Well, I’m tired and so weary
But I must go along
Till the lord comes and calls, calls me away, oh yeah
Well the morning’s so bright
And the Lamb is the light
And the night, night is as black as the sea, oh yes.
(There will be peace in the valley for me, some day)
“Peace in the Valley” is a 1937 song written by Thomas A. Dorsey, originally for Mahalia Jackson. The song became a hit in 1951 for Red Foley and the Sunshine Boys, reaching No. 7 on the Country & Western Best Seller chart. It was among the first gospel recordings to sell one million copies. Foley’s version was a 2006 entry into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
~Wikipedia
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Important recordings of ‘Peace In The Valley’ include the Red Foley version that established the song, Elvis Presley’s 1957 single, and Johnny Cash’s 1969 recording, which was included on the massively successful album “Johnny Cash At San Quentin”.
Other recordings of note are those by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and the Original Five Blind Boys of Mississippi. By the time Dylan came to perform the song in 1989 he would surely have known all of the above recordings.
~Derek Barker (The Songs He didn’t Write)
“Planet Waves” marks Dylan’s return as a committed artist, the first time since “John Wesley Harding” that he has truly allowed an album-in-progress to be an open canvas for the expression of whatever he is seeing, thinking, and feeling as he works on it.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Vol 2: The Middle Years 1974-1986)
I particularly like the song ‘Something There Is About You’,….. It completes a circle for me, about certain things running through my pattern.
~Bob Dylan (John Rockwell Interview, Jan 1974)
Something there is about you that strikes a match in me
Is it the way your body moves or is it the way your hair blows free?
Or is it because you remind me of something that used to be
Somethin’ that crossed over from another century?
Far between sundown’s finish an’ midnight’s broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An’ for each an’ ev’ry underdog soldier in the night
An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
Lincoln Memorial
Washington, District Of Columbia
17 January 1993
Surprise appearance at the Bill Clinton inauguration concert.
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar) backed by an orchestra led by Quincy Jones.
Broadcast by TV-stations all over the world, January 17 & 18, 1993.
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