Day of the Locusts

"I was glad to get the degree, though. I could use it. The very look and touch and scent of it spelled respectability and had something of the spirit of the universe in it. After whispering and mumbling my way through the ceremony, I was handed the scroll. We piled back into the big Buick and drove away."  Chronicles BD 

Oh, the benches were stained with tears and perspiration
The birdies were flying from tree to tree
There was little to say, there was no conversation
As I stepped to the stage to pick up my degree
And the locusts sang off in the distance
Yeah, the locusts sang such a sweet melody
Oh, the locusts sang off in the distance
Yeah, the locusts sang and they were singing for me

I glanced into the chamber where the judges were talking
Darkness was everywhere, it smelled like a tomb
I was ready to leave, I was already walkin’
But the next time I looked there was light in the room
And the locusts sang, yeah, it give me a chill
Oh, the locusts sang such a sweet melody
Oh, the locusts sang their high whining trill
Yeah, the locusts sang and they were singing for me

Outside of the gates the trucks were unloadin’
The weather was hot, a-nearly 90 degrees
The man standin’ next to me, his head was exploding
Well, I was prayin’ the pieces wouldn’t fall on me
Yeah, the locusts sang off in the distance
Yeah, the locusts sang such a sweet melody
Oh, the locusts sang off in the distance
And the locusts sang and they were singing for me

I put down my robe, picked up my diploma
Took hold of my sweetheart and away we did drive
Straight for the hills, the black hills of Dakota
Sure was glad to get out of there alive
And the locusts sang, well, it give me a chill
Yeah, the locusts sang such a sweet melody
And the locusts sang with a high whinin’ trill
Yeah, the locusts sang and they was singing for me
Singing for me, well, singing for me

This is a rare Tuli track, released only on the 1989 Shimmy Disc LP & cassette "Tuli & Friends" but not included on the CD of that name or digitized before. It recalls June 9, 1970, when the University of Minnesota's most celebrated dropout, Bob Dylan, received an honorary doctorate degree from Princeton.  The tune is taken from Dylan's "With God on Our Side," a parasong to Dominic Behan's "The Patriot Game."

As David Crosby later recalled, "When we arrived at Princeton they took us straight into a little room and Bob was asked to wear a cap and gown. He refused outright. They said, 'We won't give you a degree if you don't wear this.' Dylan said, 'Fine, I didn't ask for it in the first place.'"

Although they finally convinced him to wear the gown, Dylan still refused to don the cap, opting instead, like the rest of the 1,200 graduates, to toss on a white armband which bore a peace symbol and the number 70, designating the graduating class. From "Bob Dylan, Ph.D. by Ben Corbett

Dylan wrote in "Day of the Locusts"
"I put down my robe, picked up my diploma,
Took hold of my sweetheart and away we did drive,
Straight for the hills, the black hills of Dakota,
Sure was glad to get out of there alive."

Lyrics:
My name is Bob Dylan
From Woodstock that's West
Jack Eliot Woody Guthrie
Sang the songs I love best
Went down to Folklore Center
Seeking fortune or fame
End as a pawn in
The Doctorate Game
The kids they all bug me
It's answers they want
Don't have any answers
I know what I want
Just leave me be quiet
I got fields of my own
And pleasant old Woodstock
Will be my new home.
What a man owes another
That's hard for to know
There's con men and traitors
To bring the heart low
Opportunists and gangsters
Who know that they lie
And fools crying "Love"
With "Killl " in their eyes.
If you think you know better
Then go right on ahead.
Half- assed poets and prophets
End up dumb and dead
I don't feel too good now
I think I'll go hide.
And take some small comfort
With Princeton on my side.