Bob Dylan

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

Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman May 24, 1941), is an American singer-songwriter, writer, and artist who has influenced popular music and culture for more than five decades. Dylan has especially played a critical role in the American folk music revival.

Dylan’s songs are built from myriad political, social, philosophical and literary influences. Many of his anti-war and civil-rights-influenced songs set social unrest, as journalists widely named him the “spokesman for his generation” in the 1960s.

The musician has a signature change in voice and style in many different albums of his throughout the decades. He has notably explored and experimented with the genres of folk, rap, blues, and rock.

more tracks from the album

The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991

From the albums

Bob Dylan popular songs

Seven CursesBob Dylan

Bob Dylan

The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991