Jack-A-Roe Lyrics
He had a lovely daughter, the truth to you I'll tell,
Oh, the truth to you I'll tell.
There was none but Jackie Frazier, her true love e'er to be,
Oh, her true love e'er to be.
If none but Jack the sailor would ever suit your mind,
Oh, would ever suit your mind.
There's none but Jack the sailor would have this heart of mine,
Oh, would have this heart of mine.
To leave his native country and his darling girl behind,
Oh, his darling girl behind.
Then she went into the vessel to convey herself away,
Oh, convey herself away.
She smiled all in her countenance, said, "They call me Jack-A-Roe,
Oh, they call me Jack-A-Roe."
Your cheeks too red and rosy for to face the cannonball,
Oh, to face the cannonball.
But they would not make me tremble for to see ten thousand fall,
Oh, to see ten thousand fall."
Among the dead and dying her darling love she found,
Oh, her darling love she found.
And sent for her physician to quickly heal his wounds,
Oh, to quickly heal his wounds.
This couple they got married, so why not you and me,
Oh, so why not you and me.

Hooray! I love this song!
That's why I uploaded it.
Seems fairly straightforward. A girl loves a man her father won't let her marry, a sailor. When he gets shipped off to war, she dresses like a man and joins the Navy under the assumed name of Jack-A-Roe. Then she finds him, fixes him up, and they get hitched.
I love the way he sings "Oh daughter, oh daughter, your body I will confine". I don't know why, I just like the way he sings it. :)

Somewhere in the liner notes to World gone wrong Dylan writes 'submerge your personality' - maybe it's a stretch but I think I can hear a little autobiography here and there on the album, for instance doesn't this song reflect Dylan's relation to Sara when they married...? And 28 years later he's a lone pilgrim.

Great song. Lyrically it is pretty straightforward and probably relates to stories Mr. Dylan had heard before. Women dressing as men and joining the military have happened many times before. Often they were discovered only when injured or killed in battle. Where I live in Arkansas there is a mountain called Petit Jean (little John) that has this same legend. Here the woman followed her love to sea dressed as a man, died, and was buried on the mountain.