Tag: Positively 4th Street

Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes, You’d know what a drag it is to see you

This song sent me down the path of being a Dylan fan. The raw, angry, emotional way Dylan spits out the lyrics sounds true. There’s no chorus. No bridge. Just verse after verse of contempt, all wrapped in a breezy organ and guitar.

The song never lets up…Bob just keeps hammering away at someone relentlessly. The song was rumored to be about people rather than one person. We will probably never know because I don’t see Dylan opening up about it. I always thought of this song as the sister song to Like a Rolling Stone. It, in fact, was the follow-up song to Like A Rolling Stone. It was a stand-alone single. 

But where Like A Rolling Stone is grand and sweeping, this song is really petty in the best possible way. This is a man lashing out at a specific circle of coffeehouse artists and Greenwich Village gatekeepers, likely in the folk community that once kissed his feet but now curses his loud amplifiers.

The beauty of this song is that it’s a protest song, but a personal one. It’s about betrayal, the smiling face that masks a knife in the back. It’s a story as old as you can get, and sung by a guy who was about to leave the folk scene in the rearview mirror.

There is a kind of glee to be had in hearing Dylan go full scorched-earth. This isn’t peace-and-love Bob, or even cryptic-poet Bob. This is “I-know-you-and-I-see-right-through-you” Bob. He’s less interested in making sense than in making you squirm. It’s brutal. 

The song peaked at #1 in Canada, #7 on the Billboard 100, and #8 in the UK in 1965.

Positively 4th Street

You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin’
You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that’s winnin’

You say I let you down, ya know its not like that
If you’re so hurt, why then don’t you show it?
You say you’ve lost your faith, but that’s not where its at
You have no faith to lose, and ya know it

I know the reason, that you talked behind my back
I used to be among the crowd you’re in with
Do you take me for such a fool, to think I’d make contact
With the one who tries to hide what he don’t know to begin with?

You see me on the street, you always act surprised
You say “how are you?”, “good luck”, but ya don’t mean it
When you know as well as me, you’d rather see me paralyzed
Why don’t you just come out once and scream it

No, I do not feel that good when I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief perhaps I’d rob them
And tho I know you’re dissatisfied with your position and your place
Don’t you understand, its not my problem?

I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is to see you