Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producer: Tom Wilson (producer)
[Verse 1]
Old Reilly stole a stallion
But they caught him and they brought him back
And they laid him down on the Jailhouse ground
With an iron chain around his neck
[Verse 2]
Old Reilly’s daughter got a message
That her father was going’ to hang
She rode by night and came by morning
With gold and silver in her hand
[Verse 3]
When the judge he saw Reilly’s daughter
His old eyes deepened in his head
Saying, “Gold will never free your father
The price, my dear, is you instead”
[Verse 4]
“Oh I’m as good as dead,” cried Reilly
“It’s only you that he does crave
And my skin will surely crawl if he touches you at all
Get on your horse and ride away”
[Verse 5]
“Oh father you will surely die
If I don’t take the chance to try
And pay the price and not take your advice
For that reason I will have to stay”
[Verse 6]
The gallows shadows shook the evening
In the night a hound dog bayed
In the night the grounds were groaning
In the night the price was paid
[Verse 7]
The next morning she had awoken
To know that the judge had never spoken
She saw that hangin’ branch a-bendin’
She saw her father’s body broken
[Verse 8]
These be seven curses on a judge so cruel:
That one doctor will not save him
That two healers will not heal him
That three eyes will not see him
[Verse 9]
That four ears will not hear him
That five walls will not hide him
That six diggers will not bury him
And that seven deaths shall never kill him
Old Reilly stole a stallion
But they caught him and they brought him back
And they laid him down on the Jailhouse ground
With an iron chain around his neck
[Verse 2]
Old Reilly’s daughter got a message
That her father was going’ to hang
She rode by night and came by morning
With gold and silver in her hand
[Verse 3]
When the judge he saw Reilly’s daughter
His old eyes deepened in his head
Saying, “Gold will never free your father
The price, my dear, is you instead”
[Verse 4]
“Oh I’m as good as dead,” cried Reilly
“It’s only you that he does crave
And my skin will surely crawl if he touches you at all
Get on your horse and ride away”
[Verse 5]
“Oh father you will surely die
If I don’t take the chance to try
And pay the price and not take your advice
For that reason I will have to stay”
[Verse 6]
The gallows shadows shook the evening
In the night a hound dog bayed
In the night the grounds were groaning
In the night the price was paid
[Verse 7]
The next morning she had awoken
To know that the judge had never spoken
She saw that hangin’ branch a-bendin’
She saw her father’s body broken
[Verse 8]
These be seven curses on a judge so cruel:
That one doctor will not save him
That two healers will not heal him
That three eyes will not see him
[Verse 9]
That four ears will not hear him
That five walls will not hide him
That six diggers will not bury him
And that seven deaths shall never kill him
more tracks from the album
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964
- Tomorrow Is a Long Time (Demo)
- All Over You
- Long Ago, Far Away
- Man on the Street
- Standing on the Highway
- Ballad for a Friend
- Poor Boy Blues
- John Brown
- Seven Curses
- Only a Hobo
- I’d Hate to Be You on That Dreadful Day
- Long Time Gone
- Farewell
- Man on the Street (Fragment)
- Hard Times in New York Town
- Bound to Lose, Bound to Win
- Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
- Guess I’m Doing Fine
- Ain’t Gonna Grieve
- Gypsy Lou
- Whatcha Gonna Do?
- Hero Blues
- Paths of Victory
- Walkin’ Down the Line
- Quit Your Low Down Ways
- Oxford Town
- Bob Dylan’s Dream
- Bob Dylan’s Blues
- Girl from the North Country
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Masters of War
- I Shall Be Free
- Let Me Die in My Footsteps
- Rambling Gambling Willie
- Baby, I’m in the Mood for You
- I’ll Keep It with Mine
- Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
- Mama, You Been on My Mind
- The Death of Emmett Till
- When the Ship Comes In
- Boots of Spanish Leather
- Ballad of Hollis Brown
- Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
From the albums
Bob Dylan popular songs
- Murder Most Foul
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- All Along the Watchtower
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Make You Feel My Love
- Hurricane
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- Desolation Row
- Tangled Up in Blue
- Masters of War
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
- It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
- Girl from the North Country
- Tempest
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
- Ballad of a Thin Man
- Visions of Johanna
- I Contain Multitudes
- To Fall in Love with You
- Shelter from the Storm