You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Bedroom Demo #248) (Patreon)

You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

(written by Bob Dylan ) as interpreted by The Byrds

Clouds so swift, rain won't lift
Gate won't close, railing's froze
Get your mind off wintertime
You ain't goin' nowhere

Ooh-wee, ride me high
Tomorrow's the day my bride's gonna come
Oh-ho, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair?

I don't care how many letters they sent
The morning came, the morning went
Pack up your money, pack your tent
You ain't goin' nowhere

Ooh-wee, ride me high
Tomorrow's the day my bride's gonna come
Oh-ho, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair?

Buy me a flute and a gun that shoots
Tailgates and substitutes
Strap yourself to a tree with roots
You ain't goin' nowhere

Ooh-wee, ride me high
Tomorrow's the day my bride's gonna come
Oh-ho, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair?

Now Genghis Khan, he could not keep
All his kings supplied with sleep
We'll climb that hill, no matter how steep
When we get up to it

Ooh-wee, ride me high
Tomorrow's the day my bride's gonna come
Oh-ho, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair?

guitar and vocals: T.S. Taylor

note:

I first heard “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” the opening tract on The Byrd’s country-influenced album Sweetheart Of the Rodeo, the year of its release in 1968. I was immediately captivated by the song’s catchy melody and somewhat enigmatic lyrics. "YAGN" was composed by Bob Dylan during his self-imposed exile following a motorcycle accident in July of 1966, and he would later record it, accompanied by The Band, on 1975’s “The Basement Tapes.”

While the mid 60’s folk music revival, and later The Beatles and The Beach Boy’s recordings, were primarily responsible for inspiring my desire to become a songwriter, it was Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, along with Buffalo Springfield’s self-titled first album (1966), Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s self-titled first album (1969), Hums Of The Lovin’ Spoonful (1966), Donavan’s A Gift From A Flower To A Garden, (1967), The Beatle’s Rubber Soul (1965), Dylan’s Nashville Skyline (1969), and Dylan and The Band’s Basement Tapes, which most influenced my songwriting during the mid to late seventies. Many of the songs written for Daniel Amos’s first record came out of this period, and the album itself, while thought of as primarily a country-rock record, reflected my love of an eclectic array of the songwriting styles I was exploring at the time and which I hoped to more broadly explore in the future. Hums Of The Lovin’ Spoonful, for example, is indicative of where I wanted to creatively take Daniel Amos. The Spoonful’s eclectic mix of 60’s pop, Americana, jug band music, and rock, along with John Sebastion’s clever, thoughtful lyrical word play and hook-laden music beds, evocative of everything from haunting melancholy to satire (while still managing to maintain a sense of cohesiveness), was everything I could hope to find in a pop record.

The intrigue of 60’s pop bands such as The Byrds and the Beau Brummels (Bradley’s Barn, 1968), defying expectations by each recording a classic country-inspired album to add to their discography, was alluring to me. While Daniel Amos essentially did the reverse by stepping outside the country rock idiom to explore broader creative horizons, it was not only our love of various styles of music, but the fun of taking listeners to new, unexpected places, which inspired our musical adventurousness. I am thankful and humbled that there are still a number of loyal supporters who, after all these years, are still happy to join me in the adventure. God is truly good.