[Verse 1] All the early Roman Kings in their sharkskin suits Bowties and buttons, high top boots Driving the spikes in, blazing the rails Nailed in their coffins in top hats and tails
[Chorus 2] Tomorrow is Friday We’ll see what it brings Everybody’s talking ‘Bout the early Roman kings
[Verse 3] They’re peddlers and they’re meddlers, they buy and they sell They destroyed your city, they’ll destroy you as well They’re lecherous and treacherous, hell bent for leather Each of them bigger than all men put together
[Chorus 5] Bring down my fiddle Tune up my strings Gonna break it wide open Like the early Roman kings
[Verse 6] I was up on black mountain the day Detroit fell They killed them all off and they sent them to hell Ding Dong Daddy, you’re coming up short Gonna put you on trial in a Sicilian court
[Chorus 6] I’ve had my fun I’ve had my flings Gonna shake ‘em all down Like the early Roman kings
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Genius Annotation1 contributor
This song describes group of American gangsters called the Early Roman Kings, alluding also to decadence and criminality of the kings of the Roman era in ancient Europe. Of the release “Tempest”, “The Early Roman Kings” is one of the songs Bob Dylan most often plays live. The music is a blues in the style of Muddy Water’s “Mannish Boy”, with an accordion mimicking the harmonica. The lyrics are wry and relish in wrong-doing, drawing on the folk tradition of bad man ballads such as “Stagger Lee”.
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