You’ve Got a Lot of Nerve

Another Song from the Sixties, 1963 in Fact

Positively 4th Street

Bob Dylan

You got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down, you just stood there grinning
You got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that's winning

You say I let you down, you know it's not like that
If you're so hurt, why then don't you show it?
You say you lost your faith, but that's not where it's at
You had no faith to lose and you know it

I know the reason that you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd you're in with
Do you take me for such a fool to think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with?

You see me on the street, you always act surprised
You say, "How are you?", "Good luck", but you don't mean it
When you know, as well as me, you'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just come out once and scream it?

No, I do not feel that good when I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief, perhaps I'd rob them
And now I know you're dissatisfied with your position and your place
Don't you understand, it's not my problem?

I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is to see you

I fed the bot the lyrics, asked for an image, and voila—it must have known how alone Bob felt when he took up residence on 4th Street immersed in hot coffee shops. He’d hit the jackpot from unknown to the big time in under sixty seconds, wondering where all the flowers had gone, but many of his buddies didn’t. He didn’t much care for their riding his coattails. So he expressed himself in his understated way with a song. I would sing it under my breath most days in middle school. Now I sing it at the farmers markets, plenty big for me:)