I once knew a man: one of Dylan’s obscure songs. Now with lyrics

Article revised 3 June 2020.

By Tony Attwood

At the start of 1984 Dylan had already written much of Empire Burlesque, but was clearly (as this song shows) trying to find other avenues for his work.

The highly varied Man of PeaceTight connection to my heart , Neighbourhood Bully and Foot of Pride were among the songs from 1983 but Dylan was still exploring while also retracing steps into areas he had been through in the past.

And out of the blue on the David Letterman show rehearsals up came “I once knew a man”.  Dylan apparently did not copyright this song, which given his office’s propensity to copyrighting all sorts of things that he didn’t completely write from scratch suggests either the one performance of the song we know about by-passed the legal team, or Dylan never clarified if it was his or not.

Certainly there is no old blues tune called “I once knew a man” and the suggestion that the song is a re-write of a Sonny Boy Williamson blues “Don’t Start Me Talkin'” is one to be handled with care, in my opinion.

Indeed when I first read that others were citing “Don’t start me talkin” it took me by surprise, as I didn’t remember it like this.  And having gone back to listen to the song, I still don’t see the connection.   OK they are both 12 bar blues but there are thousands upon thousands of 12 bar blues, and we don’t attribute each to the other.

And it is certainly not the Charles Mansom song with the same name which has totally different lyrics and structure.  No connection there.

I have read that the songs in the rehearsal might have been improvised, but I certainly can’t see that – the rhythmic structure at the start is too unexpected for anyone to be able to follow it straight off and if you watch the film you can see that Dylan just jumps into the piece while the drummer is talking to one of the production crew.

However it is true that the backing band (Plugz) was clearly recruited to allow Dylan to explore a new sound and was a new, younger group of largely unknown musicians.   As for the lyrics, we eventually got them thanks to the dedication of readers of this site.  See below.

First, here’s the video… And you might want to stay with it – the video runs on through the rehearsal of the whole show but with breaks which take you from one song to another and from one video recording to another.

You’ll read a long discussion in the comments section as we struggled to get the lyrics – here is the best version we got – they came from Mick Gold to whom I am eternally grateful.

I once knew a man
With a needle in his arm
Well he taught me to make
Love ain’t even bad
But you never need a nod
Oh I once knew a man

Yeah I once knew a man
Seems like only yesterday
He done pass this way
Well I once knew a man

I once knew a man opening a door
In by another
Opening a cupboard (Old Mother Hubbard?)
Never to be here no more
Yeah I once knew a man

Well I once knew a man
Seems like only yesterday
He done pass this way
Oh I once knew a man

01.21 guitar

Well I once knew a man
Creeping in the side
Opening a door
Falling thru the floor
Setting someone for a ride
Yeah I once knew a man

Oh yeah I once knew a man
Well it seems like only yesterday
He done pass this way
Well I once knew a man

All in all “I once knew a man” is a jolly bouncy blues song with the catch phrase “seems like only yesterday he done pass this way, oh I once knew a man” and if it had ever appeared on an album it would have been a popular favourite, I am absolutely sure.  It could also have been a great opener for concerts – a better started that “Tweedle Dum” which was used so often at one time in the Never Ending Tour.

The blues format is elongated to accommodate the extra phrases in the opening of each verse:

  • E – 8 bars (first five lines in the lyrics above)
  • A – 4 bars (“I once knew a man”)
  • E – 4 bars (“Yeah I once knew a man”)
  • B7 – 2 bars (“Seems like only yesterday”)
  • A – 2 bars (“He done pass this way”)
  • E – 4 bars (“Oh I once knew a man”)

That’s it.  The one and only performance.  Oh if only a member of Dylan’s entourage would just nudge him and remind him of that song, and he could get up on stage and say, “I don’t remember ever writing this piece, but these guys in England think there’s something in it, so here it is….”

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Untold Dylan is written by people who want to write for Untold Dylan.  It is simply a forum for those interested in the work of the most famous, influential and recognised popular musician and poet of our era, to read about, listen to and express their thoughts on, his lyrics and music.

We welcome articles, contributions and ideas from all our readers.  Sadly no one gets paid, but if you are published here, your work will be read by a fairly large number of people across the world, ranging from fans to academics who teach English literature.  If you have an idea, or a finished piece send it as a Word file to Tony@schools.co.uk with a subject line saying that it is for publication on Untold Dylan.

We also have a very lively discussion group “Untold Dylan” on Facebook with approaching 6000 active members. 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.  Not every index is complete but I do my best.

But what is complete is our index to all the 604 Dylan compositions and co-compositions that we have found, on the A to Z page.  I’m proud of that; no one else has found that many songs with that much information.  Elsewhere the songs are indexed by theme and by the date of composition. See for example Bob Dylan year by year.

