97-05-25 08:57 Lonesome Sparrow
97-05-25 11:01   Ben Taylor
97-05-25 12:30     Alan Fraser
97-06-08 08:56   Lonesome Sparrow
97-06-09 19:04     Ben Taylor
97-06-10 15:07       John Howells
97-06-10 17:28         nate
97-06-19 20:37   Lonesome Sparrow
97-06-11 17:06 Patrick Mead

From: lvdm@xs4all.nl (Lonesome Sparrow)
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Words of Minstrel Boy
Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 08:57:10 GMT

Nobody has come up with any corrections to my transcript of the Self
Portrait version of Like A Rolling Stone. Does that mean I got it all
right? Anyway, there's one more track on this album of which the words
are not all clear to me: Minstrel Boy. It doesn't correspond
completely with the published words. Here's what I make of it:

---

Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?

Oh, Lucky's drivin' a long, long time
Then he still sits on top of the hill
With achin' sunboots, with all hill down
With all of them ladies, you know, he's lonely still

Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?

Well, he deep in number an' heavy in toil
Mighty Mockingbird, he still has such a heavy load
Beneath his bound'ries, what more if I can tell
With all of his trav'lin', but I'm still on that road

Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?

Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?


From: Ben Taylor 
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Words of Minstrel Boy
Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 12:01:23 +0100

[Minstrel Boy, Isle of Wight '69]

Lonesome Sparrow  writes:
>Oh, Lucky's drivin' a long, long time

Could this be "Oh, look, he's drivin'..." ? 

Ben


From: Alan Fraser 
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Words of Minstrel Boy
Date: 25 May 1997 05:30:44 -0700

In article , Ben says...
>
>
>[Minstrel Boy, Isle of Wight '69]
>
>Lonesome Sparrow  writes:
>>Oh, Lucky's drivin' a long, long time
>
>Could this be "Oh, look, he's drivin'..." ? 
>
>Ben

Nope. Published version from both Writings & Drawings and the CD-ROM, is:

Oh, Lucky's been drivin' a long, long time
And now he's stuck on top of the hill.
With twelve forward gears, it's been a long hard climb,
And with all of them ladies, though, he's lonely still.

Source of the Wilbury nom-de-plume?
Alan

To send me a message, delete the "nospam." from my address!


From: lvdm@xs4all.nl (Lonesome Sparrow)
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Words of Minstrel Boy
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 1997 08:56:32 GMT

I've received just one reaction to my attempted transcript of what
Dylan actually sings on Minstrel Boy on Self Portrait and it was of no
use, unfortunately. So I ask you all again to help me with it. Here's
my transcript again, without the refrain, the words of which I'm sure
of. It's especially the third line of the first verse that is unclear
to me.

---

Oh, Lucky's drivin' a long, long time
Then he still sits on top of the hill
With achin' sunboots, with all hill down
With all of them ladies, you know, he's lonely still

Well, he deep in number an' heavy in toil
Mighty Mockingbird, he still has such a heavy load
Beneath his bound'ries, what more if I can tell
With all of his trav'lin', but I'm still on that road


From: Ben Taylor 
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Words of Minstrel Boy
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 20:04:53 +0100

Lonesome Sparrow  writes:
>So I ask you all again to help me with it. Here's
>my transcript again, without the refrain, the words of which I'm sure
>of. It's especially the third line of the first verse that is unclear
>to me.

Below are my notes on what Dylan might be singing. The second suggestion
is a phonetic transcript, not an attempt at deciphering real words
because I rather suspect there are none.

>Oh, Lucky's drivin' a long, long time

I still think this could easily be "Oh, look, he's drivin'" but who
knows.

>With achin' sunboots, with all hill down

"With aching jumpers, with all a down" ? Can someone make anything out
of this phonetic transcript?

I agree with all the other lines you posted.

Ben Taylor
--
bptaylor@laguna.demon.co.uk


From: John Howells 
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Words of Minstrel Boy
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 08:07:13 -0700

Ben Taylor wrote:
> 
> Lonesome Sparrow  writes:
>
> >Oh, Lucky's drivin' a long, long time
> 
> I still think this could easily be "Oh, look, he's drivin'" but who
> knows.
> 

How about "Old Luke, he's drivin'" or "Oh Luke, he's drivin'"?

-- 

                                                           John Howells
                                                    howells@bigfoot.com
                                     		http://www.punkhart.com


From: nates@ll.mit.edu (nate)
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Words of Minstrel Boy
Date: 10 Jun 1997 17:28:04 GMT

In article <339D6DA1.167E@bigfoot.com>, howells@bigfoot.com says...
>
>How about "Old Luke, he's drivin'" or "Oh Luke, he's drivin'"?
>
>                                                           John Howells

 i thought he was just waiting on the judgement day, instead of Annalee....

:-P

- nate


Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 10:06:38 -0700
From: Patrick Mead 
Subject: Minstrel Boy lyrics

I don't know whether this is "definitive" by any means, but here are the
lyrics to "Minstrel Boy" as published in The Songs Of Bob Dylan, From 1966
Through 1975 (Knopf):

Minstrel Boy (coyright 1970, 1976 Big Sky Music)

Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?

Oh, Lucky's been drivin'
A long, long time
And now he's stuck on top of the hill,
With twelve forward gears,
it's been a long hard climb,
And with all of them ladies,
Though he's lonely still

(repeat chorus)

Well, he deep in number
And heavy in toil,
Mighty Mockingbird,
He still has such a heavy load,
Beneath his bound'ries,
what more can I tell,
With all of his trav'lin,
But I'm still on that road

(repeat chorus)

Visions of Johanna it ain't, but I always liked the way Dylan & the Band
played this at the Isle of Wight festival.
/Pat

mail:  pmead@pacbell.net

Tape trading pages:


From: lvdm@xs4all.nl (Lonesome Sparrow)
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Words of Minstrel Boy
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 20:37:29 GMT

I've made several postings in which I asked you all to help me
transcribe lyrics. I appreciate all the contributions you have given.

I'd like to comment on the suggestions that have been made for two
lines of "Minstrel Boy".

First verse, first line. I wrote:
>Oh, Lucky's drivin' a long, long time
This is in correspondence with the published words.
Ben Taylor wrote:
>I still think this could easily be "Oh, look, he's drivin'" but who
>knows.
John Howells wrote:
>How about "Old Luke, he's drivin'" or "Oh Luke, he's drivin'"?
I think what Dylan sings here sounds more like the published words
than the suggestions of Ben and John. So in this case I see no reason
to deviate from what is published.

First verse, third line. I wrote:
>With achin' sunboots, with all hill down
Ben Taylor wrote:
>"With aching jumpers, with all a down" ?
>a phonetic transcript, not an attempt at deciphering real words
>because I rather suspect there are none.
>Can someone make anything out of this phonetic transcript?
I've adopted Ben's phonetic transcript, for I think it comes closer
than what I wrote. It'll have to do until indeed someone makes
something better out of it.

Keep them coins rolling.