Words and music Bob Dylan
Released on John Wesley Harding (1967) and Greatest Hits II (1971), and in live versions on Before the Flood (1974; also released on Biograph 1985), At Budokan (1978) and Unplugged (1995)
Tabbed by Eyolf Østrem (who was also released 1967)

The Unplugged version is the same as below, only without the capo, and Dylan himself leaving the G’s to John Jackson, and only playing Am - F.

Capo 4th fret, sounding key C# minor

Chord progression repeated for each line.
The Gs are actually played G6 (320000)

Am             G        F           G Am              G         F    G
"There must be some way out of here,"  said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.
Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

Or, to put it simply: Am G F G …

Budokan version

Same as above, but with the following interlude between the verses:

|Em . . . G . . . | x4

Oslo, Apr 7, 2002

In Oslo it was played in B minor, with the following intro:

        Bm                Em                G       A
  .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
------|-------------2---|-0---------------|-----0-----------|
------|-------------0---|-0-----------0---|-3-------2-------|
------|-4-----------4---|-0---------------|-0-----------2---|
--4---|-4-----------4---|-2---------------|-0---------------|
------|-----------------|-2---------------|-2-------0-------|
------|-----------------|-0----------(0-2)|-3---------------|

| Bm . . A | G . . A | etc.