The Neighborhood Bully

Well, the neighborhood bully
he’s just one man
His enemies say he’s on their land
They got him outnumbered
about a million to one
He got no place to escape to
no place to run
He’s the neighborhood bully

The neighborhood bully
just lives to survive
He’s criticized and condemned
for being alive
He’s not supposed to fight back
he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die
when his door is kicked in
He’s the neighborhood bully

The neighborhood bully
been driven out of every land
He’s wandered the earth
an exiled man.
Seen his family scattered
his people hounded and torn
He’s always on trial
for just being born
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, he knocked out a lynch mob
he was criticized
Old women condemned him
said he should apologize
Then he destroyed a bomb factory
nobody was glad
The bombs were meant for him
He was supposed to feel bad
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, the chances are against it
and the odds are slim
That he’ll live by the rules
that the world makes for him
‘Cause there’s a noose at his neck
and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him
is given out to every maniac
He’s the neighborhood bully

He got no allies
to really speak of
What he gets he must pay for
he don’t get it out of love
He buys obsolete weapons
and he won’t be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood
to fight by his side
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists
who all want peace
They pray for it nightly
that the bloodshed must cease
Now, they wouldn’t hurt a fly
To hurt one they would weep
They lay and they wait
for this bully to fall asleep
He’s the neighborhood bully

Every empire
that’s enslaved him is gone
Egypt and Rome
even the great Babylon
He’s made a garden of paradise
in the desert sand
In bed with nobody
under no one’s command
He’s the neighborhood bully

Now his holiest books
have been trampled upon
No contract he signed
was worth what it was written on
He took the crumbs of the world
and he turned it into wealth
Took sickness and disease
and he turned it into health
He’s the neighborhood bully

What’s anybody
indebted to him for?
Nothin’, they say
He just likes to cause war
Pride and prejudice
and superstition indeed
They wait for this bully
like a dog waits to feed
He’s the neighborhood bully

What has he done
to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?
Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully
standing on the hill
Running out the clock
time standing still
Neighborhood bully

~ Bob Dylan

25 thoughts on “The Neighborhood Bully”

      2. The Old Testiment has and always be in the here and now until judgement day when God will set the record straight.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Positively, Sandi!

        “Do not think that I came to do away with or
        undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of
        the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but
        to fulfill. For I assure you and most solemnly
        say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
        not the smallest letter or stroke [of the pen]
        will pass from the Law until all things [which
        it foreshadows] are accomplished.”

        ~ Jesus (Mathew 5:17-18 Amplified)

        But thank heaven the somebody fulfilled
        the righteous requirements of the law, as
        no mere human has been capable so far.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. How long can I listen
      to the lies of prejudice
      How long
      can I stay drunk on fear
      out in the wilderness
      Can I cast it aside
      all this loyalty and this pride
      Will I ever learn
      that there’ll be no peace
      that the war won’t cease
      Until He returns

      ~ Bob Dylan

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

      1. Such people have always been misunderstood and misinterpreted. We resent progressive thinkers, lovers, and visionaries. Don’t know how to keep up with them so we shoot them to save ourselves. Otherwise we’d be called incompetent.

        Liked by 1 person

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