My Senses Have Been Stripped, My Hands

Johnny's In The Basement Mixing Up The Medicine I'm On The Pavement Thinking 'bout The Government.

I Have Tried My Hand At Bribery, Blackmail, And Deceit. And I've Served Time For Everything, Cept Beggin On The Street.

I Was Headed For The Fantastic Lights. No Doubt About It. Could It Be That I Was Being Deceived? Not Likely. I Don't Think I Had Enough Imagination To Be Deceived; Had No False Hope, Either. I'd Come From A Long Ways Off And Had Started From A Long Ways Down. But Now Destiny Was About To Manifest Itself. I Felt Like It Was Looking Right At Me And Nobody Else.

I Always Thought The Best Kind Of Sunglasses Are The Motorcycle Helmets With The Black Plastic Masks On Them. That Way, Nobody Can Recognize The Back Of Your Head Either.

The Exploitation And Superficiality Of Mainstream America Is The Object Not Of [bob] Dylan's Hipster Scorn, But Of An Apocalyptic Parable Of Holy Fools And Righteous Thieves - The Kind Of Imagery That Dylan's Later Work Would Explore More Fully.