Bob Dylan - Ballad of Hollis Brown (Official Audio)
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- čas přidán 10. 03. 2019
- “Ballad of Hollis Brown" by Bob Dylan
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Lyrics:
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
And his cabin fallin' down
You looked for work and money
And you walked a ragged mile
You looked for work and money
And you walked a ragged mile
Your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why
With every breath you breathe
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
If there's anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares?
You prayed to the Lord above
Oh, please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above
Oh, please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell ya
That you ain't a-got no friend
Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' you
Like the dirty drivin' rain
Your grass it is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
You spent your last lone dollar
On seven shotgun shells
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That's hangin' on the wall
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That you're holdin' in your hand
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the ocean's pounding roar
There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
Somewheres in the distance
There's seven new people born
#BobDylan #Folk #SingerSongwriter - Hudba
This is genius. Bob plays with the pronouns "he" and "you", and that tiny little thing makes the whole fucking song. At a point, Hollis Brown goes from being "he" to "you". It's a magician's sleight of hand. You don't notice it, but it makes it suddenly so personal. Now you're having starving screaming children. Now you're the one on the island. Now you're the one who picks up the shotgun.
The only other time he reverts back to "he" is when he prays to the lord to send you a friend, and then it's right back to *you* praying for yourself.
He forces you to be Hollis Brown. He makes you make that choice. That is the powerful songwriting you'll never see again.
Woooow
Thanks for that detail. So true
He's absolutely amazing.
Great Observation.
@@waynejohanson1083 yeah, man.... fuck it
One of the darkest Dylan songs
@Cliff Hanley the very last line? Life goes on, even though there's just been a murder/suicide, it's just a drop in the ocean of human suffering...
@Cliff Hanley thank you!
it's super dark
Well said Cliff! Dylan paints this haunting, horrible, tragic picture of emotional suffering. Its assumed he wants the listener to empathize. Then the last line comes as a shock. As if to say, as you have put it, "it's an ocean of human suffering." So what!! The universe is totally indifferent to the suffering of it's struggling creatures.
The death of Emmett Till.
Would be another one that's up there with his songs of this calibre.
Alongside the The Lonseome death of Hattie Carrol.
In todays times Dylan's songs have never been so Fresh and Raw.
Just remember and never forget that Hollis Brown was a real person
No, there was no real Hollis Brown. Dylan took his inspiration from an old English folk song called “Pretty Polly”,
@@keithbarlow2813 I know early on Dylan stole so many melodies as is the folk tradition. Hattie Carroll is real, I hope, and a better song. Nirvana's song Polly is not real.
Sure has a lot feeling, great tune
@@keithbarlow2813There was, however, a man by the name of Charlie Lawson who, back in 1929, killed his seven children and wife. There was a song written about that event called "The Murder of the Lawson Family/ The Lawson Family Murder." This song might have been inspired by that event.
This is one of my favorite examples of storytelling in music. He is so good at setting up the misery of the family that it makes the climax so intense to listen to. The last lines longer in your mind.
some of the most bone chilling, depictive lyrics ever written. Superb.
I once read that when Dylan sings 'There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm, somewhere in the distance seven new people are born' he was referring to his belief in reincarnation. But to me it was Dylan commenting on how cheap human life is, especially the lives of the poorest in our society.
Bleak,dark,morbid and sad.Up there with Desolation Row.Bob is one special musician
To me its kind of the idea of the cycle if poverty that no matter what more people are born into it as fast as they escape or die
@@BrendenTait8858 I think that you and Paul Heptinstall have it right.
Thanks Paul. Of course it did address how cheap human life is.
Everyone seems to have an interpretation of what is being song. In real fact, who cares!
It doesn't matter what anyone believes thinks, it's what you think, it's what you believe and get out of the song.
Otherwise you become a sheep, who cares what sheep think.
"Your baby's eyes look crazy they're a tugging at your sleeve! You walk the floor and wonder why with every breath you breath!" what an existential statement about the human condition. In the last six thousand years, how many billions of parents must have been so unfortunate to think and feel that? Oh, Dylan is a genius that can tap into the emotion of the human condition unlike anyone else!!
Not many artists can captivate me in a song with 1 chord !
Exactly! It’s a very simple melody, but effective.
