--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can't imagine parlor ballads drifting…" description: "\"You can't imagine parlor ballads drifting out of high-rise multi-towered buildings. That kind of music existed in a more timeless state of life.\" — Bob..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d98/bob-dylan-168_ballads_you-can-t-imagine-parlor-ballads-driftin_1759340.jpg" --- # You can't imagine parlor ballads drifting out of high-rise… ![“You can't imagine parlor ballads drifting out of high-rise multi-towered buildings. That kind of music existed in a more timeless state of life.” quote by Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d98/bob-dylan-168_ballads_you-can-t-imagine-parlor-ballads-driftin_1759340.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d98/bob-dylan-168_ballads_you-can-t-imagine-parlor-ballads-driftin_1759340.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d98/bob-dylan-168_ballads_you-can-t-imagine-parlor-ballads-driftin_1759340.jpg) > “You can't imagine parlor ballads drifting out of high-rise multi-towered buildings. That kind of music existed in a more timeless state of life.” [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. High-rise buildings lack the timeless, intimate feel of traditional parlor ballads. **In simple terms:** Modern architecture feels detached from classic music. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity in modern settings. Themes urban life music nostalgia timelessness Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - city living - music festivals - architectural design Key Concepts cultural shift environmental influence Questions to Reflect On - What makes a setting feel timeless? - How can contemporary art evoke nostalgia? A Different Perspective Not all modern spaces can replicate historic ambience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ballads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballads/) [Ballads Drifting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballads-drifting-1677863/) [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [Buildings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buildings/) [Drifting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drifting/) [Existed Timeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existed-timeless-1677862/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/more/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Music Existed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-existed-1447063/) [Parlor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parlor/) [Parlor Ballads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parlor-ballads-1677861/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Timeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/timeless/) ## Related quotes > [As spirits we have always existed in a generalized form, since we are all part of the universe. As individual spirits, we have existed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/as-spirits-we-have-always-existed-in-a-generalized-form-since-we-are/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [When I was growing up, hip-hop music existed as American thing. If you listened to it you were listening to an American subculture, whereas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-carpignano/when-i-was-growing-up-hip-hop-music-existed-as-american-thing-if-you/) [Jonas Carpignano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-carpignano/) > [Jim, as just a spoken poet, was not that good. He needed the music behind him. He felt a security and a sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-manzarek/jim-as-just-a-spoken-poet-was-not-that-good-he-needed-the-music/) [Ray Manzarek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-manzarek/) > [They're selling postcards of the hanging They're painting the passports brown The beauty parlor is filled with sailors The circus is in town Here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/they-re-selling-postcards-of-the-hanging-they-re-painting-the/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [His musical inspiration operates in a world uncluttered by conventional bar lines, conventional chord changes, and conventional ways of blowing or fingering a saxophone.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunther-schuller/his-musical-inspiration-operates-in-a-world-uncluttered-by/) [Gunther Schuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunther-schuller/) > [As regards the presentation of musical ideas, obviously rules of order soon appeared. Such rules of order have existed since music has existed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/as-regards-the-presentation-of-musical-ideas-obviously-rules-of-order/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [If you look at the history of music, you have classical composers, church music, pop music, etc. Music that's existed for centuries. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-love/if-you-look-at-the-history-of-music-you-have-classical-composers/) [Mike Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-love/) > [A way to make new music is to imagine looking back at the past from a future and imagine music that could have existed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/a-way-to-make-new-music-is-to-imagine-looking-back-at-the-past-from-a/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [“As his hands fell upon the keyboard, it was still possible to believe a beautiful harmony had been formed at random, in spite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-makine/as-his-hands-fell-upon-the-keyboard-it-was-still-possible-to-believe/) [Andreï Makine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-makine/) > [Electronic music has existed since the '70s, and it's almost comical how many subgenres of it there are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-joseph/electronic-music-has-existed-since-the-70s-and-it-s-almost-comical/) [Max Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-joseph/) > [All roads for me lead back to Mozart. In his tragically short life, he breathed new life, fire and meaning into every form of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hazlewood/all-roads-for-me-lead-back-to-mozart-in-his-tragically-short-life-he/) [Charles Hazlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hazlewood/) > [I need all kinds of songs - fast ones, slow ones, minor key, ballads, rumbas - and they all get juggled around during a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-need-all-kinds-of-songs-fast-ones-slow-ones-minor-key-ballads/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I went to a massage parlor, it was self service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-dangerfield/i-went-to-a-massage-parlor-it-was-self-service/) [Rodney Dangerfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-dangerfield/) > [How many people disapprove of the job the Conservatives are doing? Seventy percent. Of those same people, how many will vote for them again?