Life is Hard
The evening winds are still
I’ve lost the way and will
Can’t tell you where they went
I just know what they meant
I’m always on my guard
Admitting life is hard
Without you near me
The friend you used to be
So near and dear to me
You slipped so far away
Where did we go a-stray
I pass the old schoolyard
Admitting life is hard
Without you near me
Ever since the day
The day you went away
I felt that emptiness so wide
I don’t know what’s wrong or right
I just know I need strength to fight
Strength to fight that world outside
Since we’ve been out of touch
I haven’t felt that much
From day to barren day
My heart stays locked away
I walk the boulevard
Admitting life is hard
Without you near me
The sun is sinking low
I guess it’s time to go
I feel a chilly breeze
In place of memories
My dreams are locked and barred
Admitting life is hard
Without you near me
Lyrics: Bob Dylan
This Dream Of You
How long can I stay in this nowhere café
‘fore night turns into day
I wonder why I’m so frightened of dawn
All I have and all I know
Is this dream of you
Which keeps me living on
There’s a moment when all old things
Become new again
But that moment might have come and gone
All I have and all I know
Is this dream of you
Which keeps me living on
I look away, but I keep seeing it
I don’t want to believe, but I keep believing it
Shadows dance upon the wall
Shadows that seem to know it all
Am I too blind to see, is my heart playing tricks on me
I’m lost in the crowd
All my tears are gone
All I have and all I know
Is this dream of you
Which keeps me living on
Everything I touch seems to disappear
Everywhere I turn you are always here
I’ll run this race until my earthly death
I’ll defend this place with my dying breath
From a cheerless room in a curtained gloom
I saw a star from heaven fall
I turned and looked again but it was gone
All I have and all I know
Is this dream of you
Which keeps me living on
Lyrics: Bob Dylan
Forgetful Heart
Forgetful heart
Lost your power of recall
Every little detail
You don’t remember at all
The times we knew
Who would remember better then you
Forgetful heart
We laughed and had a good time you and I
It’s been so long
Now you’re content to let the days go by
When you were there
You were the answer to my prayer
Forgetful heart
We loved with all the love that life can give
What can I say
Without you it’s so hard to live
Can’t take much more
Why can’t we love like we did before
Forgetful heart
Like a walking shadow in my brain
All night long
I lay awake and listen to the sound of pain
The door has closed forevermore
If indeed there ever was a door
Lyrics: Bob Dylan
The poem is simple, almost childish, but the song is a masterpiece. Mahler has managed to condense in his lieder all the passion of his music, and the fact that he has not writen even one opera, being the Director of the Vienna Opera for ten years, testifies to his immense focus on lieder and song cycles. At this point it is pertinent to note that Mahler’ smusic was not played and/or recorded much, until the 1950’s. One of the conductors who “un-earthed” Mahler was Dimitri Mitropoulos.
