50. The Restless Farewell

©Bob Dylan 1964, Warner Bros. Arranged and adapted by Robbie O’Connell 1997

When the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were beginning their career in Greenwich Village in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a young Bob Dylan, newly arrived from Minnesota, became an avid fan of theirs. In particular, he admired Liam who was only five years older than him. He showed up at many of their performances in the village and absorbed several of the melodies of their songs which he adapted for some of his own songs such as Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie and The Restless Farewell, his reworking of The Parting Glass.

Fast forward to 1992 and the big celebration of the 30th anniversary of Dylan’s first album at Madison Square Garden with a star studded cast of musical luminaries. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and myself were invited to participate in the extravaganza that would be seen on live television by an estimated 500 million people around the globe. We had to pick a Dylan song to perform at the concert and clear it with the organizers in case someone else was planning to do the same one. Liam, surprisingly, picked When The Ship Comes In, rather than the more obvious choices of the above mentioned songs. He knew that it had been written after Dylan saw Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera and felt he had an affinity with it. While we were looking through Dylan’s songbook to pick a song, we realized that there were several possible candidates. This led to the idea of possibly doing an album of early Dylan songs, an intriguing if somewhat crazy notion. I worked up versions of Masters of War and The Restless Farewell. Liam worked up, Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie which had the tune of Brennan on the Moor. Other possibilities were Fare Thee Well, based on The Leaving of Liverpool and With God on Our Side, based on Dominic Behan’s Patriot Game.

However, the project fizzled out as the initial enthusiasm waned. Bobby and Paddy didn’t feel that comfortable with the concept and lost interest, although we did record Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie and When the Ship Comes in, on the final group album, Older But No Wiser, in 1995.

Liam liked my arrangement of The Restless Farewell so I recorded it on the first Clancy, O’Connel & Clancy album in 1997. My guitar is in Open D tuning.

Lyrics:

THE RESTLESS FAREWELL

©Bob Dylan 1964, Warner Bros. Arranged and adapted by Robbie O’Connell, Helvic Music 1997.¹

Oh, all the money that in my whole life I spent
Be it mine right or wrongfully
I let it slip gladly past the hands of friends
To tie up the time most forcefully.
But the bottles are done
We've killed each one
And the table's full and overflowed
And the corner sign
Says it's closing time
So I'll bid farewell and go down the road.

And every girl that ever I've touched
Oh, I didn’t do it harmfully
And every girl that ever I've hurt
Oh, I didn’t do it knowingly.
But to make amends
And remain as friends
You need the time to stay behind
And since my feet are now fast
And point away from the past
I'll just bid farewell and be down the line

Oh, every foe that ever I fought
The cause was there before we came
And every cause that ever I fought
I fought it full without regret or shame
But the time is not tall
Yet on time you depend and no word is possessed
By no special friend
And though the line is cut
It’s still not the end
I'll just bid farewell till we meet again.

Farewell…

1. PRODUCTION INFORMATION:
Robbie O’Connell—Vocal and guitar
Recorded and mixed at Ring Recording Studio, Ring, Co. Waterford, Ireland
Engineers: Bruno Staehelin, Martin Murray and Dónal Clancy
Produced by Liam Clancy, Robbie O’Connell and Dónal Clancy
Mastered by Gerry Putnam at Cedar House Studio, New London, NH