bob dylan • rick danko
In the basement of a pink house in West Saugerties, New York - rented by Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel from February 1967 - a lot of good songs came to life. One day Dylan brought with him a brand new lyric, and Danko - at that time experimenting with electric piano - found a match with a tune that dumped down on him the night before. The original, rough recording is heard in the "Basement Tapes", a famous bootleg, many years later released as "official".
In 1968, The Band included it with the album "Music from Big Pink". Same year, Julie Driscoll & the Brian Auger Trinity caught it. Of course The Byrds, too. And later Siouxsie & the Banshees covered it without knowing who were behind it, they'd only heard the Driscoll version. Danko himself cut it in 2000. Dylan's never released a solo.
Best version? My own, of course, with a couple of beer-stuffed friends as a choir. Thanks heaven this has never been recorded. I once performed it in a club hometown. The line-up was stoned, I was half drunk and the mixmaster thought he was playing a game of snakes. All the cockroaches in that old building perished; I guess that's why we were payed.
But I've heard "His Bobness" give it to the public, touring in '98 ... jeez; sometimes that crow can sing, too.
if your memory serves you well : we were going to meet again and wait
so I'm going to unpack all my things and sit before it gets too late
no man alive will come to you with another tale to tell
but you knew that we shall meet again if your memory serves you well
if your memory serves you well : I was going to confiscate your lace
and wrap it up in a sailors's knot and hide it in your case
if I knew for sure that it was yours ? but it was oh so hard to tell
but you knew that we would meet again if your memory serves you well
if your memory serves you well you'll remember you're the one
that called on me to call on them to get you your favours done
and after every plan had failed and there was nothing more to tell
you knew that we should meet again if your memory served you well
this wheel's on fire : rolling down the road
best notify my next of kin : this wheel shall explode ...!
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
Am Em Am ...Am/C if your memory serves you well Dm Bdim7 we were going to meet again and wait E7 so I'm going to unpack all my things F Dm Am and sit before it gets too late C Em Am no man alive will come to you C Em Am with another tale to tell C Em Am E7 and you know that we shall meet again F G Am if your memory serves you well Dm F this wheel's on fire C G rolling down the road C G F C best notify my next of kin F G A this wheel shall explode
