Why it's railroad "gauge" in ASM
dylan...@yahoo.com
about a railroad "bridge" at the beginning of Absolutely Sweet Marie.
PSB added that he wished Bob would go back to railroad "gate."
I don't know how Bob has been singing it over the years, but I think
the "original" lyric was actually railroad "gauge." Maybe Bob is
goofing around with "bridge" these days, or maybe he's moving back to
"guage," and it just sounds like "bridge."
Listening to Blonde on Blonde, I can hear "gauge," but let's assume
it's an auditory toss-up. There are still several reasons for thinking
Bob meant (or originally meant) to sing "gauge."
1. "Gauge" accomodates a characteristic pun. "Gauge" = "gage"
(old-timers' slang for marijuana). Whole songs from this period are
structured around a series of puns, which I suspect Bob collected for
future use in his lyrics. Here Bob found a place for "railroad gage."
(He even went on to echo it with "railroad gin" in Trapped Inside of
Mobile.)
2. "Gauge" fits in better with the major theme of the song. The
narrator is talking about being trapped by someone or something from
which he's having a hard time escaping. Somebody/something has him on
a path he can't get off. He wants to "jump the gauge" -- i.e., run his
train off the tracks that have been laid down for him. (Better to
crash than keep speeding, against your will (or part of it), to an even
worse fate.)
"Jump the gate" doesn't work at this level. You don't have to jump
over a railroad gate to get past it -- you just walk around it, or duck
under it. It's easy. But the narrator is saying that it's difficult,
which doesn't fit. But jumping the "gauge" is hard, you see.
3. "Jump the gauge" is a railroading term, with which Bob was
obviously familiar, and part of a tradition that he revered. "Jump the
gate," in contrast, is novel. Sometimes novel lyrics point to a cliche
that Bob has edited out, but I don't think that's what's going on here.
(You're reminded of "crash the gate" and "jump the gun," but neither
makes sense in connection with railroads or the theme of the song. So
there's no reason to suppose they would have been present in an earlier
draft and then modified.)
The lyric compilations all say "gate," but has it ever been clear that
Bob is singing "gate" instead of "gauge"? Maybe somebody could check a
field recording. And is it clear that he's actually singing "bridge"
these days? Of course, I wouldn't put it past Bob to start singing
what he knows we *think* he's saying.
TheBakedCi...@yahoo.com
gauge!
You should have let people know that a railroad's gauge is the distance
between the two tracks. Some countries use different gauges and
there's "narrow gauge" etc. for different types of railroads.
They say today's standard gauge goes back to Roman times, that it was
the distance between wheels on Roman wagons. The wheels would wear
ruts in the roads, and it eventually made same sense for everybody to
use the same width so they could all travel in the same rut. Just like
today!
Delia
I always heard "gauge." I guess I never studied the lyrics book on
this one. And it made sense because I knew what a railroad gauge is.
--
Delia
Peter Stone Brown
"Delia" <delia...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1112079437....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>
> I always heard "gauge." I guess I never studied the lyrics book on
> this one. And it made sense because I knew what a railroad gauge is.
>
Oh please, please. He says gate and it is very clear on the album. It has
a hard T.
It was always gate until he turned the gate into a bridge. And no one would
go around jumping a guage anyway.
Derek Homsberg
> has a hard T.
> It was always gate until he turned the gate into a bridge. And no one
> would go around jumping a guage anyway.
A railroad gate, would be a crossing gate, and obstacle. You would jump a
railroad gate if you needed to get past it. Railroad guage is an abstact
concept, referring to the distance beween the rails. Although you could
jump that distance, you'd more likely call it jumping the tracks, not
jumping the guage. Also, you don't need to jump railroad tracks to get
across them, but you would need to jump a gate, or crawl under it.
Mad Dan
Bob Gill
> "Delia" <delia...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1112079437....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > I always heard "gauge." I guess I never studied the lyrics book on
> > this one. And it made sense because I knew what a railroad gauge is.
> >
>
> Oh please, please. He says gate and it is very clear on the album. It has a
> hard T.
Absolutely.
-- Bob G.
