Talk:Girl from the North Country

Where is the North Country?
Does anyone know what exactly the phrase "North Country" refers to? In "Chronicles," Dylan uses the phrase to refer to the entire state of Minnesota, but I've also seen it used to refer to Mesabi Range area only. On the other hand, Rotolo is not from Minnesota. What, then, is the North Country? 156.111.160.186 (talk) 22:55, 9 December 2007 (UTC)


 * The North Country is "where the winds hit heavy on the borderline." How clear is that? ;-) Hult041956 (talk) 01:59, 10 December 2007 (UTC)


 * The 'North Country' refers to a part of England, which is where Dylan was when he learned of the song. Traditionally, the North Country refers to Yorkshire, Northumberland and Cumbria. Therefore, the 'borderline', would be the border between England and Scotland. Stephenjh (talk) 21:49, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * In fact, Roseanne Cash, who learned it from her father who apparently learned it from Dylan (for Nashville Skyline) tells Terry Gross that the origin is in the Elizabethan era. Just bcz Dylan or Columbia claim a copyright that is valid for his arrangement doesn't mean he made the song up out of imagination and border country air; perhaps someone can find a ref that clarifies how much of it was original. --Jerzy•t 00:40, 11 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Uh, reading the rest of the section that says "written" satisfies me that RC was probably talking about the obvious resemblance to Scarborough Fair. More refs are almost always a plus, but one on this is not urgent enuf for a tag IMO. --Jerzy•t 00:48, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

It's obviously the North Country New York. How anyone else interprets this otherwise is perplexing.

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Folk Rock
How does "Girl from the North Country" fit into the category Folk Rock Songs? BTW, 7 of the 19 songs in this category are Dylan songs from his folk period with little if any connection to folk rock. What's with that? Allreet (talk) 06:03, 5 February 2009 (UTC)


 * And which version, the Cash duet must surely come under the genre, "country music" and I used to have a jazz version, is it a jazz song? In all reality "genre" is in the ears of the beholder, and can change according to the arrangement. Some might argue it's not a folk song because Dylan doesn't sing it with his finger in his ear. I daresay at least one of the cover versions comes under "folk rock" if not the Dylan version. --Richhoncho (talk) 11:39, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Date Song was Written
"The song was written following his first trip to England in December, 1962, upon what he thought to be the completion of his second album." I am listening to Sunday Morning on CBC Radio 1 where Oscar Brand is being interviewed. Michael Enright played a clip of Bob Dylan playing this song, in 1961. Bob was so new Oscar spelled his name for the audience. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.220.172.68 (talk) 14:52, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Are you certain? I recall The Girl I Left Behind (Oscar Brand Show, Radio, 29 oct 1961) but not Girl from the North Country? 81.174.156.198 (talk) 19:20, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

Original or traditional song?
In several places in this article, the song is referred to as "traditional" - i.e. as not being an original composition of Bob Dylan. (e.g.: see entries for Roy Harper Pete Townshend under the section "Notable Versions". )

But the introduction and most of the article is written as if it was an original composition.

Can anyone clear this up? 86.43.175.253 (talk) 09:28, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

When Roy Harper recorded it, he said that Bob Dylan came over to England and nicked the song and credited it to himself, so he (Harper) nicked it back and credited it to "traditional."

Comment by Roy Harper when asked about Girl From North Country. "We expected the libel suit and we got one but it was dropped on both parts because they realised we had, sort of, sufficient ground to stand on. Dylan was nicking all the tunes, particularly the English and the Irish tunes - Masters Of War is a song called Nottingham Town. A lot of people knew where he was getting stuff from and thought he shouldn't really be getting the acclaim he was getting - bit of soul grapes I guess." (BBC Radio, 16th March 1991)

Harper's version isn't appreciably different from Dylan's so it's not clear if Dylan wrote any of it or even arranged it. I would think that Roy Harper and Pete Townsend would know if it's a traditional song that they already knew before Dylan claimed to have written it. Hagrinas (talk) 01:38, 15 April 2017 (UTC)

of
https://www.facebook.com/EDLISAdmin/photos/oa.2016117128426809/505182096647066/

Bob Dylan uses "of" not "from" in Mondo Scripto...

If anyone wanted to change it.

EDLIS Café 19:34, 14 October 2018 (UTC)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by EdRicardo (talk • contribs)

Nashville Skyline Recording with Johnny Cash: Error in the Lyrics
About 2:07 into "Girl from the North Country", Dylan sings the wrong lyrics on the harmony - or Cash gets the lead wrong, but he forges ahead while Dylan realizes the mistake and steps back. No kidding, I've been listening to this recording for 50 years and just heard the flub for the first time. Need a source to point it out in the article. I did a quick search of Heylin, Sounes, Gray, and others, but couldn't find a reference to it. Allreet (talk) 13:26, 21 July 2019 (UTC)