Bob Dylan - It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (Official Audio) 

He was 23 yrs old when he wrote this. 🤯

"Money doesn't talk, it swears." What a fucking line.

Every line in this song would be a career defining for almost everybody else.

This song opens all the windows: pure genius, it is as relevant now as it was in 1965.

Only Dylan could have released such a sharp, biting song that is still relevant to this day.

[Verse 1] Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child's balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying [Verse 2] Pointed threats they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fools gold mouthpiece the hollow horn Plays wasted words, proves to warn That he not busy being born Is busy dying [Verse 3] Temptation's page flies out the door You follow, find yourself at war Watch waterfalls of pity roar You feel to moan, but unlike before You discover that you'd just be one more Person crying [Chorus] So don't fear if you hear A foreign sound to your ear It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing [Verse 4] As some warn victory, some downfall Private reasons, great or small Can be seen in the eyes of those that call To make all that should be killed to crawl While others say don't hate nothing at all Except hatred [Verse 5] Disillusioned words like bullets bark As human gods aim for their mark Make everything from toy guns that spark To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It's easy to see without lookin' too far That not much is really sacred [Verse 6] While preachers preach of evil fates Teachers teach that knowledge waits Can lead to hundred-dollar plates Goodness hides behind its gates But even the President of the United States Sometimes must have to stand naked [Chorus] And though the rules of the road have been lodged It's only people's games that you got to dodge And it's alright, Ma, I can make it [Verse 7] Advertising signs that con You into thinking you're the one That can do what's never been done That can win what's never been won Meantime, life outside goes on All around you [Verse 8] You lose yourself, you reappear You suddenly find you got nothing to fear Alone you stand with nobody near When a trembling distant voice, unclear Startles your sleeping ears to hear That somebody thinks they really found you [Verse 9] A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit To satisfy, ensure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not forget That it is not he, or she, or them, or it That you belong to [Chorus] But though the masters make the rules For the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to [Verse 10] For them that must obey authority That they do not respect in any degree Who despise their jobs, their destiny Speak jealously of them that are free Do what they do just to be Nothing more than something they invest in [Verse 11] While some on principles baptized To strict party platform ties Social clubs in drag disguise Outsiders they can freely criticize Tell nothing except who to idolize And say "God bless him" [Verse 12] While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society's pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he's in [Chorus] But I mean no harm, nor put fault On anyone that lives in a vault But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him [Verse 13] Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn't talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony [Verse 14] While them that defend what they cannot see With a killer's pride, security It blows the minds most bitterly For them that think death's honesty Won't fall upon 'em naturally Life sometimes must get lonely [Verse 15] My eyes collide head-on with stuffed Graveyards, false goals, I scuff At pettiness which plays so rough Walk upside down inside handcuffs Kick my legs to crash it off Say, okay, I've had enough What else can you show me? [Chorus] And if my thought-dreams could be seen They'd probably put my head in a guillotine But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only

It always blows my mind that this was recorded in one take.

Even Bob himself says he's in awe of this song. And to think he wrote it when he was just 23. I love Bob Dylan so much and I totally love this song.

One of the best songs ever written in the history of mankind.

“The masters make the rules, for the wise men and the fools” is a line that reoriented my thinking for the rest of my life

The greatest lyrics of ALL TIME. Sorry folks, the game is over.

"He not busy being born is busy dying." Happy Birthday, Bob Dylan! 80 years old today. :)

Blows my mind every time that a person actually wrote those lyrics

Easy to see why Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize, his verses are so meaningful and enduring.

A flat out masterpiece, among a library of masterpieces. I danced around the room when Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature - as deserving as anyone. How many times have I said "He not busy being born is busy dying." In the history of contemporary music, Dylan stands alone.

Imagine hearing this on the radio today...

Imagine being able to write this song. Bob's a fucking master, there's no other song like this one, fucking great.

Sadly, NOTHINGS CHANGED since he wrote this...

Memorized the lyrics and performed it as a spoken piece for a high school drama final. The room was just silent. I got an A. The song still has that shock value

With a song like this one could argue that Bob was the godfather of rap

*"money doesn't talk, it swears"*

In 500 years time only one artist from our time will be celebrated still... Bob Dylan.

lol I had a lit teacher who got really mad when Dylan won the Nobel Prize and said he was a "pop singer"... Some people's arrogance really blinds them

His birthday is on Monday. Eighty years old. A miracle that him and I are still both alive. And I agree..some of his songs are true poetry set to music. It has been said, poetry is the only magic there is. They can teach you to do just about anything but not how to write a real poem. God bless

More meaning in one song than many artists can achieve in an entire career

Has there ever been a greater, more prolific poet? I think not.

