Honeysuckle blooming in the wildwood air
Bluebelles blazing, where the Aberdeen waters flow
Well my heart's in the Highland,
I'm gonna go there when I feel good enough to go
Everything was exactly the way that it seems
Woke up this morning and I looked at the same old page
Same ol' rat race
Life in the same ol' cage.
Wouldn't know the difference between a real blonde and a fake
Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery
I wish someone would come
And push back the clock for me
That's where I'll be when I get called home
The wind, it whispers to the buckeyed trees in rhyme
Well my heart's in the Highland,
I can only get there one step at a time.
Someone's always yelling turn it down
Feel like I'm drifting
Drifting from scene the scene
I'm wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean?
You can say I was on anything but a roll
If I had a conscience, well I just might blow my top
What would I do with it anyway
Maybe take it to the pawn shop
By the beautiful lake of the Black Swan
Big white clouds, like chariots that swing down low
Well my heart's in the Highlands
Only place left to go
I got no idea what I want
Well, maybe I do but I'm just really not sure
Waitress comes over
Nobody in the place but me and her
She studies me closely as I sit down
She got a pretty face and long white shiny legs
She says, "What'll it be?"
I say, "I don't know, you got any soft boiled eggs?"
but we're out of 'm, you picked the wrong time to come"
Then she says, "I know you're an artist, draw a picture of me!"
I say, "I would if I could, but,
I don't do sketches from memory."
I say," all right, I know, but I don't have my drawing book!"
She gives me a napkin, she says, "you can do it on that"
I say, "yes I could but,
I don't know where my pencil is at!"
She says "all right now, go ahead, draw me, I'm standing right here"
I make a few lines, and I show it for her to see
Well she takes a napkin and throws it back
And says "that don't look a thing like me!"
She says, "you must be jokin.'" I say, "I wish I was!"
Then she says, "you don't read women authors, do you?"
Least that's what I think I hear her say,
"Well", I say, "how would you know and what would it matter anyway?"
I said, "you're way wrong."
She says, "which ones have you read then?" I say, "I read Erica Jong!"
She goes away for a minute and I slide up out of my chair
I step outside back to the busy street, but nobody's going anywhere
Way up in the border country, far from the towns
With the twang of the arrow and a snap of the bow
My heart's in the Highlands
Can't see any other way to go
Feel further away then ever before
Some things in life, it gets too late to learn
Well, I'm lost somewhere
I must have made a few bad turns
They're drinking and dancing, wearing bright colored clothes
All the young men with their young women looking so good
Well, I'd trade places with any of them
In a minute, if I could
Talking to myself in a monologue
I think what I need might be a full length leather coat
Somebody just asked me
If I registered to vote
But it's not like the sun that used to be
The party's over, and there's less and less to say
I got new eyes
Everything looks far away
Over the hills and far away
There's a way to get there, and I'll figure it out somehow
But I'm already there in my mind
And that's good enough for now
my all-time favorite dylan song. i still end up listening to it at least once a day. time out of mind was the album that actually got me into dylan, now i have all 45 of his albums and know every song by heart. this song's just always been there. not to mention it's exactly 100 lines, which i think is neat.
Beautiful.
only 2 comments?! this is one of bob's cleverest songs
I think that the song is about Bob reminissing about a past love which is put him a day dream "high" state.
"Then she says, "I know you're an artist, draw a picture of me!" I say, "I would if I could, but, I don't do sketches from memory."
and
"There's a way to get there, and I'll figure it out somehow But I'm already there in my mind And that's good enough for now"
When I first heard this, I was driving to an event and was hopelessly lost, and I just remember thinking, geez, when is this thing going to end. I hated it! Now, it's one of my absolute favorite Dylan songs. Here's my take on its meaning: It's basically divided into two parts that weave in and out while being compared and contrasted. Those parts are: 1. Heaven ("the highlands") is going to be a wonderful place, and 2. We sure have to put up with a lot of stupid junk while we are still on earth. On earth, he has to deal with a waitress who doesn't fall victim to his witty banter, desite his best efforts, and he has to deal with being told his music is too loud, the need to vote, all the people who wander around and through his life, what to wear. In short, life is all this mess of stuff, but heaven -- that's going to be something special, and he's trying to get there despite everything else. It's always in the back of his mind. He's seen the world, been everywhere there is to be, except one place that he really, really wants to get to.
With repeated listenings, this song has grown richer and richer over the years.
Also, there's a bootleg available online called "Groundhogs day in the Highlands." It's nothing but a collection of live versions of this song. Funny concept, but I think the tempos are way too fast, and the song loses it's contemplative flavor. (It also loses 4 or 5 minutes per performance from the original.)
The song sounds to me like the lament or the helplessness of someone who has been everywhere, seen everything and still hasn't worked it out...still can't find peace...can't find what it's all about....but he'll keep trying, and keep trying until he finally gets to where it's at and what it's all about. It's a weary song, a tired song and it's also a very funny song.
I have a version where they lyrics go
'I said "tell me what I want" she said "you probably want the hard boiled eggs" I say "that's right, bring me some" she says "we ain't got any, you picked a wrong way to come"'
and the this part is different here, but what I have appears to be part of the Time Out Of Mind album and is a studio version, not a live one. help anyone?
godly song by the way :]
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FPfQkRtt_N0/SDdC3_kMsWI/AAAAAAAAACo/4Hb2nB_-yNg/s1600/swan
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71833470
Taleb, Nassim. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. New York: Random House, 2007. 9781400063512
This song is NOT for everyone to comprehend especially those leading youthful happy lives. On fact, even if one has considerable "wisdom" one cannot FEEL this songs deep depression.
This song is autobiographical in many ways for Bob. Old before his time. Time Out of mind, longing to be young, ahh but you have to act your age. Wanting to be left alone,. being bothered and finding a way out. hiding out, knowing the end is much closer than the beginning.
This song is NOT just about growing old, having to grow old, and longing. It is about a DAMAGED MAN both spiritually and physically. The extent of that damage is NOT specific in the song but is gathered to be GREAT . The ykey line "Insanity is smashing against my soul". <MANY reasons for that to happen to a man and most are not good.
There arent many comments on this great song ans some have commented they either "Didnt get it" the first time or even hated it. They are the BLIND, or simply those who are NOT in Bob's PLACE in the universe. It;s a dark, lonely, isolated, intellectual, Highly Conscious and Painful place. I know it WELL.
I think this song can be compared with Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, another epic-length Dylan tune, this one from Blonde on Blonde. Beside the Lowlands/Highlands contrast, see the lyric: “Wouldn’t know the difference between a real blonde and a fake”. Perhaps the waitress is Sara Lowndes, his former wife?