Released: March 26, 1991
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producer: Jeff Rosen
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 1]
“Not I,” says the referee
“Don’t point your finger at me
I could’ve stopped it in the eighth
And maybe kept him from his fate
But the crowd would’ve booed, I’m sure
At not getting their money’s worth
It’s too bad he had to go
But there was a pressure on me too, you know
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 2]
“Not us,” says the angry crowd
Whose screams filled the arena loud
“It’s too bad he died that night
But we just like to see a fight
We didn’t mean for him to meet his death
We just meant to see some sweat
There is nothing wrong in that
It wasn’t us that made him fall
No, you can’t blame us at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 3]
“Not me,” says his manager
Puffing on a big cigar
“It’s hard to say, it’s hard to tell
I always thought that he was well
It’s too bad for his wife an’ kids he’s dead
But if he was sick, he should’ve said
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 4]
“Not me,” says the gambling man
With his ticket stub still in his hand
“It wasn’t me that knocked him down
My hands never touched him none
I didn’t commit no ugly sin
Anyway, I put money on him to win
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 5]
“Not me,” says the boxing writer
Pounding print on his old typewriter
Saying, “Boxing is not to blame
There’s just as much danger in a football game”
Saying, “Fist fighting is here to stay
It’s just the old American way
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 6]
“Not me,” says the man whose fists
Laid him low in a cloud of mist
Who came here from Cuba’s door
Where boxing is not allowed no more
“I hit him, yes, it’s true
But that’s what I am paid to do
Don’t say ‘murder,’ don’t say ‘kill’
It was destiny, it was God’s will”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 1]
“Not I,” says the referee
“Don’t point your finger at me
I could’ve stopped it in the eighth
And maybe kept him from his fate
But the crowd would’ve booed, I’m sure
At not getting their money’s worth
It’s too bad he had to go
But there was a pressure on me too, you know
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 2]
“Not us,” says the angry crowd
Whose screams filled the arena loud
“It’s too bad he died that night
But we just like to see a fight
We didn’t mean for him to meet his death
We just meant to see some sweat
There is nothing wrong in that
It wasn’t us that made him fall
No, you can’t blame us at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 3]
“Not me,” says his manager
Puffing on a big cigar
“It’s hard to say, it’s hard to tell
I always thought that he was well
It’s too bad for his wife an’ kids he’s dead
But if he was sick, he should’ve said
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 4]
“Not me,” says the gambling man
With his ticket stub still in his hand
“It wasn’t me that knocked him down
My hands never touched him none
I didn’t commit no ugly sin
Anyway, I put money on him to win
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 5]
“Not me,” says the boxing writer
Pounding print on his old typewriter
Saying, “Boxing is not to blame
There’s just as much danger in a football game”
Saying, “Fist fighting is here to stay
It’s just the old American way
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
[Verse 6]
“Not me,” says the man whose fists
Laid him low in a cloud of mist
Who came here from Cuba’s door
Where boxing is not allowed no more
“I hit him, yes, it’s true
But that’s what I am paid to do
Don’t say ‘murder,’ don’t say ‘kill’
It was destiny, it was God’s will”
[Chorus]
Who killed Davey Moore?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
more tracks from the album
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991
- Tangled Up in Blue (Alternate take)
- Nobody ’Cept You
- Wallflower
- Santa Fé
- She’s Your Lover Now
- Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence
- If You Gotta Go, Go Now
- Suze (The Cough Song)
- Eternal Circle
- Seven Curses
- Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie
- Moonshiner
- Only a Hobo
- Call Letter Blues
- Golden Loom
- Catfish
- Worried Blues
- Man on the Street
- Series of Dreams
- Foot of Pride
- Lord Protect My Child
- Tell Me
- Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart
- Angelina
- Need a Woman
- You Changed My Life
- Ye Shall Be Changed
- Seven Days
- Who Killed Davey Moore?
- Paths of Victory
- Idiot Wind
- When the Ship Comes In
- Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues
- Rambling Gambling Willie
- Let Me Die in My Footsteps
- Every Grain of Sand
- He Was a Friend of Mine
- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
- Blind Willie McTell
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
- Mama, You Been on My Mind
- Farewell, Angelina
- If Not for You
- Walls of Red Wing
- Walkin’ Down the Line
- Kingsport Town
- Quit Your Low Down Ways
- Talkin’ Hava Negeilah Blues
- House Carpenter
- No More Auction Block
- Hard Times in New York Town (Demo)
- I’ll Keep It with Mine
- When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky
- If You See Her, Say Hello
- I Shall Be Released
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
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