I decided to entitle my blog matchbook songs & gypsy hymns for two reasons. 1. They are lyrics from Bob Dylan's "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" and Bob Dylan is one of my favorite musicians/poets. 2. I plan on filling this blog with my thoughts but some posts may just be lyrics, poems, and pieces of writing by other people that hold some sort of truth for me or express how I feel and think. These could fall under the categories of songs and hymns. More than anything this blog is just a way for me to collect my most important experiences, thoughts, ideas, and feelings. I am posting the lyrics to "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" below.
With your mercury mouth in the missionary times
and your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes
and your silver cross and your voice like chimes
Oh, who among them do they think could bury you?
With your pockets well protected at last
and your streetcar visions which you place on the grass
and your flesh like silk and your face like glass
Who among them do they think could carry you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands
where the prophet says that no man comes
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums
Should I leave them by your gate
or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
With your sheets like metal and your belt like lace
and your deck of cards missing the jack and ace
and your basement clothes and your hollow face
Who among them can think he could outguess you?
With your silhouette where the moonlight swims
and your matchbook songs and your gypsy hymns
Who among them would try to impress you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums
Should I leave them by your gate
or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
The kings of Tyrus with their convict list
are waiting in line for their geranium kiss
and you wouldn't know it would happen like this
But who among them really wants just to kiss you?
With your childhood flames on your midnight rug
and your Spanish manners and your mother's drugs
and your cowboy mouth and your curfew plugs
Who among them do you think could resist you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums
Should I leave them by your gate
or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
Oh, the farmers and the businessmen, they all did decide
to show you the dead angels that they used to hide
but why did they pick you to sympathize with their side?
Oh, how could they ever mistake you?
They wished you'd accepted the blame for the farm
but with the sea at your feet and the phony false alarm
and with the child of a hoodlum wrapped in your arms
How could they ever, ever persuade you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums
Should I leave them by your gate
or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
With your sheet-metal memory of Cannery Row
and your magazine-husband who one day just had to go
and your gentleness now, which you just can't help but show
Who among them do you you think would employ you?
Now you stand with your thief, you're on his parole
with your holy medallion which your fingertips fold
and your saintlike face and your ghostlike soul
Oh, who among them do you think could destroy you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums
Should I leave them by your gate
or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
The lyrics don't hold much meaning for me personally. I can't say that I affiliate them with any particular experience I've had but, oh, to read them out loud! To read those similes and phrases-- prayers like rhymes, streetcar visions which you place on the grass, your matchbook songs and your gypsy hymns, your childhood flames on your midnight rug, your cowboy mouth --those words contain such imagery and, every time I read the lyrics, I find myself rereading them just to savor them as I would a good meal or a cup of a hot chocolate or even a kiss, a hug.
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Note: The photograph below is also the the header on this blog. It was taken about six years ago, while I was sitting in one of the big comfy chairs at Cup O Joe. It is meaningful to me because it reminds me of a time in my life that was very important to me... a time of growth and learning that I wouldn't be the same without. It reminds me of how far I've come in only a short time and makes me wonder what I will learn in the next six, twenty, fifty years. Further note: This photo has now been changed, but still remains important to me.
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