I started making plans to kill my own kind…
As I mentioned in my first post, “Ballad of Hollis Brown” was presented and received as a sad story about something that happened to a man, not about what that man did to six other people. The song brings us into the man’s head as things are happening to him, but then kicks us out before “we” actually commit the murders, suggesting that the appropriate focus is not on the murders but what led to them. Dylan’s camera angle is lifted up, so to speak, allowing us to see the broader social landscape and allowing him to sing murder ballads that were also protest songs.
In my first post I promised a version of the song that changes this focus and doesn’t shy from tying the farmer more directly to his deeds. That version is known as “Country Death Song,” by the folk punk genius Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes, who brings the camera angle back down:
“Country Death Song,” Violent Femmes, 1984
> animation by LatockiFILM
> listen to the song on Spotify
>watch a great live performance of the song
Okay, okay — this is not exactly the same song, obviously, but it’s the same story about a desperate farmer on a dying farm who makes plans to kill his own kind. Only, this farmer can’t go through with the whole thing and kills himself in shame (the song is reportedly based on a true story Gano found in a newspaper about a 19th century American farmer who did just that).
This song is also simply a brilliant, punk take on the murder ballad as folk staple generally:
Gather round boys to the tale that I tell.
You wanna know how to take a short trip to hell?
You wanna know how to take a short trip to hell?
It’s guaranteed to get you your own place in hell:
Just take your lovely daughter and push her in the well…Don’t speak to me of lovers, with a broken heart.
You wanna know what will really tear you apart?
Just take your lovely daughter and push her in the well…Don’t speak to me of lovers, with a broken heart.
You wanna know what will really tear you apart?
Also nice: the smart nod that the animator gives to the shotgun in “Ballad of Hollis Brown” and to the wacky cartoon backdrop of the Folk Songs and More Folk Songs! television production that served as the setting for Dylan’s first broadcast version of the song, which we first looked at this week. Here’s a broader glimpse of the set:
And with that, enjoy your weekend and your music folks!