I’ll be in your father’s head

  3. Here’s what I got so far this morning after listening repeatedly with sensitive headphones. I am still missing 3-4 words but I have a friend in California with super recording equipment and systems that might be able to clean it up a bit to find them and double check my words below. I’ll get in touch later because he won’t be up yet. lol

    Here She Come

    down at the river (quiet)
    Guess we’re off on a train to ride
    Oh at a time we, tumbleweed down by the riverside
    I need leaving and lo she did hold my hand
    What I’m needing for lovin’

    Oh she come here she come baby
    One more time on your door again
    Here she come baby, all around
    Here she come baby all down your door again
    All I am leaving, leaving town

    Gets me off between the ride
    All the way to Pistol town (small town in the USA dedicated to pistols)
    Let me off the river side
    Oh where the water come runnin’ down
    I’ll be on your river edge
    I’ll be on your side again
    If you ever do need a friend
    I’ll be on the town again because

    Here she come baby one more time around again
    Here she come baby all be here for ……?
    Ah you think that it will never end
    Here she come baby one more time again
    Oh by the riverside,
    Oh only God knows when

    Oh I’m gonna fight for you
    Somebody put a gun at you
    In my ……. …. ….

  4. Won’t you come here, here she comes, baby
    One more time on your door again, let me come, baby, all around
    Let me come, baby, all down on your door again
    I’m gonna leave then, leaving town

    Down by the river, let’s hop on a train to ride
    All ’round the country, come a way down by the riverside
    I really need it, and lo, can you hold my hand
    Thought I’d need it, a loving plan

  5. I think I got it a little better Pete Sugarman has the wrong title and Larry I really tried for your word but no I can’t agree with those words that differ from mine. Challenging but I really think I have it at least 99%

    HERE SHE COME BABY by Bob Dylan

    down at the river (quiet)
    Guess we’re off on a train to ride
    Oh at a time we, tumbleweed down by the riverside
    I been leaving and lo she did hold my hand
    What I’m needing for lovin’

    Oh she come here she come baby
    One more time on your door again
    Here she come baby, all around
    Here she come baby all down your door again
    All I am leaving, leaving town

    Gets me off between the ride
    All the way to Pistol town (small town in the USA dedicated to pistols)
    Gets me off the river side
    Oh where the water come runnin’ down
    I’ll be on your river edge
    I’ll be on your side again
    If you ever do need a friend
    I’ll be on the town again because

    Here she come baby one more time around again
    I been here for days
    Ah you think that’ll never end
    Here she come baby one more time again
    Oh by the riverside,
    Only know God knows when

    Oh I’m gonna fight for you
    Somebody put a gun at you
    In my ……. …. ….

  6. I too was going for “tumbleweed”, but we both really need some more
    listener’s thoughts on what the words might be, methinks.

  7. Larry it is tumbleweed as a metaphor for a romantic or ….. interlude down by the river etc. but I will see if my friend can look into it too!

  8. Yes, though I’m saying that there’s a number of words other than just ‘tumbeweed’ (which I too heard on first listening to the song, and can certainly go with) that are not all that clear.

  9. I’m certainly not going to get into what you hear, what I hear, and who’s correct
    ….I just like to hear more from others and consider what they hear as well…it’s so easy to mishear Dylan, ie for instance, it’s “Lincoln” limo, not ‘Lennon” in Murder Most Foul but I can see why someone might assert it’s the latter for sure.

    Without written lyrics for assistance, once a person, including myself, decide what a word sounds like to him/her “the power of suggestion” takes over, and even after many listenings that person won’t likely hear anything different.

  10. Yes Larry but i still think I’m right LOL Its all okay but I have been told I have bionic hearing! LOL If you knew my humour you would just laugh Have a great day down east! Sun is shining bright here but there is a bit of a dirty nor’easter!

  11. YES Larry I am not trying to be contentious with you! I just think I am right Lol Not an ego thing either but I have been told I have bionic hearing! LOL Okay so if you knew me you would understand my type of humour which is hard for me to translate in writing I guess hence my constant usage of lol! Anyway how are things in the east! It is sunny here but a bit cold with a dirty nor’Easter wind blowing. Wishing you a great day!!!
    denise

  12. Humour appreciated. Seriously though I’ve been quite sure of a line in some song not yet given lyrics to until someone points out a different wording and I’ve have to agree that I got it wrong, and that s/he got it correct after I give it another listening to!

    Besides everybody knows CCR sings “There’s a bathroom on the right”; and not “There’s a bad moon on the rise”!(lol)

  13. I also hear :

    I wanna be there, I’m leaving town

    Sometimes, other wording too. Good grief!!

