Happy Birthday Bobby D

Bobby D Bobby D how I love thee...

Yes, your voice is a bit of an acquired taste. But I love that in your songs
we can find the precursor to hip hop, punk, and fragments of malaise,
discontentment, and yearning peppered in like shrapnel.

I love your style- love that you and Edie once had a thing, and nobody wears
dark shades like you, my love. I turned 30 in San Francisco listening to
"Blood on the Tracks" on repeat and cried and laughed and felt a huge amount
of relief. Thanks for being the soundtrack to usher in a new era of my life.

I think "When I Paint my Masterpiece" might be one of my favs though. That
song is very special and love the journey it takes you on. And there are too
many other favs to name here. Happy happy birthday to you, Bob. With every
phrase and every moany lyric sung, you make me feel what you are layin'
down, and for this I am thankful to you. And I'll go one further and say you
are one of our greatest American poets, who paved the way for many more
brilliant lyricists and poets along the way. Much love to ya. And that's
what's up this Monday here on Desolation Row...XO

Here are the lyrics to "When I Paint My Masterpiece". Just love them and so
will you if you've got a traveler's soul like me:

When I Paint My Masterpiece

Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you¹re seein¹ double
On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room
Where I¹ve got me a date with Botticelli¹s niece
She promised that she¹d be right there with me
When I paint my masterpiece

Oh, the hours I¹ve spent inside the Coliseum
Dodging lions and wastin¹ time
Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see ¹em
Yes, it sure has been a long, hard climb
Train wheels runnin¹ 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

Sailin¹ 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 pullin¹ 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 diff¹rent
When I paint my masterpiece