Words and music by Bob Dylan
Released on Time out of Mind (1997)
Tabbed by Eyolf Østrem
Sounds very C major-ish in the chords, but can of course be played in
E directly. The C/G chords of the second part of the verse contain a D
on some occasions.
Once again:Capo 4th fret (original key E major)
C F/C C
Shadows are falling and I been here all day
F/C C
It's too hot to sleep and time is running away
G G/F C/E C
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
Am C/G F C
I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal
G G/F C/E C
There's not even room enough to be anywhere
Am C/G F C
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there
Well my sense of humanity is going down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing, there's been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writin' what was in her mind
I just don't see why I should even care
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there
Well I been to London and I been to gay Paris
I followed the river and I got to the sea
I've been down to the bottom of a world full of lies
I ain't lookin for nothin' in anyone's eyes
Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there
I was born here and I'll die here, against my will*)
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb
I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from
Don't even hear the murmur of a prayer
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there
*)From a recension by Martin Grossman
Dylan the Talmudist
In the last verse of “Not Dark Yet,” Dylan paraphrases lines from the Pirke Avot, which lends credence to the rumors that he has been studying Talmud in recent years. He sings,
In the Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), 4:29, the language is strikingly similar: