Knockin On Heavens Door Lyrics - Indigo Girls

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a Bob Dylan song from 1973. The girls 

have been doing it now and then since at least 1988. There's 

something about the girls' version that kinda confuses me... See, 

the official Dylan lyric sheet has two verses: 

Mama, take this badge off of me 

I can't use it anymore 

It's getting dark, too dark for me to see 

I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door 

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door... 

Mama, put my guns in the ground 

I can't shoot them anymore 

That long black cloud is comin' down 

I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door 

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door... 

Though I know that Dylan often sings a third verse live: 

Mama, wipe the blood from my face 

I can't see through it anymore 

It's a feeling that I just can't trace 

I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door 

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door... 

Though in every IG version I have, Amy sings the following third 

verse: 

Mama, wipe this blood from my face 

I can't see through the walls 

Six white horses coming to carry me away 

I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door 

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door... 

So, I don't know whether Amy re-wrote Dylan's third verse, or whether 

it's from some Dylan version I don't know. What I'm trying to say is 

that I don't know whether to attribute the "six white horses" line to 

Dylan or to Amy. 

To further complicate matters, I've got one version that features a 

FOURTH verse, sung by Michelle Malone. This verse breaks both the 

meter and the rhyme scheme (ABBB in favor of ABAB), so I'm willing to 

bet that it's just Ms. Malone improvising... 

Mama, take these chains off of me 

'Cause I don't want them anymore 

They're getting too damn heavy, I'm crawling across the floor 

I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door 

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door... 

Oh - BTW - the first person who asks me about the "Guns-n-Roses" 

version will feel my wrath... 

-Vic. 

. 

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