"False Prophet" lyrics

"False Prophet"

Another day that don't end
Another ship goin' out
Another day of anger, bitterness, and doubt
I know how it happened
I saw it begin
I opened my heart to the world and the world came in

Hello Mary Lou
Hello Miss Pearl
My fleet-footed guides from the underworld
No stars in the sky shine brighter than you
You girls mean business and I do too

Well I'm the enemy of treason
Enemy of strife
I'm the enemy of the unlived meaningless life
I ain't no false prophet
I just know what I know
I go where only the lonely can go

I'm first among equals
Second to none
The last of the best
You can bury the rest
Bury 'em naked with their silver and gold
Put them six feet under and I'll pray for their souls

What are you lookin' at
There's nothing to see
Just a cool breeze that's encircling me
Let's go for a walk in the garden
So far and so wide
We can sit in the shade by the fountain-side

I search the world over
For the Holy Grail
I sing songs of love
I sing songs of betrayal
Don't care what I drink
I don't care what I eat
I climbed the mountains of swords on my bare feet

You don't know me darlin'
You never would guess
I'm nothing like my ghostly appearance would suggest
I ain't no false prophet
I just said what I said
I'm just here to bring vengeance on somebody's head

Put out your hand
There's nothing to hold
Open your mouth
I'll stuff it with gold
Oh you poor devil look up if you will
The city of God is up there on the hill

Hello stranger
Hello and goodbye
You rule the land
But so do I
You lusty old mule
You got a poison brain
I'll marry you to a ball and chain

You know darlin'
The kind of life that I live
When your smile meets my smile something's got to give
I ain't no false prophet
No I'm nobody's bride
Can't remember when I was born
And I forgot when I died


Thanks to MarkAnon, clinton for correcting these lyrics.
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
"False Prophet" was released on the 8th of May 2020, simultaneously with the announcement of Bob Dylan's album "Rough And Rowdy Ways", his first album of original material since 2012's "Tempest". The song is the third single unveiled from the new album, after "Murder Most Foul" in March 2020 and "I Contain Multitudes" in April 2020.
This track and the album it belongs to were announced by Bob Dylan on Twitter on 05/08/2020 by posting a grim picture of a skeleton dressed up to the nines and carrying a present box and a syringe. The shadow on the skeleton is a hung-up man. The image comes from the 96th issue of "The Shadow" magazine published in 1942.
The "Hello Mary Lou" line is apparently the reference to the eponymous Ricky Nelson's song of 1961.