Brownsville Girl
Encyclopedia
"Brownsville Girl" is a song from Bob Dylan's
1986 album, Knocked Out Loaded
. It is notable for its eleven-minute and 5 second length and for being co-written by playwright Sam Shepard
. The song is a rerecorded version of an outtake from the Empire Burlesque
sessions and was originally called New Danville Girl.
While as an album Knocked Out Loaded was poorly received upon release Brownsville Girl is considered one of Dylan's best pieces by some critics. Music critic Robert Christgau
praised Brownsville Girl as "one of the greatest and most ridiculous of Dylan's great ridiculous epics. Doesn't matter who came up with such lines as 'She said even the swap meets around here are getting pretty corrupt' and 'I didn't know whether to duck or to run, so I ran' — they're classic Dylan."
Lyrically the song speaks to a lover, presumably one gone years before. The singer speaks wistfully of her, though is clear to add he is with someone else now, and muses that she reminds him of her (he says she has the same "dark rhythm in her soul").
Often the singer interrupts his reminisces of the mysterious Brownsville Girl to describe the plot of a Western
movie starring Gregory Peck
that he saw once (but believes he 'sat through it twice'). The plot of the film, about a young upstart who shoots an aging gunslinger, and then is warned by the dying man that now he must watch his own back, is almost certainly 1950's The Gunfighter. Most likely, the song refers to multiple Gregory Peck
films, as 1946's Duel in the Sun is about two brothers in Texas fighting for the love of dark beauty Pearl Chavez, and Dylan says once of a Peck movie, "you know, it's not the one that I had in mind."
Interestingly, the backup singers aren't just scenery here; they seem quite active. Not only do they perform the long song's haunting chorus
("Brownsville girl\ With your Brownsville curl...."), but sardonically interject their own replies, such as "Oh, yeah?", and, at one point, they let go a three-part harmonized anguished howl of pain
.
There are no known covers of "Brownsville Girl" and Dylan has only performed it once, on August 6, 1986. An early version of the song exists, recorded for his previous album 1985's Empire Burlesque
, is occasionally found in bootleg recordings and is called "New Danville Girl".
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
1986 album, Knocked Out Loaded
Knocked Out Loaded
Knocked Out Loaded is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 24th studio album, released by Columbia Records in July 1986.The album was received poorly upon release, and is still considered by some critics to be one of Dylan's least-engaging efforts...
. It is notable for its eleven-minute and 5 second length and for being co-written by playwright Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
. The song is a rerecorded version of an outtake from the Empire Burlesque
Empire Burlesque
Empire Burlesque is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 23rd studio album, released by Columbia Records in June 1985. The album peaked at #33 in the US and #11 in the UK....
sessions and was originally called New Danville Girl.
While as an album Knocked Out Loaded was poorly received upon release Brownsville Girl is considered one of Dylan's best pieces by some critics. Music critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
praised Brownsville Girl as "one of the greatest and most ridiculous of Dylan's great ridiculous epics. Doesn't matter who came up with such lines as 'She said even the swap meets around here are getting pretty corrupt' and 'I didn't know whether to duck or to run, so I ran' — they're classic Dylan."
Lyrically the song speaks to a lover, presumably one gone years before. The singer speaks wistfully of her, though is clear to add he is with someone else now, and muses that she reminds him of her (he says she has the same "dark rhythm in her soul").
Often the singer interrupts his reminisces of the mysterious Brownsville Girl to describe the plot of a Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
movie starring Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
that he saw once (but believes he 'sat through it twice'). The plot of the film, about a young upstart who shoots an aging gunslinger, and then is warned by the dying man that now he must watch his own back, is almost certainly 1950's The Gunfighter. Most likely, the song refers to multiple Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
films, as 1946's Duel in the Sun is about two brothers in Texas fighting for the love of dark beauty Pearl Chavez, and Dylan says once of a Peck movie, "you know, it's not the one that I had in mind."
Interestingly, the backup singers aren't just scenery here; they seem quite active. Not only do they perform the long song's haunting chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
("Brownsville girl\ With your Brownsville curl...."), but sardonically interject their own replies, such as "Oh, yeah?", and, at one point, they let go a three-part harmonized anguished howl of pain
Pain
Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...
.
There are no known covers of "Brownsville Girl" and Dylan has only performed it once, on August 6, 1986. An early version of the song exists, recorded for his previous album 1985's Empire Burlesque
Empire Burlesque
Empire Burlesque is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 23rd studio album, released by Columbia Records in June 1985. The album peaked at #33 in the US and #11 in the UK....
, is occasionally found in bootleg recordings and is called "New Danville Girl".
External links
- Knocked Out Loaded Analysis Page : Brownsville Girl link