Jeff Gower
"Derek Homsberg" <dhom...@wbc.com> wrote:
> A railroad gate, would be a crossing gate, and obstacle. You would jump a
> railroad gate if you needed to get past it. Railroad guage is an abstact
> concept, referring to the distance beween the rails. Although you could
> jump that distance, you'd more likely call it jumping the tracks, not
> jumping the guage. Also, you don't need to jump railroad tracks to get
> across them, but you would need to jump a gate, or crawl under it.
Exactly. This is common sense - it is "gate", people.
Dylanetics
others to listen for themselves, but I think it's pretty clearly
"gauge."
I won't claim it's 100% clear because the final sound is not strongly
"voiced" -- it's kind of a soft "tsh" (a bit like "gau-tsh"). I think
people may hear the initial "t" but neglect the "sh" that follows.
This is Bob's distinctive phrasing in action. There's another classic
example in ASM involving the same sound. Listen to how Bob says he's
"been in jail." The initial "j" (corresponding to final "g" sound in
"gauge") is not strongly voiced, either -- it's a bit like "tsh"
("tshail"). One of Bob's great moments.
I agree, of course, that no person would jump a gauge. But a TRAIN
might. Bob is being poetic -- drawing an analogy between himself,
trapped by some sort of addiction perhaps, and a train that can't jump
the track (gauge) and get free. It's held too tightly.
Mad Dan
Let's have a war about it!
GAUGEGAUGEGAUGEGAUGEGAUGEGAUGEGAUGEGAUGEGAUGEGAUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
avylan
6 ft, if you want to keep your ankles intact, as well as meaning jumping out
of the gauge, in this case escaping being besottted with her. Exactly the
sort of wordplay to expect from our Bob.
"Mad Dan" <mad...@fastmail.fm> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:nndk41h4u37vldcos...@4ax.com...
Derek Homsberg
> others to listen for themselves, but I think it's pretty clearly
> "gauge."
>
> I won't claim it's 100% clear because the final sound is not strongly
> "voiced" -- it's kind of a soft "tsh" (a bit like "gau-tsh"). I think
> people may hear the initial "t" but neglect the "sh" that follows.
I have the first edition of Writings and Drawings by Bob Dylan that was
published in 1973. It has all the lyrics up to that point, and Dylan is the
only listed author. In that book, the word is "gate."
I just listened to the song 3 times through headphones. It's "gate." The
final sound is definitely a "t." If you're hearing a word that has a "tsh,"
I don't think it's there. Furthermore, what word is "gaitsh." I do not
hear a "tsh." I hear a "t."
On the other hand, I think he's saying, "To live outside the law you must be
Amish." Definitely, it's "Amish." ;-)
Mad Dan
wrote:
>>I just listened to it on the album and I DID wear headphones. I invite
I think in this case, you can't really complain about his lyrics not
being clear in concert - it's obvious he's just reproducing the album
experience for you!
PGPear...@aol.com
>He says gate and it is very clear on the album.
I hear "gate" now and I've always heard "gate".
Well, Peter, it just goes to show---There are no truths outside the
gauge of Eden!
Paul Pearson
don freeman
railway gate was part of the mainlining heroin imagery in the song, with
the yellow railroad, the frozen traffic, and the six white horses.
T_V_...@yahoo.com
was standard 60's slang for the point of injection.
On the other hand - I don't see anything on the google that says this,
but maybe I missed something.
I'm not sure "jumping" the point of injection makes sense either.
There's some practice called "booting," where the junkie injects some
drugs, then pulls some blood back into the syringe, and then injects
some more, etc. But I don't see any connection to the song.
don freeman
> Hey, Don. Yeah, the Scobies posted something saying "railroad gate"
> was standard 60's slang for the point of injection.
>
I just assumed that the gate was the opening on the mainline, where you
would stick the needle in. And for some reason, I felt that "jumping"
was somehow connected to the way you stick a needle in. Junkies are
always looking for a fresh spot to inject, and it sounded like he was
having trouble finding the spot.
jackmcinroy
you
>would stick the needle in. And for some reason, I felt that "jumping"
>was somehow connected to the way you stick a needle in. Junkies are
>always looking for a fresh spot to inject, and it sounded like he was
>having trouble finding the spot.
my blonde on blonde lp had a scratch on it
and the needle used to 'jump' at the said point.
i always thought it was
"well your railroad it
sometimes it gets so hard you see."
spjohnny
---------------
I don't know anything about slang terms for heroin use, so all this may be
correct. However, you really don't have to make *any* metaphorical stretch
to come up with the following alternative --
1. Bob said "yellow railroad" is probably a result of him seeing sun
shining on a railroad track (or something similar).
