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John Wesley Harding was a friend to the poor, he traveled with a gun in every hand.

"Every" demands a minimum of three, Mr Dylan. The word you seek is "both".

Furthermore, given that "a gun", one gun, singular, shared between either "both hands" or "every hand", is not what you intend, the actual meaning is best expressed by "each" as in "John Wesley Harding was a friend to the poor, he traveled with a gun in each hand".

Note and digest, sir. Note and digest.

It is more poetic with 'every'

Besides, he traveled with a gang, and each of them likely carried at least one gun.

Back in those days, they would call the men in a gang 'hands'

LarsMac;1430508 wrote: It is more poetic with 'every'

Besides, he traveled with a gang, and each of them likely carried at least one gun.

Back in those days, they would call the men in a gang 'hands'


That's a good point. The ' Every' could be reference to not just him but his accomplices.

LarsMac;1430508 wrote: It is more poetic with 'every'The word you need is "familiar", not "poetic". I'm quite sure metrical perfection could accommodate "each" with a bit of textual juggling. Replacing "gun" with "pistol" would do it, for example: "he traveled with a pistol in each hand".





Besides, he traveled with a gang, and each of them likely carried at least one gun.

Back in those days, they would call the men in a gang 'hands'
Your point would be well taken were the gun not "in" the hand. The picture painted by "gun, "in" and "gang member" is bilious.

There is only one thing 'bilious' here, shall we take a vote ?

Týr;1430515 wrote: The word you need is "familiar", not "poetic". I'm quite sure metrical perfection could accommodate "each" with a bit of textual juggling. Replacing "gun" with "pistol" would do it, for example.



Your point would be well taken were the gun not "in" the hand. The picture painted by "gun, "in" and "gang member" is bilious.
Not necessarily.

If you have five crew members, then you have some combination of up to 12 hands with which to hold guns.

(Some may have lost one. It was after the Civil war, and many a limb got lost.)

Though with the exception of his days on the Abilene trail, he seemed to be more of a loner.

I think Dylan knew what he was doing. He was looking more for the way it flowed in the music than how it worked as English.

But then Harding was hardly deserving of all the praise Young Master Dylan heaped on him.

Had Bob wanted to write praise for folk heroes, he could have found someone more worthy.



One thing I did find Harding maligned over. His shooting a man for snoring.

I remember in my nights of trying to sleep in the barracks, I thought that snoring is something a man could deserve being shot over.

LarsMac;1430519 wrote: Not necessarily.

If you have five crew members, then you have some combination of up to 12 hands with which to hold guns.
I concede your arithmetic accuracy but note, if this is a road you insist on going down in your quest to be called a man, that you now have two mutually exclusive meanings of "hands" fighting for possession of the weaponry.

Further, if we now have three or more hands in which guns may be carried, your very quarrelsome heroes who are smoking out along the open road no longer fit the originally lonesome tone of Mr Dylan's three verses at all.

I stand corrected.

This is what comes from taking too seriously the the ramblings of a stoned wannabe poet.

LarsMac;1430521 wrote: This is what comes from taking too seriously the the ramblings of a stoned wannabe poet.I commend Mr Dylan's foray into his chosen medium, he shows promise. I shall watch and see where his fledgeling muse takes him.

bil·ious (blys)

adj.

1.

2.

3.

4. Having a peevish disposition; ill-humored.

I would never argue with or advise Bob Dylan. Seems like a big waste of time...............

And the princess & the prince discuss what's real & what is not..............

Classic. So much to ponder.

AnneBoleyn;1430548 wrote: Classic. So much to ponder.
And the only sound that’s left

After the ambulances go

Is Cinderella sweeping up

On Desolation Row