Expecting Rain

Hey everyone. I was wondering if you could share some Dylan lyrics about strength and perseverance. Long story short, a good friend of mine was diagnosed with colon cancer about two weeks ago. A group of us signed up to run a half marathon well before this news came about. I thought it would be cool to have t-shirts made for the run in his honor. He is a HUGE Dylan fan and I would like to put a quote on the back of the shirt. Thank you in advance for your help.

A very obvious one is
'May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong
And may you stay forever young.'
But there are better ones probably.

I'm sorry to hear about that, but I bet he'll be so happy to see all of his friends supporting him . There's so many good lyrics

"I can survive / and I can endure"
"I can handle whatever I stumble upon"
- both from "Most of the Time" which is about a woman but those lines can apply to anything really

"Keep on keepin' on" - from Tangled Up In Blue, a bit straightforward but neat

"Nothing can hold you down" from Pressing On, a gospel song but it's pretty uplifting

"My heart is not weary, it's light and it's free"- from Mississippi . This song is upbeat but is still pretty bleak at times so I'm not sure if it's the perfect lyric for the shirt.

Those are just off the top of my head, theres loads of other lyrics that would work too

gerardv & ShotofMercy - Thank you very much.

ShotofMercy - those "Most of the Time" lyrics are pretty awesome given the situation. That might be the winner.

Keep them coming though! It is greatly appreciated.

Maybe not appropriate, but -

"you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone"

Print up some "Pressin' On" t-shirts

Maybe not?

Pressin on
Nothing can hold you down
Nothing that you lack

'It gets discouraging at times .., (front)

(back). but I know I'll make it'.

This T-shirt is already printed.
It came with the Modern Times early release as a bonus.
The quote on the back of the shirt is:
"You can hang back or fight your best on the front line"

From Workingman's Blues

No problem, i owe Dylan for all the amazing lyrics! Another one that might work comes from a Blood On The Tracks song called "You're A Big Girl Now", again about a woman but:

"I can make it through/ You can make it too"

I noticed you just joined ER yesterday, and you mentioned your friend is a huge Dylan fan. I'm not sure how often you listen to him, but maybe if you and your buddy are hanging out you could ask him to put on his favorite Dylan songs and see what he reacts to. If not, there's a ton of people on ER that can give you some good stuff!

Pressin on was my first thought when i seen this thread. Good on the OP, hope everything works out for your friend.


Edit
Its a tad long winded for a slogan but if the arrow is straight and the point is slick it can peirce through the dust no matter how thick.

Paths of Victory comes to mind.

Trails of trouble,
Roads of battle,
Paths of victory
We shall walk!

I will try to keep thinking, I'll have a flip through the old lyrics book.

For me - Tell Ol' Bill:

“All the world I would defy,
Let me make it plain as day!
I look at you now and I sigh,
How could it be any other way?”