by Larry Fyffe
Characteristic of the Post-Modern literary style, here’s Bob Dylan, singer / songwriter / musician, in the basement, mixing up the modern musical medicine show with the traditional murder ballad.
Below a murder ballad of yore:
She took him by his long yellow hair And also by his feet She plunged him into well water where It runs both cold and deep (Bob Dylan: Love Henry ~ traditional)
Rendered from a different perspective in the following lyrics:
She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking He's pulling her down, and she's clutching on to his long golden locks (Bob Dylan: Changing Of The Guards)
The lines beneath from a murder ballad:
Well, Brady, Brady, Brady, well you know you done wrong Breaking in here while my game's going on Breaking down the window, busting down the door Now you're lying dead on the barroom floor Well, you been on the job too long (Bob Dylan: Duncan And Brady ~ traditional)
Given a different slant in the following lyrics:
I'll suffer in silence, I'll not make a sound Maybe I'll take the high moral ground Some enchanted evening, I'll sing you a song Black rider, black rider, you've been on the job too long (Bob Dylan: Black Rider)
Perhaps, the low moral ground be taken in the lyrics beneath:
She screamed 'til her face got so red Then she fell on the floor And I covered her up, and then Thought I'd go look through her drawer (Bob Dylan: Fourth Time Around)
Another murder ballad (‘penknife’ being short for ‘penny knife’):
This Brown girl had a little penknife Which was both keen and sharp And betwixt the short ribs and long She pricked fair Eleanor to the heart (Bob Copper: Lord Thomas And Fair Eleanor ~ traditional)
The murder motif in the song above reflected in the one below:
Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back And Rosemary on the gallows, she didn't even blink (Bob Dylan: Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts)
In the following lyrics, the deadly theme rendered more in traditional style:
Then she raised her robe, and drew out her knife ... Then she pierced him to the heart, and his blood did flow (Bob Dylan: Tin Angel)
You can read details of some of recent series on the home page of this site and on the indexes at the top of the page by the picture of Bob Dylan.