Percy's Song

About Percy's Song

"Percy's Song" is a song written by Bob Dylan. It was an outtake from October 1963 sessions for Dylan's third album, The Times They Are A-Changin'. It was not officially released until 1985, on the compilation Biograph. In the notes to that album, Dylan credits Paul Clayton for the song's "beautiful melody line." He had played "The Wind and the Rain" to him, a variant of "The Twa Sisters", Child ballad 10. Dylan wrote the song from the point of view of a narrating character. The song relates the story of a fatal car crash and a subsequent manslaughter conviction and 99-year sentence in Joliet Prison that is handed down to the driver (a friend of the first-person narrator). The narrator goes to ask the sentencing judge to commute his friend's sentence which he considers too harsh, but the sentence stands. The story of the hard-hearted judge is reminiscent of the Child ballad "Geordie". Joan Baez performs "Percy's Song" in the film Dont Look Back. The British folk rock group Fairport Convention recorded "Percy's Song" on their third album, Unhalfbricking. more »

Year:

1967

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Bad news, bad news came to me where I sleep
Turn, turn, turn again
Sayin' one of your friends is in trouble deep
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

Tell me the trouble, tell me once to my ear
Turn, turn, turn again
Joliet prison and ninety-nine years
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

Oh what's the charge of how this came to be?
Turn, turn, turn again
Manslaughter in the highest of degrees
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

I sat down and wrote the best words I could write
Turn, turn, turn again
Explaining to the judge I'd be there on Wednesday night
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

Without a reply I left by the moon
Turn, turn, turn again
And was in his chambers by the next afternoon
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

Could you tell me the facts, I said without fear
Turn, turn, turn again
That a friend of mine would get ninety-nine years
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

A crash on the highway flew the car to a field
Turn, turn, turn again
There was four persons killed and he was at the wheel
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

But I know him as good as I'm knowin' myself
Turn, turn, turn again
And he wouldn't harm a life that belonged to someone else
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

The judge he spoke out of the side of his mouth
Turn, turn, turn again
Sayin',"The witness who saw he left no doubt"
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

That may be true, he's got a sentence to serve
Turn, turn, turn again
But ninety-nine years, he just don't deserve
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

Too late, too late for his case it is sealed
Turn, turn, turn again
His sentenced is passed and it cannot be repealed
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

But he ain't no criminal and his crime it is none
Turn, turn, turn again
What happened to him could happen to anyone
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

And at that the judge jerked forward and his face it did freeze
Turn, turn, turn again
Sayin',"Could you kindly leave my office now, please"
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

The room was funny and I stood up so slow
Turn, turn, turn again
With no other choice except for to go
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

I walked down the hallway and I heard his door slam
Turn, turn, turn again
I walked down the courthouse stairs and I did not understand
Turn, turn to the rain and the wind

And I played my guitar through the night to the day
Turn, turn, turn again
And the only tune my guitar could play
Was, "Oh the cruel rain and the wind"

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan ( /ˈdɪlən/; born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and artist. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of Dylan's early songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving his initial base in the culture of folk music behind, Dylan's six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" has been described as radically altering the parameters of popular music in … more »

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