It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and first released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home.The song has been covered by a number of other artists, including Roger McGuinn, the Byrds, Billy Preston, Hugo Race, Terence Trent D'Arby, Mick Farren, Caetano Veloso, Marilyn Scott, and The Duhks.[6] Author Sean Wilentz has noted that the song's chord structure is similar to that used by the Everly Brothers in their hit recording of "Wake Up Little Susie".[6][9][10] In his book Bob Dylan, Performing Artist, author Paul Williams has suggested that the song addresses "the possibility that the most important (and least articulated) political issue of our times is that we are all being fed a false picture of reality, and it's coming at us from every direction.[11] Critic Andy Gill considered that the song "shares the same sense of societal entropy" as the previous track on the album, "Gates of Eden", but that the critique in "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is more direct and less allusive.[1] The opening lines begin the song's torrent of apocalyptic images:[6] Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child's balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying Gill links the opening line of the song to the title of Arthur Koestler's bleak novel Darkness at Noon, set in the Great Stalinist purge of 1938 in Soviet Russia."[14] One of the most famous lines from the song reminds listeners that even the most powerful people will ultimately be judged:[6][15] But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have to stand naked These lines seemed particularly prescient when Dylan performed the song on his 1974 tour with the Band, a few months before Richard Nixon resigned as President of the United States as a result of the Watergate crisis.[18][19] Throughout the song, the words pour out quickly, with Dylan barely taking a breath between lines, so that the intricate rhyming structure is often missed: AAAAAB CCCCCB DDDDDB in the verses and AAB in the chorus.[25] Writer and journalist Christopher Hitchens quoted from the song's lyrics in his last article for Vanity Fair, written shortly before his death from esophageal cancer.[27] In addition, the Columbia Dictionary of Quotations lists this as well as three other lines from the song: "Although the masters make the rules, for the wisemen and the fools," "But even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked" and "Everything from toy guns that spark to flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark, it's easy to see without looking too far that not much is really sacred.For instance, the indie-rocker Stephen Malkmus quotes "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" at the end of his song "Jo-Jo's Jacket" from his debut solo album.[15] Artists who have covered the song since then include Hugo Race, Terence Trent D'Arby, Mick Farren, Caetano Veloso, Marilyn Scott, The Duhks, and Ground Components.