I just finished Bob Dylan's autobiography, "Chronicles", where he mentions this famous set of songs. This is, of course, one of the song lyrics written by Woodie Guthrie but never put to music during his lifetime. Bob Dylan used to go to Guthrie's bedside (in a mental institution with Huntington's disease) once a week in 1960 and play Guthrie's songs for Guthrie. Guthrie told Dylan he could have the lyrics for ~400 songs under his old bed in New Jersey, since he didn't expect to ever be released from the facility. So Dylan took the train out to Guthrie's former home, slogged through a swamp, and knocked on the door. But the Guthrie friend/babysitter wouldn't let him in. So Dylan comments that 40 years later, Guthrie's granddaughter offered these lyrics to Billy Bragg and Wilco, even though Dylan should have had first dibs years before the Wilco bandmembers were even born. I can't imagine this song being any better than Tweedy made it, but it's an interesting story that Dylan attempts to tell without conveying any bitterness.
I just finished Bob Dylan's autobiography, "Chronicles", where he mentions this famous set of songs. This is, of course, one of the song lyrics written by Woodie Guthrie but never put to music during his lifetime. Bob Dylan used to go to Guthrie's bedside (in a mental institution with Huntington's disease) once a week in 1960 and play Guthrie's songs for Guthrie. Guthrie told Dylan he could have the lyrics for ~400 songs under his old bed in New Jersey, since he didn't expect to ever be released from the facility. So Dylan took the train out to Guthrie's former home, slogged through a swamp, and knocked on the door. But the Guthrie friend/babysitter wouldn't let him in. So Dylan comments that 40 years later, Guthrie's granddaughter offered these lyrics to Billy Bragg and Wilco, even though Dylan should have had first dibs years before the Wilco bandmembers were even born. I can't imagine this song being any better than Tweedy made it, but it's an interesting story that Dylan attempts to tell without conveying any bitterness.