2006Released
3:17

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Interesting facts and trivia about Farewell, Angelina. By Songfacts®.

"Farewell, Angelina" was an outtake from recording sessions for Bringin' It all Back Home, Bob Dylan's fifth studio album. No one is sure why the song was left off the album, but Dylan gave it to Joan Baez, who made it the title track to her album released in October 1965. Baez included three other songs written by Dylan on the set. Dylan's version was thought to have been lost, or maybe to have never existed at all, until its release on The Bootleg Series in 1991.

This song is an important landmark in Dylan's evolution as a songwriter. As Michael Grey writes The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, "'Farewell Angelina' seems to introduce surrealistic language with a bang, in a new way for Dylan, whereas by the time of Blonde on Blonde he had adjusted that language almost out of recognition. In this sense 'Farewell Angelina' stands alone." One of Dylan's trademarks is embedding surrealist lines and strange images into otherwise mundane stories. With "Farewell, Angelina" there is no mundanity. The song is pure surrealism from start to finish. It starts with "bells of the crown" being stolen by bandits, and a tingling triangle. The second verse's "table standing empty by the edge of the sea" could be the title of a painting by the great surrealist artist Salvador Dali. And as Grey notes (also in the Bob Dylan Encyclopedia), it's the image that "encapsulates the song."

The song is composed of six verses, each with nine lines. In the seventh line of each verse, Dylan sings, "Farewell, Angelina," with a monotone, vaguely lilting resignation, subtly transmitting a great depth of emotional resignation with his understated vocals. The penultimate line in each verse describes the sky. First it's on fire, then trembling, folding, changing color, being embarrassed, and finally erupting. The final line in each verse is Dylan telling this unidentified Angelina that he must go, must leave, must go where it's quiet - each verse ends with a slightly different sentiment of departure. The song discusses the coming of an apocalyptic event, and insists that we must go. Given the apocalyptic feel of the song, and Dylan's penchant for referencing the Bible, the first-verse line "the trumpets play slow" may refer to the Revelation 8:7: The first angel blew his trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown at the earth so that a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Farewell, Angelina.
DKey
MajorMode
3/4Time Signature
146BPM

Album

The album Farewell, Angelina is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Farewell, Angelina.
Vanguard Records
© 2006 Vanguard Records
This Compilation ℗ 2006 Vanguard Records

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