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12/14 Bob Dylan's Selling Cars

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(@john-sargent)
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Joined: 14 years ago
Posts: 946
Topic starter  

I haven't posted a song here since October and this certainly has absolutely nothing to do with this weeks topic. I'm normally the first one to get moved by a dark and suggestive line like "Dances With Ghosts".

Problem is that I watched the Superbowl and got into the commercials.

Bob Dylan’s Selling Cars - Tune is Ballad of a Thin Man

You turned on the TV
To watch the big football game
You do this every February
And every year it’s all the same
They tell how much the ads cost
And it seems like such a shame
But it’s on in every home, club and bar
A hard rain must be falling on highway 61
Cause Bob Dylan is selling cars

The times they are a changing
And the cars are changing too
The designers are forever young
The hot color is Baby Blue
But it’s alright Ma
Cause all I really want to do
Is forget about playing the guitar
Cause it’s positively 4th street
In your new 5th Avenue
When Bob Dylan is selling cars

You won’t need a weatherman
The wipers sense the weather
The seats are upholstered
With Corinthian leather
That comes from Maggies Farm
And Detroit puts them together
I like to drive around for hours
But if I get stopped I might shoot the deputy
Cause Bob Dylan is selling cars

These accelerate quickly
Like an answer blowin in the wind
But you ain’t goin nowhere
Till you buy one my fried
Cause all along the watchtower
Big Brother is looking in
And he’ll get you wherever you are
But I’ll be on all alone, like a rolling stone
Cause Bob Dylan is selling cars


   
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(@jamestoffee)
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Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 2855
 

Hi John,

Yes, nothing to do with dancing or ghosts there....I imagine it to be a folk tune; being BD and all.....lots of nice references.

Hope you had some nice travels over the last few months.

James


   
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(@john-sargent)
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Joined: 14 years ago
Posts: 946
Topic starter  

The melody and chord structure are "Ballad of a Thin Man". This is a Dylan song you probably know by the lines "Something is happening, but you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?"

I added a new verse, that fits in second to last, this morning

He asks you to sit
Behind the station wagon wheel
Then he asks you
“How does it feel”
He’ll say “Don’t think twice”
This is such a great deal
A gallon of gas will take you twice as far
He could sell ice to Quinn the Eskimo
Cause Bob Dylan’s selling cars


   
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(@davidhodge)
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Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 4472
 

Hi John

This should definitely be a hit with a typical coffee house or song circle group as there are more than enough "in jokes" to keep everyone delighted. Reminds me of the songs a local songwriter here does that are full of lines citing New York and New Jersey, which thrill the tourists when they come to town.

Looking forward to hearing it at some point.

Peace


   
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(@john-sargent)
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Joined: 14 years ago
Posts: 946
Topic starter  

Hi John

This should definitely be a hit with a typical coffee house or song circle group as there are more than enough "in jokes" to keep everyone delighted. Reminds me of the songs a local songwriter here does that are full of lines citing New York and New Jersey, which thrill the tourists when they come to town.

Looking forward to hearing it at some point.

Peace

Yes, I'll try to sing it at a singaround this week. If it goes over well, I'll do it at a folk club open mic. If that goes well, I'll play it in the song circles at the Kerrville Fest. I'm still tweaking it. I've got the descending line a,g#,g,f# worked out on a tenor uke. On a guitar I have to capo at the fifth fret to get it to work out.
As far as posting a recording, it's a copyrighted melody so I don't think I can put it on SoundClick. Maybe a Youtube video will pass.


   
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(@john-sargent)
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Topic starter  

I had to go back and re-listen to the original. I discovered that I left out a bridge section. This became the hardest part to write, partially because I felt I had exhausted all the Dylan and Detroit references that I had planned to use.
After 48 hours of writing, editing and scratching, this came to me in the shower.

(Am) Dylan discovered that (C) Detroit is where it’s at
(F)Because the Chinese cats own 97.5 per cent of the (Am)nation
(Am)Oh sister, can’t you see (C) They’re not buying his CD’s
(F)People still play the LP’s they(Dm)bought during the folk music (G)generation (/g#)


   
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(@john-sargent)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXwWu2MTGSk

I didn't want to anger the copyright people at Soundclick so I made a video of the song on my laptop.


   
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(@rparker)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5480
 

Hey man, that was cool. I enjoyed it.

Songs like this always make me wait for my favorite element, as in my favorite Dylan tune getting worked in. Alas, hard to imagine how to fit "Just Like Tm Thumb's Blues" into anything automobile related. :lol:

Well done, and I thought a big win on the tune selection as well.

Oh wait, maybe add "with one head-light" to a line of "Bob Dylan is selling cars" and include his son, too. :mrgreen:

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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(@john-sargent)
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Topic starter  

Thanks for the listen and comments. When I started I made a list of favorite Dylan tunes. I somehow missed Tom Thumb's when I made the list. I think there was a Tom Thumb locomotive back in history so if Dylan ever sells trains, I'll be right on that.

I like your avatar. I used to own a 100th Anniversary Road King with that paint job.


   
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(@rparker)
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Too many good songs of his to remember them all, much less fit them into a song like this. :)

I wish I was enjoying mine more these days, but hopefully soon. It's my favorite way to travel. :)

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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