Bob Dylan: "Trouble No More 1979 - 1981" - The Bootleg Series Vol. 13

Totally with Heylin on this. Its in the lineage of the classic "time slip" songs: VOJ, TUIB, CW. Its THAT good.

 

Here's my quick transcription of the lyrics:

MAKING A LIAR OUT OF ME
By Bob Dylan

Well the people, you just going through changes
And that you equated both with night and day
That your money's good and you're just being courageous
On them burning bridges though/when your feet are made of clay
Well I say you won't be destroyed by your inventions
That you brought it on under captivity
And that you really do have all the best intentions
But you're making a liar out of me

Well I say that you're just young and self-tormented
But that deep down you understand
The hopes and fears and dreams of the discontented
Who threaten now to overtake your promised land
Well I say that you'd not sow discord among brothers
Nor drain a man of his integrity
That you remember the cries of orphans and their mothers
But you're making a liar out of me
But you're making a liar out of me

Well I say that it ain't flesh and blood you're drinking
In the wounded empire of your fool's paradise
With that light above your head forever blinking
Turning virgins into merchandise
That you must have been beautiful when you were living
You remind me of some old-time used-to-be
I say you can be trusted with the power you been given
But you're making a liar out of me

So many things to heard to say as you stumble
To take refuge in your offices of shame
As the earth beneath my feet begin to rumble
And your young men die for nothin', not even fame
I say that someday you'll begin to trust us
And that your conscience not been slain by conformity
That you stand up unafraid to believe in justice
But you're making a liar out of me
You're making a liar out of me

Well I can hear the sound of distant thunder
From an open window at the end of every hall
Now that you're gone I got to wonder
If you ever were here at all
I say you never sacrificed my children
To some false god of infidelity
And that it's not the Tower of Babel that you're building
But you're making a liar out of me
You're making a liar out of me
You're making a liar out of me

========================

Needless to say: Wow. Each verse starts off "trying" to give his listeners / fans / friends the benefit of the doubt, guessing at all the reasons why they aren't listening to him, and then twists the knife at the end -- "I'm trying to explain why it's OK for you to stay in the darkness, but you're making a liar out of me."

 

"I say you never sacrifice my children to some false god of infidelity
And it's not the tower of Babylon you're building
But you're making a liar out of me"

How on earth as it is in heaven did this song remain unrecorded for inclusion on an album?

 

Probably because is sounds too much like You Can't Always Get What You Want by the Stones. Give a listen. Wonder if Bob gave any writing credits to Jagger/Richards. Based on his history...I doubt it.

 

Yes, I've heard it 10 times now and I agree it is vaguely similar but let's be honest, Dylan has never held a song back before simply because it riffs on an earlier tune from someone else. There are countless examples of familiar tunes in his back catalogue going all the way back to "Girl From The North Country".

 

Vaguely? First time I listened, it hit me over the head. You don't have to protect Bobby, I'm sure Mick and Keith won't raise the issue when they hear it. Fantastic lyrics by Bob, though.

 

Thanks for the transcription!
A few suggested changes, in bold caps.

MAKING A LIAR OUT OF ME
By Bob Dylan

I TELL people, you just going through changes
And that YOU'RE ACQUAINTED both with night and day
That your money's good and YOU just being courageous
On them burning bridges KNOWING your feet are made of clay
Well I say you won't be destroyed by your inventions
That you brought it ALL under captivity
And that you really do have all the best intentions
But you're making a liar out of me

Well I say that you just young and self-tormented
But that deep down you understand
The hopes and fears and dreams of the discontented
THAT threaten now to overtake your promised land
Well I say (delete "that") you'd not sow discord among brothers
Nor drain a man of his integrity
That you remember the cries of orphans and their mothers
But you're making a liar out of me
But you're making a liar out of me

Well I say that, THAT ain't flesh and blood you're drinking
In the wounded empire of your fool's paradise
With A light above your head forever blinking
Turning virgins into merchandise
That you must have been beautiful when you were living
You remind me of some old-time used-to-be
I say you can be trusted with the power you been given
But you're making a liar out of me

So many things SO HARD to say as you stumble
To take refuge in your offices of shame
As the earth beneath my feet BEGINS to rumble
And your young men die for nothin', not even fame
I say that someday you'll begin to trust us
And that your conscience not been slain by conformity
That you stand up unafraid to believe in justice
But you're making a liar out of me
You're making a liar out of me

Well I can hear the sound of distant thunder
From an open window at the end of every hall
Now that you're gone I got to wonder
If you ever were here at all
I say you never sacrificed my children
To some false god of infidelity
And that it's not the Tower of Babel that you're building
But you're making a liar out of me
You're making a liar out of me
WELL you're making a liar out of me

 

Are you on commission from The Glimmer Twins by any chance?

 

Uh huh. Especially since it dates from a burst of creative inspiration that ALSO generated "Caribbean Wind," "Groom Still Waiting At The Alter," "Angelina," "Yonder Comes Sin," and "Every Grain of Sand" (among other songs) in incredibly rapid succession.

 

Hear Bob Dylan's Lost Gospel Masterpiece 'Making a Liar Out of Me

Argh! "Currently unavailable in your region"

 

Yes indeed! We know there's more gold in those vaults too. It's not difficult to see an alternative past right there: a live album from 198o including romping versions of the "Saved" songs instead of the album of that name, followed by a 1981/2 studio masterpiece of an album containing those six songs plus the best of the rest.

 

Well, most of the lead vocal alternates between two or three notes. Not much to differentiate if you were going to do an analysis of the melody, although I notice the resemblance. The chords and the guitar figures also have a vague similarity.

 

And how wonderful to have a never seen or heard before set of lyrics that demand such close listening, reading, analysis and further re-listening and re-reading.
I mean that whole 3rd verse. Wow.
Could be interpreted as being addressed to the President, modern society, America, Satan, pre '78 Bob??

 

I thought it was "MAKING A LION OUT OF ME"

 

And how strange that discussions such as these are occurring within minutes of said song first being heard by anyone outside a very select group.

 

Thanks for the edits -- I agree with all your changes. What a lyric!

 

What's strange? Hungry Bob obsessives ready to pounce just given a meal rather than a snack.

 

Now there's an interesting idea (maybe even more interesting now that it was a few hours ago ), especially given that:

1. Some degree of preparatory work on all of the Rundown tapes (or at least all of the post-Street-Legal ones) would have to have already been done in the course of compiling BS 13.
2. There would be enough potential material for a three-level release -- 2 CDs, 6-to-8 CDs, and [some arbitrarily large number of] CDs. (Big Brown, anyone?)

Of course, it also would mean that there are many here among us who would end up repurchasing the studio material from BS 13, but we're used to that by now, right?

 

Some seeds of "License to Kill" and more so "Man of Peace" are present in these lyrics.

 

What's the best price you are seeing now?

 

Although I don't think it was his intention, the possibility that he's singing to himself (and even his post-conversion self, who has the call of the wild forever at his door, and begs and steals) is pretty captivating.

I'm glad I'm not a songwriter, who has to know that Dylan took a song greater than anything I could ever write, crumpled it into a ball of paper, and forgot about it forever.

 

I think I'm gonna wait until I get the box. But I'll live vicariously through you guys for now!

 

We're going to keep talking it up until we make a liar out of you.

 

All the more reason why there arguably should have been a "post-Gospel" CD that acknowledged the spirituality in Bob's lyrics after 1981...

 

Artwork already completed.