Desolation Row

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“They're selling postcards of the hanging
Well They're painting the passports brown
And The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
And now Here comes the blind commissioner
Well They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The others’ in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight from
Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy
"It takes one to know one," she smiles
And she puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And now but in comes Romeo, he's moaning
"You Belong to Me I Believe"
And someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend
You better leave"
And the only sound that's left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up on
Desolation Row

Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Go out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
They bring them to the factory
Where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders
And then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles
By insurance men who go
Check to see that no one is escaping to
Desolation Row

Cause right now I can't read too good
Don't send me no letters no
Not unless you’re gonna mail them from
Desolation Row

Ahh!"

Right, well seeing as this is a cover, were gonna be doin this a little differently. There are a number of things to discuss hear including, Bob Dylan's meaning for the song, how it feels through MCR and the way it functions in the Watchmen Universe.

This being one of my favorite Dylan songs I have dug up the following:

The first verse is alluding to an event that took place in Duluth, Minnesota (Dylan's home town) early in the century. Three men from a Circus troupe accused of raping a girl were broken out of jail and lynched. Pictures and postcards were later sold as souvenirs.

The term "Desolation Row" is a cultural definition for the place where artists and intellectuals reside, separated and segregated from up-tight non-creative society.

Dylan responded to an interviewer's question about Desolation Row's location saying it was "someplace in Mexico."

Dylan is also quoted saying that the song "is a minstrel song through and through. I saw some ragtag minstrel show in blackface at the carnivals when I was growing up, and it had an effect on me, just as much as seeing the lady with four legs."

As it was the 60's, Dylan was experimenting with LSD around the time of writing

It made 185 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time

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After listening to the original track so much I realized a bit of meaning for the second last verse (not in the cover)

"Yes, I received your letter yesterday
About the time the door knob broke
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they're quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name"

Someone is sending Dylan letters about the past and present, possibly from his home in Duluth and in order to write the song he assigns cultural characters to match those formally mentioned.

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I really think it was a stroke of genius for Alan Moore to add in lyrics in Watchmen; it gives the story a whole new dimension. The reader has the ability to hear a secondary story in their mind to enhance they're perception of the fictitious world.

I also couldn't be happier with the cover; MCR breathed new life to a classic acoustic Dylan song by completely making it their own.

I quite like this song and its video is awesome, and I also listened Bob Dylan's version,kinda mature to me, I acknowledged I learned some culture concept from this song cause it is really like an old man telling a story. Some of the words are quite pretty. I watch movie " Watchman" and never thought Desolation Row is its ending song... -_- #..I just like this song personally

I liked how My Chemical Romance made the song their style. iAt first I was like, "Is this one of there songs?" But I heard the original version and MCR rocked it out. The video looks like a riot and Gerard singing the story so yeah it was good. The meaning- I think it's about how theirs another side to every sing story. The only wierd part it's called Desolation Row so at first I thought dead bodies gettting swept up on "Desolation Row". So um..yeah it was diffrent but better than the original.-to me.

_Rosi!

"Is Cinderella sweeping up on
Desolation Row"

I like how Dylan incorporated the lyrics to be somewhat of a fairytale-circus-riot kinda themed song, and it matches Watchmen really quite well.

Desolate means "empty", so when I heard the song, I naturally thought of someone just walking along an abandoned, empty road, all alone (at night).

All in all, Bob Dylan wrote an amazing song, and I'm pretty glad My Chem covered it.

ImagineTheStars:

"Is Cinderella sweeping up on
Desolation Row"

I like how Dylan incorporated the lyrics to be somewhat of a fairytale-circus-riot kinda themed song, and it matches Watchmen really quite well.

Desolate means "empty", so when I heard the song, I naturally thought of someone just walking along an abandoned, empty road, all alone (at night).

All in all, Bob Dylan wrote an amazing song, and I'm pretty glad My Chem covered it.

*nod nod* And the film clip was extremely awesome! I was getting ready for school one morning, and i saw it, i nearly peed myself XD

It a cover and therefore I personally don't care about the meaning just that MCR made it AWESOME!

i think its possibly about a girl getting raped or treated really badly, and the riots and everything are after her, and lots of people are fighting over her

im not sure though

hello when i first got the lyrics there was an extra part but when i listen to the song he didnt sing it dont know why its just written ....
yeah its about a girl treated very bad i agree