The title track is loosely based on the Texas outlaw John Wesley Hardin, with an extra letter added to the name.
The words
A brisk ballad painting an outlaw as a friend of the poor who was never pinned down by the law.
A narrator tells the legend of a frontier gunman in the manner of an old outlaw ballad, casting him as a protector of ordinary people rather than a villain. The song sketches his reputation in quick strokes, a man with a gun in each hand who helps the honest and slips away whenever the lawmen close in. There is no real plot or reckoning, only the myth retold. It moves at a brisk, steady clip on acoustic guitar, harmonica, bass and drums.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Listen and watch
The words
A brisk ballad painting an outlaw as a friend of the poor who was never pinned down by the law.
A narrator tells the legend of a frontier gunman in the manner of an old outlaw ballad, casting him as a protector of ordinary people rather than a villain. The song sketches his reputation in quick strokes, a man with a gun in each hand who helps the honest and slips away whenever the lawmen close in. There is no real plot or reckoning, only the myth retold. It moves at a brisk, steady clip on acoustic guitar, harmonica, bass and drums.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Connections
On the map
In threads
The same year · 1967
- All Along the WatchtowerJohn Wesley Harding
- I’ll Be Your Baby TonightJohn Wesley Harding
- Dear LandlordJohn Wesley Harding
- I Pity the Poor ImmigrantJohn Wesley Harding
- I Dreamed I Saw St. AugustineJohn Wesley Harding
- The Wicked MessengerJohn Wesley Harding
- The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas PriestJohn Wesley Harding
- I Am a Lonesome HoboJohn Wesley Harding
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