Workingman's Blues

"Workingman's Blues #2" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as the sixth track on his 2006 album Modern Times. In spite of the title, the song is not a blues but rather a folk song that uses the same chord pattern as Pachelbel's Canon.[1] As with much of Dylan's 21st-century output, he produced the song himself under the pseudonym Jack Frost.

"Workingman's Blues #2"
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album Modern Times
ReleasedAugust 29, 2006
RecordedFebruary 2006
GenreFolk
Length6:07
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Bob Dylan (as Jack Frost)

Critical reception

Patrick Doyle, writing in Rolling Stone, where the song placed 23rd on a list of "The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century", refers to it as a "sequel" to the 1969 country hit "Workin' Man Blues" by Merle Haggard, with whom Dylan had toured the year before he recorded Modern Times. Doyle characterizes the song as being told from the point of view of a narrator who surveys "bruised relationships and lost battles," and calls it a "hidden gem".[2]

In their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon describe it as a "ballad with a melody of great subtlety" with lyrics that are "much more profound" than Haggard's and cite it as "one of the high points of the album".[3]

Dylan scholar and musicologist Eyolf Ostrem likewise calls it "one of the highlights of the album" and sees it as a descendant of both Dylan's "Ballad of Hollis Brown" from 1963 as well as his role in the Farm Aid initiative in the 1980s. Ostrem notes that "more than a political statement, it is also a love-ballad".[4]

Seth Bushnell also sees the song as both political and personal, reconciling the two by noting that the "feeling of romantic love is not so far from a love of humanity that fills a human heart when it tries to make the world a better place." Bushnell calls it "heartbreakingly romantic" and "an elegy to Dylan’s heroes and to his own past and a reaffirmation of his love for the common men and women he inspired".[5]

A USA Today article ranking "all of Bob Dylan's songs" placed "Workingman's Blues #2" 58th (out of 359).[6]

Cultural references

The chorus lines "Meet me at the bottom...Bring me my boots and shoes" refer to a line in the 1946 song "June's Blues" by jazz singer June Christy.

The line "Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues" refers to the refrain of Merle Haggard's Workin' Man Blues. (Haggard's response in an interview with the Associated Press: "Good, that gives me a reason to do Blowin' in the Wind 2".[7])

Live performances

Between 2006 and 2018 Dylan performed the song 269 times in concert on the Never Ending Tour.[8]

Other versions

The song was covered by Americana singer Lisa Bastoni on her 2019 album How We Want to Live.[9]

References
  1. "Endurance race". The Age. 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  2. Vozick-Levinson, Jon Dolan,Patrick Doyle,Andy Greene,Brian Hiatt,Angie Martoccio,Rob Sheffield,Hank Shteamer,Simon; Dolan, Jon; Doyle, Patrick; Greene, Andy; Hiatt, Brian; Martoccio, Angie; Sheffield, Rob; Shteamer, Hank; Vozick-Levinson, Simon (2020-06-18). "The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  3. Margotin, Philippe (27 October 2015). Bob Dylan : all the songs : the story behind every track. Guesdon, Jean-Michel (First ed.). New York. ISBN 978-1-57912-985-9. OCLC 869908038.
  4. "Modern Times: Workingman's Blues #2". dylanchords.info. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  5. Bushnell, Seth (2017-01-05). "Bob Dylan's Workingman's Blues #2-The Definitive Interpretation…". Medium. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  6. "Ranking all of Bob Dylan's songs, from No. 1 to No. 359". For The Win. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  7. Press, The Associated. "Merle Haggard goes bluegrass". Gainesville Sun. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  8. "Bob Dylan Tour Statistics | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  9. Zimmermann, Curtis (2019-11-13). "Lisa Bastoni Tackles a Rarely-Covered Dylan Song: "Workingman's Blues #2"". Cover Me. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
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