"Farewell Angelina" is a song written by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 in the middle 1960s, but most famous in the hands of Joan Baez

Joan Baez

Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....

.

Recording

Written in the middle 1960s, the song was planned to be included on Another Side of Bob Dylan

Another Side of Bob Dylan

Another Side of Bob Dylan is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released August 8, 1964 by Columbia Records....

and again for Bringing It All Back Home

Bringing It All Back Home

Bringing It All Back Home is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's fifth studio album, released in March 1965 by Columbia Records. The album is divided into an electric and an acoustic side. On side one of the original LP, Dylan is backed by an electric rock and roll band - a move that further alienated...

but failed to make the cut. During the first session for Bringing it All Back Home, Dylan attempted to record this song only once, but he abandoned all attempts to record the song again. Dylan's original recording of "Farewell Angelina" was eventually issued in 1991 on The Bootleg Series.

Joan Baez's Version

Joan Baez

Joan Baez

Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....

 included this song on her 1965 album Farewell Angelina

Farewell Angelina

"Farewell, Angelina" is an album by America folk singer Joan Baez, released in late 1965. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.-History:...

. Baez' version, though only about half as long as Dylan's recording, was very similar in structure and showed her moving away from pure folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 with the use of string bass accompaniment.

Tune

Although "Farewell Angelina" is basically a simple folk love song, some critics have questioned the meaning of some of the more obscure lyrics like "The Jack and the Queen have forsaked the courtyard / Fifty-two gypsies now file past the guards".

The tune seems to be inspired by the folk song "Farewell to Tarwathie".

Cover versions

In more modern times "Farewell Angelina" has remained a continuous part of Joan Baez' concert repertoire, being recorded twice for live albums during the 1980s. The song has also been recorded by the New Riders of the Purple Sage

New Riders of the Purple Sage

New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco, California in 1969, and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. Their best known song is "Panama Red"...

 (on Oh, What a Mighty Time

Oh, What a Mighty Time

Oh, What a Mighty Time is an album by the country rock band the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Their sixth studio album and their seventh album overall, it was released by Columbia Records in 1975.Oh, What a Mighty Time was produced by Bob Johnston...

), John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...

 (on Rough Harvest

Rough Harvest

Rough Harvest is a collection of alternate, acoustic arrangements of John Mellencamp's favorite tracks, as well as several covers. Recorded mostly in 1997 , the album fulfilled Mellencamp's contractual obligation with Mercury Records.-Track listing:# "Love And Happiness" -...

) , Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien (musician)

Tim O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello...

, Show of Hands

Show of Hands

Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots and folk duo comprising singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer. In recent years they have been accompanied on tour and in the studio by jazz double-bassist Miranda Sykes.-Origins:...

, and Danu's When All is Said and Done. German and French versions of the song have been recorded by Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...

. A rare acoustic version was recorded by Jeff Buckley

Jeff Buckley

Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...

 in the early 1990s. The Celtic jam band, Wake the Dead, recorded it in 2006 for their third album "Blue Light Cheap Hotel".

In 1997, this song was translated & released by Bengali Singer-songwriter Kabir Suman.

Pierre Delanoë and Hugues Aufray translated the song into the French under the title Adieu Angelina, which itself has been recorded many times.