| "Dink's Song" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Written | Unknown |
| Genre | Folk |
| Songwriter(s) | Unknown |
"Dink's Song" (sometimes known as "Fare Thee Well") is an Americanfolk song played by manyfolk revival musicians such asPete Seeger,Fred Neil,Bob Dylan,Joan Baez,Dave Van Ronk,Kate & Anna McGarrigle, andCisco Houston as well as more recent musicians likeJeff Buckley. The song tells the story of a woman deserted by her lover when she needs him the most.
The first historical record of the song was byethnomusicologistJohn Lomax in 1909, who recorded it as sung by anAfrican American woman called Dink, as she washed her husband's clothes in a tent camp of migratorylevee-builders on the bank of theBrazos River, a few miles fromHouston, Texas.[1] The text of the song was first published by Lomax in a 1917 article in the magazineThe Nation,[2] while the music was first published in 1934 in the bookAmerican Ballads and Folk Songs by John Lomax and his son,Alan.
English folksinger and songwriterCyril Tawney, while serving in theRoyal Navy aboard theHMSIndefatigable, found the song in the Lomaxes' bookAmerican Ballads and Folk Songs. He was struck by the first verse, and incorporated it into the second verse of his song about the navy, 'The Grey Funnel Line.'[3]
As with many traditional songs, there are numerous versions of the lyrics. The version published inAmerican Ballads and Folk Songs is rendered in an approximation ofAfrican American vernacular English.
Ef I had wings like Norah's dove,
I'd fly up the river to the man I love.
Fare thee well, O Honey, fare thee well.
Ise got a man, an' he's long and tall,
Moves his body like a cannon ball,
Fare thee well, O Honey, fare thee well.
One o' dese days, an' it won't be long,
Call my name an' I'll be gone.
Fare thee well, O Honey, fare thee well.
'Member one night, a-drizzlin' rain,
Roun' my heart I felt a pain.
Fare thee well, O Honey, fare thee well.
When I wo' my ap'ons low,
Couldn't keep you from my do'.
Fare thee well, O Honey, fare thee well.
Now I wears my ap'ons high,
Sca'cely ever see you passin' by.
Fare thee well, O Honey, fare thee well.
Now my ap'on's up to my chin,
You pass my do' an' you won' come in,
Fare thee well, O Honey, fare thee well.
Ef I had listened to whut my mama said,
I'd be at home in my mama's bed.
Fare thee well, O Honey, fare thee well.[4]
Libby Holman recorded "Dink's Song" (as "Fare Thee Well") with guitar accompaniment byJosh White in 1942.
White also recorded the song as "Fare Thee Well" in 1945. It appeared on his first album,Songs by Josh White, for Asch Records (A 348). (Asch Records was the predecessor ofFolkways Records). Like the rest of the songs on the album, it was performed solo, with guitar. White re-recorded the song at least once later in his career, as "Dink's Blues". It appears on the 1957 Mercury album,Josh White's Blues (MG 20203).
In the 1946 filmCloak and Dagger, the character played byLilli Palmer sings a verse of the song toGary Cooper's character, explaining she learned it from an American airman from "New Arizona" and adding she didn't have the chance to learn the rest of it.
Burl Ives also recorded the song as “Fare Thee Well” onReturn of the Wayfaring Stranger (1960).
The song was performed by Mary "Mississippi" Brown (Peggy Castle) on the television showCheyenne, in the episode "Fury at Rio Hondo", which aired April 17, 1956.
Ken Curtis crooned an abbreviated version of the song on the showHave Gun - Will Travel, in the episode "Love's Young Dream" (Season 4, Episode 2).[5]
Bob Dylan recorded a driving rendition of the song on the 1961 "Minnesota Hotel Tape" (actually recorded in the home ofBonnie Beecher).[6] After his performance, he suggests he had originally heard the song from Dink, personally. The recording was released in 2005 onThe Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack.[7]
The song was also recorded byBurl Ives (circa 1965).
Dave Van Ronk recorded the song in 1961 for his albumVan Ronk Sings. He then went on to record a new version of the song in 1967 for his albumDave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters, where it was credited toJohn Lomax and his first wife, Bess Brown Lomax. In the liner notes to the album, Van Ronk writes that he considers the tune "probably the best piece of singing as such I've ever done on record."[8] He goes on to explain, "I had a nasty flu when we cut this one, and my voice had gone pre-laryngitic. This had the effect of opening up an octave valve I didn't even know I had. The next day I couldn't talk, let alone sing."[8]
Jeff Buckley recorded an 11-minute version live in a New York café in 1993 that was posthumously released in 2003 on his albumLive at Sin-é (Legacy Edition).
Gloria Lynne recorded the song for a concept album created and produced byHarry Belafonte in 2001, titledThe Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music.[9] In Lynne's version the song is called "Fare Thee Well, Oh Honey."
In 2005 Joan Baez included it on her recording “Bowery Songs” and called it “Dink’s Song” .
A different arrangement of the song was written and performed byFrank Black on his 2006 albumFast Man Raider Man.Puerto Rican singerGabriel Ríos included the song on the limited edition 2-disc release of his albumAngelhead.
Oscar Isaac andMarcus Mumford's performance of "Dink's Song" is featured in theCoen Brothers's filmInside Llewyn Davis, as well as a solo acoustic version by Isaac. Both versions are included on the original soundtrack album.[10]
The song was also performed by Chuck/God (Rob Benedict) on the television showSupernatural, at the end of the episode "Don't Call Me Shurley."
The British folk musical groupThe Longest Johns included a rendition of the song on their 2023 albumC-Sides.
Joni Mitchell performed "Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)" early in her career and it was recorded when she appeared on radio stationCFQC, circa 1963. This rendition was released in 2020 onJoni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967).[11]
