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Desolation Row by Bob Dylan - Guitar Chords

Artist Bob Dylan How to play the guitar chord E.jpg How to play the guitar chord A.jpg How to play the guitar chord B7.jpg

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            Desolation Row chords
Bob Dylan

E E E Esus4 E 2x

[Verse 1]

        E
They're selling postcards of the hanging,
        A                      E
they're painting the passports brown;
    B7
the beauty parlor is filled with sailors,
    A            E
the circus is in town

Here comes the blind commissioner,
        A            E
they've got him in a trance;
B7
one hand is tied to the tight-rope walker,
    A               E
the other is in his pants
        A
And the riot squad they're restless,
     E                 A
they need somewhere to go;
   E               B7
as lady and I look out tonight,
     A          E   E Esus4 E 3x
from Desolation Row

[Verse 2]

E
Cinderella, she seems so easy,
    A                           E
"it takes one to know one," she smiles;
    B7
and puts her hands in her back pockets,
A           E
Bette Davis style

And in comes Romeo, he's moaning,
       A              E
"you belong to me I believe";
    B7
and someone says," you're in the wrong place, my friend,
A          E
you better leave"
        A
And the only sound that's left,
E                    A
after the ambulances go;
   E          B7
is Cinderella sweeping up,
   A          E   E Esus4 E 3x
on Desolation Row

[Verse 3]

        E
Now the moon is almost hidden,
    A                      E
the stars are beginning to hide;
    B7
the fortunetelling lady,
    A                           E
has even taken all her things inside

All except for Cain and Abel,
        A                  E
and the hunchback of Notre Dame;
B7
everybody is making love,
   A              E
or else expecting rain
        A
And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing,
             E             A
he's getting ready for the show;
     E            B7
he's going to the carnival tonight,
   A          E  E Esus4 E 3x
on Desolation Row

[Verse 4]

     E
Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window,
    A              E
for her I feel so afraid;
       B7
on her twenty-second birthday,
      A               E
she already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic,
    A             E
she wears an iron vest;
       B7
her profession's her religion,
    A                  E
her sin is her lifelessness
    A
And though her eyes are fixed upon,
E                A
Noah's great rainbow;
    E               B7
she spends her time peeking,
     A          E   E Esus4 E 3x
into Desolation Row

[Verse 5]

     E
Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
  A                E
With his memories in a trunk
    B7
Passed this way an hour ago
    A              E
With his friend, a jealous monk

He looked so immaculately frightful
    A              E
As he bummed a cigarette
     B7
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
    A              E
And reciting the alphabet
      A
Now you would not think to look at him
     E            A
But he was famous long ago
   E             B7
For playing the electric violin
A              E Esus4  E  3x
On Desolation Row

[Verse 6]

    E
Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
 A              E
Inside of a leather cup
   B7
But all his sexless patients
    A              E
They're trying to blow it up

Now his nurse, some local loser
  A                E
She's in charge of the cyanide hole
     B7
And she also keeps the cards that read
     A          E
"Have Mercy on His Soul"
      A
They all play on penny whistles
     E          A
You can hear them blow
      E         B7
If you lean your head out far enough
A            E Esus4  E  3x
From Desolation Row

[Verse 7]

       E
Across the street they've nailed the curtains
  A                      E
They're getting ready for the feast
    B7
The Phantom of the Opera
  A                      E
A perfect image of a priest

They're spoon feeding Casanova
     A                 E
To get him to feel more assured
    B7
Then they'll kill him with self-confidence
     A                   E
After poisoning him with words
     A
And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls
     E                   A
"Get Outa Here If You Don't Know
    E                    B7
Casanova is just being punished for going
A            E Esus4  E  3x
To Desolation Row"

[Verse 8]

     E
Now at midnight all the agents
    A              E
And the superhuman crew
     B7
Come out and round up everyone
     A                E
That knows more than they do

Then they bring them to the factory
     A                E
Where the heart-attack machine
     B7
Is strapped across their shoulders
    A             E
And then the kerosene
    A
Is brought down from the castles
    E              A
By insurance men who go
     E                  B7
Check to see that nobody is escaping
A            E Esus4  E  3x
To Desolation Row

[Verse 9]

      E
Praise be to Nero's Neptune
    A              E
The Titanic sails at dawn
      B7
And everybody's shouting
    A              E
"Which Side Are You On?"

And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
    A                   E
Fighting in the captain's tower
      B7
While calypso singers laugh at them
     A                E
And fishermen hold flowers
   A
Between the windows of the sea
    E                A
Where lovely mermaids flow
    E                  B7
And nobody has to think too much
      A          E  E Esus4 E 3x
About Desolation Row

E A E B7 A E A E B7 A E A E A E B7 A E

[Verse 10]

      E
Yes, I received your letter yesterday
    A                    E
(About the time the door knob broke)
        B7
When you asked how I was doing
    A                   E
Was that some kind of joke?

All these people that you mention
    A                       E
Yes, I know them, they're quite lame
      B7
I had to rearrange their faces
    A                     E
And give them all another name
   A
Right now I can't read too good
    E                      A
Don't send me no more letters no
    E               B7
Not unless you mail them
     A          E   E Esus4 E 2x
From Desolation Row

E A E B7 A E A E B7 A E A E A E B7 A E


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