Girl from the North Country Lyrics
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
It curls and falls all down her breast
see for me if her hair is hanging down
For that's the way I remember her best
When the rivers freeze and summer ends
Please see for me if she's wearing a coat so warm
To keep her from the howling wind
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Please say hello to the one who lives there
For she was once a true love of mine
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was the true love of mine
this is my favorite song off of one of my favorite dylan albums. it's a touching lament for a lost love. i'm still moved when i hear it. to me it's amazing how powerful dylan's lyrics can be. i've had to leave behind people i've loved, and i still think about them and wonder how they're doing and how they look. it's the empathy i have with this song that makes it so personal to me.
A song of dedication to a true love that has been lost. Not a wanting of return of the girl but to make sure that she is taken care of because her comfort calms his soul.. I can relate.. Love lost..
Well I can tell you all this song is written about the North Country HA...okay no one gets that joke, ya'll are gonna think I'm being dumb, let me explain.
Northern New York. It's called the North Country.
How do I know? This is where I'm from.
Why am I saying that? Our fair was a BIG DEAL back in the day...so on so forth. Plus if you were actually from here you'd know just from the lyrics. So I take it as he took the idea for the song from Scaraborough Fair and wrote it about a girl from the North Country instead!
Everytime I listen to this song, I wish it wasn't right now and it was back then before our fair failed. It's going on right now. People are shocked because they have Randy Travis and they sold out.
To think, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, CCR, Bob Dylan, ETC ETC ETC used to come here and play and this wasn't something strange....
Okay, sorry. Completely off track.
Anyway, besides that, it's pretty obvious what this song is about....it's plainly written, in a very lovely manner.
@motivatedsoup Thanks for the brief history of this fair! Love this!
@motivatedsoup Thanks for the brief history of this fair! Love this!
@motivatedsoup I am also from the North Country and have had the same exact thought about the same year. Weird or not?
@motivatedsoup I am also from the North Country and have had the same exact thought about the same year. Weird or not?
I don't care much for the version on Nashville Skyline, but I absolutely adore the one on Freewheelin'. In the original he sounds like he's just laying his soul bare for the listener to see. So tender and conflicted.
I also like how you can tell that, even though the love is no more, he still cares for her (please see she has a coat so warm, to keep her from the howling winds). It's like he's too proud to go and check in on her himself, so he's trying to get you to do it, but he still wants the best for her.
Probably my favourite Dylan song of all time.
He should have never recorded this with Cash. They never really did very well together. I actually don't think that Dylan ever had a good duet with anyone. This song is great though when he did it on his own. Great song!
@swiftyguitar I respect your opinion...but I disagree. You have the stark beauty of the original recording...then, at the end of the 60s, Dylan and Cash belt out a stunning version to open Nashville Skyline... I recommend you get a decent turntable and a 1st pressing of that album and listen again...you'll be hooked.
@swiftyguitar I respect your opinion...but I disagree. You have the stark beauty of the original recording...then, at the end of the 60s, Dylan and Cash belt out a stunning version to open Nashville Skyline... I recommend you get a decent turntable and a 1st pressing of that album and listen again...you'll be hooked.
I know Echo Helstrom...met her when I lived in L.A. We worked together at MGM Studios. She dated Bob fo a year in high school...they spent a lot of their time listening to music...I'm sure she was an inspiration to him, encouraging him. He gave her his ID bracelet, which was kind of like a going steady ring back then. But she gave it back when she felt he was seeing other girls. The lyrics of the song tell me he is talking about Echo...especially when he talks of the "cold winds by the borderline"...Canada is to the north of Minnesota and Hibbing is far north not too far from the border...cold.. You can tell by the look on his face when he sings the song when he is young....he is thinking of someone and still kind of sad about it....this is no generic song.
Dylan apparantly wrote this song about his high-school love, named Echo. The Zimmerman (Dylan) family was a big deal in Hibbing, and apparantly Echo's family was really poor or just Not Good and they didn't approve of the relationship.
I'm like 95% sure that this song is at least loosely based on Scarborough Fair. Can anyone confirm that???
from what ive read...Dylan simply wrote it as a girl he appreciated that he saw every now and then...i dont think there was any love story directly involved...and im pretty sure it was written before Simon/Garfunkel made Scarborough Fair...
when i bought Freewheelin it came with a booklet that had Dylan explaining the song...and i let a friend borrow the CD and he gave it back with water and dirt in the case and the booklet missing...so i cant exactly substantiate it, but im pretty sure that was what Dylan intended...
from what ive read...Dylan simply wrote it as a girl he appreciated that he saw every now and then...i dont think there was any love story directly involved...and im pretty sure it was written before Simon/Garfunkel made Scarborough Fair...
when i bought Freewheelin it came with a booklet that had Dylan explaining the song...and i let a friend borrow the CD and he gave it back with water and dirt in the case and the booklet missing...so i cant exactly substantiate it, but im pretty sure that was what Dylan intended...
from what ive read...Dylan simply wrote it as a girl he appreciated that he saw every now and then...i dont think there was any love story directly involved...and im pretty sure it was written before Simon/Garfunkel made Scarborough Fair...
when i bought Freewheelin it came with a booklet that had Dylan explaining the song...and i let a friend borrow the CD and he gave it back with water and dirt in the case and the booklet missing...so i cant exactly substantiate it, but im pretty sure that was what Dylan intended...