Something is happening hereBut you don't know what it isDo you, Mister Jones?
- Bob Dylan
"Ballad of a Thin Man," the Bob Dylan song in which the above words appear, is not, by any stretch, one of Dylan's specifically "religious" songs. If you'd like to check out a sample of those religious songs, I invite you to click this link, which will take you to a past blog posting that provides access to what I call my "Last Day" or my "Memorial" songs - songs I regularly listen to as I consider the issues of life and death while I walk around town. Except for one, all my "Memorial" songs are by Bob Dylan.
The complete lyrics to "Ballad of a Thin Man," which is where the above-quoted words appear, will be found at the bottom of this blog posting, and while that song is not, itself, a song that raises lots of "religious" questions, the "pull quote," I think, does make a specifically "religious" observation, one that strikes me as worth commenting on in what I have come to think of as my "Sunday blog posting series," in which various "religious" topics often seem most appropriate.
When we consider our life - you know, when we consider it in a kind of "existential" way - we need to account for what we think it all means. At least, that's my own view.
So, what does it all mean?
I don't have easy pronouncements and have been known to celebrate the idea that we should just "let the mystery be."
But I do want to declare myself. I do, most definitely, think that "something is happening here," and "what's happening" testifies to the fact that our lives are a "mystery," and that we need always to be careful to understand and acknowledge that there is something both mysterious and sublime in the fact that we are alive, here, together, on this beautiful planet, and that we didn't create either this planet or ourselves.
There are various stories about what all means - about that existential what's it all about? I like the one that ends up talking quite a bit about Jesus, but what I want to affirm is not that everyone should be seeing it my way - just that something is (definitely) "happening here," and what is "happening" is of the greatest and most profound importance, to each one of us, and that this makes each one of us, and all others, "important," too.
We need to pay attention! And if we do, we will end up understanding that what is "happening here" is of magnificant and majestic significance - of more importance than we can ever fully comprehend - at least in the detail that so many of us demand.
oooOOOooo
Ballad of a Thin Man
WRITTEN BY: BOB DYLAN
You walk into the room
With your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked
And you say, “Who is that man?”
You try so hard
But you don’t understand
Just what you’ll say
When you get home
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
You raise up your head
And you ask, “Is this where it is?”
And somebody points to you and says “It’s his”
And you say, “What’s mine?”
And somebody else says, “Where what is?”
And you say, “Oh my God
Am I here all alone?”
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
You hand in your ticket
And you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you
When he hears you speak
And says, “How does it feel
To be such a freak?”
And you say, “Impossible”
As he hands you a bone
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
You have many contacts
Among the lumberjacks
To get you facts
When someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect
Anyway they already expect you
To just give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations
You’ve been with the professors
And they’ve all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have
Discussed lepers and crooks
You’ve been through all of
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books
You’re very well read
It’s well known
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you
And then he kneels
He crosses himself
And then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice
He asks you how it feels
And he says, “Here is your throat back
Thanks for the loan”
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word “NOW”
And you say, “For what reason?”
And he says, “How?”
And you say, “What does this mean?”
And he screams back, “You’re a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home”
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
Well, you walk into the room
Like a camel and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket
And your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law
Against you comin’ around
You should be made
To wear earphones
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
With your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked
And you say, “Who is that man?”
You try so hard
But you don’t understand
Just what you’ll say
When you get home
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
You raise up your head
And you ask, “Is this where it is?”
And somebody points to you and says “It’s his”
And you say, “What’s mine?”
And somebody else says, “Where what is?”
And you say, “Oh my God
Am I here all alone?”
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
You hand in your ticket
And you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you
When he hears you speak
And says, “How does it feel
To be such a freak?”
And you say, “Impossible”
As he hands you a bone
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
You have many contacts
Among the lumberjacks
To get you facts
When someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect
Anyway they already expect you
To just give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations
You’ve been with the professors
And they’ve all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have
Discussed lepers and crooks
You’ve been through all of
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books
You’re very well read
It’s well known
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you
And then he kneels
He crosses himself
And then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice
He asks you how it feels
And he says, “Here is your throat back
Thanks for the loan”
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word “NOW”
And you say, “For what reason?”
And he says, “How?”
And you say, “What does this mean?”
And he screams back, “You’re a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home”
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
Well, you walk into the room
Like a camel and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket
And your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law
Against you comin’ around
You should be made
To wear earphones
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
Copyright © 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/bob-dylan-country-music-inspiration-heroes-feature/
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