Jakob Dylan

It doesn't always have a shape
Almost never does it have a name
It maybe has a pitchfork maybe has a tail
But evil is alive and well

It might walk upright from out of the inferno
May be coming horseback through deep snow
It's ragged and fat hungry as hell

Evil is alive and well
Evil is alive Evil is well
Evil is alive Evil is well
On your feet to the tower and yell
Evil is alive and well

May be too humble to want to speak
May have a blood soaked bird in its teeth
Smoked filled skies and bees in the well
Evil is alive and well

Maybe in a palace it may be in the streets
May be here among us on a crowded beach
May be asleep in a roadside motel
But evil is alive and well

Evil is alive Evil is well
Evil is alive Evil is well
On your feet to the tower and yell
Evil is alive and well

It's well
Down in every ditch
Up on every hill
It's well
I've got my radio on
Drowning the bells

When midnight's done and the day won't start
And All I ever gave you was a broken heart
It's hard to admit but it's easy to tell
That evil is alive and well

Evil is alive
Evil is well
Evil is alive
Evil is well
On your feet to the tower and yell
Evil is alive and well

Evil is alive
It's well Evil is alive
It's well Evil is alive and well

We'd feel much better if we sunk this treasure
And laid our armor down
These precious metals and these captain's letters
They are no use to us now
In the day we struggle with fatigue much greater
Than any offer was
We bow down and worship these bandits and cowboys
Unable to hold their own guns
I know that soldiers are not paid to think
But something is making us sick
Onward and steady
Able and young
In the valley of the low low sun
In the shade we wander along a highway's shoulder
Into the back of beyond
Burning the daylight into a pastime
That's too wise to come more than once
It's boom boom thunder ain't no sleep coming
Out mining a slippery world
Of snow covered beaches and junkyards of diesel
And bombers named after girls
On bridges of black ice not built for the rush
There's a new kind of beast getting up
That's stranger than fiction
Speaking in tongue
In the valley of the low low sun
Hold on for the slow turning
Smoke if you've got 'em boys
This is bottom hiding out
Down under the stairs
Tomorrow has come
Like it's drunk on the blood
Of the men who have dared to be there
The earth's still climbing as it keeps on grinding
It's way up around the sun
As cool water crashes down to the masses
bootlegged and bottled like rum
My dreams are humble lean as arrows
Streetwise ready and fair
As we bum rush the ages tied to the rails
On high seas not fit to be sailed
Whatever we've taken does feel like heaven
But baby we just look like hell
Act like you mean it where paradise was
In the valley of the low low sun
Act like you mean it where paradise was
In the valley of low low sun

I been working double shift all night
Bees make honey I'm making mine
Good men are busy all the time
I been working double shift all night
My line of work suits me fine
Split that apple and chuck that rind
Pull no wishbone that ain't dry
My line of work suits me fine
Sweet you ramble sweet you roll
Through the bedrock of my soul
I got more good luck than I'll ever use
All day and all night like a mule
Fat faced farmer off my land
Cross me twice you'll understand
Me and Delia we're more than friends
Fat faced farmer off my land
See how high your monkey jumps
Peel that fruit back and give me some
Let this evening do what it does
And see how high your monkey jumps
I'm gearing up to get small
I do it big or don't do it at all
Ain't got no baggage that I can't use
All day and all night like a mule
It's on back to work they say
Pull your hammer high and straight
Lay your boards out and drag that rake
And get on back to work they say
Give what you've got return what you use
Tell me young man whose dog are you
Got bigger secrets than you do
All day and all night like a mule

Worried 'bout you baby
Down in your rabbit hole
The evening of our great escape
Is starting to unfold
Out of bed sleepy head
It's different than you know
Everybody pays as they go
You've got to pull yourself together
Your chin up off your throat
Whistle for the dogs
And get your sled into the snow
Nothing's ever buried
Under skull and bones
Everybody pays as they go
The playing field is level
But it's ugly down below
It's a devil of a handbook hi ho hi ho
Either you're the butcher
Or the lamb but even so
Everybody pays as they go
The future busted open wide and ran
Like a beehive loaded with sand
You can't go back and see it
The way you saw it then
Nobody can
Look up and see the men returning
In their winter coats
Some of them in one piece
Some of them got rolled
Some less than others
Some right through the nose
But everybody pays as they go
Young old rich and poor
Your mother she too owes
Cuz everybody pays as they go

I made a promise to not let go
Our tug of war has only made me want you more
Steeped in hard luck and doomed to roam
My love is braver than you know
My forefathers they worked this land
And I was schooled in the tyranny of nature's plans
Dressed in thunder a cloud came round
In the shape of a lion a hand came down

Damn this valley
And damn this cold
Takes so long to let me know
It's plant and reap and plow and sow
But tell me will it grow

Dig my ditches in the golden sun
I'd be robbing these trains if I could catch me one
Sunday Monday now Tuesday's gone
Got me stone cold sober and a drought so long
Boarded mansions and ghost filled yards
There's a boy in a water tower counting cars
Steel traps open and empty stalls
There's a well-worn saddle but the horse is gone

Damn this valley
And damn this cold
Take so long to let me know
It's plant and reap and plow and sow
But tell me will it grow? (Will it grow?)