2. The narrator (and possibly Bob himself, literally, as he writes the
song) is "sitting here" in "the frozen traffic" and is somewhat annoyed
because he has "some other place to be." Unfortunately,
3. He can't jump the "railroad GATE," which has cars backed up for miles
4. There's a long-distance train rolling through the rain, but "Where are
you tonight" (sweet marie)
Seth Kulick
: Peter Stone Brown wrote:
: Absolutely.
: -- Bob G.
I've been having a hard time believing this thread, so I just took out
my copy of Blonde on Blonde to listen. It's clearly "gate". It couldn't
be any clearer. There's a "t" at the end.
Derek Homsberg
> my copy of Blonde on Blonde to listen. It's clearly "gate". It couldn't
> be any clearer. There's a "t" at the end.
I think it's a game called, "I know something you don't know, so I can
understand the genius and you can't." I call it, "What's the emperor
wearing today?"
SilkUpholsteredChair
was a slip. The soft 'g' on gauge alliterates perfectly with the soft
'j' of jump. And recall that at the end of the song he's looking at
the yellow railroad, not the yellow railroad gate. If he had sung gate
instead of "gauge," nobody would've bought the album.
don freeman
Columbia
> for fraud.
>
>
Maybe the original Canadian mono pressings had Dylan singing gauge, and
then they used the gate version for the later pressings.
If anyone could find one of those original Canadian monos, we could
solve this conundrum.
spjohnny
little bugle engraved on my steering wheel.
So, in keeping with the mundane "stuck in traffic at a railroad crossing"
interpretation of this song, I think maybe
"beating on my trumpet"
could be a more colorful way of saying
"pounding on my horn."
Mad Dan
wrote:
>
>If I find out it's guage, I'm burning the album and suing Bob and Columbia
>for fraud.
>
If it isn't "gauge" I'm going to hunt down every last copy of the
album, shred it, burn the shreddings and shit on the ashes.
And demand a refund.
Mad Dan
Oh bollocks. I just re-listened and it is - without any shadow of a
doubt - "gate". Bum.
I'd always, ALWAYS heard "gauge" and I hate having my opinions
challenged!
Buggerbuggerbugger!
(PS: "veneer")
don freeman
> Oh please, please. He says gate and it is very clear on the album. It has
> a hard T.
> It was always gate until he turned the gate into a bridge. And no one would
> go around jumping a guage anyway.
>
I can't believe, after all these years, that I haven't learned to
mistrust the ravings of the greatest of all rmd authorities, Peter Stone
Brown. Having heard "gate" all my life, I've been telling a doubter that
he's been hearing it wrong. Maybe I should have listened myself, rather
than trust Peter's pronouncements.
I loaded the song into Cool Edit to isolate the word. I didn't need to,
because anyone listening, can hear Dylan say "gauge." However, for true
unbelievers, I copied and pasted the gauge word a few times so you can
hear it over and over. Dylan now sings, "Well my railroad gauge gauge
gauge gauge."
don freeman
> Oh bollocks. I just re-listened and it is - without any shadow of a
> doubt - "gate". Bum.
>
what an odd thing that a few people can't hear the soft gee sound in the
word "gauge" is so obviously singing. There is something very
interesting going on here about subjectivity.
I wonder, if a lot of rmd'ers listen carefully to the mp3 I made from
the song, which repeates the "gauge" word, what minority would still
believe he's singing "gate." I suspect about 10 %
Derek Homsberg
> song, which repeates the "gauge" word, what minority would still believe
> he's singing "gate." I suspect about 10 %
Where did that mp3 come from? Maybe it somehow got corrupted. I'm going by
the CD of Blonde on Blonde. Maybe I'll have to pull out the vinyl. Why
does Dylan's 1973 songbook say "gate." This is one of those things where 43
teenage girls at some boarding school in the middle of nowhere drink some
punch and one girl faints and everybody else decides they've all got some
strange food poisoning from the punch. Later, tests reveal that there was
no pathogen, only hysteria. You're guages are all out of whack. Maybe he
said "Cage." Or Crate?