Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (Take 13, Alternate Take) - Bob Dylan

Oh, the ragman draws circles

Up and down the block

I'd ask him what the matter was

But I know he doesnt talk

And the ladies treat me kindly

And furnish me with tape

But neither him nor the ragman

Could help me to escape

Oh, Mama, this could be the end

I'm stuck inside of Mobile

With the Memphis blues again

Now, Shakespear's in the alley

With his pointed shoes and his bells

Speaking to some French girl

Who says she knows me well

And I would send a message

To find out if she's talked

But the post office has been stolen

And the mailbox is locked

Oh, Mama, this might be the end

I'm stuck inside of Mobile

With the Memphis blues again

Now, Mona tried to help me

She said stay away from the train line

She said that all the railroad men

Just drink up your blood like wine

An' I said, "Oh, I don't know

But then again, there's only one I've met

An' he just smoked my eyelids

An' punched my cigarette"

Oh, Mama, this might be the end

I'm stuck inside of Mobile

With the Memphis blues again

Well, Grandpa died last week

He's buried in the rocks

Everybody's still talking about

How badly he was shot

And me, I expected it

I saw he'd lost control

When he built a fire on Main Street

And filled it full of holes

Oh, Mama, this might be the end

I'm stuck inside of Mobile

With the Memphis blues again

Now the senator came down here

Showing ev'ryone his gun

Handing out free tickets

To the wedding of his son

An' I nearly got busted

Wouldn't it be my luck

To get caught without a ticket

And be discovered beneath a truck

Oh, Mama, this might be the end

I'm be stuck inside of Mobile

With the Memphis blues again

Well the preacher looked so baffled

Everytime I asked him why he dressed

With twenty pounds of headlines

Stapled on his chest

He cursed me when I'd whisper

And say "You're not, you think hide?

You see, you're just like me

I hope you're satisfied"

Oh, Mama, this might be the end

I'm stuck inside of Mobile

With the Nashville blues again

Now the rainman gave me two cures

Then he said, "Jump right in"

The one was Texas medicine

The other was railroad gin

An' like a fool I mixed them

An' it strangled up my mind

An' now people just get uglier

An' I have no sense of time

Oh, Mama, I just need a friend

I'm stuck inside of Mobile

With the Memphis blues again