Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

Oh, the rag-man draws circles up and down the block.

I'd ask him what the matter was, but I know that he don't talk.

And the ladies treat me kindly and they furnish me with tape,

But deep inside my heart I know I can't escape.

Oh, mama, can this really be the end,

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

Well, Shakespeare, he's in the alley with his pointed shoes and his bells

Speaking to some French girl, who says she knows me well.

And I would send a message to find out if she's talked,

But the post office's been stolen and the mailbox is locked.

Oh, mama, can this really be the end,

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

Mona tried to tell me to stay away from the train line.

She said that all the railroad men just drink up your blood like wine.

And I said, "Oh, I didn't know that, but then again there's only one I've met

And he just smoked my eyelids and punched my cigarette."

Oh, mama, can this really be the end,

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

Grandpa died last week and now he's buried in the rocks,

But everybody still talks about how badly they were shocked.

But me, I expected it to happen, I knew he'd lost control

When I––he¹ built a fire on Main Street and shot it full of holes.

Oh, mama, can this really be the end,

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

Now, the senator came down here showing everyone his gun,

Handing out free tickets to the wedding of his son.

And me, I nearly got busted – and wouldn't it be my luck

To get caught without a ticket and be discovered beneath a truck?

Oh, mama, is this really the end,

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

Now, the teen-preacher looked so baffled when I asked him why he dressed

With twenty pounds of headlines stapled to his chest.

But he cursed me when I proved to him. Then I whispered and said, "Not even you can hide.

You see, you're just like me. I hope you're satisfied."

Oh, mama, can this really be the end,

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

Now, the rain-man gave me two cures, then he said, "Jump right in."

The one was Texas medicine. The other was just railroad gin.

And like a fool I mixed 'em and it strangled up my mind

And now people just get uglier and I have no sense of time.

Oh, mama, can this really be the end,

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

When Ruthie says come see her in her honky-tonk lagoon,

Where I can watch her waltz for free 'neath her Panamanian moon.

And I say, "Aw, come on, now, you know you know about my débutante."

And she says, "Your débutante just knows what you need, but I know what you want."

Oh, mama, can this really be the end,

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

Now, the bricks lay on Grand Street, where the neon madmen climb.

They all fall there so perfectly – it all seems so well-timed.

And here I sit so patiently waiting to find out what price

You have to pay to get out of going through all these things twice.

Oh, mama, is this really the end,

To be stuck here inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

¹ Dylan fumbles with the words here, perhaps saying "I" first and then getting back to the correct lyrics.