Song to Woody
"Song to Woody" is one of the first ever songs written by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on his eponymous debut album Bob Dylan in 1962. The song conveys Dylan's appreciation of folk legend Woody Guthrie. The tune is based on Guthrie's song "1913 Massacre". The song also makes references to icons such as Cisco Houston, Sonny Terry and Lead Belly whose music Dylan appreciated. The line "that come with the dust and are gone with the wind" quotes the line "we come with the dust and we go with the wind" in Guthrie's song "Pastures of Plenty".
A live version of "Song to Woody" was recorded live at Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, on 16 March 2000 and released on the "Things Have Changed" CD single in 2000.
Dan Bern makes heavy references to "Song to Woody" in his song "Talkin' Woody, Bob, Bruce & Dan Blues" from the album Smartie Mine.
David Bowie also makes reference to the song in his own tribute to Dylan, "Song for Bob Dylan", which begins with the line, "Now hear this, Robert Zimmerman, I wrote this song for you" mirroring Dylan's own "Hey, hey Woody Guthrie, I wrote you a song."
Song To Woody
I'm out here a thousand miles from my home
Walking a road other men have gone down
I'm seeing a new world of people and things
Hear paupers and peasants and princes and kings.
Hey hey Woody Guthrie I wrote you a song
About a funny old world that's coming along
Seems sick and it's hungry, it's tired and it's torn
It looks like it's dying and it's hardly been born.
Hey Woody Guthrie but I know that you know
All the things that I'm saying and a many times more
I'm singing you the song but I can't you sing enough
'Cause there's not many men that've done the things that you've done.
Here's to Cisco and Sonny and Leadbelly too
And to all the good people that travelled with you
Here's to the hearts and the hands of the men
That come with the dust and are gone with the wind.
I'm leaving tomorrow but I could leave today
Somewhere down the road someday
The very last thing that I'd want to do