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/how-many-people-disapprove-of-the-job-the-conservatives-are-doing/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [“Yes, when I get big and have my own home, no plush chairs and lace curtains for me. And no rubber plants. I'll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-smith/yes-when-i-get-big-and-have-my-own-home-no-plush-chairs-and-lace/) [Betty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-smith/) ## 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 Ballads quotes > [I had rather be a Kitten, and cry mew, Than one of these same Meeter Ballad-mongers: I had rather heare a Brazen Candlestick turn'd,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-had-rather-be-a-kitten-and-cry-mew-than-one-of-these-same-meeter/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I think that ballads are always something where I can really become one with the audiance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/namie-amuro/i-think-that-ballads-are-always-something-where-i-can-really-become/) [Namie Amuro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/namie-amuro/) > [I realized that what I was looking for was doing collaborations with other people - people who can play a ballad, rock, jazz. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/i-realized-that-what-i-was-looking-for-was-doing-collaborations-with/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [Maybe you could put it out there that I don't have a built-in dislike of ballads. That was kind of the reputation I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-perry/maybe-you-could-put-it-out-there-that-i-don-t-have-a-built-in-dislike/) [Joe Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-perry/) > [On 'Idol,' I understood that everyone wanted to hear my vocals, so I stuck with the ballads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-sanchez/on-idol-i-understood-that-everyone-wanted-to-hear-my-vocals-so-i/) [Jessica Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-sanchez/) > [Some of my other heroes around that time were, oddly enough, Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole and people like that - I was always more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bell/some-of-my-other-heroes-around-that-time-were-oddly-enough-frank/) [William Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bell/) > [People were saying that Southern folk song was dead, that the land that had produced American jazz, the blues, the spirituals, the mountain ballads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lomax/people-were-saying-that-southern-folk-song-was-dead-that-the-land/) [Alan Lomax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lomax/) > [I got a chance to get an actual label. I performed this slow song, this ballad I have. I just remember going to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-brown/i-got-a-chance-to-get-an-actual-label-i-performed-this-slow-song-this/) [Chris Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-brown/) > [My music is a reflection of what I really love to listen to, pop, dance, mid tempo dance and ballads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupaul/my-music-is-a-reflection-of-what-i-really-love-to-listen-to-pop-dance/) [RuPaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupaul/) > [My love was Bob Dylan, but as I got older I realized a good ballad was a good ballad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/my-love-was-bob-dylan-but-as-i-got-older-i-realized-a-good-ballad-was/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [People who listen to my records expect the ballads from me. The rock 'n roll is on there because it's another mode of expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-fogelberg/people-who-listen-to-my-records-expect-the-ballads-from-me-the-rock-n/) [Dan Fogelberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-fogelberg/) > [“...singing ballads whose words had never known paper but lived only on the rasping edge of their own voices.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/singing-ballads-whose-words-had-never-known-paper-but-lived-only-on/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [If we hooked up, he could write me ballads and stuff. You gotta admit, nothing's sexier than a guy who writes music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/if-we-hooked-up-he-could-write-me-ballads-and-stuff-you-gotta-admit/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [I would start off with a lively rag, then would come a ballad, followed by a comedy song and a novelty number, and finally,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/i-would-start-off-with-a-lively-rag-then-would-come-a-ballad-followed/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [It was very romantic. It's all in the song, The Ballad of John and Yoko. If you want to know how it happened, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/it-was-very-romantic-it-s-all-in-the-song-the-ballad-of-john-and-yoko/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) [Browse all 192 Ballads quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballads/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can't imagine parlor ballads drifting out of high-rise multi-towered buildings. 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