Expecting Rain

Not sure if this is true, and certainly hard to verify, however
here it is for what is worth:

A proofreader involved in the Chronicles 2 project (said to have
been suspended with all the recent recording activity) claims
to have seen several pages about the writing of All Along The
Watchtower (henceforth to be known as AATW). She claims that
the story goes that there was a third and fourth stanza to the song, but that
Joan Baez, determined to see the song confined to 2 stanzas grabbed
the third piece of paper, placed it in her mouth and ate the paper.

"Bobby, it really works way better if you end after verse 2; it leaves
a sense of mystery. What are the 2 riders saying? Who cares? Come on, let me
have this one, just one final bit of influence on the great man,'' said Ms Baez,
picking pieces of uneaten paper from her teeth, and recalling in horror that
gobbling the paper was probably in breach of her strict dietary principles.

At this point, Dylan is said to have reviewed the two stanzas and
said: "Yeah fine that works OK but please dont do that again.''

Furthermore, the book is said to contain a copy of that third
and fourth verses as remembered by those peering over Dylan's shoulder
as he typed, a la Don't Look Back, the song.

]It goes like this (but this is only the proofreaders imperfect
recollection:

Sure we got the right place, said the second rider to the first
Sure I am, said she, relaxed and quietly quenching her thirst
Check those compass bearings once again, something here don't feel right
If that place is what I think it is, then I'm sliding deep into the night

No reason to get excited, said the first rider crouching by her camel
The map is clear, the stars are aligned, your heart should be untrammeled
Those guys up there, looking hard, and searching out our location
Well let me tell you something friend, virtue is their vocation.
ends

Sounds entirely plausible, as Joan Baez was on a strict macrobiotic diet at the time and would have considered paper an overly refined foodstuff - hence her strong reaction to the eating of the song.

That proofreader is probably in the unemployment line

Interesting. I need to think about this.

Those lyrics are awful and don't fit the rest of the song. No way it's true.

I don't think this is true. I don't think Joan would ever do something like that.
In my opinion, those verses doesn't sound like something he'd write at that time. At least not as verses to AATW.

It's either complete rubbish, meaning this was never part of Chronicles 2, or if it is, it's a case of modern-day Dylan trying to pull the wool over our eyes yet again. I don't think he wrote that then, but it's possible that he wrote it a couple of years ago.

Agreed they are pretty awful,
and why would he use "no reason to get excited'
a second time?

The only thing is this is knd of third hand (ie as
recalled by the proofreader, and even then only
as remembered by those watching as Dylan
supposedly typed. There is a good chance they
were tired and emotional, or at least enebriated

Baez was out of the picture by that time too wasn't she?

Yes arthurprecarious, I wondered the same thing.
Don't Look Back was shot in 1965 right? Those scenes
where she is hanging about even as Dylan is typing out
the ultimate breakup song, It's All Over Now Baby Blue
(henceforth to be known as IAONBB), were shot during
that tour. When did he write AATW in relation to IAONBB
does anyone know?

And isn't AATW based on some passage in Isiah? Pretty
sure they didn't use compasses back then.

Surely though Dylan himself would have had a good idea about the veracity of the lyrics, and wouldn't have published the recollections of his lyrics by bystanders watching him type (before Joan Baez broke her macrobiotic diet and ate his song) unless he was sure they fitted his memory of the extra verses?

Dylan's only comment, according to the proofreader (as she
became increasingly vague), was:

"I never eat my words. Never.''

Funny, that was my first thought as well.
My second thought was, "Damn, I'd better get reading Chronicles 1. It's been sitting on that same shelf since the day it came out."
My third thought was, "Good for Joanie, those lyrics ruined it."

Sorry, should have mentioned this earlier
(this info is sort of dribbling out.. proofreader is in a
bar somewhere, and sending of text messages to
a third party intermediary).

She claims that the publishers were tearing their
hair out in frustration, so they agreed that Chronicles 2
is not autobiography but rather biography with extensive
access to Dylan (though this is proving difficult).

That explains why Dylan is being quoted, and why the
biographer (someone associated with the research for
Theme Time Radio Hour, though she's quite uncertain
on that point) is seeking out additional info in the form
of research. Apparently Dylan became increasingly
annoyed with the questions, and the biographer is
unofficially known as "Ms Jones" for reasons to do
with Ballad of a Thin Man (henceforth to be known as
BOATH)

Oh, my. This person is certainly going to be out of work. Seems like a breech of ethics to me.

Agreed. I'll believe it when i see it published with "By Bob Dylan" until then no. Lyrics don't make sense and i tend to believe bob came up with that on his own as he said in interviews.

Yes definitely out of work, says the intermediary.

Something about "going back to the farm, I hate
the city life anyway". I think she's getting drunk. She's
moved to the harder stuff and is now making little sense.

Now claiming that the lyrics of AATW include the phrase

"Just let me get downwind of this howling, growling tempest,
I've got sand in my eyes, can't read the accursed compass''

That doesn't even rhyme. Oh wait. She claims the extended
version of AATW takes the form of a play, in which Dylan
collaborated with Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard.

Forget it, says the intermediary. She's plastered. Practically
falling off the barstool. Better get her up to the farm, he
says. Won't be texting for a while. No coverage up there anyway.

I'm not sure, but I thought in her autobiography Joan Baez talked about eating other peoples' songs (The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Kriss Kross) if she didn't like some of the words. Does it really sound so ridiculous? How many great songs have been lost to Joan's appettite?

You mean BOATM, I think.
Everything else smells a bit funny to me. But thanks for the laugh!

Apologies Still Goes Barefoot. My error.. typo.
Yes should be BOATM. Too late to edit, I think.

You'd think that by ingesting lyrics of this caliber (well, with the exception of Christoper Cross) that she might've possibly come up with something worthwhile herself, but, alas, nuthin' but Diamonds and Rust.

I know! And I bet that Diamonds and Rust was a James Taylor song that she sneakily ate and then regurgitated and passed off as her own! Bad artists borrow, great artists steal, and Joan Baez snacks!

Is there a reference to this? I haven't heard about it before.

Nothing of this makes sense to me.
Everyone can write a lyric and claim Bob wrote it as a verse to one of his songs.
Unless it's been recorded or confessed by the man himself, it's only speculations.

I think you're right SirDogg, unless it's been officially credited to Bob, you probably want to file it under speculation! Still, maybe Chronicles 2 wll eventually surface, with crazy stories about the songs we know so well, and we may have to file that under speculation as well!

In the meantime, Eat The Document.

I don't mean to be pedantic Trev, but in Dylan's connexion,
don't you mean Kris Kristoffersen rather than Chris Cross?
KK was in Billy the Kid, I seem to recall. I might have the
spelling of KK's family name wrong.