J. J. Cale could write good a song with one chord too. But you're right, it's rather rare, especially these days.
This melody is actually taken from an old folk song, Pretty Polly, itself believed to have come from England around the 15-1600s and brought to America by immigrants from there. Also a damned good song in its own right, worth checking out
@@bsnf-5check out ian noe
He is untouchable. Early 60s dylan, mid 60s dylan, late 60s dylan and 70s dylan is so diverse its hard to tell its the same musician. He mastered all 4 periods
Infidels, Tempest
Time Out of Mind, Oh Mercy, Modern Times
@@lachlanneville7138 LOVE SICK!
Think of the difference between this and "Lay Lady Lay"
modern times is also a master piece, in fact every single dylan album has at least one genius song.
For about forty years I have claimed that Dylan is an UNDERESTIMATED genius we are so fortunate to have shared some history with him
i remember when i first dove into bob dylans early music and i stumbled upon this song and it hit me like a ton of bricks
there’s definitely a reason bob dylan is as revered as he is
Ever listened to his North Country Blues? Especially his performance at Newport, I think in '64. It's devastating.
I have been a Bob Dylan fan since 1963ish Almost 60 years and the power of Bob's lyrics still upset me. There are so many songs that hit you in the guts, and make you sit up and pat attention.
If this does not send chills down your spine I do not know what will.
I know everybody is always touched by the lyrics but can I just take a minute to acknowledge the power of the instrumental!!
I agree, this is one of my favorite riffs of his. Like the twang and string popping on "It's Alright Ma".
Yes it’s like an ever driving hammer that pushes the whole song.
I think this song is designed to make people think we have to depend on the system through money and needing money for food. It's a nonsense despair song. This Realm we live in has infinite resources. Water literally falls from the sky and grows food from the ground. Did the South Dakota town Hollis Brown lived in not have chickens, soil and rain?
@@slow-mo_moonbuggy There isn't enough land for everyone to do that, dude. Not everyone is born into a privileged land-owning family like yours.
@@TFrills The song is about a South Dakota farmer. How many farmers do you know that don't have land?
I love Dylan's vocals on this. Wow.
he was really young at this time
Apparently, Dylan was inspired by the Appalachian murder ballad, "Pretty Polly". Both are chilling, haunting, poetic, beautiful.
Hmmmm.... I can definitely hear that, particularly the Ralph Stanley version..... Good call....
Hollis brown is far darker tho as pretty Polly is abt 1 person being killed but Hollis brown kills his wife 5 kids and himself
I remember my Dad put this song on for me to listen to when I was about 6... good times!
Your dad wanted to subtly let you know he wanted to kill you. 😆
My dad has now put this song on for me to listen to also
MrKneller oooooooooo
If memory serves me right this is not a Bob Dylan song at all . but Nina sings it with a lot more compassion than he ever could
@@stevensdickinsons4403 This song was written by Bob Dylan
still gets me in the guts
how intensely this tale is imagined
and how the suffering grows
towards its violent conclusion
An unforgettable masterpiece. l remembered the beginning lyrics recently, without having heard them for over fifty years. Still, it's too grim for frequent listening. Ditto for "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol " and "Masters of War." Never listened to "The Death of Emmet Till" until recently because l went to the same HS, although a few years later, as Andrew Goodman, murdered in Mississippi with James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner and it was just too grim and close to home. lt still is.
The Rise Against cover is incredible, but Dylan's voice is just perfect for this song
That last verse is as true today as the day it was written
Eyes fix on the shotgun from wall to hand. Never mentioning reaching for it or picking it up. Portraying the complete loss of control. I will forever be in complete awe of this song. Honestly a masterpiece. Brutal in the power of insinuation of language. Thank you Bob. This one stuck with a 90's kid from Glasgow.
Also the realization in the spending of the last lone dollar on seven shells and remembering the descriptive introduction all at once. Frightening but genius without a doubt
Proof this man can sing and tear your soul out.
