Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin,
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin,
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?
Oh, Lucky's driving a long, long time –
There he still sits on top of the hill.
Well, aching, tumbled, with all laid down,
1
With all of them ladies, you know, he's the––lonely still.
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin,
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin,
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?
Well, he
2 deep in number and heavy in toil,
Mighty Mockingbird, he still has such a heavy load,
Beneath his boundaries – what more if I can tell
With all of his traveling, but I'm still on that road.
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin,
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin,
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin,
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin,
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?
1
According to other versions, this line and the following line are: "With twelve forward gears, it's been a long hard climb, / And with all of them ladies, though, he's lonely still." I don't have any idea where this wholesale revision came from, but this in one example of the many differences between the real world and the world according to Bob Dylan and those who manage and have managed the compilation of his lyrics (I know that Dylan actually did revise many songs when his Lyrics book was being put together). In any case, the transcription that I provide for this line is pure guesswork, something that will become more and more common as the years pass in Dylan's career (The Basement Tapes being notorious for this reason), but I will always make a note if I believe some transcription is not solid or is questionable or if I just have no clue what the lyrics are.
2
I believe that in this instance the form of "to be" is omitted, so the line has the meaning.