As I Went Out One Morning

"As I Went Out One Morning" is a song written by Bob Dylan, released as the second song on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding.

"As I Went Out One Morning"
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album John Wesley Harding
ReleasedDecember 27, 1967 (1967-12-27)
RecordedNovember 6, 1967
GenreFolk rock, country rock
Length2:49
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Bob Johnston

Lyrical interpretation and reception

"As I Went Out One Morning" is a narrative song about a man who offers a hand to a woman in chains, but realizes that she wants more than he is offering, and that "she meant to do [him] harm." A character identified as Tom Paine then appears, "command[s] her to yield," and apologizes to the narrator for the woman's actions.[1]

Tom Paine as a figure may represent common sense or civil liberties, which the historical Tom Paine championed. However, it is also likely that this song references the prestigious Tom Paine Award that Dylan received in 1963 from the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee. Dylan delivered an acceptance speech and was booed and rushed from the stage when he claimed to have empathy for some of Lee Harvey Oswald feelings.[2]

In their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon praise Dylan's vocal performance for "expressing a new maturity" not found on his earlier recordings and note that it is also "one of the first times he sings with vibrato".[3]

The song bears a resemblance to, and is perhaps influenced by, the W. H. Auden poem As I Walked Out One Evening, including sharing the same iambic meter and quatrain form.[4]

Live performance

Dylan has only performed the song live once, in 1974.[5]

References
  1. "As I Went Out One Morning | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  2. Copy of Dylan's acceptance speech at NECLC Archived September 11, 2014, at the Wayback Machine accessed 14 August 2011
  3. Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel. Bob Dylan : all the songs : the story behind every track (First ed.). New York. ISBN 1-57912-985-4. OCLC 869908038.
  4. "As I Went Out One Morning". the Bob Dylan Commentaries. 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  5. "Bob Dylan Tour Statistics | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
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