Going through a tough time right now and I don't know how much worse it would be without Dylan's music

"He not busy being born is busy dying" and "Money doesn't talk, it swears" Two of the greatest lines ever written, and they're both in the same song!! This guy should be nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature

Keep it in your mind and don't forget that it is not he, she, them, or it that you belong to.

The track to play your friend who doesn't get what all the fuss is about.

If any other artist released 'Bringing it all back home' it would be their magnum opus and they would dine out on it for decades afterwards. For Dylan it was just another album. Amongst his back catalogue it doesn't even really stand out. A freakish talent

How the fuck do you write a song this good lmao

I am blown away every time I listen to this masterpiece. A cutting edge look at how really fucked up humanity is. The man transcends the word iconic.

This might be the most amazing song Dylan ever wrote!

One of my biggest regrets during my 4+ decades on this planet is that I've never been able to appreciate Dylan as much as I feel I should.. Dare ı say it, I might finally be starting to see the light.

There’s something darkly magical about Bob Dylan idk how to explain it. It’s like someone seeing through a veil

Easily some of the most haunting lyrics ever and presented in a haunting way

Simply genius at some point in every human beings life they should hear this

I can't believe I've listened to this song almost 700,000 times.

“I kept telling you this guy was good” The Sopranos

A masterpiece of poetry.

Masterclass. What must it have been like, being Bob Dylan and having these songs surging out of you?

Today, Bob has no idea how he wrote songs like this. That magic is long gone. This from an interview he did on 60 minutes.

My first time hearing this. Holy shit, amazing. Every word even more appropriate today 55 years later. And I never knew that Bob Dylan invented rap 😀

Wow. Just wow. Its like someone distilled all of the thoughts of millions of people about the problems of life into a seven minute song. Incredible

One of the most accurate and scathing attacks on the sacred cow of American values ever written. The man is a prophet.

The lyrics.... one or maybe the most profound and perhaps the deepest ever written.

When you listen to this song in your car, your car explodes after a while.

'Bent out of shape by society's pliers'. So much truth here if almost scary.

Bob Dylan paints a picture in his songs because he is such a good story teller. This song is life squeezed into a seven minute song.

Best lyrics he ever wrote. I was a teenager when I first heard this, and it gave me chills....Still does...To say the least, he speaks the truth, the raw truth....

"Bent out of shape from society's pliers". Ok, the Nobel prize is deserved for that line just by itself.

This was brilliantly used in The Sopranos final episode.

How someone can be upset Bob Dylan won a Nobel Prize for Literature I will never understand.

I’m listening to Bob and missing my ma SO MUCH right now! She passed away 6 years ago right before Christmas. She first got me into Bob when I was about 10. The very first song she ever played for me was Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 and she explained to me how it had 2 meanings, but to never ever tell my dad she let he hear it! Lol. God, I MISS HER SO MUCH!!! She was my biggest fan! Always there to tell me how proud she was of me and now I’m just a sobbing 49 year old baby crying my eyes out! I took her to see Bob 8 (EIGHT!) times and Tom Petty twice and Stevie Nicks once and I wouldn’t trade those memories for the world! I miss you, mom!

This gem is just as relevant today as it ever was.

Dylan himself says he doesn’t know where this and other songs of this era came from. Touched by The Divine Hand.

There aren't words sufficient enough to describe this song's greatness

This is probably the best song I've ever heard. Brilliant songwriting. So glad I found Bob Dylan.

This is the fabric of life in a song. No judgement no expectations...and most importantly no explanation. Thank you mrD. For all of it.

This is the song I carried around verbatim in my head since I was a young girl. I’ve not heard it sung in years, and came back to it today, to check on it to see how much I've changed. I found not much at all, except for a certain knowledge that I’m witless and that we are all in this together. God bless the man whose soul found these words and shared them with this tired, desperate world. In their phrasing, they’re damning, and in their entirety, they are uplifting, in a sincerity of truths that stagger us individually, yet can be absorbed as one. May he live longer than I do.

