Shelter from the Storm is a song by Bob Dylan, released on the album Blood on the Tracks in 1975. The song is known for its complex poetry and was written during a tumultuous period in Dylans personal life, reflecting themes of loss, love, redemption, and shelter both physical and emotional.
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'Twas in another lifetime One of toil and blood
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When blackness was a virtue The road was full of mud
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I came in from the wilderness A creature void of form
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Come in she said I'll give ya Shelter from the storm
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And if I pass this way again You can rest assured
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I'll always do my best for her On that I give my word
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In a world of steel-eyed death and men Who are fighting to be warm
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Come in she said I'll give ya Shelter from the storm
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Not a word was spoke between us There was little risk involved
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Everything up to that point Had been left unresolved
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Try imagining a place Where it's always safe and warm
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Come in she said I'll give ya Shelter from the storm
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I was burned out from exhaustion Buried in the hail
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Poisoned in the bushes And blown out on the trail
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Hunted like a crocodile Ravaged in the corn
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Come in she said I'll give ya Shelter from the storm
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Suddenly I turned around And she was standing there
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With silver bracelets on her wrists And flowers in her hair
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She walked up to me so gracefully And took my crown of thorns
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Come in she said I'll give ya Shelter from the storm
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Now there's a wall between us somethin' there's been lost
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I took too much for granted got my signals crossed
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Just to think that it all began on a long forgotten morn
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Come in she said I'll give you shelter from the storm
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Well the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
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But nothing really matters much it's doom alone that counts
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And the one-eyed undertaker he blows a futile horn
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Come in she said I'll give you shelter from the storm
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I've heard newborn babies wailin' like a mournin' dove
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And old men with broken teeth stranded without love
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Do I understand your question then is it hopeless and forlorn
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Come in she said I'll give you shelter from the storm
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In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
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I bargained for salvation and they gave me a lethal dose
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I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn
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Come in she said I'll give you shelter from the storm
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Well I'm livin' in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line
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Beauty walks a razor's edge someday I'll make it mine
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If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born
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Come in she said I'll give you shelter from the storm