The second, straightforward version of the traditional murder ballad on Self Portrait, played at a brisk, even pace.
The words
The killer of a woman named Sadie tells of his crime, his flight and his capture and sentence.
The song is a first-person confession: the narrator shoots Sadie, runs off, and is eventually tracked down and brought before a judge. He tells the story with little emotion, which makes it all the more chilling. Unlike the shifting In Search of Little Sadie, this version moves at a steady clip on acoustic guitar, much as a folk singer would play it. Placed together, the two takes show Dylan approaching the same old ballad from opposite directions.
A traditional song
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Listen and watch
The words
The killer of a woman named Sadie tells of his crime, his flight and his capture and sentence.
The song is a first-person confession: the narrator shoots Sadie, runs off, and is eventually tracked down and brought before a judge. He tells the story with little emotion, which makes it all the more chilling. Unlike the shifting In Search of Little Sadie, this version moves at a steady clip on acoustic guitar, much as a folk singer would play it. Placed together, the two takes show Dylan approaching the same old ballad from opposite directions.
A traditional song
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Connections
On the map
In threads
The same year · 1970
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