 

 

27 Comments

  1. Tony, these are the lyrics as I found them on ‘Expecting Rain, Discussion Board’ and as such may or may not accurately reflect what you are looking for but perhaps it’s a starting point.
    I’m going down the road, stop at Fannie Mae’s
    Gonna tell Fannie what I’ve heard her boyfriend say
    Don’t start me that talking
    I’ll tell everything I know
    Gonna break up this signifying
    Everybody’s got to go

    Jack gave his wife two dollars,
    to go down town, get some margarine
    Gets out on the street, old George stopped her
    He knocked her down and blackened her eye
    Get back home and tell her husband a lie

    Don’t start me that talking
    I’ll tell everything I know
    I’m gonna break up this signified
    Cause somebody’s got to go

    She borrowed some money, go to the beauty shop
    He honked his horn and she began to stop
    Said: take me baby around the block
    I’m going to the beauty shop
    where I can get my hair “sot”

    Don’t start me talking
    I’ll tell everything I know
    I’m gonna break up this signified
    Somebody’s got to go

  2. Dearbhla, that is the song that people say Dylan’s piece comes from by I am not at all sure that is right. What I am after are the words that he sings in his version of “I once knew a man”. But it is helpful to have the Sonny Boy Williamson Dont Start me Talking lyrics here, because so many people cite this song as the origins.

  3. i can´t figure out the first 2 lines either.
    something about ´ need or not´ in the 2nd line.
    something about ´opening a door, falling to the floor, going? for a ride´ later on.

  4. Sorry David, I don’t follow. Are you saying the Blacc song is linked to Dylan’s? If so, I’m not saying you are wrong, but rather I can’t see any link.

  5. I have loved this song and his performance since 1984. The only connection with ‘don’t start me talk in” is that was the song he actually performed on the show. I always assumed the former was an obscure blues song. The story is he did ‘don’t start me talk in” because the agreement was he would appear on late night on the condition he wouldn’t be interviewed by Dave. The show performance of ‘jokerman’ was amazing…

    Hope someone can figure out the ‘I once knew a man’ lyrics…

  6. i once knew a man so poor yet so wise
    with looks that could kill eyes that tantalised
    i once knew a man long time its true
    he carried his wisdom to the valley of fools

    i once knew a man kider its true
    he sang me a song old time sad blues
    i once knew a man an idol its true
    he lived in the world but he lost and vamoosed

    i once knew a man long time back
    he carried the world on his shoulders n back
    i once knew a man he was rich in his eyes
    promised me riches then wept and he cried

    i once knew a man travelled the world
    through countries and continents yet nowt did he gain
    i once knew a man destined to seek
    the wonders of life and the wisdom of peace

  7. Sorry Raymond but Dylan isn’t singing any of these lyrics. Most obviously each verse ends

    Seems like only yesterday he done past this way, oh I once knew a man.

  8. ‘Once I knew a man’ is a dramatic monologue along the lines of Robert Browning’s ‘Last Duchess’- “That’s my last Duchess on the wall/
    Looking as if she were alive”, but for Dylan it is not a wayward wife, but the devil, ‘the man’, of which he speaks:

    “I once knew a man/
    Never need for them to stop/
    Oh they talk to me today/
    Lovin’ me the best/
    But you never need to knock/

    Oh I once knew a man/
    Yeah I once knew a man/
    Seems like only yesterday/
    He done passed this way”
    Dylan: I Once Knew A Man”

    With the help of devout followers of Christianity, Dylan, the narrator, resists the devil:

    “Well I once knew a man/
    He can hypnotize/
    Over near the door/
    Bound to the floor/
    Tried to take me for a ride.”

    While the last Duchess died, Dylan’s devil is tied; Bob answers the question: ‘Whatcha goin’ do if the devil comes knockin’ at your door?”

  9. For a time, Dylan fell among Christians and replaces the ‘born free’ visions of the Romantics with the “born in original sin” credo of orthodox
    Christianity; the individual struggle between good and evil replaces the struggle between good and ignorance:

    ‘I was blinded by the devil/
    Born already ruined/
    Stone-cold dead/
    As I stepped out of the womb’
    Bob Dylan: Saved)

  10. Now more in his artistic mode, Dylan (s)words are written to cut both ways; indeed, considering Dylan’s former Blake-influenced visions, are the fundamentalist Christians the ones being depicted in ‘I Once Knew A Man’ as taking Dylan for a ride?