  14. CCR lol

    So I got a hold of my friend and he’ll have an listen in the meantime I think we should agree that the Title mr S is wrong there are no inflections that even remotely sound like Let me come no it is definitely Here she come baby. I am posting this again because I think there are a couple possible changes that i just found
    HERE SHE COME BABY

    down at the river (quiet)
    Guess we’re off on a train to ride
    Oh at a time we, tumbleweed down by the riverside
    I been leaving and lo she did hold my hand
    What I’m needing for lovin’

    Oh she come here she come baby
    One more time on your door again
    Here she come baby, all around
    Here she come baby all down your door again
    All I am leaving, leaving town or all that I’m leaving, leaving town

    Gets me off between the ride or gets me off train to ride
    All the way to Pistol town (small town in the USA dedicated to pistols) or Frisco town (San Francisco) but doubt
    Gets me off the river side Lets me
    Oh where the water come runnin’ down
    I’ll be on your river edge or end
    I’ll be on your side again
    If you ever do need a friend
    I’ll be on the town again because to substantiate the fox is on the town from song bob would know

    Here she come baby one more time around again
    I been here for days
    Ah you think that’ll never end
    Here she come baby one more time again
    Oh by the riverside,
    Only know God knows when

    Oh I’m gonna fight for you
    Somebody put a gun at you
    And she wears my rose

  15. I’d say you’re close but I’ll still stick with ‘possibilities” lest one be accused of hubris
    .,,,can’t have that, now can we? (lol)

  16. So this is my final submission you boys fight among yourselves about it unless someone pipes in LOL! My guy says what I got is”Solid”so that helps substantiate it because he is well versed in covering Dylan and is an original recording artist too and is none other than a Dylan Channel Master … “Swinging Pig”

    HERE SHE COME BABY by Bob Dylan

    down at the river (quiet)
    Guess we’re off on a train to ride
    Oh at a time we, tumbleweed down by the riverside
    I been leaving and lo she did hold my hand
    What I’m needing for lovin’

    Oh she come here she come baby
    One more time on your door again
    Here she come baby, all around
    Here she come baby all down your door again
    All that I’m leaving, leaving town

    Gets me off between the ride
    All the way to Pistol town
    Gets me off the river side Lets me
    Oh where the water come runnin’ down
    I’ll be on your river end
    I’ll be in your sight again
    If you ever do need a friend
    I’ll be on the town again because

    Here she come baby one more time around again
    I been here for days
    Ah you think that’ll never end
    Here she come baby one more time again
    Oh by the riverside,
    Only know God knows when

    Oh I’m gonna fight for you
    Somebody put a gun
    And she wears my rose

    nissi

  17. Well, you’re sticking to your guns, but I hear no sibllance for it to be “pistol” and “bend” does rhyme with ‘end”.

  18. Larry it is either Pistol or Frisco but I am not sure the landscape fits Frisco. Pistol is a real town in the USA which is also called Gun Barrel city with like steam workshops for gun manufacturing and we all know that Bob likes to make steampunk art pieces! Oh Oh I think I heard the limb start cracking! It is the closest I can get without driving myself mad! I mean if my life depended on it I might take it further. bend and end? And in the end at the bend the words you take are equal to the words you make’. lol

    So unless Bob himself chime’s in I think we got it as close as we can although I might even give him a hard time! LOL! Seriously first cup of coffee here LOL! Anyway there is only one remaining line that I question and it is: What I’m needing for lovin’ as it could be What I’m leaving for lovin’ Grrrr!

    I’m seriously done now.
    TONY…….. I need you!!!

    Have a great day Ya’ll (what they say in Pistol town)

  19. Well, Dylan does mention ‘Frisco’ in other songs….’to pick-up town’ could be metonymy….but sometimes one has to admit they just don’t what’s being said….
    Beats me.

  20. Raymond Pounds, is a famous sessions drummer out of Los Angeles, who played with everybody who was somebody in the music industry.

  21. Vito San Flippo played bass with the likes of Joe Crocker and with the band ‘Tower of Power’.

  22. Larry what do your references to these people mean? You certainly are a caution and now I am too paranoid to comment on your Mythology articles, so there

    Ahhh Tony????

  23. Tony asks in his article above about info on V Flippo and R Pound, so I posted a bit of what I found on them for him.

    So don’t be paranoid! Comment on mythology articles all you want.

  24. Guess I’ll hop on a train to ride
    All around the country
    Come wait down by the river side
    Honey, I need it, I love you to hold my hand
    What I need is a loving plan

    Won’t you come here, here she comes baby
    One more time on your door again
    Let me come baby all around
    Let me come baby, haul down your door again
    I’m gonna leave then, leaving this town

  25. Guess I’ll hope on a train to ride
    Haul in a country
    Comes a ways down by the river side
    Honey I need ya, I love when you hold my hand
    What I’m needing, a loving plan

    Won’t you come here, here she comes baby
    One more time on your door again
    Let me come baby, all around
    Let me come baby, haul down your door again
    I’m gonna leave that thieving town

  26. The only thing I know for sure is that none of us has got it right for sure –

    “I’m gonna leave that thieving town”

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