I don't say this lightly - This IS lyrically the BEST song EVER written and recorded.

Those who wax on about popularity and acceptance don't seem to understand that those issues were not a priority for Bob especially as he matured....he followed his inspiration and let the chips fall where they may

Nobody can top this one. Greatest ever written.

No wonder he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

I know it’s a difficult choice, but his greatest? He was on fire writing this masterpiece.

Listening to this song in my truck while parked in the leaves in the woods with a bad catalytic converter is my favorite thing to do man

Every time I hear this song, and a litany of other Dylan songs, old and new, it blows my mind. Without blinking, Dylan explores the dystopic side of America, the side the masses lack the courage to face. A masterpiece in every way.

It is not possible to dislike a Bob Dylan song.

Bob Dylan Spokesman for a generation: Pure Genius !!!!!

As far as song writers Bob Dylan is on top by himself and it’s not even close!!!!!

I'm still Spellbound after all of these years I can't get enough of this guy he's infectious

Thank god there are people that think like me. Feels good in the Age of Trumpster the Dumpster. Thank you Bob Dylan. When you die as we all must, I will cry pearls.

I cannot begin to explain how much this song has done for me. Thank you for being there always, Bob Dylan.

In addition to everything amazing he's done, Bob Dylan was rapping before rap even existed

Written over 60 yrs ago, the relevance of this song with the state of our society as it is today is mind blowing. Dylan nails it again.

a lifetimes education in 1 track,as only bob can.

This is the most perfect song ever. The lyrics cover literally every theme imaginable and you can always find new meaning in this after hearing it more than 1,000 times. I would know.

Damn it! He is our modern Shakespeare. This puts current music to embarrassment and shame. Current songwriters hide under their beds counting money while the things that need to be sung about stay unsung as Rome falls

There are no words to accurately describe how brilliant this song is.......one of my top favorite Dylan songs, from one of his very best albums......

When the Beatles met Dylan the Universe should've ended from some like chemical reaction of musical and public expression genius

I heard these words then I was sixteen and I forgot over time how important these words are. They still ring richer today.

Bob opened up the magic of words and poetry when I was 15. I closed my eyes and was transported with visions. Like Rimbaud, Bob set the high water mark adding musical tones to the canvas. He also exemplified being cool in the groove and took the bull by the horns.

There's more quality in that one song than most writers could come up with in a whole career.

One example of his "titanic" songs, i.e. songs far beyond what anyone else has done, before or since

I swear bob dylan was the first rapper

Have turned to this one many many times in my life...thankyou Bob..❤

You know there’s something up when a folk singer uses way more complicated rhyme schemes than any rapper now of days lol. Definitely one of the most well written songs of all time.

The greatest song of all time. Period.

I just attended "Church with Bob Dylan," today, 8/24/19!" Anyone else listening to this amazing song in 2019?

So Bob Dylan was the voice of his generation. Hes won a Nobel Prize...Had over 6000 different singers sing his songs...The best song writer on earth, ever....AND, the cut the first Rap song !!!!!..... The man truly is a genius..

I reckon decades, even centuries could roll by and this song, let's hope it remains recorded somewhere, will still be one of the most timelessly relevant statements in the history of mankind. The sheer confidence of conviction in the statement in some next level mental gymnastics and linguistic structuring. The man is a poetic wizard.

The man pushed lyrical structure to it's breaking point!

One of those pieces of literature that evokes every human emotion possible

I can't believe that he is so gifted to remember every and I mean every word every time he performs this song, this man is very prophetic. Never will there another Bob Dylan, seems to me that God is rather fond of him, I know I am!!!!

One of the best songs of all time .... hands down. The whole song just drips with wisdom and poetry. Magnificent.

Bob the original rapper😎🍹🏖🇺🇸🇰🇷

Most of the best songs of all time are easy to call "beautiful," but not this one. It has so much bite and depth to it that to call it beautiful would be to miss the point of it entirely.

some of the most powerful words ever sung in the english language

can you imagine, 21 yo from Hibbings MN, in NYC for what 2 years, walk up to a couple of mics, one for his voice and one for the guitar, and rip out this flawless performance of a song that is unprecedented in American music. Man, the courage, the insane mastery of what he was trying to do, its supernatural. The little harp flourishes. He looks human, but...