Going Going Gone

 

“Daddy?”

 

“Yes, sweetie.”

 

“Who’s the greatest band  in the world?”

 

“The Beatles, of course.  And anyone else who played with Bob Dylan.”

 

“So who’s the greatest songwriter?”

 

“Bob Dylan, of course.”

 

“And who’s the greatest singer?”

 

“That would have to be … Freddie Mercury.”

 

Going Going Gone - written by Bob Dylan

 I’ve just reached a place

 Where the willow don’t bend

 There’s not much more to be said

 It’s the top of the end

 I’m going

 I’m going

 I’m gone

 

 I’m closin’ the book

 On the pages and the text

 And I don’t really care

 What happens next

 I’m just going

 I’m going

 I’m gone

 

 I been hangin’ on threads

 I been playin’ it straight

 Now, I’ve just got to cut loose

 Before it gets late

 So I’m going

 I’m going

 I’m gone

 

 Grandma said, “Boy, go and follow your heart

 And you’ll be fine at the end of the line

 All that’s gold isn’t meant to shine

 Don’t you and your one true love ever part”

 

 I been walkin’ the road

 I been livin’ on the edge

 Now, I’ve just got to go

 Before I get to the ledge

 So I’m going

 I’m just going

 I’m gone

Copyright © 1973 by Ram's Horn Music; renewed 2001 by Ram’s Horn Music

Bob Dylan -- Guitar, Harmonica

 

THE BAND

Robbie Robertson -- Guitar

Rick Danko -- Bass

Levon Helm -- Drums

Garth Hudson -- Organ

Richard Manual -- Drums, Piano

Released         January 17, 1974

Recorded        November 5, 1973

Village Recorder, 1616 Butler, West LA

 

Though Dylan shuns autobiographical ties to his songs, he wrote “Going, Going, Gone” during the eight-year-long recovery from his motorcycle accident in 1966 (during which he could not tour). Most likely this was also around the time his marriage to his first wife was beginning to unravel (they divorced in 1977). [ https://blog.sevenponds.com/expressive-music/going-going-gone-by-bob-dylan]

 

Critics have admired the interplay in the song between Dylan's desperate vocal and guitarist Robbie Robertson's lead guitar. Rock critic Tim Riley wrote that "The Band's windup pitch to "Going, Going, Gone" is a wonder of pinpoint ensemble playing: Robertson makes his guitar entrance choke as if a noose had suddenly tightened around its neck", adding that The Band's sympathetic "shaping of the song ... is so perfectly attuned to the bottomed-out quality of Dylan's mood that Robertson's guitar sounds like it's scratching the itch in Dylan's throat".  (Riley, Tim (1995). Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary. Plexus Publishing. pp. 215–216.)

I do not own the copyright to the music, the recording and the photos.  (Images on this video were appropriated from the original album.) This video is posted for educational use under Section 17 U.S. Code § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use.

 

All posts are rendered in old school using restored vinyl LPs.  This channel does not use recordings from CDs.  As much as possible, I attempted to remove most of the pops and crackles from the original vinyl album.  Some remastering was applied to make the performance cut through within the confines of  the loudness wars.

 

Hope you enjoy. 

 

INXDS.   #folkrock #bobdylan #theband #vinylrecord