Need a Woman

Lately I've been having evil dreams, I wake up in a cold, blue lair,

I run the tape back in my mind wondering if I took the wrong road somewhere,

Searching for the truth the way God designed it,

Well, the real truth is that I may be afraid to find it.

Well, I need a woman, alright!

Need a woman every night to be with me and lonely as I am,

To show me the kinda love that don't have to be condemned,

And I want you to be that woman every time¹.

I've had my eyes on you, baby, for five long years,

Well, you probably don't know me at all, but I've seen your laughter and I've seen your tears.

Tell-tale heart will show itself to anybody near,

There's always some new stranger in the night to lend a sympathetic ear.

Well, I need a woman to take my own,

I need a woman that's mine alone.

Seen you in the door-way, I seen you in the park,

Seen you in the sunshine, I seen you in the dark,

And I want you to be that woman.

You keep listening to something long enough, you're just bound to believe that it's true,

You know, there's some things that you put out, it's gonna come back on you.

That which is not permanent don't last.

Whatever's waiting in the future could be what you're running from in the past.

Well, I need a woman [incomprehensible],

Need a woman [incomprehensible],

Someone who likes simple things, is not afraid to bend,

Someone who don't pick herself up to make every man her friend,

And I want you to be that woman.

Don't know what you got that I want, don't know what I got to give,

Don't know how much time I got, don't know how long I'll live.

Well, the [incomprehensible]² in my soul, why was it created?

To blur the focus of my mind and keep my isolated?

But I need a woman, it ain't no crime,

Need a woman all the time,

To see the promised land with me as the time go by,

To rule my heart with sweetness and boldness from on high,

And I want you to be that woman, yes, I do,

Need that woman straight and true.

¹ Dylan's voice gets drowned out by the backing vocalists toward the end of the line and it makes it difficult to tell what is said. He might simply say "every time" to end the line, but it sounds as though something else comes afterwards, such as "every time of day".

² My best guess is that Dylan says "dagger" here, but other sources transcribe the word as "rebellion".