List of Bob Dylan songs based on earlier tunes explained

This is a list of Bob Dylan songs based on earlier tunes. Throughout his career, Bob Dylan has drawn inspiration from many traditional folk sources, including the songs written by Dylan listed below, which borrow from earlier works.

Dylan song Original tune Notes and links
"Ballad in Plain D" "My Last Farewell to Stirling" [1]
"Ballad of Hollis Brown""Pretty Polly"
"Blind Willie McTell" "St James Infirmary Blues" [2]
"Blowin' in the Wind" "No More Auction Block"[3] [4] [5]
"Bob Dylan's Dream" "Lady Franklin's Lament"
"Boots of Spanish Leather" "Scarborough Fair"
"Buckets of Rain" "Bottle of Wine"
"Chimes of Freedom" "Chimes of Trinity"
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" "Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I'm Gone)"
"False Prophet" "If Lovin' is Believing" [6]
"Farewell""The Leaving of Liverpool"
"Farewell Angelina" "Farewell to Tarwathie"
"Girl from the North Country" "Scarborough Fair"
"A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" "Lord Randall" [7] [8]
"Hard Times in New York Town" "Down On Penny's Farm" [9]
"I Shall Be Free" "We Shall Be Free"
"I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You""Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour" (Barcarolle)[10]
"John Brown" "Mrs. McGrath"
"Lay Down Your Weary Tune""The Water Is Wide" / "Oh Waly, Waly"
"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" "Mary Hamilton", "Child Ballad 173"
"Masters of War" "Nottamun Town"
"Obviously Five Believers" "Me and My Chauffeur Blues"
"Percy's Song" "The Wind and the Rain"
"Pledging My Time" "It Hurts Me Too"
"Restless Farewell" "The Parting Glass"
"Song to Woody""1913 Massacre"
"Things Have Changed""The Observations of a Crow"[11]
"The Times They Are a-Changin'""Farewell to Sicily"[12]
"Troubled and I Don't Know Why" "What Did the Deep Sea Say?"
"Walls of Red Wing" "The Road and the Miles to Dundee"
"When the Deal Goes Down""Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)"[13]
"With God on Our Side" "The Patriot Game"

See also

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Collected e.g. in "Folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland", Ed. Ewan McColl (Oak Publications, New York 1965. Library of Congress Catalogue no. 65-2295). McColl notes that "the tune appears to have been adapted from a slow strathspey".
  2. Web site: Attwood . Tony . Blind Willie McTell: the meaning behind Bob Dylan's song . Untold Dylan . 15 May 2020 . November 12, 2008.
  3. Web site: No More Auction Block for Me . Smithsonian Folkways . February 7, 2014.
  4. Sung by Odetta on many albums including Odetta at Carnegie Hall
  5. Quoted in John Bauldie's sleeve notes for The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991
  6. Web site: Moon . Tom . Trickster Treat: Bob Dylan's New Song Sounds Awfully Old ... And Familiar . NPR.org . National Public Radio . 15 May 2020.
  7. Book: Wall, Mick . When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin . St. Martins Press . 2009 . 978-0312590390 . 66.
  8. Book: Epstein, Daniel Mark . The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait . 2012 . Harper Perennial . Reprint . 978-0061807336.
  9. Web site: 'Maggie's Farm,' Bob Dylan . Davis Inman . February 14, 2011 . . February 7, 2014.
  10. Web site: I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You. And Offenbach and Johnny Cash. Untold Dylan . 2 July 2020 . 2023-07-18 . en-GB.
  11. Web site: Lyric Of The Week: Marty Stuart, "Observations Of A Crow". Jim Beviglia. 8 September 2014 . American Songwriter. 21 December 2020.
  12. Web site: Cramb . Auslan . Dylan traces his political anthem to bagpipe tune . The Telegraph . The Daily Telegraph . 15 May 2020 . 11 April 2004.
  13. Web site: Modern Times (2006). 2022-01-23. dylanchords.info.

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