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The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan · 1963

Girl from the North Country

He wrote it after his first trip to England, drawing on the "Scarborough Fair" arrangement he learned from Martin Carthy.

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The words

A traveler asks for news of a lost love living far north and hopes she is well cared for.

The singer asks someone traveling north to carry a message to a woman he once loved who still lives there. He worries about small things: whether she is warm enough as the winter sets in, whether her hair is still long. As the verses go on, his care for her shows how much he still misses her, though he never asks for her back. The mood is hushed and tender, sung over a softly picked guitar.

Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗

Listen and watch

The words

A traveler asks for news of a lost love living far north and hopes she is well cared for.

The singer asks someone traveling north to carry a message to a woman he once loved who still lives there. He worries about small things: whether she is warm enough as the winter sets in, whether her hair is still long. As the verses go on, his care for her shows how much he still misses her, though he never asks for her back. The mood is hushed and tender, sung over a softly picked guitar.

Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗

Connections

Re-recorded asGirl From the North Country1969Six years later he sang it again as a duet with Johnny Cash, opening Nashville Skyline.Borrowed the tune ofScarborough FairtraditionalDylan drew the song's melody from the Scarborough Fair arrangement Martin Carthy taught him in London in late 1962.Same theme asIf You See Her, Say Hello1975In both the singer asks someone else to carry his greetings to a woman he has lost.Same theme asBoots of Spanish Leather1964Both are songs of longing for a lover who is far away, written around Dylan's separation from Suze Rotolo.
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The same year · 1963

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