(Words and Music by Bob Dylan) (or James Damiano?)
1994 Special Rider Music
Released on Greatest Hits vol. 3 (1994) and on Unplugged
(1995) in a live version.
(the Greatest hits version is basically the same, but with a capo on the 3rd fret)
C
Fat man lookin in a blade of steel
Thin man lookin at his last meal
F C
Hollow man lookin in a cottonfield
F/g C
For dignity
Wise man lookin in a blade of grass
Young man lookin in the shadows that pass
Poor man lookin through painted glass
For dignity
G
Somebody got murdered on New Years Eve
F C
Somebody said dignity was the first to leave
F C/e
I went into the city, went into the town
Dm F/g
Went into the land of the midnight sun
Searchin high, searchin low Searchin everywhere I know Askin the cops wherever I go Have you seen dignity? Blind man breakin out of a trance Puts both his hands in the pockets of chance Hopin' to find one circumstance Of dignity I went to the wedding of Mary-Lou She said I dont want nobody see me talkin to you Said she could get killed if she told me what she knew About dignity I went down where the vultures feed I would've gone deeper, but there wasnt any need Heard the tongues of angels and the tongues of men Wasnt any difference to me Chilly wind sharp as a razor blade House on fire, debts unpaid Gonna stand at the window, gonna ask the maid Have you seen dignity? Drinkin' man listens to the voice he hears In a crowded room full of covered up mirrors Lookin into the lost forgotten years For dignity Met Prince Phillip at the home of the blues Said hed give me information if his name wasn't used He wanted money up front, said he was abused By dignity Footprints runnin cross the silver sand Steps goin down into tattoo land I met the sons of darkness and the sons of light In the bordertowns of despair Got no place to fade, got no coat I'm on the rollin river in a jerkin boat Tryin' to read a note somebody wrote About dignity Sick man lookin' for the doctors cure Lookin' at his hands for the lines that were And into every masterpiece of literature For dignity Englishman stranded in the blackheart wind Combin' his hair back, his future looks thin Bites the bullet and he looks within For dignity Someone showed me a picture and I just laughed Dignity never been photographed I went into the red, went into the black Into the valley of dry bone dreams So many roads, so much at stake So many dead ends, I'm at the edge of the lake Sometimes I wonder what its gonna take To find dignity