Bob Dylan Says It Best--Positively 4th Street

Have you ever noticed that the most predictable, ordinary, unoriginal people are the very ones who cry the loudest about how unique they are?



I've been thinking about that a lot lately.  I've always been fascinated by human behavior, even from the time I was a little kid.  Maybe it's because I noticed the odd nuances of my mother's behaviors, like the way she seemed like a different person when someone outside the family was around. Maybe it is just a natural curiosity of most people who seek to understand and be understood.  Who knows?



I admit that I sometimes find some pretty succinct descriptions of myself in lyrics and behavioral analyses; but what really strikes me is how many times I find such accurate descriptions of the very people I've encountered in my life who seem to think the mold was broken the minute they were born.  The sad truth is that highly disordered people are not mysterious or unpredictable at all.  People in general are pretty predictable, both those who use and those who get used, those who abuse and the ones who get abused, the ones who love too much and the ones who are incapable of love.  None of our struggles are all that unique.  We aren't all special snowflakes.  We are all a little screwed up here and there, but those of us that are more screwy than straight are the most unoriginal of all.



It's sad really, when you consider all that goes into making a person who is so disordered that just living a normal, fulfilling life is all but impossible.  It's unfair and unjust that there are folks in the world who are so damaged that they can't help but damage other people just by being who they are.



I think Bob Dylan must have known such a person.  I used to listen to this song a lot and I've always been able to identify with parts of it. Tonight a friend of a friend brought it to my attention again and as I listened and sang along, I realized I have lived this:

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

Copyright © 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music

Read more: http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/positively-4th-street#ixzz3OkxONzd3