By Tony Attwood
Details of all our current series and recent articles can be found on the home page
A list of the songs we have chosen as the best of the year, starting with 1961, is given at the end of this piece. And if you have been following this series, you’ll know that I have often made the point that Dylan has been very variable in his output year on year. By way of example, consider the number of new songs Dylan composed over these years…
- 1968: one song
- 1969: eight songs (including the Nashville Skyline songs)
- 1970: thirteen songs (including the New Morning songs)
- 1971: three songs
- 1972: one song and instrumental music for Billy the Kid
Now my choice for Dylan’s composition of 1973 is somewhat controversial since there is a bit of uncertainty as to exactly how much of it Bob wrote. Indeed, on Wiki you can find the statement “‘Sweet Amarillo’ is a song written by Donna Weiss.” I did my best to untangle the origins in an article in 2018 so I won’t go back over it, but in the end, I do think Bob had a lot to do with the song and the evidence for Donna Weiss being the sole creator of the song is patchy to say the least.
But perhaps more to the point in this series, 1973 was the year Bob really got back to songwriting with 14 songs. I have put a list of all 14 at the end of this piece in case you want to choose an alternative song of the year.
And this was a year in which Bob not only returned to songwriting in general, but he also returned to love songs such as “Knocking on heaven’s door,” “Never say goodbye”, “Nobody cept you,” “Hazel,” “Something there is about you,” “You Angel You” and “On a night like this”. Each one is a love song, which is why “Sweet Amerillo” fits so well into this year.
Plus, of course, you can choose your own song of the year from Bob if you have a mind to do that and a few spare minutes. But if Bob’s agent gave me a call and said, “Bob says to tell you, it’s not one of his” (which of course doesn’t happen) I’d go for “You Angel You” as a backup.
And yes, there is a spot of uncertainty as to when it was composed – my take on the year of writing placed it between “Wagon Wheel” and “Knocking on Heaven’s Door,” but of that I can be less certain than I am about the notion that Bob wrote the song.
Here is the Old Crow official video version
As I have noted before, the chord sequence is identical, as is the beat. The only variation from it being a straight Dylan song is the middle eight with the lyrics. Genius.com states that “The song was started by Bob Dylan while he was writing songs for the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and he gave it to OCMS to see what they could do with it, based on their earlier feat of turning his sketch of “Rock Me Mama’ into the 21st Century Americana standard ‘Wagon Wheel.”
In this telling of the composing of the song, “Ketch Secor slowed it to a ¾ time waltz and made it a cowboy’s lament to a love lost.”
The American Songwriter website also expands on the story as Dylan being at least part composer of this song, as well as being a producer of the recording in the sense of persuading Secor to move from playing the harmonica to the violin, which certainly works very well.
So maybe it is not a pure Dylan song, as for example, “Times they are a changin” was, but we all know that Bob used and re-used music from other songs, so what we have here is the reverse, with Bob seemingly giving away his expertise and helping turn this into a huge hit.
And if it is felt that Dylan only had a small input into the song, I’d simply reply, well, I love the song, and I want another opportunity to put it on the site. Here are the lyrics…
Well the world's greatest wonder from what I can tell Is how a cowgirl like you could ever look my way I was blinded by glory with a half-written story And a song spilling out off of every page Sweet Amarillo Tears on my pillow You never will know How much I cried Sweet Amarillo Like the wind in the willow Damn this old cowboy For my foolish pride So I drifted on down from the Iron Ore Range Across the wide Missouri where the cool waters flow When I got to Topeka I looked up your name But they said you rode off with the last rodeo Well the thunder's a-rumbling and the tumbleweed's tumbling And the rodeo clowns are painting their face I'm gunning the throttle for Ilano Estacado On a wild Appaloosa I'm blowing your way Down in Old Amarillo there's a light in the window Where a road weary shadow drifts into the arms Of a long distance lover then they turn back the covers And dance the Redova 'til the light of the dawn Sweet Amarillo Tears on my pillow You never will know How much I cried Sweet Amarillo Like the wind in the willows Damn this old cowboy For my foolish pride
My backup choice is slightly influenced by the fact that I see it as Bob making a really big step to retreating from the negativity of the earlier years and opening himself up to love once more.
This is a wonderful song, once again, and yet Bob only ever played it twice in early 1990. Ah well, he’s the composer, and I’m just the guy who writes about his songs, but I do love this too, as a bit of fun.
Earlier in the “Song of the Year” series…
- 1961. I was young when I left home
- 1962: Tomorrow is a long time
- 1963: Seven Curses
- 1964: Gates of Eden
- 1965: Visions of Johnanna
- 1966: One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
- 1967 part 1: “Drifter’s Escape”
- 1967 part 2: I’m not there
- 1968: Bob stops but even so (Lay Lady Lay)
- 1969: I’ll have you any time
- 1970: Time passes slowly
- 1971: When I paint my Masterpiece, and Watching the River Flow
- 1972, Forever Young – preparing to open a minor door