When I purchased Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8
At least, like other gems left off Dylan albums, “Red River Shore” eventually got released. And after this post was originally written, Dylan released additional versions of the song in 2023 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996–1997). The music is great, as are the beautiful lyrics of loss.
Now I’m wearing the cloak of misery
And I’ve tasted jilted love
And the frozen smile upon my face
Fits me like a glove
But I can’t escape from the memory
Of the one that I’ll always adore
All those nights when I lay in the arms
Of the girl from the Red River shore
Meaning of the Song
Many listeners have speculated on the meaning behind “Red River Shore.” On its face, of course, the narrator sings about woman he once knew. But the lyrics are tied up with the narrator’s feelings of loss and memory, such that a listener may speculate whether the singer’s story is reliable.
The song is rich and open to interpretation. Some writers have wondered if the girl from the Red River shore is the same person who was featured in Dylan’s “Shelter from the Storm,” such as in this piece on Gardener is Gone.
Further, some have speculated that the narrator of the song is a voice from the grave. There are several references in the lyrics that support this theory: The singer notes, “Sometimes I think nobody ever saw me here at all.” And the following verse may indicate the events remembered happened a very long time ago (which may be literal or may just be that the memories seem so long ago):
Well I’m a stranger here in a strange land,
But I know this is where I belong;
I ramble and gamble for the one I love,
And the hills will give me a song;
Though nothing looks familiar to me,
I know I’ve stayed here before,
Once a thousand nights ago,
With the girl from the Red River shore.
The above quote about being a “stranger here in a strange land” echoes a line from the Bible in Exodus 2:22, where Moses says, “I have been a stranger in a strange land.” So it might not be surprising that some listeners such as Songs for the Journey have found religious overtones in the song. One has even argued that the entire song is about Dylan’s relationship with Christ.
At first, I was interested that there might be a hidden meaning in the song. Of course, Dylan is Dylan and one may never know his intent, but on further listening I do not the main theme of the song is religious.
The song is what it appears to be: a song about loss and memory. And while the final verse does have a reference to Jesus, it’s a statement that in today’s modern world, we unfortunately cannot count on God to undo what is lost. “He knew how to bring ’em on back to life/ Well, I don’t know what kind of language he used/ Or if they do that kind of thing anymore; /Sometimes I think nobody ever saw me here at all/ ‘Cept the girl from the Red River shore.”
Inspiration for the Song?
Bod Dylan may have been inspired to write the song by a folk song of the same name. One version appears in The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection, a collection of songs recorded by a traveling salesman. The “Red River Shore” there is about a woman waiting for a brave soldier, but the woman’s father puts together an army to prevent the soldier from reaching his daughter.
The song, which appears to be in the folk tradition of a tragic love affair, takes a turn in the last verse. There, the singer, who had spied the young damsel and the brave soldier, leaves the listener with a warning:
Love, love is the great fortune,
For all of mankind;
The woman controlled,
They’re always confined;
They’re controlled by their parents,
Until they are wise;
Then slaves for their husbands,
The rest of their lives.
On July 5, 1960, Lulu Davis of Fayetteville, Arkansas made a recording of the folk song, available at this link.
The Kingston Trio recorded a version of this “Red River Shore” with slightly different lyrics. The Kingston Trio version is in the voice of the brave soldier. In this version, the brave soldier dies at the hand of the father’s army before reaching his true love (whereas in the Max Hunter collection version, it appears the soldier survives the attack of the father’s men).
I grabbed my six-shooter, spun round and around,
Till six men were wounded and seven were down;
I can’t fight an army of twenty and four,
When I’m bound for my true love on the Red River shore.
At the foot of yon mountain where the big river flows,
There’s a fond creation and a soft wind that blows,
There lives a fair maiden, she’s the one I adore.
But never will marry on the Red River shore.
Like Dylan’s “Red River Shore,” the earlier folk song is about a lost love, though at least in the Kingston Trio version, with the loss clearly centered around the death of the soldier.
Another more well-known folk song with a similar title about lost love, of course, is “Red River Valley.” At least the title of the lament might have been on Dylan’s mind while crafting his song (with “Shore” echoing the “r” in the the previous two words, while “Valley” echoes the “v” in “River”). In “Red River Valley,” the singer asks the lover leaving him to remember the Red River Valley and their love.
But except for the names of these songs and the themes of loss, Dylan’s “Red River Shore” ultimately is very different from those other Red River songs.
Versions of Dylan’s “Red River Shore”
As noted above, Dylan eventually released several versions of “Red River Shore” on his “Bootleg” series of albums, even if it was originally left off Time Out of Mind. Reportedly, the reason for the initial omission resulted from some tension between Dylan and producer Daniel Lanois on how to approach the song.
Musician and producer Jim Dickinson, who was eventually brought on to play over a ten-day period on the Time Out of Mind sessions, later explained that when he heard “Red River Shore,” he recognized it as a great song. But Dylan seemed frustrated with the attempts to get a final cut, telling Dickinson, “Well, we’ve done everything on that one except call the symphony orchestra.”
Whichever Dylan version you choose, though, they all are lovely.
Covers of “Red River Shore”
For whatever reason Dylan did not put “Red River Shore” on Time Out of Mind (unsatisfied with the takes, the belief that did not fit thematically on the album, etc.), once the outtakes were released, critics and fans recognized “Red River Shore” as one of Dylan’s late-career classics.
Although covers rarely match the original, I am intrigued by the number of people who have the guts to play a song and post it on YouTube. There are some nice covers of this song on YouTube. [2024 Update: Some of the ones mentioned below are no longer on YouTube.]
For example, there’s a good one by a German band called CCC Inc. A video of Henry Lim looks very professional, and it has nice instrumentation. Lim is the technical services assistant for the UCLA Music Library, and he has a busy extracurricular life. He has covered other artists like Radiohead with his string quartet, and he is an artist with Legos.
There are some good versions in the “dude with a guitar” category, such as a nice one by Kevin Magoon, who also adds a little electronic drum. C22romero does a nice job on the song too, but maybe he should turn down the reverb a little. I wish Chris Pap would focus the camera, but he does a nice quiet version of the song.
Perhaps because of the viewpoint of the lyrics, almost all of the covers are by men. But Linda Kosut performs the song in California.
After this post was initially published, singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave covered “Red River Shore” on his album, Depending on the Distance (2012). LaFave, who in addition to writing his own songs was a wonderful interpreter of several Dylan songs, is one of the rare established acts to tackle the epic length of “Red River Shore.” But he does an outstanding interpretation. Below is the excellent version from that album.
In another video after this post’s original publication, an artist named Kape does a nice version too. I cannot find much about him from the Internet, but he appears to be from Sweden.
Finally, one of my favorite covers is this version of “Red River Shore” by “lornisply.” The video features a guy playing an electric piano in his home. He has a good voice and seems to connect to the song.
And there is something about the simple weariness of the performance of the melancholy song that makes it believable, like he is thinking of someone he knew from long ago.
I know nobody matches the Bob Dylan version, but which cover version do you like best? Leave a comment.