short things / dylan lyrics

walking sideways along the highway

just outside town, i 

stick my thumb out at a broken old ford

and it slows down without a word.

...

farewell angelina, the bells of the crown

are being stolen by bandits, i must follow the sound

the triangle tingles, the music plays slow

but farewell angelina, the sky is on fire and i must go.

...

it would be better to turn into sea foam than a jar of mayonaise.  

...

the jacks and the queens have forsook the courtyard

and 52 gypsies file past the guard

in the space where the deuce and the ace once ran wild

farewell angelina, the sky it is folding, and i'll see you in a while

...

i do not enjoy cake, so you can have mine.

yes, yes, of course you can eat it.

...

king kong little elves on the rooftops they dance

valentino-type tangos while the heros wash hands

close the eyes of the dead, not to embarrass anyone

but farewell angelina, the sky it is changing and i must be gone

...

it's very hard to write quick whimsy like i did a few weeks ago.  i miss it.  it seems this getting my life figured out really cuts into my whimsical word count.  so i'll just supplement my own whimsy with some dylan.  that's what i've been doing for years.  when my own sardonic charm starts wearing thin i try to tap into his.   long periods of my life have consisted of disguising dylan lyrics as conversation.  

now, emerson said that books are to be used by the scholar during the times when she cannot be inspired directly by nature.  the record of inspiration past can be used to fill such voids.

so substitute dylan for books and me for her and thats how i get by.  

and if you've never heard farewell angelina,  google it forthwith.  it seems joan baez probably used to perform in more than dylan.  it's delightful.  when we were hiking through the crater i could not get the line 

king kong little elves, on the rooftops they dance

out of my head.