Do You Know Any Dylan Cifras

[Verse 1]
       C                       F
At the age of nineteen, I was young, I was keen,
       C                      G
and I had just one burning ambition :
    C                  F
to be a folksinger, a dope-smoking swinger,
      C                G            C
sing songs that were steeped in tradition.
      F                      C
So I bought a guitar and I practiced real hard,
   F                           G
I wasn't much good, but I was willin',
      C                 F
till to my chagrin, my girlfriend came in,
         C              G        C
and she said: "Can you sing any Dylan?"
 
[Chorus]
         C         F
I said "No! No! A thousand times no!
      C                       G
I'd rather see my lifeblood spillin'.
     C                    F
I'd sing anything, even 'God Save The King',
       C              G        C
but I just won't sing any Bob Dylan."
 
 
[Verse 2]
     C                 F
And with my guitar I traveled real far,
  C                 G
trying to get recognition.
   C                          F
I sang 'The Wild Rover' from Dundee to Dover,
    C               G           C
in pubs, clubs and in seaman's missions.
    F                     C
I travelled the road for seven long years,
    F                   G
my pace, it really was killin'.
    C                       F
And everywhere I went from Guaya to Gwent,
            C             G        C
they would say: "Can you sing any Dylan?"
 
[Chorus]
         C         F
I said "No! No! A thousand times no!
      C                       G
I'd rather see my lifeblood spillin'.
     C                    F
I'd sing anything, even 'God Save The King',
       C              G        C
but I just won't sing any Bob Dylan."
 
[Verse 3]
      C                        F
Well, I struggled on, but the magic was gone,
  C                         G
I only had a deep sense of failure.
    C                          F
I thought then I'd go to where all failures go,
      C          G           C
so I boarded a ship for Australia.
        F                    C
When I landed at Sydney the sun it shone down,
         F                          G
'twas a view that was lovely and thrillin',
       C                       F
till spotting my case with a smile on his face,
        C              G        C
custom said: "Can you sing any Dylan, mate?"
 
[Chorus]
         C         F
I said "No! No! A thousand times no!
      C                       G
I'd rather see my lifeblood spillin'.
     C                    F
I'd sing anything, even 'God Save The King',
       C              G        C
but I just won't sing any Bob Dylan."
 
[Verse 4]
    C                  F
And ever since then, again and again,
          C                      G
I've been asked the same bloody question,
      C                   F
and I usually reply in me own quiet way,
        C         G         C
with a totally indecent suggestion.
         F                        C
But the last time came on at the local motel,
        F                        G
when I had a young girl who was willin'.
         C                           F
As she slipped off her dress she said, "I'll say yes,
   C         G             C
if only you sing some Bob Dylan." (Big boy. Big big big boy)
 
[Chorus]
         C         F
I said "No! No! A thousand times no!
      C                       G
I'd rather see my lifeblood spillin'.
     C                    F
I'd sing anything, even 'God Save The King',
       C              G        C
but I just won't sing any Bob Dylan."
 
[Verse 5]
       C                      F
But I tell you, my friends, that was the end,
   C                       G
of all my traditional aspirations,
    C                        F
if bein' a folkie was gonna cut off my nookie,
          C         G             C
there was one way to end my frustration.
     F                       C
The next night I sang at my local folk club,
          F                      G
where the audience as usual was millin',
        C                      F
till I took off my coat and I ruptured my throat,
       C    G             C
and I sang just like Bob Dylan:
 
 
(sing first verse of ‘The times they are a-changin'
 
in a very distorted and nasal way)
 
 
[Verse 6]
         C                          F
Well the audience went wild, mans, womans and childs,
           C                                 G
and they clapped till their raw hands were bleedin',
     C                         F
and said so to speak that my style was unique,
           C              G              C
and just what this great folk scene was needin'.
   F                          C
So all you young folkies who bash out the cart,
        F                      G
if you want to attain the top billin',
      C                     F
just murder good prose and sing through your nose,
      C               G             C     F C
and then you'll sing just like Bob Dylan.
X