St James is a hotel in London that Bob Dylan was staying in. It's on the site of an old hospital. There was a song first collected in the 18th century about a man dying of syphillus there, That song travelled around England and became a song about a dying sailor and a soldier. It travelled across to the USA and became a song about a destitute woman - Lament of a Bad Girl. It went westwards and became a song about cowboys. It went to the southeast and was taken up by Blind Willie McTell who made intot the Dying Crapshooter's Blues. Dylan knew the history of this song and it was this that he was capturing in the lyrics while he stayed on the site where the song first started
St James is a hotel in London that Bob Dylan was staying in. It's on the site of an old hospital. There was a song first collected in the 18th century about a man dying of syphillus there, That song travelled around England and became a song about a dying sailor and a soldier. It travelled across to the USA and became a song about a destitute woman - Lament of a Bad Girl. It went westwards and became a song about cowboys. It went to the southeast and was taken up by Blind Willie McTell who made intot the Dying Crapshooter's Blues. Dylan knew the history of this song and it was this that he was capturing in the lyrics while he stayed on the site where the song first started
@blackadders ‘The Unfortunate Rake’ aka ‘Streets Of Laredo’ aka ‘St James Infirmary Blues’.
@blackadders ‘The Unfortunate Rake’ aka ‘Streets Of Laredo’ aka ‘St James Infirmary Blues’.