The Water Is Wide

To me, The Water is Wide is the best cut on new Fragments collection. The heartache in Dylan’s voice and the sensitive backup instrumentation accentuate the overwhelming sadness expressed in the lyrics. I thought this said it well.

One recording stands above all the others. The old folk song, ‘The Water Is Wide,’ was recorded during an early session at producer Daniel Lanois’ southern California studio, Teatro in Oxnard, on August 19,1996… Dylan has been singing ‘The Water Is Wide’ since at least the Rolling Thunder Review in 1975-1976, where Dylan and Joan Baez would sing it as a duet.This recording is exquisite, featuring Dylan’s intimate vocal and acoustic guitar playing, subtle guitar from Lanois and low-keyed bass and drums from Tony Garnier and Tony Mangurian; it’s never previously been officially released, and for me it’s perfect.

‘The Water Is Wide’ is a love song, a lost-love song. Actually, it’s more than a lost-love song. It’s a song that states that love cannot last. It’s profoundly sad.
https://rhythms.com.au/dylans-fragments-box-set-do-you-really-need-it/

Dylan has certainly known this song since he moved to Greenwich Village in the early sixties. Many credit Peter Seeger for its popularity, having included it on his well-known 1958 recording, American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 2. Dylan first sang it with Joan Baez during the first Rolling Thunder Tour. That version is available on the Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue. Dylan has also performed it during his on-going Never-Ending Tour.

The song is very old. It’s related to a Scottish ballad, Oh Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny.

And wale' wale' up yon Bank,
And wale' wale' down yon brae.
And wale' wale' by yon River's side,
Where my love and I was wont to gae.

Wale' wale' gin Love be bonny,
A little while when it's new.
But when it's old, it waxes cauld,
And wears away, like morning Dew.

I leant my back unto an Oak, 
I thought it was a trusty tree. 
But first it bow'd and sine it Brake 
And sae did my true love to me.

When Cockle Shells turn Silver Bells,
and Mussles grow on ev'ry tree,
When Frost and Snaw shall warm us a'
Then shall my Love prove true to me.

It’s been covered by pretty much everybody, although not everybody does the exact same version. Dylan’s version has an extra verse compared to the one done by Joan Baez on her album Early Baez.

Fragments and Live 1975

The water is wide and I can't cross over
Neither have I wings that I could fly
Build me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row my love and I.

There is a ship and it sails on the sea
Loaded deep as deep can be
But not as deep as the love I'm in
I know not if I sink or swim.

I leaned my back up against an oak
Thinkin' it was a trusty tree
But first it bent and then it broke
Just like my own false love to me.

Oh love is gentle, love is kind
Gay as a jewel when first it's new
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like some morning dew.

The water is wide and I can't cross over
Neither have I wings to fly
Build me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row my love and I

Early Baez

The water is wide, I cannot get o'er
Neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall cross my true love and I

I lean'd my back against an oak
Thinking it was a mighty tree
But first it bent and then it broke
So did my love prove false to me

I put my hand in some soft bush
Thinking the sweetest flow'r to find
I prick'd my finger to the bone
And left the sweetest flow'r behind

O love is handsome and love is kind
Gay as a jewel when it is new
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like the morning dew

The water is wide, I cannot get o'er
Neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall cross my true love and I

Dylan said in the Biograph liner notes that he based Lay Down Your Weary Tune on a Scottish ballad, so the inspiration definitely could have been The Water Is Wide.

I wrote that on the West Coast, at Joan Baez’s house. She had a place outside Big Sur. I had heard a Scottish ballad on an old 78 record that I was trying to really capture the feeling of, that was haunting me. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I wanted lyrics that would feel the same way.

The two songs definitely sound similar. Todd Harvey in his The Formative Bob Dylan documents in some detail the musical and lyrical similarities.

Some sources claim that Waly, Waly is based on a real-world event. Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton sang Waly Waly on their 2015 CD Declaration. They write in the liner notes:

This song is of Scottish origin, and this version is related to Jamie Douglas, a Child Ballad. The song was written, in some form, after the scandalous marriage breakup of James Douglas, the 2^nd Marquis of Douglas, from his wife Barbara Erskine. A man named Lowrie of Blackwood (who may have courted Barbara unsuccessfully) began a rumour that she was adulterous, resulting in her rejection by her husband and her return to her family. In this version of the song, she doesn’t go quietly. We learned this from the singing of June Tabor.

Clinton Heylin in his book Revolution in the Air notes that Dylan borrowed a phrase – “if I had wings I could fly” – from The Water is Wide for his Watching the River Flow. Good catch.

Wish I was back in the city
Instead of this old bank of sand
With the sun beating down over the chimney tops
And the one I love so close at hand
If I had wings and I could fly
I know where I would go
But right now I’ll just sit here so contentedly
And watch the river flow

See “Further Reading” below for links to additional information.