Percy's Song Lyrics
Come to me where I sleep,
Turn, turn, turn again.
Sayin' one of your friends
Is in trouble deep,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
Tell once to my ear,
Turn, turn, turn again.
Joliet prison
And ninety-nine years,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
Of how this came to be,
Turn, turn, turn again.
Manslaughter
In the highest of degree,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
The best words I could write,
Turn, turn, turn again.
Explaining to the judge
I'd be there on Wednesday night,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
I left by the moon,
Turn, turn, turn again.
And was in his chambers
By the next afternoon,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
I said without fear,
Turn, turn, turn again.
That a friend of mine
Would get ninety-nine years,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
Flew the car to a field,
Turn, turn, turn again.
There was four persons killed
And he was at the wheel,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
As I'm knowin' myself,
Turn, turn, turn again.
And he wouldn't harm a life
That belonged to someone else,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
Out of the side of his mouth,
Turn, turn, turn again.
Sayin', "The witness who saw,
He left little doubt,"
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
He's got a sentence to serve,
Turn, turn, turn again.
But ninety-nine years,
He just don't deserve,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
For his case it is sealed,
Turn, turn, turn again.
His sentence is passed
And it cannot be repealed,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
And his crime it is none,
Turn, turn, turn again.
What happened to him
Could happen to anyone,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
And his face it did freeze,
Turn, turn, turn again.
Sayin', "Could you kindly leave
My office now, please,"
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
And I stood up so slow,
Turn, turn, turn again.
With no other choice
Except for to go,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
And I heard his door slam,
Turn, turn, turn again.
I walked down the courthouse stairs
And I did not understand,
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind.
Through the night to the day,
Turn, turn, turn again.
And the only tune
My guitar could play
Was, "Oh the Cruel Rain
And the Wind."
I just have to say something about this song because its so great and it deserves a comment. TIs one of my favorite lesser-known Dylan tracks. Its meaning is pretty straightforward really, its about how "justice" can be quite unjust at times.
probably my favorite dylan song. very underated as far as his real folk goes. the guitar is great
One of the most gorgeous resigned helplessness songs you'll ever hear in your life
This is also one of my favorite songs of Dylan's and was unfortunately rarely played live (although it was on occasion). The content of the song is rather explicit, but looking at it in a greater context gives the song an entirely new meaning.
I first heard this song from a Dylan boxset where it was juxtaposed with "Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol" wherein a socialite commits an intentional murder and is receives virtually nothing more than a slap on the wrist. In contrast, Percy's Song is about the unintentional killing by a common person. It furthers Dylan's message of social inequality between the wealthy and lower to middle class common folk. Further, the judge in the song uses bureaucratic red-tape to end the argument to say that even if he wanted to, he couldn't change it because there is a 'process', and this process is more important than individual fairness, which Dylan uses to point out the negative repercussions of utilitarianism, and the helplessness of falling victim to it's system of "justice". Dylan uses this song to point out that the goal of the criminal judicial system is ultimately to discourage bad behavior and reform offenders, not simply to sadistically punish. In giving a sentence of 99 years for a "true" accident that may not have been avoidable (as we do not have any of the facts to that point, though it seems implied to have been unavoidable), the sentence does nothing to deter general negative behavior or specifically bad driving, but rather is grossly inconsistent with the offense (as we understand it to be). When Dylan begins to play his guitar at the end, it's not merely for Percy, but rather for all people.
It is worth noting that the judicial system is regularly accused of scapegoating people to obtain a sense of justice. In this particular example, it seems clear that Percy was responsible for these deaths, accidental or not, so to say he was scapegoated may be exaggerated, however simply because four people die does not mean that someone must go to jail. Ultimately, circumstances should dictate any judicial sentence and there should not be any kind of hard and fast rule that if X kills A-D, then X gets Y years in prison, all contributing factors aside which seems to have been the analysis that happened as the judge explained.
Sad that this song is not very well known. Sad song about a driver who had a wreak driving in "The Wind and the Rain". Not as another posted about driving drunk, must not have ever listened to the words or know the true story behind it. A song about a cruel judge who sentenced a man to 99 years to Joliet Prison for an accident caused by the weather. I purchased this album, and still have it, for other of Bob Dylan's hits that were playing on the radio, but this song that I never heard before, like so many I've purchased, ended up being my favorite. It's so awesome that so many great musicians bring us awareness about such matters we might not of ever heard of.
Playing at Carnegie Hall 26th of October 1963 Bob Dylan told the audience "Here's a song I wrote. It's about a friend of mine. It's called Percy's Song. I took the tune from a song that a folk singer by the name of Paul Clayton sings, called 'The Wind and the Rain'." Bob Dylan has a 7:29 minute cut of this song on John Birch Society Blues.
The final line: "And the only tune My guitar could play \ Was, 'Oh the Cruel Rain And the Wind.'" is a reference to a real song, "Oh, the Wind and Rain (The Two Sisters)". You can read the lyrics here: http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiTWOSI10.html.
Apparently Dylan performed this folk song early in his career, and I'm guessing the tune of Percy's Song is somewhat similar. The lyrics describe completely different circumstances, but in the end, both instruments can only play, "Oh, the cruel rain and the wind."
its cleary about his friend who killed four people drunk driving, and the sentence that he gets is not fair in comparision to the accidental(ness) of the crime
There's nothing in this song that says it was drunk driving.
There's nothing in this song that says it was drunk driving.
A rather naive shaggy-dog story, which has rightly remained obscure.
Which is why Bob doesn't sing it, and Joan Baez does (chuckle).