Well, they'll stone you when you're trying to be so good
They'll stone you just like they said they would
They'll stone you when you're trying to go home
And they'll stone you when you're there all alone
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned

Well, they'll stone you when you're walking on the street
They'll stone you when you're tryin' to keep your seat
They'll stone you when you're walkin' on the floor
They'll stone you when you're walkin' to the door
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned

They'll stone you when you're at the breakfast table
They'll stone you when you are young and able
They'll stone you when you're tryin' to make a buck
Then they'll stone you and then they'll say "good luck"
Tell ya what, I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned

Well, they'll stone you and say that it's the end
Then they'll stone you and then they'll come back again
They'll stone you when you're riding in your car
They'll stone you when you're playing your guitar
Yes, but I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned alright

Well, they'll stone you when you walk all alone
They'll stone you when you are walking home
They'll stone you and then say you are brave
They'll stone you when you are set down in your grave
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned


Lyrics submitted by Kitten_61, edited by smallwonderrobot

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 song meanings
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96 Comments

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  • +5
    General Comment

    Right folks, Heres the truth about this song, its gunna be a long one but its right, i know it is, Its from the dylan Biography :

    Late one night Bob asked the Nashville band he was playin with "what do you guys do here?" and they replied "beer". Bob told them he had a new song but the refrain was "everybody must get stoned" and he refused to record the song with straight people so he sent Ed Gazzar to Irelands bar and he came back with a huge leprechaun cocktail for everyone in large milk shake cartons. Joints were passed arround and everyone was wiped out. On the original recording McCoy put a call thru to Wayne doc Butler who brought his trumpet down to the studio. The other musicians all swapped instruments which resulted in that raggy marchign band sound. Strzelecki gave his bass to al kooper and he played the piano but he couldnt work the pedals with his feet so he had to lay beside the piano and push them with his hands. The voice that you can hear braying with laughter is Strzecki on the piano. After the session in the contol room. Bob was asked "whats the name of this song", "rainy day women #12 & 35" this recording had no rehersals and was released as is.

    AcousticLegendon November 20, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    yeah man do the math 12 times 35 equals 420

    MARLEYISKEYon August 14, 2002   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    And furthermore, whoever it was who said that it wasn't about pot because singing about weed was "taboo" needs to take a real look at the times, because that is totally off base- especially when considering Bob Dylan, who was if above all things an iconoclast. Besides, marijuana songs had been recorded much earlier than the sixties. Bob Dylan WAS a stoner, in fact it was Bob Dylan who introduced the Beatles to weed. Furthermore, nobody, here or anywhere else, can claim to know the orgins of 420, when it was first used, why, or where. It's a total mystery.

    DeadheadTimon April 18, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    The way he laughs mid song makes it sound so much more honest.

    collyon May 09, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    The whole genius of this song is the fact that "everyone must get stoned" has two obvious meanings.

    MtterOFctItsAllDrkon December 03, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    If Dylan read these comments I think he would be highly amused. First, he knew two groups of people would take the lyrics and directly correlate them with drug use and one group would see the "big picture".
    Group one - Those who judged beatnicks, hippies, and "long hairs" in the 60's and without knowing them, dubbed them as stoners. Group two - Stoners. They equate anything and everything with getting stoned. They see the obvioius connotation and run with it without taking the time to actually listen to the lyrics. Group three - Those who see the big picture. They acknowledge the direct connotation with drug culture and getting "stoned" and probably smoke themselves, but they know the song was about much much more than that. Dylan didn't make music so people could pass a joint to the rhythm.

    But, he knew what he was doing when he wrote this song. So, interpret what you will. It was expected.

    Islablueon October 02, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i want to make this clear to everyone ITS BOB FUCKING DYLAN of course its about smoking with your friends, and i love the random shouts and laughs in the backround, because thats what happens when you pass a joint around with your buddies.

    but since it IS bob dylan, theres more to the lyrics than getting high. i think its more of trying to get through the hard times, that everyone goes through. he feels alone, but goes "hey, everyone does sometimes". it makes sense with the lyrics.

    and i noticed someone said it is about weed because its great to listen to when your high, which is completely true, but all high music is more than just drugs. i smoke to expand my mind, so lyrics make sence sometimes more in that state of mind.

    TRY IT OUT :)

    infiniteabbysson January 20, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    It is foremost about getting high. Secondly, there is the "biblical" sense in which you get stoned. But most importantly, the pun demonstrates the essential reason why stoners (or, a certain type of stoner, we shall say) do get stoned. The world, first of all, doesn't make much sense, people are judgemental, and it can be a difficult task to do one's own thing- all this being said, it would be better if we everybody got stoned. Which, by the way, is something that just about everyone whose ever smoked pot has said.

    DeadheadTimon April 17, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song reminds me of one of my guy friends. He took me home after a party and we was listening to Bob Dylan. I don't smoke, but that night we got high in the car before he dropped me off and he put on this song and said that it was our song because I told him I wouldn't get high but he got me to do it just like the lyrics

    Well, they'll stone you when you're trying to be so good They'll stone you just like they said they would They'll stone you when your tryin to go home..

    &&

    They'll stone you when you're riding in your car..

    &&

    everybody must get stoned..

    I love Bob Dylan..

    lovemusictoomuchon August 17, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    The song is about being fed drugs by everyone around him ("But I would not feel so all alone"), despite not really wanting to consume them (likening it to being stoned with a rock). Anyone who's lived in a house full of drug users while trying to, say, hold a steady job can relate to this song. Most of these other interpretations are totally incorrect.

    hocoboon July 07, 2011   Link

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