Knockin On Heavens Door lyrics

Knockin` on Heaven`s Door` is a Bob Dylan song from 1973. The girls
have been doing it now and then since at least 1988. There`s
something about the girls` version that kinda confuses me... See,
the official Dylan lyric sheet has two verses:

Mama, take this badge off of me
I can`t use it anymore
It`s getting dark, too dark for me to see
I feel like I`m knockin` on heaven`s door
Knock, knock, knockin` on heaven`s door...

Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can`t shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is comin` down
I feel like I`m knockin` on heaven`s door
Knock, knock, knockin` on heaven`s door...

Though I know that Dylan often sings a third verse live:

Mama, wipe the blood from my face
I can`t see through it anymore
It`s a feeling that I just can`t trace
I feel like I`m knockin` on heaven`s door
Knock, knock, knockin` on heaven`s door...

Though in every IG version I have, Amy sings the following third
verse:

Mama, wipe this blood from my face
I can`t see through the walls
Six white horses coming to carry me away
I feel like I`m knockin` on heaven`s door
Knock, knock, knockin` on heaven`s door...

So, I don`t know whether Amy re-wrote Dylan`s third verse, or whether
it`s from some Dylan version I don`t know. What I`m trying to say is
that I don`t know whether to attribute the `six white horses` line to
Dylan or to Amy.


To further complicate matters, I`ve got one version that features a
FOURTH verse, sung by Michelle Malone. This verse breaks both the
meter and the rhyme scheme (ABBB in favor of ABAB), so I`m willing to
bet that it`s just Ms. Malone improvising...

Mama, take these chains off of me
`Cause I don`t want them anymore
They`re getting too damn heavy, I`m crawling across the floor
I feel like I`m knockin` on heaven`s door
Knock, knock, knockin` on heaven`s door...

Oh - BTW - the first person who asks me about the `Guns-n-Roses`
version will feel my wrath...

-Vic.
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