Expecting Rain

One of my all time favorite songs ever....

Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you’re seein’ double
On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room
Where I’ve got me a date with a pretty little girl from Greece
She promised that she’d be right there with me
When I paint my masterpiece

Oh, the hours I’ve spent inside the Coliseum
Dodging lions and wastin’ time
Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see ’em
Yes, it sure has been a long, hard climb
Train wheels runnin’ through the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece

Sailin’ round the world in a dirty gondola
Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!

I left Rome and landed in Brussels
On a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried
Clergymen in uniform and young girls pullin’ muscles
Everyone was there to greet me when I stepped inside
Newspapermen eating candy
Had to be held down by big police
Someday, everything is gonna be diff’rent
When I paint my masterpiece

Being delivered on the second volume of his Greatest Hits package, this song seemed like a bit of a throwaway to me upon first hearing it. A funny little song jabbing his critics for expecting so much after a full decade of 'masterpieces'...and it is about that.
But I also hear a song about looking back at one's struggles and problems of the past and hoping that 'someday everything's gonna be different' once that dream is realized...
It's something we all can relate to.
The song became bigger once it hit the road of course and only became better....
It started with that little bridge that speaks to a purely 'American' masterpiece that can be found everywhere in the world...Coca-Cola.

That was added the first time it was played live with The Band on at The Academy Of Music
in New York City, New Year's Day 1972:
http://youtu.be/lZQ69w8NmxI

Of course he opened almost every Rolling Thunder show with this song as a duet with Bobby Neuwirth
Of course he opened Renaldo & Clara with this:
http://youtu.be/7pzqaOa-TOg

And here's a fun one from
Clearwater 1976:
http://youtu.be/UgpmHjYX9io

The Band then beautifully covered the song on their album Cahoots.
Levon nails it:
http://youtu.be/OCk852PmLYo

Bob came back to it a number of times throughout his career, haven't heard all of em,
but this one has always brought many many smiles to my face! So good!!!
Ironically, it's from:

Clearwater FL
November 11 1992
http://www.sendspace.com/file/djsnj6

What do we think of this one ER????
Any favorites???

The best version of this song was done on December 19th, 1997, at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. It's a beautiful, triumphant performance. Perfection.

Runner-ups would of course be the Rock of Ages and Rolling Thunder performances. I also enjoyed the version done in Copenhagen in 1987.

And just for the other side of the coin's sake, the version done at the infamous Stuttgart show in 1991 is probably the worst version Bob has ever done of one his own songs. That last attempted high note is masochistic in nature to listen to.

Ahhh, takes a 14 carat song like this to blow right past the spectre of ModBob, and remember why I like him.

The one with Neuwirth on Rolling Thunder may be my fave, but I also like the gentler approach of Greatest Hits II. Could take one or the other. You gotta be pretty dingy to fruck up a song like this, in any case.

Beautiful track, but the best versions were the Rolling Thunder, the best music ever produced. I edited a good sounding SBD version of this song as number 1 into the Bootleg Series; 1975. Why they never put it in there in the first place I'll never know. The bridge is so magical where they; "Sailing 'round the world, in a dirty gondola, Oh too be back in the land, of Coca Cola!" Unbelievable.

Love that 1992 version thanks Marker! MEZ

Which one? Boston, Montreal, New York?

I haven't yet heard any performances from the '80s or later, but yes, there's nothing one can say against this song. Those Rolling Thunder Revue versions are such a blast! I've also always adored the live covers done by the Grateful Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band (Weir sings vocals on the one, Garcia on the other).

I'm not too sure, I downloaded it a bit ago, but I posted it again, here's the link;

http://www.mediafire.com/?ghlex63fxnp7953

One of my all time favorites; wish I could find a studio version without the fade-in from Tomorrow Is A Long Time.

That version of When I Paint My Masterpiece I put on mediafire, is from Madison Square Garden 75'. Incase anyone was wondering.

ok, thx.
Check out the one from Montreal http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/the-rolli ... -1975.html

Great song and his performance at El Rey is one of his best NET performances ever.

The Montreal show is great! What I like about the Madison Square Garden gig with When I Paint My Masterpiece is that it has so much more power than the versions from that tour, there all really great versions, but the one from Renaldo & Clara and other shows they just seem to lack that "kick". Still great though!