Since the announcement that Bob Dylan had been honored with the
Nobel Prize for Literature, fans have been quoting their favorite among
his thousands of lyrics. Most people prefer selections from what was
Dylan's most commercially successful era in the mid sixties, when he
issued Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing It All Back Home and Blond on Blond.
The line I find most appealing, right now anyway, comes from an album released fifteen years after those three. The title of the song is "Sweetheart Like You", a single from Infidels.
"Steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king," Dylan says in the last verse.
Those words were applicable from long before the Middle Ages and, unfortunately, are just as relevant today.
Stealing, on both big and small levels, is still around. Robberies occur daily in every city, a fact that is reflected in some of the popular music from our culture.
Here are seven songs by well-known artists that condemn the crime of robbery.
Did You Steal My Money? by the Who
Roger Daltrey asks the title question repeatedly throughout this track from Face Dances, knowing only that he was indeed robbed but clueless as to the identity of the culprit.
Alice Childress by Ben Folds Five
After criticizing the title woman for her liberal views about the innate goodness in mankind, the singer on this track from the debut album gets knocked down and robbed by several strangers.
With a Gun by Steely Dan
Pretzel Logic is the home of this song, which has Donald Fagen chastising the perpetrator of a hold up.
Take the Money and Run by the Steve Miller Band
This song is a story about Billy Joe and Bobby Sue who, after moving to Texas, robbed a man's castle. That crime set Jimmy Mack the detective on their trail.
Mr. Bad Example by Warren Zevon
Before becoming a lawyer and bilking people of their money, the character in this title track first tried robbery.
Last Night by the Traveling Wilburys
The singer of this song from the super group's debut album picked up a woman for the night, only to fall victim to her crime of robbery.
Rusholm Ruffians by the Smiths
Strangeways Here We Come, which would unfortunately be the British band's last studio album before the rift between Morrissey and Johnny Marr, features this tune criticizing brutes who steal from their peers.
The line I find most appealing, right now anyway, comes from an album released fifteen years after those three. The title of the song is "Sweetheart Like You", a single from Infidels.
"Steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king," Dylan says in the last verse.
Those words were applicable from long before the Middle Ages and, unfortunately, are just as relevant today.
Stealing, on both big and small levels, is still around. Robberies occur daily in every city, a fact that is reflected in some of the popular music from our culture.
Here are seven songs by well-known artists that condemn the crime of robbery.
Did You Steal My Money? by the Who
Roger Daltrey asks the title question repeatedly throughout this track from Face Dances, knowing only that he was indeed robbed but clueless as to the identity of the culprit.
Alice Childress by Ben Folds Five
After criticizing the title woman for her liberal views about the innate goodness in mankind, the singer on this track from the debut album gets knocked down and robbed by several strangers.
With a Gun by Steely Dan
Pretzel Logic is the home of this song, which has Donald Fagen chastising the perpetrator of a hold up.
Take the Money and Run by the Steve Miller Band
This song is a story about Billy Joe and Bobby Sue who, after moving to Texas, robbed a man's castle. That crime set Jimmy Mack the detective on their trail.
Mr. Bad Example by Warren Zevon
Before becoming a lawyer and bilking people of their money, the character in this title track first tried robbery.
Last Night by the Traveling Wilburys
The singer of this song from the super group's debut album picked up a woman for the night, only to fall victim to her crime of robbery.
Rusholm Ruffians by the Smiths
Strangeways Here We Come, which would unfortunately be the British band's last studio album before the rift between Morrissey and Johnny Marr, features this tune criticizing brutes who steal from their peers.
By Doug Poe