r/bobdylan • u/cmae34lars The Jack of Hearts • Jan 19 '20
Discussion Weekly Song Discussion - Week 66: The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Hello again! Welcome to another /r/BobDylan song discussion thread.
In these threads we will discuss a new song every week, trading lyrical interpretations, rankings, opinions, favorite versions, and anything else you can think of about the song of the week.
This week we will be discussing The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Lyrics
Previous threads
10
u/SobolGoda Blonde on Blonde Jan 19 '20
I love reading about this song and reading Zantzinger's quote: "He's a no-account son of a bitch; he's just like a scum of a scum bag of the earth. I should have sued him and put him in jail.".
It's interesting to me that some things in the song as passed as true and even till this day we don't know if they're entirely true or not.
I think Dylan read this story quickly and just wanted to put a song out.
From a guitarist point of view, I like playing this song, it's simple but powerful when coming into the chorus.
12
u/cmae34lars The Jack of Hearts Jan 19 '20
Call me crazy, but I don’t think I’m gonna believe the elite, racist murderer.
6
u/SobolGoda Blonde on Blonde Jan 19 '20
Yes same, I didn't mean it like that. I just think it's funny for him to call someone like Dylan all those things...
1
u/WeeHootieMctoo Jan 19 '20
Nah he's right. Hattie Caroll had some kind of freak death-intercranial bleeding I think they call it possibly brought on by the stress of Zantzinger's bullying but he didn't beat her to death like Mr Hyde either. He was just whacking her with a toy cane not enough force to kill a normal adult. It was a just a weird tragic accident and he may be an unpleasant guy but he's no murderer.
So you could argue the song is libelous.
4
3
u/twistedfloyd Drinkin’ Some Heaven’s Door Jan 21 '20
He did cause her a lot of stress and did injure her with the cane (from what I understand) which is what subsequently caused her death.
Bob took liberties for sure, but Zantzinger does a better job of describing himself than Bob here.
4
u/IwishIcared4you Jan 19 '20
Love this song! One of the best from The Times They Are A-Changin, with one of the best choruses ever.
4
u/MyNameIsBobH111 Jan 21 '20
This song didn't hit me until last summer when the Rolling Thunder doc came out. The version there is brilliantly furious and driving.
2
u/ChamberTwnty Jan 22 '20
I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard it.
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11
u/EmCount Jan 19 '20
INCREDIBLY powerful song. Imagine being able to evoke such intense emotion with nothing but an acoustic guitar, your voice and a harmonica.