He is the greatest songwriter of all time he makes you feel like Hollis Brown in his cabin with his children
the most beautiful tragic song i ever heard.it penetrate deep in your soul as a shotgun bullet.a genius this dylan
Hands down one of the best songs created by this master
Was just listening to Nina sing this . Thought I'd listen to this genius sing it too❤️
I’m too bro 👍🏻nice
@@okva777 👍🎹❤️
The emotional breadth of the songwriting on this album is truly astonishing, from the abstract pastoral joy of "When The Ship Comes In" to the starkly literal horror story of this dark acoustic blues. Both masterpieces which continue to inform divergent musical styles today. All the music I continue to listen to somehow keeps leading me back to Bob 😏
the most underrated song of him
The fact that this song is still relevant over 50 years later is saddening
And it's still more sad than anything most of us will ever know.
This song howl's in the bones of my face.
It makes jelly faced women sneeze whilst the primitive wallflowers freeze
An extremely powerful piece that perfectly conveys the pressure within melody. It makes you feel the man's troubles, while keeping you on edge as he was during all of this.
One of my favourites of Bob's ... so many to choose from!
It's just Relentless and amazing.
deep to the core of your soul
Thank you for making music that shines a light on people on this planet who are suffering. It helps the remind the world to help eachother
Hauntingly beautiful
Comme tous , dans nos jeunes années , nous découvrons la musique .J'avais des cassettes audio et tout ce qui me plaisait à la radio hop , enregistré. La nuit sous les draps , j'écoutais ces mystérieux titres , qui forment la culture pour le reste de la vie.
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
And his cabin broken down
Oh he looked for work and money
And he walked a ragged mile
Oh he looked for work and money
And he walked a ragged mile
And your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why
With every breath you breathe
Hey, hey!
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
Oh
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
If there's anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares?
And oh, you prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
And oh, you prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell you
That you ain't a-got no friend
Your babies' eyes are crying
It's pounding on your brain
Your babies' eyes are crying
It's pounding on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' you
Like the dirty drivin' rain
Your grass it is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
You spent your last lone dollar
On seven shotgun shells
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That's hangin' on the wall
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That you're holdin' in your hand
Woah oh oh oh, oh oh oh, Woah oh oh oh, oh oh oh
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the ocean's pounding roar
There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Bob Dylan
Ballad of Hollis Brown lyrics © Special Rider Music, Universal Tunes
Bravo Mr. Zimmerman !
Tausend Dank from Hamburg Germany ❣👍👏
Thanks from Illinois, USA
Dylan actually makes you feel the pain coming off this man who is losing his mind. You see doom coming...
I found a really nice version by a guy named Dolbro Dan. Every repeated line has a sort of intensity to it
Yes, step by step poor Hollis Brown is losing his mind because of events totally out of his control.
Fucking love this ballad
He is not losing his mind, you stupid bitch. It's vise versa. He is ending the suffering of his family.
Listen to the version at BCC Studios in 1965. My favorite version.
Thx :)
Abject poverty takes all of a man's pride, the throbbing headache only ends in one's
death, the loss of all that one managed to love. Alone and forsaken for all it's worth.
I went to rent an apartment and was told a man had committed suicide in that room,
the fresh hole in the wall would be soon patched and painted. I left, never looked back.
Also goes to proof that when one has nothing left to lose they lose it.
@@waynejohanson1083 well you never truly have nothing unless your dead
I grow up with B. D. Songs. I love this songs. My father played this as a one man band. The N.
Hello dear, how’re you doing today?
it’s nice meeting you on here
Genius, doing music with just one chord, magical!
"Wholk'd a ragged mile" I love that.
What a song always gets you
Hello dear, how’re you doing today?
it’s nice meeting you on here
What a powerful, haunting song. Nazareth does a amazing cover of it on their "Loud n Proud" album. Dan McCafferty's vocals give me chills everytime I listen to it.
The Chieftains do a haunting version as well- they're an Irish band and it resonates strongly with the dire parts of that land's history
Amazing version - depicts the horror and desperation much more powerfully than Dylan. This is a horrible story
Song about the desperation that gripped so many during the great depression... Beautiful soul coming from Dylan as always... Glad he found his way to Jesus Christ as well... Slow Train❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤🙏🏾❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This song gets me going, kicking my heels jangling as i go ... pase master, stepping in off a cord, ballancng my brain between the tones.. every breath you breath.. .. Hot jam..
My dad loved this song, as a result my favourite Dylan song.
This song... oh my...
