Bob Dylan's Dream - The Song's Origins

The Song's Origins

According to Shelton, Dylan credited the melody of "Bob Dylan's Dream" to the traditional broadside ballad "Lord Franklin" (also known as "Lady Franklin's Lament" and "The Sailor's Dream"), which he learned from British folksinger Martin Carthy, whom he met while visiting London in late December 1962.

However, Dylan probably learned the song even earlier from his Village friend Paul Clayton, who had recorded it in 1957 for his album Whaling and Sailing Songs: From the Days of Moby Dick on Folkways. In either case, within a couple weeks after returning from London in January 1963, Dylan began playing "Bob Dylan's Dream" for Gil Turner during after-hours sessions at Gerde's Folk City, where Turner was emcee.

Besides the melody, Dylan's song also shares lyrical similarities with "Lady Franklin's Lament", as in the song's closing lines:

Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat
I'd give it all gladly if our lives could be like that. —Bob Dylan, closing verses of "Bob Dylan's Dream"

"Lady Franklin's Lament" concludes on a similar note:

Ten thousand pounds would I freely give
To know on earth, that my Franklin do live. —Traditional, closing verses of "Lady Franklin's Lament"

Within a short time, Dylan made the song a regular part of his repertoire, performing it for his first major New York concert at Town Hall on April 12, 1963. Less than two weeks later, on April 24, he recorded two takes of the song at Columbia's Studio A, one of which was selected for the album Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.