  11. Though a couple of words may be misheard in the above verses, the gist of the song is there; the following is dubious however:
    “Well I once knew a man/
    I once knew a man/
    Over near the door/
    Saved by my neighbor/
    Called the devil’s number/
    Never do I hear no more”

    Questionable indeed, but I hope this is helpful, Mr, Attwood….keep up the good work. Dylan’s not exactly using the Queen’s English, is he?

  12. Dylab’s lyrics I find are quite consistent in themes, even when his more Christian-oriented ones are taken into account.
    But because the words are garbled somewhat in ‘I Once Knew A Man’ it isn’t possible to come up with interpretation(s), based on the face of the lyrics, that is(are) by any means satisfying.

  13. The lyrics are influenced by Revelations 20:2 –

    “And he laid hold on…the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years”

    Taken with ‘Foot of Pride’ into consideration, ‘I Once Knew A Man’ seems very much a condemnation of organized and consequently corrupted religion, a view often presented by
    Dylan in his songs, churches being Antichrist, not Christian.

  14. Tony,

    As best I can make out the words, Dylan sings:

    I once knew a man
    With a needle in his arm
    Well he taught me to make
    Love ain’t even bad
    But you never need a nod
    Oh I once knew a man

    Yeah I once knew a man
    Seems like only yesterday
    He done pass this way
    Well I once knew a man

    I once knew a man opening a door
    In by another
    Opening a cupboard (Old Mother Hubbard?)
    Never to be here no more
    Yeah I once knew a man

    Well I once knew a man
    Seems like only yesterday
    He done pass this way
    Oh I once knew a man

    01.21 guitar

    Well I once knew a man
    Creeping in the side
    Opening a door
    Falling thru the floor
    Setting someone for a ride
    Yeah I once knew a man

    Oh yeah I once knew a man
    Well it seems like only yesterday
    He done pass this way
    Well I once knew a man

    02.27 guitar

    Don’t laugh! Now for my next trick I shall reveal the words to “I’m Not There”…

  15. I always assumed it was an old Staples song–got that vibe & Pops style slinkiness in that guitar line. Wouldn’t be surprised if Dylan was just half-remembering an old gospel song and vamping on the spot. Wish he’d recorded it with the Plugz.

  16. Hello, that’s what i come out with (does make too much sense, though !)

    Oh i once knew a man
    Never needle in the /sky/star/
    Well he taught me to ache/make(?)
    Rather even bad
    But you never need a nod
    Oh i once knew a man
    Yeah i once knew a man
    Seem like only yesterday
    He gone pass this way
    Oh i once knew a man

    I once knew a man
    Nobody … him adore
    Saved by the nav…ed
    All men are slumbered
    Never /do i hear/to be here/ no more
    I once knew a man
    Well i once knew a man
    Seem like only yesterday
    He done pass this way
    Oh i once knew a man

    Well i once knew a man
    Sleepin’ on every(?) side
    Openin’ the door
    Bound to the floor
    Started/Setting talking(?) for a ride
    Well i once knew a man
    Oh yeah i once knew a man
    Well it seem like only yesterday
    He gone pass this way
    Well i once knew a man.

    and to make my case even worse, here what i hear(?) for Don’t Start Me Talkin’ from the same date (and which make much less sense to me)

    Well stop by the beauty shop man, down on the side
    She said, ”Go back for it”, she better sigh

    Don’t start me that talkin’, I’ll tell everything I know
    Well stop signifyin’ somebody got to go

    John gave his daughter two dollars, go down to beauty shop
    She said, ”No baby, hold(?) i can’t stop”
    They said, ”Come back, maybe next year”
    All(?) don’t you know but you don’t hear

    Don’t start me that talkin’, I’ll tell everything I know
    Better stop this signifyin’ somebody’s got to go

    Way back in Hipster? bay, ’bout forty-five
    People … honey, more dead than alive
    She said, ”No honey i can’t go for that”
    I know that you make all die(?), don’t let candidate(?) like this

    Don’t start me talkin’, I’ll tell everything I know
    You better stop signifyin’ somebody’s got to go, oh yeah.

    !!!!! But at least i tried a little.
    Best regards
    Daniel

  17. I think Dylan is singing “dummy lyrics”, which is why it’s so hard to understand: They aren’t words!! Perhaps it’s a brand new song, maybe he has only a few lyrics and a rough musical idea, and he’s noodling around. (In 1979-81, during the gospel tours and just after, he often played unfinished songs and the lyrics were not finished.)

  18. Great song. I love the Letterman performances and Infidels.
    I like to think “I Once Knew a Man” is a song about former versions of himself.
    His time with heroin, (needle in his arm)
    Dylan used to live in NYC (passed this way)
    Occult world of the industry (saved by another, owned by his numbers)

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