Please see for me if her hair hangs long/
For that’s the way I remember her best.

Bob Dylan’s “Girl From The North Country” is a song that you swear you’ve heard before. It sounds like a song that existed before time. Part of that is because it is similar to many old folk songs. Part of that is because I think that one of the qualities of a good folk song is that it sounds like it must have been written long, long ago.

(Consider Woodie Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land”…someone had to actually write that, it didn’t just always exist.) But this is actually a Dylan original. It was written in his early years when he was still an up-and-coming folk singer.

Dylan’s “Girl From the North County” is a sad song—the narrator is asking a friend to check in on a girl he once considered his true love. The narrator sounds nostalgic about both his home and his one-time love, but from his tone we get the sense that both are in his past.

One of the more interesting verses is where Dylan mentions that he spends time wondering if she ever thinks of him. I think that “Girl From the North Country” is one of the songs that Dylan wrote in which he speaks most fondly of the woman.

At this stage of his career Dylan only played with his guitar and harmonica—as you can hear in this song. Some of his best work was done during this time. Of course, he delivered great songs for over four (some might say five or six) decades.

Girl From The North Country Lyrics

If you’re traveling till the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline.
Remember me to one who lives there,
For she once was the true love of mine.

See for me if her hair’s hanging down,
It curls and flows all down her breast.
See for me that her hair’s hanging long,
That’s the way I remember her best.

If you go when the snowflakes fall,
When the rivers freeze and summer ends.
Please see for me if she’s wearing a coat so warm,
To keep her from the howlin’ winds.

I’m wondering if she remembers me at all,
Many times I’ve often prayed.
In the darkness of my nights,
In the brightness of my days.

And if you’re traveling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
For she once was a true love of mine

written by Bob Dylan

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night/
It’s not like years ago.

R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming” is about the carefree days of our youth. Remember those fun days?  Not every time was great, but there are certain memories we have that are precious to us that are so vivid in our mind that we can see them play out as if they happened yesterday. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. imagines one such memory he had as a kid—a time he went skinny-dipping at night with his friends: or as he calls it “Nightswimming”.

Thinking about “Nightswimming” brings back feelings of nostalgia for REM and Stipe. It takes him back to that time. Regardless of the struggles he was having at the time, he remembers that time when he and his friends jumped naked into the lake and enjoyed their night together. It is a touching story about lost youth and memory.

The music goes so well with the lyrics, which is why this song is so resonant and beloved. The orchestration is tender, as is Stipe’s voice. We feel that this event was special to him. Although he does not describe the event in much detail, we still picture young kids cannon-balling off a pier naked into a lake in the moonlight. And it is a happy thought.  But his days of “Nightswimming” are behind him, as the fear of repercussions he would face as an adult lead him to simply remember the fun times as a young man. The feeling is bittersweet.

Nightswimming Lyrics

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago
Turned around backwards so the windshield shows
Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse
Still, it’s so much clearer
I forgot my shirt at the water’s edge
The moon is low tonight

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
I’m not sure all these people understand
It’s not like years ago
The fear of getting caught
Of recklessness and water
They cannot see me naked
These things, they go away
Replaced by everyday

Nightswimming, remembering that night
September’s coming soon
I’m pining for the moon
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit
Around the fairest sun?
That bright, tight forever drum
Could not describe nightswimming

You, I thought I knew you
You I cannot judge
You, I thought you knew me
This one laughing quietly underneath my breath
Nightswimming

The photograph reflects, every streetlight a reminder
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night, deserves a quiet night

written by Bill Berry / Peter Buck / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe

You’ll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley.

Think about a beautiful place. A field, a lake a park, whatever. Think of all the love stories that have taken place there. The promises made by young lovers that were so earnest at the time. It makes every visit to that place bring back those memories. That is what “Fields of Gold” is about.

A woman is in a field of barley where she remembers she once had a lover who she had spent happy times with in this field—a long time ago. While some things have changed, many things have not. She begins to be filled with feelings from the past as she looks at the field and the memories come rushing back.

Both Eva Cassidy and Sting’s versions of “Fields of Gold” are great, but Cassidy’s version is superior. It is sad that she never saw success during her lifetime. Her vocals are very restrained. You never hear vocal runs: she allows the purity of her voice to carry the melody. There really is a lot of music coming from just her voice and an acoustic guitar. It is remarkable. This is about as stripped down as you can get, but we don’t feel as if anything could be added to enhance the recording.

Fields Of Gold Lyrics

You’ll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley
You’ll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we walk in fields of gold
So she took her love for to gaze awhile upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me, will you be my love among the fields of barley?
We’ll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we lie in fields of gold
See the west wind move like a lover so upon the fields of barley.
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth among the fields of gold

I never made promises lightly and there have been some that I’ve broken
But I swear in the days still left we’ll walk in fields of gold
We’ll walk in fields of gold

Many years have passed since those summer days among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down among the fields of gold
You’ll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky when we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold, when we walked in fields of gold

written by Sting