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  1. Tracks
  2. Bob Dylan
  3. Infidels
  4. Jokerman

TRACK

Bob Dylan

Jokerman

Release date: 27th October 1983

From Infidels
Spotify
More on Bob Dylan

About This Track

The opening track of Dylan's album, 'Jokerman' presents a figure of moral ambiguity moving through a landscape thick with biblical allusion and apocalyptic dread. The song stacks image upon image: a man casting bread upon waters, fists full of snakes, crowds manipulated, false judges caught in their own webs. Dylan's protagonist is shape-shifter and charlatan, friend to the martyr and the shamed alike, always one step ahead of whatever pursues him. The song's power lies in its refusal to settle. It circles its subject without naming him, piling on attributes and contradictions until the Jokerman becomes less a person than a principle: the force that moves through history wearing different faces, equally at home in scripture and in the street. The chorus offers a kind of hypnotic counterweight to the verses' moral catalogue, a dance rhythm that suggests complicity as much as condemnation. Biblical references sit alongside images of modern violence, the Book of Leviticus neighbour to tear gas and Molotov cocktails, suggesting that the patterns of exploitation and cruelty are older and deeper than any single era.

"Jokerman" is a track by Bob Dylan, from the album Infidels, released 27th October 1983. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 1 article about Bob Dylan.

About the Artist

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Lyrics

Jokerman

[Verse 1]

Standing on the waters casting your bread

While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing

Distant ships sailing into the mist

You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing

Freedom just around the corner for you

But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

[Chorus]

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman

[Verse 2]

So swiftly the sun sets in the sky

You rise up and say goodbye to no one

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don't show one

Shedding off one more layer of skin

Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within

[Chorus]

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman

[Verse 3]

You're a man of the mountains, you can walk on the clouds

Manipulator of crowds, you're a dream twister

You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah

But what do you care? Ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister

Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame

You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name

[Chorus]

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman

[Verse 4]

Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy

The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers

In the smoke of the twilight on a milk-white steed

Michelangelo indeed could've carved out your features

Resting in the fields, far from the turbulent space

Half asleep near the stars with a small dog licking your face

[Chorus]

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman

[Verse 5]

Well, the rifleman's stalking the sick and the lame

Preacherman seeks the same, who'll get there first is uncertain

Nightsticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks

Molotov cocktails and rocks behind every curtain

False-hearted judges dying in the webs that they spin

Only a matter of time till night comes stepping in

[Chorus]

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman

[Verse 6]

It's a shadowy world, skies are slippery grey

A woman just gave birth to a prince today and dressed him in scarlet

He'll put the priest in his pocket, put the blade to the heat

Take the motherless children off the street

And place them at the feet of a harlot

Oh, Jokerman, you know what he wants

Oh, Jokerman, you don't show any response

[Chorus]

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune

Bird fly high by the light of the moon

Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From Infidels

1983
Listen
Album
Infidels
Infidels
Bob Dylan
Release year
1983
  1. —Jokerman
  2. —Neighborhood Bully
  3. —Union Sundown
  4. —I and I
  5. —Man of Peace
  6. —Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight
  7. —Sweetheart Like You
  8. —License to Kill
  9. —Jokerman
    6:18
  10. —License to Kill
    3:35
  11. —Sweetheart Like You
    4:35

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Live On Air 1988
2025
The Complete Budokan 1978 (Live)
The Complete Budokan 1978 (Live)
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50th Anniversary Collection: 1973
2023
The Joker, Vol. IV: Early Years
The Joker, Vol. IV: Early Years
2022
The Joker, Vol. V: Early Years
The Joker, Vol. V: Early Years
2022

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  3. Corrina, Corrina (Live at Gerdes Folk City, New York, NYC - April 16, 1962)
    3:50
  4. Dink's Song (Home of Bonnie Beecher, Minneapolis, MN - Dec. 22, 1961)
    4:50
  5. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (Live at The Gaslight Cafe, NYC - Oct. 1962)
    3:12
  6. Dusty Old Fairgrounds (Live at Town Hall, New York, NY - April 1963)
    5:17
  7. He Was a Friend of Mine (Take 2)
    4:06
  8. I Got a New Girl (Home of Ric Kangas, Hibbing, MN - May 1959)
    2:04
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Credits

Production & Engineering

Writer
Bob Dylan
Producer
Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler
Engineer
Josh Abbey
Bass
Robbie Shakespeare
Drums
Sly Dunbar
Guitar
Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler, Mick Taylor
Keyboards
Alan Clark, Bob Dylan
Vocals
Bob Dylan
Harmonica
Bob Dylan
Mastering Engineer
Bill Kipper, Ian Taylor
Mixing Engineer
Ian Taylor
Percussion
Sly Dunbar
Recording Engineer
Neil Dorfsman
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