By Tony Attwood
As you may know one of the more unusual things we have done here is to invite readers of Untold Dylan to look at Dylan lyrics which have never been put to music.
The most recent that we have had completed is Song to Bonny and there are details of other such songs below.
Recently I announced another song we’d found: Tioga Pass. Thus far no one has ventured to add any music to that song, and unless someone does I am going to be adding my own music and I am not sure you want that. So that offer is still there.
But if you don’t fancy Tioga Pass, we now have one more. Here’s the original
This was discovered by Aaron and is Bowling Alley Blues. Aaron says of this, “I tried to work out the lyrics from the typed up sheet and left out some bits from the top of the page which seemed incongruous with the rest, like he was trying something out before moving on to the real work of the day.
“It turned up in Writings and Drawings, and here’s what I came up with”
I got your letter today And I’m glad to hear you’re doing fine I see you still got your habit And I’m so happy to hear it isn’t mine I read your name in the paper again Going out with Mr So and So So the news is out and you can’t pretend That you did not know Maybe tomorrow morning When you wake up and find That your dear sweet daddy’s got fed up And has left everything behind Or why wait for tomorrow When you can find this out today So just be good and do like you should And don’t spend your time throwing it away! I love a switchboard operator She’s the only one for me I love a switchboard operator She’s the only one I wanna see Anytime I need some money I just call her on her line And she always tells me looky honey Everything will soon be fine I love a switchboard operator And she’s the one that I desire And of course I’m bound to see her later And we’ll go dancing on the wire On the wire Sing something safe Is it right to think about what one can do Or is it right to think about what one has done
So there we are – you now have two songs to play with, through which you can achieve immortality by writing your own version of the music.
When you have done your work, just send me a music file to Tony@schools.co.uk An MP3 or MP4 will be fine, and we’ll publish the result here and add the song to our list of 616 compositions by Dylan already covered on this site.
Here are some of the songs we have had completed so far…
- Don’t let anyone write your story – original renditions
- Don’t let anyone write your story, Rob Beretta
- Don’t let anyone write your story, Paul Robert Thomas
- Don’t let anyone write your story, fourth edition
- Listen Robert Moses: Chris Sheriden
- Song to Bonny Paul Robert Thomas
- Don’t Let Anyone write your story: Claudio Diarni
- Dope Fiend Robber Nick Juno.
Untold Dylan: who we are what we do
Untold Dylan is written by people who want to write for Untold Dylan. It is simply a forum for those interested in the work of the most famous, influential and recognised popular musician and poet of our era, to read about, listen to and express their thoughts on, his lyrics and music.
We welcome articles, contributions and ideas from all our readers. Sadly no one gets paid, but if you are published here, your work will be read by a fairly large number of people across the world, ranging from fans to academics. If you have an idea, or a finished piece send it as a Word file to Tony@schools.co.uk with a note saying that it is for publication on Untold Dylan.
You’ll find some notes about our latest posts arranged by themes and subjects on the home page of this site. You can also see details of our main sections on this site at the top of this page under the picture. Not every index is complete but I do my best.
Tony Attwood