A deadpan story song from the 1967 Woodstock sessions, often heard as a reply to Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe".
The words
A family takes in the washing and trades flat small talk while big news passes by almost unnoticed.
An ordinary household goes through the chore of bringing in the clothes from the line, and the narrator reports every small step. A neighbour mentions startling news from the wider world, but it gets the same shrug as the weather. The joke lies in the flat, matter-of-fact telling, which turns country life into gentle absurdity. The music is slow and plain, letting the storytelling carry the song.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Listen and watch
The words
A family takes in the washing and trades flat small talk while big news passes by almost unnoticed.
An ordinary household goes through the chore of bringing in the clothes from the line, and the narrator reports every small step. A neighbour mentions startling news from the wider world, but it gets the same shrug as the weather. The joke lies in the flat, matter-of-fact telling, which turns country life into gentle absurdity. The music is slow and plain, letting the storytelling carry the song.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗The same year · 1975
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