--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The first thing you notice about New…" description: "\"“The first thing you notice about New Orleans are the burying grounds - the cemeteries - and they're a cold proposition, one of the best things there a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/bob-dylan-168_long-time_the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orl_1012649.jpg" --- # The first thing you notice about New Orleans are the… ![“The first thing you notice about New Orleans are the burying grounds - the cemeteries - and they're a cold proposition, one of the best things there are here. Going by, you try to be as quiet as possible, better to let them sleep. Greek, Roman, sepulchres- palatial mausoleums made to order…” quote by Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/bob-dylan-168_long-time_the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orl_1012649.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/bob-dylan-168_long-time_the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orl_1012649.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/bob-dylan-168_long-time_the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orl_1012649.jpg) > ““The first thing you notice about New Orleans are the burying grounds - the cemeteries - and they're a cold proposition, one of the best things there are here. Going by, you try to be as quiet as possible, better to let them sleep. Greek, Roman, sepulchres- palatial mausoleums made to order, phantomesque, signs and symbols of hidden decay - ghosts of women and men who have sinned and who've died and are now living in tombs. The past doesn't pass away so quickly here. You could be dead for a long time. The ghosts race towards the light, you can almost hear the heavy breathing spirits, all determined to get somewhere. New Orleans, unlike a lot of those places you go back to and that don't have the magic anymore, still has got it. Night can swallow you up, yet none of it touches you. Around any corner, there's a promise of something daring and ideal and things are just getting going. There's something obscenely joyful behind every door, either that or somebody crying with their head in their hands. A lazy rhythm looms in the dreamy air and the atmosphere pulsates with bygone duels, past-life romance, comrades requesting comrades to aid them in some way. You can't see it, but you know it's here. Somebody is always sinking. Everyone seems to be from some very old Southern families. Either that or a foreigner. I like the way it is. There are a lot of places I like, but I like New Orleans better. There's a thousand different angles at any moment. At any time you could run into a ritual honoring some vaguely known queen. Bluebloods, titled persons like crazy drunks, lean weakly against the walls and drag themselves through the gutter. Even they seem to have insights you might want to listen to. No action seems inappropriate here. The city is one very long poem. Gardens full of pansies, pink petunias, opiates. Flower-bedecked shrines, white myrtles, bougainvillea and purple oleander stimulate your senses, make you feel cool and clear inside. Everything in New Orleans is a good idea. Bijou temple-type cottages and lyric cathedrals side by side. Houses and mansions, structures of wild grace. Italianate, Gothic, Romanesque, Greek Revival standing in a long line in the rain. Roman Catholic art. Sweeping front porches, turrets, cast-iron balconies, colonnades- 30-foot columns, gloriously beautiful- double pitched roofs, all the architecture of the whole wide world and it doesn't move. All that and a town square where public executions took place. In New Orleans you could almost see other dimensions. There's only one day at a time here, then it's tonight and then tomorrow will be today again. Chronic melancholia hanging from the trees. You never get tired of it. After a while you start to feel like a ghost from one of the tombs, like you're in a wax museum below crimson clouds. Spirit empire. Wealthy empire. One of Napoleon's generals, Lallemaud, was said to have come here to check it out, looking for a place for his commander to seek refuge after Waterloo. He scouted around and left, said that here the devil is damned, just like everybody else, only worse. The devil comes here and sighs. New Orleans. Exquisite, old-fashioned. A great place to live vicariously. Nothing makes any difference and you never feel hurt, a great place to really hit on things. Somebody puts something in front of you here and you might as well drink it. Great place to be intimate or do nothing. A place to come and hope you'll get smart - to feed pigeons looking for handouts”” [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The city is portrayed as a living tapestry of history, ghosts, and vibrant contradictions, where past and present intertwine in a hauntingly beautiful way. **In simple terms:** New Orleans feels alive with history and mystery. Key Takeaway Embrace the city's layered stories. Themes history culture spirituality contradiction beauty Mood melancholic wonderful enigmatic Type descriptive poetic reflective When to use this quote - travel writing - personal reflection - urban exploration Key Concepts memorialization urban myth ritual social stratification Practical Applications - tourism - creative writing - cultural immersion Questions to Reflect On - How does the city's past shape its present? - What does the “ghost” metaphor reveal about memory? A Different Perspective The romance of the city can overlook its hardships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behind Every](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behind-every/) [Burying Grounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burying-grounds-2208856/) [Front Porch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/front-porch/) [Ghost Tombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost-tombs-2208855/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [New orleans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-orleans/) [Orleans Burying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orleans-burying-2208853/) [Side by side](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/side-by-side/) [Signs and symbols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/signs-and-symbols/) [Tombs Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tombs-like-2208854/) ## Related quotes > [The first thing you notice about New Orleans are the burying grounds - the cemeteries - and they're a cold proposition, one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orleans-are-the-burying-grounds-2/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Snakes are a very real thing in Egyptian tombs, they like to hang out underground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-gates/snakes-are-a-very-real-thing-in-egyptian-tombs-they-like-to-hang-out/) [Josh Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-gates/) > [“When I first arrived in Egypt many years ago, I looked at the tombs like a tourist. After being to them all so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-p-warren/when-i-first-arrived-in-egypt-many-years-ago-i-looked-at-the-tombs/) [G. P. Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-p-warren/) > [Now the Tombs, like the name says, are so horrible that they had to close it down. Today it doesn't exist and people go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-corso/now-the-tombs-like-the-name-says-are-so-horrible-that-they-had-to/) [Gregory Corso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-corso/) > [Everything in New Orleans is a good idea. Bijou temple-type cottages and lyric cathedrals side by side. Houses and mansions, structures of wild grace.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/everything-in-new-orleans-is-a-good-idea-bijou-temple-type-cottages/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“Aunt Rosa, a fussy, angular, wild-eyed old lady, who had lived in a tremulous world of bad news, bankruptcies, train accidents, cancerous growths—until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/aunt-rosa-a-fussy-angular-wild-eyed-old-lady-who-had-lived-in-a/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“He read me another poem, and another one - and he explained the true history of poetry, which is a kind of secret, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aravind-adiga/he-read-me-another-poem-and-another-one-and-he-explained-the-true/) [Aravind Adiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aravind-adiga/) > [“The Neanderthals lived in Europe for more than a hundred thousand years and during that period they had no more impact on their surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/the-neanderthals-lived-in-europe-for-more-than-a-hundred-thousand/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [Signs and symbols rule the world, not words nor laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/signs-and-symbols-rule-the-world-not-words-nor-laws/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [“The more I consider this mighty tail, the more do I deplore my inability to express it. At times there are gestures in it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/the-more-i-consider-this-mighty-tail-the-more-do-i-deplore-my/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Spirit channels through everything!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-marucci/spirit-channels-through-everything/) [Paula Marucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-marucci/) > [I saw through to the last sign and symbol, but I could not read her face. I could see only the eyes shining through,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-saw-through-to-the-last-sign-and-symbol-but-i-could-not-read-her/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Symbols have one characteristic in common with signs; they point beyond themselves to something else. The red sign at the street corner points to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tillich/symbols-have-one-characteristic-in-common-with-signs-they-point/) [Paul Tillich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tillich/) > [“Words and laws in this world made place for signs and symbols.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-midland/words-and-laws-in-this-world-made-place-for-signs-and-symbols/) [Ben Midland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-midland/) > [ALGEBRA is a general Method of Computation by certain Signs and Symbols which have been contrived for this Purpose, and found convenient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-maclaurin/algebra-is-a-general-method-of-computation-by-certain-signs-and/) [Colin Maclaurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-maclaurin/) ## More by Bob Dylan > [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't forget to support your public library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-forget-to-support-your-public-library/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [You don't count the dead, when god's on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-don-t-count-the-dead-when-god-s-on-your-side/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She makes love just like a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-makes-love-just-like-a-woman/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I don't really have a retirement plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-really-have-a-retirement-plan/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Just a reminder, if you tell anyone about what happened with Jonah last night, I'll destroy all of my writing and never play music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/just-a-reminder-if-you-tell-anyone-about-what-happened-with-jonah/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/little-red-wagon-little-red-bike-i-ain-t-no-monkey-but-i-know-what-i/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift - look out out kid, they keep it all hid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/twenty-years-of-schooling-and-they-put-you-on-the-day-shift-look-out/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The drunken politician leaps upon the street where mothers weep, and the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-drunken-politician-leaps-upon-the-street-where-mothers-weep-and/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/your-eyes-are-like-two-jewels-in-the-sky/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I gotta friend who spends his life, stabbing my picture with a bowie knife. Dreams of strangling me with a scarf, when my name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-gotta-friend-who-spends-his-life-stabbing-my-picture-with-a-bowie/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She speaks with a stutter and she and she walks with a hop. I don't know why I love her, but I just can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-speaks-with-a-stutter-and-she-and-she-walks-with-a-hop-i-don-t/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-put-my-faith-in-nobody-not-even-a-scientist/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) [Explore all 1,018 Bob Dylan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## More Long time quotes > [“I locked the door and turned on the water to fill the tub. I made it so hot that I had to get in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-crandall/i-locked-the-door-and-turned-on-the-water-to-fill-the-tub-i-made-it/) [Susan Crandall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-crandall/) > [“But my best friend from college was silent for a long time. She, of all of my friends, had seen the parade of sad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-groff/but-my-best-friend-from-college-was-silent-for-a-long-time-she-of-all/) [Lauren Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-groff/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [Forever is a really long time, you know? What do you do with forever?" "The same thing you do when you don't have forever."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/forever-is-a-really-long-time-you-know-what-do-you-do-with-forever/) [Amanda Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-hocking/) > [Our young Marines of today are courageous, willing to make sacrifices, and are marvelous team players. I am confident our Corps, and indeed our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-conway/our-young-marines-of-today-are-courageous-willing-to-make-sacrifices/) [James T. Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-conway/) > [Well, I've been politically involved for a really long time. Growing up in the segregated South, it was a very painful experience for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/well-i-ve-been-politically-involved-for-a-really-long-time-growing-up/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [It was only when I started making short films in college and I was looking for girls to play the me-ish parts that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/it-was-only-when-i-started-making-short-films-in-college-and-i-was/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [“For a very long time, Viviane and Jack lived in that world people inhabit before love. Some people called that place friendship; others called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslye-walton/for-a-very-long-time-viviane-and-jack-lived-in-that-world-people/) [Leslye Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslye-walton/) > [“If any woman opens her legs for you, don't feel so lucky to be fed with nonsense, she has been a bitch for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/if-any-woman-opens-her-legs-for-you-don-t-feel-so-lucky-to-be-fed/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [I've been around in public life for a long time. I think people know what I stand for. They know that I have strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-turnbull/i-ve-been-around-in-public-life-for-a-long-time-i-think-people-know/) [Malcolm Turnbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-turnbull/) > [“For a long time before I met you, I felt my life was this kind of test. I was in deep, cold water, swimming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-raeder/for-a-long-time-before-i-met-you-i-felt-my-life-was-this-kind-of-test/) [Leah Raeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-raeder/) > [“If you go to bed too early and get up too late you probably won't sleep especially well. This could show up as either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-a-lewis/if-you-go-to-bed-too-early-and-get-up-too-late-you-probably-won-t/) [Penelope A. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-a-lewis/) > [I have been famous for a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-beatty/i-have-been-famous-for-a-long-time/) [Warren Beatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-beatty/) > [I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-agreed-a-long-time-ago-i-would-not-live-at-any-cost-if-i-am-moved/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Browse all 9,064 Long time quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The first thing you notice about New Orleans are the burying grounds - the cemeteries - and they're a cold proposition, one of the best things there are here. Going by, you try to be as quiet as possible, better to let them sleep. Greek, Roman, sepulchres- palatial mausoleums made to order, phantomesque, signs and symbols of hidden decay - ghosts of women and men who have sinned and who've died and are now living in tombs. The past doesn't pass away so quickly here. You could be dead for a long time. The ghosts race towards the light, you can almost hear the heavy breathing spirits, all determined to get somewhere. New Orleans, unlike a lot of those places you go back to and that don't have the magic anymore, still has got it. Night can swallow you up, yet none of it touches you. Around any corner, there's a promise of something daring and ideal and things are just getting going. There's something obscenely joyful behind every door, either that or somebody crying with their head in their hands. A lazy rhythm looms in the dreamy air and the atmosphere pulsates with bygone duels, past-life romance, comrades requesting comrades to aid them in some way. You can't see it, but you know it's here. Somebody is always sinking. Everyone seems to be from some very old Southern families. Either that or a foreigner. I like the way it is. There are a lot of places I like, but I like New Orleans better. There's a thousand different angles at any moment. At any time you could run into a ritual honoring some vaguely known queen. Bluebloods, titled persons like crazy drunks, lean weakly against the walls and drag themselves through the gutter. Even they seem to have insights you might want to listen to. No action seems inappropriate here. The city is one very long poem. Gardens full of pansies, pink petunias, opiates. Flower-bedecked shrines, white myrtles, bougainvillea and purple oleander stimulate your senses, make you feel cool and clear inside. Everything in New Orleans is a good idea. Bijou temple-type cottages and lyric cathedrals side by side. Houses and mansions, structures of wild grace. Italianate, Gothic, Romanesque, Greek Revival standing in a long line in the rain. Roman Catholic art. Sweeping front porches, turrets, cast-iron balconies, colonnades- 30-foot columns, gloriously beautiful- double pitched roofs, all the architecture of the whole wide world and it doesn't move. All that and a town square where public executions took place. In New Orleans you could almost see other dimensions. There's only one day at a time here, then it's tonight and then tomorrow will be today again. Chronic melancholia hanging from the trees. You never get tired of it. After a while you start to feel like a ghost from one of the tombs, like you're in a wax museum below crimson clouds. Spirit empire. Wealthy empire. One of Napoleon's generals, Lallemaud, was said to have come here to check it out, looking for a place for his commander to seek refuge after Waterloo. He scouted around and left, said that here the devil is damned, just like everybody else, only worse. The devil comes here and sighs. New Orleans. Exquisite, old-fashioned. A great place to live vicariously. Nothing makes any difference and you never feel hurt, a great place to really hit on things. Somebody puts something in front of you here and you might as well drink it. Great place to be intimate or do nothing. A place to come and hope you'll get smart - to feed pigeons looking for handouts”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bob Dylan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orleans-are-the-burying-grounds/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Long time" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orleans-are-the-burying-grounds/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/bob-dylan-168_long-time_the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orl_1012649.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/bob-dylan-168_long-time_the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orl_1012649.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/bob-dylan-168_long-time_the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orl_1012649.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The first thing you notice about New Orleans are the burying grounds - the cemeteries - and they're a cold…” — Bob Dylan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bob Dylan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The first thing you notice about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orleans-are-the-burying-grounds/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-first-thing-you-notice-about-new-orleans-are-the-burying-grounds/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```