Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues

Album: The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3: Rare & Unreleased (1991)
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  • Well, I saw it advertised one day
    That the Bear Mountain picnic was comin' my way
    "Come along and take a trip, we'll bring you up there on a ship
    Bring the wife and family, bring the whole kids"
    Yippee

    Well, I run right down and bought a ticket
    To this thing called the Bear Mountain Picnic
    Little did I realize, I was in for a pleasant, funny surprise
    It had nothin' to do with picnic
    Didn't come close to a mountain, I hate bears

    Took the wife and kids down to the pier
    There were six thousand people there
    Everybody had a ticket for the trip
    "Oh well", I said, "It's a pretty big ship
    Besides, anyhow, the more the merrier"

    Well, we all got on and what do you think?
    That big old boat started to sink
    More people kept a-piling on
    That old ship was a-going down
    Funny way to start a picnic

    Well, I soon lost track of my kids and wife
    So many people I never saw in my life
    That old ship was sinkin' down in the water
    There were six thousand trying to kill each other

    Dogs a-barking, cats a-screaming
    Women a-yelling, men a-flying, fists a-flying, paper flying
    Cops a-coming, me a-running
    Maybe we just better call off the picnic

    I got shoved down, got pushed around
    All I remember was a moanin' sound
    Don't remember one thing more
    All I remember is walking up on a shore

    My arms and legs were broken
    My feet was splintered, my head was cracked
    I couldn't walk, couldn't talk, smell, feel
    Couldn't see, I didn't know where I was
    I was bald, quite lucky to be alive though

    Well, feelin' like I just climbed out of my casket
    I grabbed back hold of my picnic basket
    Took the wife and kids and started home
    Wishing I'd never got up that morning

    Now, I don't care just what you do
    If you wanna have a picnic, that's up to you
    But don't tell me about it, I don't wanna hear it
    You see, I just lost all my picnic spirit

    Stay in my kitchen, have picnics
    I have picnic in my bathroom

    Well, it don't seem to me quite so funny
    What some people are gonna do for money
    There's a brand new gimmick every day
    Just to take somebody's money away

    I think we oughta take some of these people
    Put 'em on a boat, send 'em up to Bear Mountain for a picnic Writer/s: Bob Dylan
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

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