Mister Bob Dylan, I love you ❣
🏹🏹🏹❤❤❤🕊🕊🕊
My favorite artist is Bob Dylan
Sadly, this song is timeless.
21 or 22 a middle class Jewish kid already rich and famous. What does he know of the Oklahoma dust bowl? Genius. Pure unadulterated genius. If maybe a significant portion of the greatest popular songs ever written were written by Dylan it is possible that this here is the best. The most powerful and is that him on the guitar? Blew me away when I was twenty something. Still blows me away, perhaps even more so now that I'm seventy something.
Fantastic! Brilliant storytelling. Salute!
The only song I’ve heard with lyrics so dark that they actually terrify me...
Edit: nvm, I’ve now heard North Country Blues aswell
Listen to Country Death Song by Violent Femmes
Try "Marie" by Townes Van Zandt.
Try "Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel" by Townes Van Zandt too. Very melodic and dark.
I sang this many years ago in tribute my folk hero Bob Dylan.
He sing from the heart .
That voice.... that message... puré power.eternal thanks Bob
Happens all over the world everyday.....It is sin and a shame...Isn't it ? It is! Hollis Brown is everywhere....
One of America's greatest poet
"Way out in the wilderness a cold coyote calls" The whole phrase seem fused. Maybe it's because English is not my first language but the whole phrase sounds like a new language and it hits me in the kidneys. It can be anything that hurts you, in any language that can hurt you.
i think this is my new favorite dylan song
I am from India,I also listen this song
At around 0:36 Dylan starts to work his magic! From then on YOU are Hollis!!!
I'm obsessed.
Consummate storyteller of biblical and epic proportions. Simply brilliant.
Hello dear, how’re you doing today?
it’s nice meeting you on here
That's great!!!! I love it so much ❤
Hello dear, how’re you doing today?
it’s nice meeting you on here
Great song Bob D. 💕💞
Hello dear, how’re you doing today?
it’s nice meeting you on here
the extraordinary Bob! A gifted blues ballad!
this song always frightens me
my all time favourite
Im glad my father made me listen to this scary masterpiece! I can’t listen to it on bad days, though. So intense and foreboding.
Hello dear, how’re you doing today?
it’s nice meeting you on here
GOD BLESS YOU ALL✝️❤🙏
I don’t accept
beautiful...thats why Marbletown sounds so good
The best version ever.
His songs are satirically poetic.
just gotta luv Dylan
Any one heard the Old Blind Dogs version of this? It’s musically stunning! With the Celtic drums
I can feel the mud on my shoes
Great Bob for all
There're seven people dead on a South Dakota farm, somewhere in the distance, there are seven new people born." What a great statement concerning the indifference of the universe!
At this point in his life, I think Dylan was an atheist. He is painting a picture of how alone we are in this universe.
En un pozo del cielo
Last lines of this song sticks to you. Crime and punishment gave bit the same vibe, part of it.
Makes the Sex Pistols and Napalm Death sound like a Disney soundtrack. You can be heavy in more ways than one.
I was 13ish years old when Slow Train was released and that was my first conscious awareness of Bob Dylan. At the time I had Religious tendencies and this album, and a few subsequent, had a special resonance with me. Over the next decade and a half all the Rock albums I eagerly acquired and loved. Around that time I became aware of the previous Folk era and the controversy about the switch to Rock. However, it wasn't until the early days of CZcams when I finally got to listen to these Folk songs. This song in particular struck me as to why the switch to Rock was likely so controversial.
It is simply hauntingly beautiful story telling perfection.
No doubt I feel that
What a Song.
So I noticed twenty plus put up a thumbs down? Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, wouldn't want it any other way, and usually never comment on things like this but it makes me wonder that's all. Totally fine by me but I have to admit there's a part of me that can't help to ask why? Are they void of feeling and senses? Oh well, I'll get over it.
amazing how he turns it from he to you!
One of his most profound.
Rise against brought me here
What a fucking song
Thank you
raw real bob inside out
Just a bad-ass song!!
The Westinghouse TV special version of this song is even better.
... This must be something of a permanent situation here in South Dakota. Even today, in 2022, our governor broadcasts pictures of herself wielding a shotgun.
Mission accomplished making you think ain't it
Hello dear, how’re you doing today?
it’s nice meeting you on here