Too Much of Nothing

Why am I listening to Breakfast with the Beatles when it is 9 PM on Friday when a particular Bob Dylan song is really hitting the spot?  Bob originally recorded Too Much of Nothing in 1967 with the Band at Big Pink.  Peter Paul and Mary had a wonderful cover version of this song.

 

A few years ago Bob produced and starred in a movie called “Masked and Anonymous”.  The Penelope Cruz character stated “His songs are so vague; you can interpret them anyway you want to.”  Very often you can change the names in a Dylan song and the song really fits the occasion.

 

Just change Valerie and Vivian to my two favorite bean counters and bureaucrats. J

 

The copyright belongs to Mr. Zimmerman.  Now since I bought the recordings, I must presume that I have the right to copy it to my blog.

 

Now, too much of nothing
Can make a man feel ill at ease.
One man's temper might rise
While another man's temper might freeze.
In the day of confession
We cannot mock a soul.
Oh, when there's too much of nothing,
No one has control.

Say hello to Valerie
Say hello to Vivian
Send them all my salary
On the waters of oblivion

Too much of nothing
Can make a man abuse a king.
He can walk the streets and boast like most
But he wouldn't know a thing.
Now, it's all been done before,
It's all been written in the book,
But whenthere's too much of nothing,
Nobody should look.

Say hello to Valerie
Say hello to Vivian
Send them all my salary
On the waters of oblivion

Too much of nothing
Can turn a man into a liar,
It can cause one man to sleep on nails
And another man to eat fire.
Ev'rybody's doin' somethin',
I heard it in a dream,
But when there's too much of nothing,
It just makes a fella mean.

Say hello to Valerie
Say hello to Vivian
Send them all my salary
On the waters of oblivion


Copyright © 1967; renewed 1995 Dwarf Music