"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan. It was originally recorded on August 2, 1965 and released on the album Highway 61 Revisited. The song was later released on the compilation album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II and as two separate live versions recorded at concerts in 1966: the first of which appeared on the B-side of Dylan's "I Want You" single, with the second being released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. The song has been covered by many artists, including Gordon Lightfoot, Nina Simone, Barry McGuire, Judy Collins, Frankie Miller, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead, Neil Young and Bryan Ferry. Lightfoot's version was recorded only weeks after Dylan's original had been released and reached #3 on the national RPM singles chart. In addition, the song was sampled by the Beastie Boys for their song "Finger Lickin' Good."
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" has six verses but no chorus. The song's lyrics describe a nightmare vision of the narrator's experience in Juarez, Mexico, in which he encounters sickness, despair, prostitutes, saints, shady women, corrupt authorities, alcohol and drugs, before finally deciding to return to New York City. The lyrics incorporate literary references to Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and Jack Kerouac's Desolation Angels, while the song's title references Arthur Rimbaud's "My Bohemian Life (Fantasy)". William Ruhlmann of the Allmusic website has described the song as a comic tour de force and music journalist Toby Creswell included it on his list of the 1001 greatest songs of all time. Music critic Dave Marsh ranked the live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" from Liverpool that was released as the B-side of "I Want You" as the number 243 greatest single of all time.
Read more about Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues: Lyrics and Music, Other Appearances and Acclaim, Cover Versions
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