Farewell, Angelina (song)

"Farewell Angelina" is a song written by Bob Dylan in the mid-1960s, and recorded by Joan Baez.

Recording

Dylan attempted to record "Farewell Angelina" only once, during the first session for his 1965 album Bringing it All Back Home, and he abandoned all attempts to record the song again.^[1] Dylan's one recording of the song was eventually issued in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.

Joan Baez's Version

Joan Baez included this song on her 1965 album Farewell Angelina. In the UK the song was issued at the same time as a single. Baez's version, though only about half as long as Dylan's recording, was very similar in structure and showed her moving away from pure folk music with the use of string bass accompaniment.

Tune

Although "Farewell Angelina" is basically a simple folk love song, some critics have questioned the meaning of some of the more obscure lyrics like "The Jack and the Queen have forsaked the courtyard / Fifty-two gypsies now file past the guards".

Cover versions

In more recent times "Farewell Angelina" has remained a continuous part of Joan Baez' concert repertoire, being recorded twice for live albums during the 1980s. The song has also been recorded by the New Riders of the Purple Sage (on Oh, What a Mighty Time), John Mellencamp (on Rough Harvest), Tim O'Brien, Show of Hands, and Danu's When All is Said and Done. German and French versions of the song have been recorded by Nana Mouskouri. A rare acoustic version was recorded by Jeff Buckley in the early 1990s. The Celtic jam band, Wake the Dead, recorded it in 2006 for their third album Blue Light Cheap Hotel.

Bobby Bare recorded the song on his 2012 album Darker Than Light.

In 1997, this song was translated & released by Bengali Singer-songwriter Kabir Suman.

Pierre Delanoë and Hugues Aufray translated the song into the French under the title Adieu Angelina, which itself has been recorded many times.

References