Tell Ol' Bill (Alternate Version) - Bob Dylan

The river whispers in my ear

I've hardly a penny to my name

The heavens have never seemed so near

All of my body glows with flame

The tempest struggles in the air

And to myself alone I sing

It could sink me then and there

I can hear the echoes ring

I tried to find one smiling face

To drive the shadow from my head

I'm stranded in this nameless place

Lying restless in a heavy bed

Tell me straight out if you will

Why must you torture me within?

Why must you come down off of your high hill?

Throw my fate to the clouds and wind

Far away in a silent land

Secret thoughts are hard to bear

Remember me, you'll understand

Emotions we can never share

You trampled on me as you passed

Left the coldest kiss upon my brow

All of my doubts and fears have gone at last

I've nothing more to tell you now

I walk by tranquil lakes and streams

As each new season's dawn awaits

I lay awake at night with troubled dreams

The enemy is at the gate

Beneath the thunder blasted trees

The words are ringin' off your tongue

The ground is hard in times like these

Stars are cold, the night is young

The rocks are bleak, the trees are bare

Iron clouds go floating by

Snowflakes fallin' in my hair

Beneath the gray and stormy sky

The evenin' sun is sinkin' low

The woods are dark, the town isn't new

They[ll drag you down, they'll run the showAin't no telling what they'll doTell ol' Bill when he comes homeAnything is worth a tryTell him that I'm not aloneThat the hour has come to do or dieAll the world I would defyLet me make it plain as dayI look at you now and I sighHow could it be any other way?]