‘I sleep with life and death in the same bed’

NEW EUROPEAN TOUR. The world’s greatest troubadour/poet, who turned 82 last month, is back on the road.

Bob Dylan will perform 23 concerts in five countries during the tour which begins in France today, June 26.

The Nobel Laureate in Literature has written some great poetry in the featured album, ’Rough and Rowdy Ways.’ Check out, for example, the song, ‘I Contain Multitudes’ —

Today and tomorrow and yesterday too
The flowers are dying like all things do
Follow me close – I’m going to Bally-Na-Lee
I’ll lose my mind if you don’t come with me
I fuss with my hair and I fight blood feuds . . . I contain multitudes

Gotta tell tale heart like Mr. Poe
Got skeletons in the walls of people you know
I’ll drink to the truth of things that we said
I’ll drink to the man that shares your bed
I paint landscapes – I paint nudes . . . I contain multitudes

A red Cadillac and a black moustache
Rings on my fingers that sparkle and flash
Tell me what’s next – what shall we do
Half my soul baby belongs to you
I rollick and I frolic with all the young dudes . . . I contain multitudes

I’m just like Anne Frank – like Indiana Jones
And them British bad boys the Rolling Stones
I go right to the edge – I go right to the end
I go right where all things lost – are made good again

I sing the songs of experience like William Blake
I have no apologies to make
Everything’s flowin’ all at the same time
I live on the boulevard of crime
I drive fast cars and I eat fast foods . . . I contain multitudes

Pink pedal pushers and red blue jeans
All the pretty maids and all the old queens
All the old queens from all my past lives
I carry four pistols and two large knives
I’m a man of contradictions and a man of many moods . . . I contain multitudes

Greedy old wolf – I’ll show you my heart
But not all of it – only the hateful part
I’ll sell you down the river – I’ll put a price on your head
What more can I tell ya – I sleep with life and death in the same bed

Get lost Madam – get up off my knee
Keep your mouth away from me
I’ll keep the path open – the path in my mind
I’ll see to it that there’s no love left behind
I play Beethoven sonatas Chopin’s preludes . . . I contain multitudes