North Country Blues - Paul Bradford - Bob Dylan cover

North Country Blues
(Bob Dylan)

Come and gather 'round friends and I'll tell you a tale
Of when the red iron ore pits were plenty
But the cardboard filled windows and the old men on benches
Tell ya' now that the whole town is empty

In the north end of town my children are grown
But I was raised on the other
In the wee hours of youth my mother took sick
And I was brought up by my brother

The iron ore poured as the years passed the door
The drag lines and shovels, they were hummin'
'Til one day my brother he failed to come home
The same as my father before him

With a long winters wait from the window I watched
My friends, they couldn't have been kinder
And my school it was out and I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner

Oh the years passed again and the giving was good
With a lunch bucket filled every season
But with three babies born, the work was cut down
To half a day's shift with no reason

An' the shaft was soon shut and my work was cut
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen
'Til a man come to speak and he said in one week
That number eleven was closing

They complain in the east they're payin' too high
They say that your ore ain't worth diggin'
That it's much cheaper down in a South American town
Where the miners work almost for nothin'

So the minin' gates locked and the red iron rotted
And the room smelled heavy from drinkin'
When the sad silent song made the hours twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinkin'

I lived by the window as he talked to himself
The silence of tongues, it was building
'Til one morning's wake, the bed it was bare
And I's left alone with three children

The summer is gone, and the ground's turning cold
The stores one by one they are folding
My children will go as soon as they grow
For there ain't nothin' here now to hold them


History seems to be repeating itself.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• North
• Country
• Blues
• Paul
• Bradford
• Traditional
• outsourcing
• mining
• iron
• ore
• Bob
• Dylan

[norbertW64]

great !

and thanks for the explaining,

that helps.

[psychospeakempire]

@norbertW64 thanks very much for listening and watching.

Paul

[Mikemaddog]

wow... Its great that you covered this song! I loved it

[psychospeakempire]

@Mikemaddog thanks Mike. much appreciated my friend. glad you enjoyed it.

Paul

[rhopen]

I always liked this Dylan song. Great cover Paul. -Ron

[psychospeakempire]

@rhopen thanks a bunch Ron. I'm honored.

Paul

[chuxtrux]

hi Paul. so many of dylan's song were just so RIGHT, that i felt he channeled them more than wrote them. this one included. it is a timeless message that was probably true in every country through the ages. i very much like your rock solid performance and the little change up guitar flourish near the end. fine choice, fine performance. be well friend, chuck.

[jonno52]

A fine cover Paul. It's good that a song dating quite a while back, and one of Dylan's lesser-known, is remembered and valued.

(As an extreme amateur, I've tried playing this down at our pub jam but it's difficult to compete against an upbeat dance groove in the next bar.... but no-one can deny the power of this song. I have scrawled on my lyric sheet: "Play this as a DIRGE". That doesn't mean it's dreary, but that it's relentless and undeniably bleak. That last line...).

[craggery]

I was looking for your new upload and came across this one- I don't remember listening to it before, but I'm glad I stumbled upon it...! Great Dylan cover! I might have to give that one a shot - right in my range and fairly easy chord progression!!...LOL...

Craig

[Hcosl]

Muy bueno, esa voz rifa, bien bien desde México un saludo