Bob Dylan – Barbara Allen (June 18th, 1988)

Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar), G. E. Smith (guitar)

BARBARA ALLEN
traditional
In Scarlet town where i was born
There was a fair maid dwellin’
And her name was known both far and near
And they called her Barbara Allen.
‘T was in the merry month of may
The green buds there were swellin’
Sweet William on his dead bed lay
For the love of Barbara Allen.
He sent his man down to town
To the place that she was dwellin’
Sayin’, “Master bids your company
If your name be Barbara Allen.”
Slowly, slowly she got up
To the place where he was lyin’
And when she pulled the curtain back
Said, “Young man I believe you’re dying.”
“Oh yes, oh yes i’m very sick
And I’ll sure not be better
Unless I have the love of one
The love of Barbara Allen.”
“Don’t you remember that night ago
The night down in the tavern
You gave a toast to all the ladies there
But you slighted Barbara Allen.”
“Oh yes, oh yes i remember it well
That night down in the tavern
I gave a toast to all the ladies there
But i gave my heart to Barbara Allen.”
As she was walkin’ in the yonder field
She could hear them death bells a-knelling
An’ every toll seemed to say
Hard hearted Barbara Allen
The more they tolled, the more she wept
Till her heart was filled with sorrow
She says, “Sweet William died for me today
I’ll die for him tomorrow.”
They buried her in the old church yard
They buried him beside her
And from her heart grew a red rose
And from his heart a briar.
They grew, they grew so awfully high
Till they could grow no higher
And there they tied a lover’s knot
The red rose and the briar