Come round you old time cowboys, and listen to my song
Please do not grow weary, I will not detain you long
Concerning some young cowboy, who did agree to go
Spend the summer pleasantly on the trail of the buffalo
–
Well I wrote that song to the tune of Buffalo Skinner. An old cowboy song.
~Bob Dylan about “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” (to Ray Coleman, May 1965)
From Wikipedia:
“The Buffalo Skinners”
The Hills of Mexico, “On the Trail of the Buffalo”
Music by
traditional
Language
English
“The Buffalo Skinners” (“The Hills of Mexico”) is a traditional American folk song. It tells the story of an 1873 buffalo hunt on the southern plains. According to Fannie Eckstorm, 1873 is correct, as the year that professional buffalo hunters from Dodge City first entered the northern part of the Texas panhandle. It is thought to be based on the song Canaday-I-O.
According to extensive research carried out by Jürgen Kloss in 2010-2012, this song is one of the many variants of John B Freeman’s ‘Buffalo Song’ .
I married Isis on the fifth day of may
But I do not hold on to her very long
So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away
For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong
9 Great performances from The Rolling Thunder Revue
They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark
She looked at him and he felt a spark tingle to his bones
’Twas then he felt alone and wished that he’d gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate
–
Pauley Pavilion
UCLA
Los Angeles, California
22 May 1998
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
The guilty undertaker sighs
The lonesome organ grinder cries
The silver saxophones say I should refuse you
The cracked bells and washed-out horns
Blow into my face with scorn
But it’s not that way
I wasn’t born to lose you
I want you, I want you
I want you so bad
Honey, I want you
Lovely country version.
9:30 Club
Washington, D. C.
4 December 1997
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
August 3: Bob Dylan – You’re A Big Girl Now, Atlanta, Georgia 1996 (video)
Our conversation was short and sweet
It nearly swept me off-a my feet
And I’m back in the rain, oh, oh
And you are on dry land
You made it there somehow
You’re a big girl now
House Of Blues
Atlanta, Georgia
3 August 1996
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