Jet black starlit midnight rolls
I am down in the garden where I let you go
Up on the surface the earth looks round
But it's a godless city of cold flat ground

Damn this valley
And damn this cold
Take so long to let me know
It's plant and reap and plow and sow
But tell me will it grow?

In my mind's eye
A plantation
In the clearing
Is a platform station
In the distance
Is a kingdom
In to the front line
Is how I'm coming
They say in war
All is fair
I'm heading to the field
In spite of my condition

Whatever you thought
Whatever you thought
You know I told you
I couldn't stop

Now through the desert
Out to the sea
Weather-beaten
Through all four seasons
And there is love
In my creation
I've come back
For all the right reasons
I aint your castle
You're not a queen
It isn't yours
That you're so busy there protecting

Whatever you thought
Whatever you thought
You know I told you
I couldn't stop

All this beauty
Is sticky sweet
This naughty world
Is due for good deeds
Give me your poor
Your tired masses
Bring me the head
Of the mule in my glasses
Sing that lonesome high melody
Roamin young man,
The horror behind me

Whatever you thought
Whatever you thought
You know I told you
I couldn't stop

Mother you saw my eyes
On the fourth of July
Under a banner of roman candles
Mother war is kind
Like hell but I am fine
Brother have you gone west
Have you followed through once yet
You are still younger how dare you forget
Brother war is best
In the morning when you've had restLike a lost dog between houses
In the unknown open country
Line up at dawn to see who's missing
My age is a metaphor
It only speaks of everything beforeDaughter you wear my name
Those are my eyes keep 'em raised
I may have scars but I give more than I take
Daughter war is safe
Where you are far away
Lover are you gone
My heart has taken too much on
One octave lower than thunder it drums
lover war is done
In more ways than just oneLike a lost dog between houses
In the unknown open country
Like an outlaw now standing
At the foot of infinity
The sun is wild
And just in front of me

Got my window open wide
Got my window open wide
Got a good woman by my side
Got a good woman by my side
Now this kind of day
Has no night
Yeah
This kind of day
Has no night
Ain't got much on my mind
Ain't got much on my mind
'Cause I know
Something good this way comes
Now watching the streets
Filling up
Watching the streets filling up
In the shade of the summer sun
In the shade of the summer sun
Got sweet apple pie on the stove
Got sweet apple pie on the stove
The birds they're all flyin' low
The birds they're all flyin' low
'Cause they know
Something good this way comes
The trouble, doll
Is not moving mountains, but
Digging the ground that you're on
If it's true
That good fortune gives no chase
We got just what it takes
Collar up on my coat
Collar up on my coat
Trucks are pullin'
In for the show
Trucks are pullin'
In for the show
Grasshopper jump in the road
Grasshopper jump in the road
Kids they're all running home
The kids
They're all running home
'Cause they know
Something good this way comes
Yeah
Something good this way comes
The trouble, doll
Is not moving mountains, but
Digging the ground
That you're on
If it's true
That good fortune
Gives no chase
We got just what it takes
Got my window open wide
Got my window open wide
Got a good woman by my side
Got a good woman by my side
'Cause I know
Something good this way comes
Yeah
Something good this way comes
Yeah
Something good this way comes
Mmmm, mmm, mmmm

You're old enough to know well
The better things are all up hill
Bitter songs are never sung
In the highlands where you belong
In the smoke of cannons below
Men they bury each other in rows
People come people go
Work in numbers and leave alone
There's a light making its way
On up the mountain night and day
You'll get tired and you'll get weak
But you won't abandon your masterpiece
Off to sleep you'll go
Through the halls and opened doors
Silver bells swinging low
Strung in branches of the unknown
Soon morning comes
To warm the world and wake you up
Night is gone awful fast
It ain't wrong to be sad
There's a light making its way
On up the mountain night and day
You'll go down and you'll go deep
But you won't surrender your masterpiece
Here it comes and there it goes
The unbearable sound of the earth making men out of boys
First you learn then you'll teach
About the bright bright light
Making its way
On up the mountain night and day
You'll get tired and you'll get weak
But you won't abandon your masterpiece
There's a light making its way
On up the mountain night and day
You'll go down and you'll go deep
But you won't surrender your masterpiece
You will deliver your masterpiece

