"Walls of Red Wing" is a folk and protest song, written by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Originally recorded for Dylan's second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, ^[1] it was not included, and eventually attempted for his next work, The Times They Are a-Changin', but, again, this version was never released. The version recorded for Freewheelin' eventually appeared on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991. The song describes a boys' reform school located in Red Wing, Minnesota.

Composition

Dylan based "Walls of Red Wing" on the traditional Scottish folk ballad " The Road and the Miles to Dundee", which he may have learned during his trip to London in early 1963, from other aspiring folk singers, such as Martin Carthy. ^[1] In his narration, Dylan goes to describe a juvenile detention center in Red Wing, Minnesota. The description is hyperbolical, and describes the students there as "thrown in like bandits and cast off like criminals", ^[2] the walls of "barbed wire" and the fence with "electricity's sting", ^[2] the guards holding their clubs like they were "kings", ^[2] and the supposed "dungeon" of the building. ^[2] Despite these harrowing descriptions, Red Wing was not the impenetrable "Gothic fortress" (as John Bauldie calls it ^[1]) portrayed in this song. ^[1]

Cover versions

Joan Baez covered this song on her 1968 album Any Day Now; Ramblin' Jack Elliot covered it in 1997 on his album Friends of Mine. ^[3]

References

External links

• Lyrics at the official Bob Dylan website