List of Bob Dylan songs based on earlier tunes

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.

Dylan song	Original tune	Notes and links
"Ballad in Plain D"	"My Last Farewell to Stirling"	[1]
"Ballad of Hollis Brown"	"Pretty Polly"	[2]
"Blind Willie McTell"	"St. James Infirmary Blues"	[3]
"Blowin' in the Wind"	"No More Auction Block" [4] [5]	[6] [7] [8]
"Bob Dylan's Dream"	"Lady Franklin's Lament"	[7] [9]
"Boots of Spanish Leather"	"Scarborough Fair"	[7]
"Buckets of Rain"	"Bottle of Wine"	[10]
"Chimes of Freedom"	"Chimes of Trinity"	[7]
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"	"Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I'm Gone)"	[7] [11]
"False Prophet"	"If Lovin' is Believing"	[12]
"Farewell"	"The Leaving of Liverpool"	[13]
"Farewell Angelina"	"Farewell to Tarwathie"	[14]
"Girl from the North Country"	"Scarborough Fair"	[7] [9]
"A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall"	"Lord Randall"	[15] [6] [7] [16]
"Hard Times in New York Town"	"Down On Penny's Farm"	[17]
"I Shall Be Free"	"We Shall Be Free"	[18]
"I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You"	"Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour" (Barcarolle)	[19]
"John Brown"	"Mrs. McGrath"	[20]
"Lay Down Your Weary Tune"	"The Water Is Wide" / "Oh Waly, Waly"	[21]
"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll"	"Mary Hamilton", "Child Ballad 173" [ clarification needed ]	[22] [23]
"Masters of War"	"Nottamun Town"	[7]
"Obviously Five Believers"	"Me and My Chauffeur Blues"	[24]
"Percy's Song"	"The Wind and the Rain"	[25]
"Pledging My Time"	"It Hurts Me Too"	[26]
"Restless Farewell"	"The Parting Glass"	[27]
"Song to Woody"	"1913 Massacre"	[28]
"Things Have Changed"	"The Observations of a Crow"	[29]
"The Times They Are a-Changin'"	"Farewell to Sicily"	[30]
"Troubled and I Don't Know Why"	"What Did the Deep Sea Say?"	[31]
"Walls of Red Wing"	"The Road and the Miles to Dundee"	[32]
"When the Deal Goes Down"	"Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)"	[33]
"With God on Our Side"	"The Patriot Game"	[34]

See also

• "Death Don't Have No Mercy"

References

1. 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".
2. Margotin & Guesdon 2015 , p. 90
3. Attwood, Tony (November 12, 2008). "Blind Willie McTell: the meaning behind Bob Dylan's song". Untold Dylan. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
4. "No More Auction Block for Me". Smithsonian Folkways. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
5. Sung by Odetta on many albums including Odetta at Carnegie Hall
6. Williamson 2004 , p. 257
7. Wall, Mick (2009). When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin. St. Martins Press. p. 66. ISBN   978-0312590390.
8. Quoted in John Bauldie's sleeve notes for The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991
9. Heylin 2000 , pp. 106–107
10. Margotin & Guesdon 2015, p. 427.
11. Spitz 1991 , p. 200
12. Moon, Tom. "Trickster Treat: Bob Dylan's New Song Sounds Awfully Old ... And Familiar". NPR.org. National Public Radio. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
13. Margotin & Guesdon 2015 , p. 138
14. Margotin & Guesdon 2015 , p. 177
15. Ricks 2005 , p. 340
16. Epstein, Daniel Mark (2012). The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait (Reprint ed.). Harper Perennial. ISBN   978-0061807336.
17. Davis Inman (February 14, 2011). "'Maggie's Farm,' Bob Dylan". American Songwriter . Retrieved February 7, 2014.
18. Harvey 2001 , p. 50
19. "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You. And Offenbach and Johnny Cash. | Untold Dylan". 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
20. Heylin 2009 , p. 100
21. Margotin & Guesdon 2015 , p. 107
22. Heylin 2009 , p. 166
23. Marqusee 2005 , p. 86
24. Margotin & Guesdon 2015 , p. 238
25. Margotin & Guesdon 2015 , p. 109
26. Margotin & Guesdon 2015 , p. 220
27. Heylin 2009 , p. 172
28. Margotin & Guesdon 2015, p. 35.
29. Jim Beviglia (8 September 2014). "Lyric Of The Week: Marty Stuart, "Observations Of A Crow"". American Songwriter . Retrieved 21 December 2020.
30. Cramb, Auslan (11 April 2004). "Dylan traces his political anthem to bagpipe tune". The Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
31. Heylin 2009 , p. 151
32. Margotin & Guesdon 2015 , p. 78
33. "Modern Times (2006)". dylanchords.com. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
34. Margotin & Guesdon 2015, p. 92.

Sources

• Harvey, Todd (2001). The Formative Dylan: Transmission & Stylistic Influences, 1961-1963. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   0-8108-4115-0.
• Heylin, Clinton (2000). Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited. Perennial Currents. ISBN   0-06-052569-X . Retrieved January 8, 2011.
• Heylin, Clinton (2009). Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973. Cappella Books. Chicago Review Press. ISBN   978-1556528439.
• Marqusee, Mike (2005). Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan And the 1960s. Seven Stories Press. ISBN   978-1583226865.
• Margotin, Phillipe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (October 27, 2015). Bob Dylan: All the Songs. New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. ISBN   9781579129859.
• Ricks, Christopher (2005). Dylan's Visions of Sin. Harper Perennial. ISBN   978-0060599249.
• Spitz, Bob (1991). Dylan: A Biography (British publication ed.). W. W. Norton. ISBN   978-0393307696.
• Williamson, Nigel (2004). The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan. Rough Guide Sports/Pop Culture (1st ed.). Rough Guides. ISBN   978-1843531395.