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Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
Struck by the sounds before the sun,
I knew the night had gone.
The morning breeze like a bugle blew
Against the drums of dawn.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
The ocean wild like an organ played,
The seaweed's wove its strands.
The crashin' waves like cymbals clashed
Against the rocks and sands.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
I stood unwound beneath the skies
And clouds unbound by laws.
The cryin' rain like a trumpet sang
And asked for no applause.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
The last of leaves fell from the trees
And clung to a new love's breast.
The branches bare like a banjo played
To the winds that listened best.
I gazed down in the river's mirror
And watched its winding strum.
The water smooth ran like a hymn
And like a harp did hum.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
Struck by the sounds before the sun,
I knew the night had gone.
The morning breeze like a bugle blew
Against the drums of dawn.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
The ocean wild like an organ played,
The seaweed's wove its strands.
The crashin' waves like cymbals clashed
Against the rocks and sands.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
I stood unwound beneath the skies
And clouds unbound by laws.
The cryin' rain like a trumpet sang
And asked for no applause.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
The last of leaves fell from the trees
And clung to a new love's breast.
The branches bare like a banjo played
To the winds that listened best.
I gazed down in the river's mirror
And watched its winding strum.
The water smooth ran like a hymn
And like a harp did hum.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
Lyrics submitted by nitsirhc
Track duration: 04:19
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This was written back in the day when Dylan was super charged with a feel for what is right and what is just. He was so attuned to the real warmth of things amidst a cold or crazy world. He had a feel and touch for arcing his songs around that kind of feeling. His melodies did it, his voice did it, his harmonica did it and if that wasn't enough...he wrote lyrics of beauty and truth and skill and quality.
Lay Down Your Weary Tune, like someone posted earlier is basically a song where the singer stands in awe of creation...of earth, of nature. He stands in awe, humbled in his own attempts...in his own struggles to express himself. It says that the true melodies are played by the trees and the oceans, the mornings and the sky...and what's more, they don't need applause. Beauty and life is in nature and sometimes, when we can't express it, that's where we should look. That Bob Dylan managed to use the theme of a struggle for expression in a song about where to find true expression...and have the song be expressive....well that's pretty damn good.
I think 'awe' is the wrong word to use. He doesn't really stand in awe...he stands in a more subtle way...something like the way a tired child might come to his mother's arms...fall to her and be held, eyes half closed. Or like someone who's walked a long way and finally come home. So I think standing in 'awe' is wrong...that kind of implies some kind of mejesty...when really it's something more humble than that...it's standing in love maybe....I don't know
It's a great song. I need more time to think about it. I only just heard it today.
Possible my favourite Dylan song.
The line 'Lay down your weary tune, lay down' Dylan heard in a hymn - 'I heard the voice of Jesus say / Come unto me and rest / Lay down thou weary tune, lay down'. Also the structure of the song is appearently based upon a song from Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings.
The actual content of the song is based on one of Dylan's first LSD trips, connecting this tune in his head to his surroundings - resulting in some amazing, surreal imagery.
This is one of my favourite songs of Dylan's, it's a shame it was take out of the album The Times They Are A-Changin', not only because i like it so much but it does show the start of a new direction in his creativity and career.
This is my second favourite song of Dylan anyway. Tribute or no tribute.
I think it could be about leaving a mark on the world when it comes your time to die.