I was born in the summer of Sam
Smaller and sooner than planned
In the spitting image of a man
Raised by wolves on the fat of the land
Clear of romance beauty and damned
Tomorrow will come if she can
Just want a woman who can walk on a wire
With a trembling glass in her hand
Over the hilltops the fire engine rolls
Down the valley deeper still it goes
Got my weapons out laying low
On this end of the telescopeAlone you ramble the whole of the world
Through black water jungles for bliss
It's feast or famine you eat what you kill
There's no need to bring God in to this
My heart is heavy and pressed to the bond
Some people too heavy to hold
Salutations take me as I am
You can have me or leave me alone
Sun kissed lemons in the graveyard below
Here in death you see new adventures grow
I see you at last but most a ghost
On this end of the telescopeThis will not be easy
Word's out the doctor is not coming in
This genie's too angry to go back
Into the bottle againCloser than ever covered in birds
A bone colored moon fills the west
Throats will be slashed and flags will unfurl
As time will divide us in gangs
Years of progress digging the sand
Companions we made didn't last
Lousy lovers do well with their hands
But I'll reach you like nobody can
Slow and easy you let your paddle go
Down a the bottom there is more hell to row
I see clear at last I love I loathe
On this end of the telescope

It doesn't always have a shape Almost never does it have a name It maybe has a pitchfork maybe has a tail But evil is alive and well It might walk upright from out of the inferno May be coming horseback through deep snow It's ragged and fat hungry as hell Evil is alive and well Evil is alive Evil is well Evil is alive Evil is well On your feet to the tower and yell Evil is alive and well May be too humble to want to speak May have a blood soaked bird in its teeth Smoked filled skies and bees in the well Evil is alive and well Maybe in a palace it may be in the streets May be here among us on a crowded beach May be asleep in a roadside motel But evil is alive and well Evil is alive Evil is well Evil is alive Evil is well On your feet to the tower and yell Evil is alive and well It's well Down in every ditch Up on every hill It's well I've got my radio on Drowning the bells When midnight's done and the day won't start And All I ever gave you was a broken heart It's hard to admit but it's easy to tell That evil is alive and well

We'd feel much better if we sunk this treasure And laid our armor down These precious metals and these captain's letters They are no use to us now In the day we struggle with fatigue much greater Than any offer was We bow down and worship these bandits and cowboys Unable to hold their own guns I know that soldiers are not paid to think But something is making us sick Onward and steady Able and young In the valley of the low, low sun In the shade we wander along a highway's shoulder Into the back of beyond Burning the daylight into a pastime That's too wise to come more than once It's boom boom thunder ain't no sleep coming Out mining a slippery world Of snow covered beaches and junkyards of diesel And bombers named after girls On bridges of black ice not built for the rush There's a new kind of beast getting up That's stranger than fiction Speaking in tongue In the valley of the low, low sun Hold on for the slow turning Smoke if you've got 'em boys This is bottom hiding out Down under the stairs Tomorrow has come Like it's drunk on the blood Of the men who have dared to be there The earth's still climbing as it keeps on grinding Its way up around the sun As cool water crashes down to the masses Bootlegged and bottled like rum My dreams are humble, lean as arrows Streetwise, ready, and fair As we bum rush the ages tied to the rails On high seas not fit to be sailed Whatever we've taken does feel like heaven But baby, we just look like hell Act like you mean it where paradise was In the valley of the low, low sun Act like you mean it where paradise was In the valley of the low, low sun

I been working double shift all night Bees make honey I'm making mine Good men are busy all the time I been working double shift all night My line of work suits me fine Split that apple and chuck that rind Pull no wishbone that ain't dry My line of work suits me fine Sweet you ramble sweet you roll Through the bedrock of my soul I got more good luck than I'll ever use All day and all night like a mule Fat faced farmer off my land Cross me twice you'll understand Me and Delia we're more than friends Fat faced farmer off my land See how high your monkey jumps Peel that fruit back and give me some Let this evening do what it does And see how high your monkey jumps I'm gearing up to get small I do it big or don't do it at all Ain't got no baggage that I can't use All day and all night like a mule It's on back to work they say Pull your hammer high and straight Lay your boards out and drag that rake And get on back to work they say Give what you've got return what you use Tell me young man whose dog are you Got bigger secrets than you do All day and all night like a mule

Worried 'bout you baby Down in your rabbit hole The evening of our great escape Is starting to unfold Out of bed sleepy head It's different than you know Everybody pays as they go You've got to pull yourself together Your chin up off your throat Whistle for the dogs And get your sled into the snow Nothing's ever buried Under skull and bones Everybody pays as they go The playing field is level But it's ugly down below It's a devil of a handbook hi ho hi ho Either you're the butcher Or the lamb but even so Everybody pays as they go The future busted open wide and ran Like a beehive loaded with sand You can't go back and see it The way you saw it then Nobody can Look up and see the men returning In their winter coats Some of them in one piece Some of them got rolled Some less than others Some right through the nose But everybody pays as they go Young old rich and poor Your mother she too owes Cuz everybody pays as they go

