Bob Dylan - Neighbourhood Bully

intro : E

D A E
well , the neighborhood bully , he’s just one man ,
D A E
his enemies say he’s on their land .
G D A
they got him outnumbered about a million to one ,
A E G D
he got no place to escape to , no place to run .
A D A D A D A
he’s the neighborhood bully .

the neighborhood bully just lives to survive ,
he’s criticized and condemned for being alive .
he’s not supposed to fight back , he’s supposed to have thick skin ,
he’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in .
he’s the neighborhood bully .

the neighborhood bully been driven out of every land ,
he’s wandered the earth an exiled man .
seen his family scattered , his people hounded and torn ,
he’s always on trial for just being born .
he’s the neighborhood bully .

well , he knocked out a lynch mob , he was criticized ,
old women condemned him , said he should apologize .
then he destroyed a bomb factory , nobody was glad .
the bombs were meant for him .
he was supposed to feel bad .
he’s the neighborhood bully .

well , the chances are against it and the odds are slim
that he’ll live by the rules that the world makes for him ,
’cause there’s a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
and a license to kill him is given out to every maniac .
he’s the neighborhood bully .

he got no allies to really speak of .
what he gets he must pay for , he don’t get it out of love .
he buys obsolete weapons and he won’t be denied
but no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side .
he’s the neighborhood bully .

well , he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace ,
they pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease .
now , they wouldn’t hurt a fly .
to hurt one they would weep .
they lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep .
he’s the neighborhood bully .

every empire that’s enslaved him is gone ,
egypt and rome , even the great babylon .
he’s made a garden of paradise in the desert sand ,
in bed with nobody , under no one’s command .
he’s the neighborhood bully .

now his holiest books have been trampled upon ,
no contract he signed was worth what it was written on .
he took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth ,
took sickness and disease and he turned it into health .
he’s the neighborhood bully .

what’s anybody indebted to him for?
nothin’ , they say .
he just likes to cause war .
pride and prejudice and superstition indeed ,
they wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed .
he’s the neighborhood bully .

what has he done to wear so many scars?
does he change the course of rivers?
does he pollute the moon and stars?
neighborhood bully , standing on the hill ,
running out the clock , time standing still ,
neighborhood bully .