List of Bob Dylan songs based on earlier tunes

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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.

class="wikitable sortable"
Dylan songOriginal tuneNotes and links
"Ballad in Plain D""My Last Farewell to Stirling" 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".
"Ballad of Hollis Brown"

|"Pretty Polly"

|{{harvnb |Margotin|Guesdon |2015 |p=90}}

"Blind Willie McTell""St. James Infirmary Blues"{{cite web |last1=Attwood |first1=Tony |title=Blind Willie McTell: the meaning behind Bob Dylan's song |url=https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/14 |website=Untold Dylan |accessdate=15 May 2020 |date=November 12, 2008}}
"Blowin' in the Wind""No More Auction Block"{{cite web |url=http://www.folkways.si.edu/TrackDetails.aspx?itemid=47281 |title=No More Auction Block for Me |publisher=Smithsonian Folkways |accessdate=February 7, 2014}}Sung by Odetta on many albums including Odetta at Carnegie HallQuoted in John Bauldie's sleeve notes for The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991
"Bob Dylan's Dream""Lady Franklin's Lament"{{harvnb |Heylin |2000 |pp=106–107}}
"Boots of Spanish Leather""Scarborough Fair"
"Buckets of Rain""Bottle of Wine"{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2015|page=427}}
| "Chimes of Freedom""Chimes of Trinity"
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right""Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I'm Gone)"{{harvnb |Spitz |1991 |p=200}}
"False Prophet""If Lovin' is Believing"{{cite web |last1=Moon |first1=Tom |title=Trickster Treat: Bob Dylan's New Song Sounds Awfully Old ... And Familiar |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/05/12/853992774/trickster-treat-bob-dylans-new-song-sounds-awfully-old-and-familiar |website=NPR.org |publisher=National Public Radio |accessdate=15 May 2020}}
"Farewell"

|"The Leaving of Liverpool"

|{{harvnb |Margotin|Guesdon |2015 |p=138}}

"Farewell Angelina""Farewell to Tarwathie"{{harvnb |Margotin|Guesdon |2015 |p=177}}
"Girl from the North Country""Scarborough Fair"
"A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall""Lord Randall"{{harvnb |Ricks |2005 |p=340}}{{harvnb |Williamson |2004 |p=257}}{{cite book |first=Mick |last=Wall |title=When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin |publisher=St. Martins Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0312590390 |page=66}}{{cite book |last=Epstein |first=Daniel Mark |title=The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait |year=2012 |publisher=Harper Perennial |edition=Reprint |isbn=978-0061807336}}
"Hard Times in New York Town""Down On Penny's Farm"{{cite web |url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2011/02/behind-the-lyric-maggies-farm-bob-dylan/ |title='Maggie's Farm,' Bob Dylan |author=Davis Inman |date=February 14, 2011 |work=American Songwriter |accessdate=February 7, 2014}}
"I Shall Be Free""We Shall Be Free"{{harvnb |Harvey |2001 |p=50}}
"I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You"

|"Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour" (Barcarolle)

|{{Cite web |title=I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You. And Offenbach and Johnny Cash. {{!}} Untold Dylan |date=2 July 2020 |url=https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/15508 |access-date=2023-07-18 |language=en-GB}}

"John Brown""Mrs. McGrath"{{harvnb |Heylin |2009 |p=100}}
"Lay Down Your Weary Tune"

|"The Water Is Wide" / "Oh Waly, Waly"

|{{harvnb |Margotin|Guesdon |2015 |p=107}}

"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll""Mary Hamilton", "Child Ballad 173" {{Clarify|reason=Words are totally different, and Child Ballads do not have tunes, so what is the relationship?|date=May 2017}}{{harvnb |Heylin |2009 |p=166}}{{harvnb |Marqusee |2005 |p=86}}
"Masters of War""Nottamun Town"
"Obviously Five Believers""Me and My Chauffeur Blues"{{harvnb |Margotin|Guesdon |2015 |p=238}}
"Percy's Song""The Wind and the Rain"{{harvnb |Margotin|Guesdon |2015 |p=109}}
"Pledging My Time""It Hurts Me Too"{{harvnb |Margotin|Guesdon |2015 |p=220}}
"Restless Farewell""The Parting Glass"{{harvnb |Heylin |2009 |p=172}}
"Song to Woody"

|"1913 Massacre"

| {{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2015|page=35}}

"Things Have Changed"

| "The Observations of a Crow"

| {{cite web|url=https://americansongwriter.com/lyric-week-marty-stuart-observations-crow/|title=Lyric Of The Week: Marty Stuart, "Observations Of A Crow"|author=Jim Beviglia|date=8 September 2014 |publisher=American Songwriter|accessdate=21 December 2020}}

"The Times They Are a-Changin'"

|"Farewell to Sicily"

| {{cite web |last1=Cramb |first1=Auslan |title=Dylan traces his political anthem to bagpipe tune |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1459065/Dylan-traces-his-political-anthem-to-bagpipe-tune.html |website=The Telegraph |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |accessdate=15 May 2020 |date=11 April 2004}}

"Troubled and I Don't Know Why""What Did the Deep Sea Say?"{{harvnb |Heylin |2009 |p=151}}
"Walls of Red Wing""The Road and the Miles to Dundee"{{harvnb |Margotin|Guesdon |2015 |p=78}}
"When the Deal Goes Down"

|"Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)"

|{{Cite web|title=Modern Times (2006)|url=https://dylanchords.info/45_modern/index.htm|access-date=2022-01-23|website=dylanchords.info}}

"With God on Our Side""The Patriot Game"{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2015|page=92}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Sources

  • {{cite book |last=Harvey |first=Todd |title=The Formative Dylan: Transmission & Stylistic Influences, 1961-1963 |year=2001 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-4115-0}}
  • {{cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |title=Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited |publisher=Perennial Currents |year=2000 |isbn=0-06-052569-X |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=T8cp7NvcGxoC |accessdate =January 8, 2011}}
  • {{cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |title=Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1556528439 | series=Cappella Books}}
  • {{cite book |first=Mike |last=Marqusee |title=Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan And the 1960s |publisher=Seven Stories Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-1583226865}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Margotin|first1=Phillipe|first2=Jean-Michel|last2=Guesdon|title=Bob Dylan: All the Songs|publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers|date=October 27, 2015|location=New York, NY|isbn=9781579129859}}
  • {{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Ricks |title=Dylan's Visions of Sin |publisher=Harper Perennial |year=2005 |isbn=978-0060599249}}
  • {{cite book |first=Bob |last=Spitz |title=Dylan: A Biography |publisher=W. W. Norton |year=1991 |edition=British publication |isbn=978-0393307696}}
  • {{cite book |first=Nigel |last=Williamson |title=The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2004 |edition=1st |isbn=978-1843531395 | series=Rough Guide Sports/Pop Culture}}

{{Bob Dylan}}

Category:Bob Dylan songs

Dylan, Bob