Mr. Tambourine Man is a song written by Bob Dylan, addressing the search for transcendence and escapism through some sort of a spiritual guide, here represented by the Tambourine Man. It was inspired by Bruce Langhorne, a musician who played with Dylan and often carried a large tambourine. Dylan wrote the song in 1964, and it was released on the album Bringing It All Back Home in 1965.
Key: G
Introduction:
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D2
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you.
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Though I know that evenings empire has returned into sand,
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Vanished from my hand,
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Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.
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My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet,
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I have no one to meet
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And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you.
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Take me on a trip upon your magic swirling ship,
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My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip,
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My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
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To be wandering.
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I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
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Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way,
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I promise to go under it.
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you.
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Though you might hear laughing, spinning, swinging madly across the sun,
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It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escaping on the run
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And but for the sky there are no fences facing.
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And if you hear vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme
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To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind,
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I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
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Seeing that he's chasing.
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you.
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Then take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind,
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Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
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The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
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Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
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Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
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Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
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With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
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Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
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Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
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In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you. (