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IFLTS: 'Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,' Bob Dylan



'Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,' Bob Dylan
From 1964's 'The Times They Are A-Changin''

I think I heard 'Lonesome Death' for the first time in [the Dylan documentary] 'Don't Look Back.' It came near the end of the film and was a really haunting performance. I was always really intimidated when trying to cover a Dylan song -- for the obvious reasons. The song itself is devestating, written almost verbatim from an old newspaper article [about the killing of 51-year-old barmaid Hattie Carroll], but it reads like poetry. The weight of truth that the song carries is the most beautiful part.

Hear the song after the jump.Robert Levon Been is the singer for San Francisco rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The band's latest album, 'Baby 81,' is in stores now.

Listen to Bob Dylan's career retrospective, 'Dylan'


What song do you freakin' love? Write our next IFLTS. Send it to us at spinnereditor@aim.com

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mike murphy

it wasn't his maid, she was an employee of the hotel. a banquet worker who cleaned up the aftermath of parties and meetings etc. she never done nothing to william zanzinger. zanzinger owned a tobaco field of 600 acres. he also had relatives in high public places. he reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders. the cops were brought in and his weapon took from him. they took him in and and his mouth was gnarling and in a couple of hours on bail was a walking/ or something like that. it's a song about injustence even as far north as baltimore.it's one of my favorite songs by dylan, who is starting to perform it at his concerts. i believe i read that zanzinger died in 2009or the beginning of this year

September 01 2010 at 6:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
B.Jeffers

I have to agree. Dylan's songs seem timeless when you realize that The Time's (are still) A Changing and that the more things change the more they stay the same. Technology advances far faster than does the human capacity to become truly human.

October 19 2007 at 6:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joe Taco

The live version is riveting. A true story about a 'high society' man named William Zanzinger, who drunkenly killed his black maid with a cane...

The song tragically chronicles what a person of privileged society can get away with. Funny, this could still ring true today.... OJ? Phil Spector??? Robert Blake???

October 02 2007 at 3:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply