Bob Dylan: Desolation Row Meaning

Covered By: My Chemical Romance (2009)

Desolation Row Lyrics

They're selling postcards of the hanging

They're painting the passports brown

The beauty parlor is filled with sailors

The circus is in town

Here comes the blind commissioner

They've got him in a trance

One hand is tied to the...

1. m320753

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   Jan 17th 2011 !⃝

   many people , way more educated than me have died from self inflicted wounds to the head, caused by banging their heads against the wall trying to find the meaning of the lyrics from this song. i think it has a lot to do with suzie rotello's sister carla. while most of the verses seem to be from a drug induced hallucination in the end it comes together when he tells carla not to give him anymore information about suzie unless she writes them from the desolate place she has put him for breaking him and suzie up.
2. m320753

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   Jun 14th 2010 !⃝

   With almost every song dylan writes there is something hidden in the words that may take a while to figure it out. This is not really a hate song as much as it is a " put it in your face.it is obvious a song to his ex-wife sara about what lies ahead in their future. It's a 8 minute poem filled with comical lines possibly fueled by his love for bourban. read each stanza and you'll find the rhymes are almost impossible for a human eg> tamborene man, visions of johanna are just a few examples of every last word rhymes with the line above,so it is with desolation row. as the song flows to an end is when he starts talking about himself :right now I can't see good, don't send me no more letters no not unless you send them from desolation row. The whole song turns 180 degrees with those lines above when you realize it's not about him but another person sara
3. anonymous

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   Jun 7th 2010 !⃝

   ^^^^ your a dumbcunt arnt you. this song definatly has a meaning and has been scrutinized over for decades (bob dylan, the original writer never disclosed the meaning).
4. anonymous

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   Jan 24th 2010 !⃝

   No meaning just a great song

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