I made a promise to not let go Our tug of war has only made me want you more Steeped in hard luck and doomed to roam My love is braver than you know My forefathers they worked this land And I was schooled in the tyranny of nature's plans Dressed in thunder a cloud came round In the shape of a lion a hand came down Damn this valley Damn this cold Take so long to let me know It's plant and reap and plow and sow But tell me will it grow Dig my ditches in the golden sun I'd be robbing these trains if I could catch me one Sunday Monday now Tuesday's gone Got me stone cold sober n a drought so long Boarded mansions and ghost filled yards There's a boy in a water tower counting cars Steel traps open and empty stalls There's a well-worn saddle but the horse is gone Damn this valley Damn this cold Take so long to let me know It's plant and reap and plow and sow But tell me will it grow Jet black starlit midnight rolls I am down in the garden where I let go Here on the surface the earth looks round But it's a godless city of cold flat ground Damn this valley Damn this cold Take so long to let me know It's plant and reap and plow and sow But tell me will it grow

In my mind's eye
A plantation
In the clearing
Is a platform station
In the distance
Is a kingdom
In to the front line
Is how I'm coming
They say in war
All is fair
I'm heading to the field
In spite of my condition

Whatever you thought
Whatever you thought
You know I told you
I couldn't stop

Now through the desert
Out to the sea
Weather-beaten
Through all four seasons
And there is love
In my creation
I've come back
For all the right reasons
I aint your castle
You're not a queen
It isn't yours
That you're so busy there protecting

Whatever you thought
Whatever you thought
You know I told you
I couldn't stop

All this beauty
Is sticky sweet
This naughty world
Is due for good deeds
Give me your poor
Your tired masses
Bring me the head
Of the mule in my glasses
Sing that lonesome high melody
Roamin young man,
The horror behind me

Whatever you thought
Whatever you thought
You know I told you
I couldn't stop

Mother you saw my eyes On the fourth of July Under a banner of roman candles Mother war is kind Like hell but I am fine Brother have you gone west Have you followed through once yet You are still younger how dare you forget Brother war is best In the morning when you've had rest Like a lost dog between houses In the unknown open country Line up at dawn to see who's missing My age is a metaphor It only speaks of everything before Daughter you wear my name Those are my eyes keep 'em raised I may have scars but I give more than I take Daughter war is safe Where you are far away Lover are you gone My heart has taken too much on One octave lower than thunder it drums lover war is done In more ways than just one Like a lost dog between houses In the unknown open country Like an outlaw now standing At the foot of infinity The sun is wild And just in front of me

Got my window open wide Got my window open wide Got a good woman by my side Got a good woman by my side Now this kind of day has no night Yeah, this kind of day has no night Ain’t got much on my mind Ain’t got much on my mind ‘Cause I know Something good this way comes Now watching the streets filling up Watching the streets filling up In the shade of the summer sun In the shade of the summer sun Got sweet apple pie on the stove Got sweet apple pie on the stove The birds they’re all flying low The birds they’re all flying low ‘Cause they know something good this way comes The trouble, doll, is not moving mountains, but Digging the ground that you’re on If it’s true that good fortune gives no chase We got just what it takes Collar up on my coat Collar up on my coat Trucks are pullin’ in for the show Trucks are pullin’ in for the show Grasshopper jump in the road Grasshopper jump in the road Kids they’re all running home The kids they’re all running home ‘Cause they know something good this way comes Yeah, something good this way comes The trouble, doll, is not moving mountains, but Digging the ground that you’re on If it’s true that good fortune gives no chase We got just what it takes Got my window open wide Got my window open wide Got a good woman by my side Got a good woman by my side ‘Cause I know something good this way comes Yeah, something good this way comes Yeah, something good this way comes

You're old enough to know well The better things are all up hill Bitter songs are never sung In the highlands where you belong In the smoke of cannons below Men they bury each other in rows People come people go Work in numbers and leave alone There's a light making its way On up the mountain night and day You'll get tired and you'll get weak But you won't abandon your masterpiece Off to sleep you'll go Through the halls and opened doors Silver bells swinging low Strung in branches of the unknown Soon morning comes To warm the world and wake you up Night is gone awful fast It ain't wrong to be sad There's a light making its way On up the mountain night and day You'll go down and you'll go deep But you won't surrender your masterpiece Here it comes and there it goes The unbearable sound of the earth making men out of boys First you learn then you'll teach About the bright bright light Making its way On up the mountain night and day You'll get tired and you'll get weak But you won't abandon your masterpiece There's a light making its way On up the mountain night and day You'll go down and you'll go deep But you won't surrender your masterpiece You will deliver your masterpiece