Bob Dylan – I Was Young When I Left Home (Guitar)

Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D) • Capo 1
Key
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Chords

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Written by: Bob Dylan Recorded in 1961 (Minnesota Tape) Released on the Bonus CD of “Love and Theft” (2001) and "The Bootleg Series, Vol 7: No Direction Home" (2005) Tabbed by: maguri Tuning: D-G-D-G-B-d + capo 1st fret / Standard tuning I don't really know whether a capo is used or whether the strings are tuned to the key one hears. For the sake of convenience, I’d suggest “Open G” and then use a capo to match Dylan’s recording (D-G-D-G-B-d leaves three strings as they are in standard tuning whereas one would have to retune all six strings for Eb-Ab-Eb-Ab-C-Eb). If you don't want to take the trouble of re-tuning the strings, I added voicings for standard tuning in the CHORDS section below. Dylan uses a Travis picking with many variations. I include a tab of the basic riff below that can be used to figure out a picking accompaniment or a version using a plectrum, too. capo: 1st fret play: G key: Ab ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basic Pattern
    G                                 Cadd9
    1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +  1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +  1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +  1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
d  |0---------0-----|----------------|----------------|------0---------|
B 1/3---------3-----|---------------1/3-----1---0—-(1)|------1---1-----|
G 2/4-----4-------4-|---------------2/4-----2---0---0-|------0---0-----|
D  |0---------------|0---------------|0-------------2-|----------2-----|
G  |0---------------|0---------------|0---------------|----------------|
D  |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|

                     D7
    1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +  1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +  1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
d  |------0---------|----------------|----------------|
B  |1-----1---1-----|1---------------|----------1-----|
G  |0-----0---0-----|2---------------|------0---2-----|
D  |2---------2-----|0---------------|------0---------|
G  |0---------------|0---------------|----------------|
D  |----------------|----------------|----------------|

    G
    1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +  1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
d  |0-----0---------|------0---------|
B 1/3-----3---------|------3---------|
G 2/4---------4-----|4---------4-----|
D  |0---------0-----|0---------0-----|
G  |0---------------|0---------------|
D  |----------------|----------------|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHORDS Because of the open tuning almost all the chords have a “g” as their root
        D-G-D-G-B-d                            E-A-D-G-B-e
G       x-0-0-4-3-0 and x-0-0-0-0-0-0          3-x-0-0-0-3
C       x-0-2-0-1-0 (= Cadd9/G)                3-x-2-0-1-3 (= C/G)
D7sus4  x-0-0-2-1-0 (= D7sus4/G)               3-x-0-2-1-3 (= D7sus4/G)
   or   0-0-0-2-1-0 (= D7sus4)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Intro] | G | % | % | C | % | D7sus4 | % | G | % | | G | % | [Verse 1]
      G
I was young when I left home

                           C
But I been out a-ramblin’ ‘round

      D7sus4                     D7sus4
And I never wrote a letter to my home

      G
To my home

            C
Lord, to my home

      D7sus4                     G
And I never wrote a letter to my home
[Verse 2]
       G
It was just the other day

                       C
I was bringing home my pay

       D7sus4                      D7sus4
When I met an old friend I used to know

          G
Said your mother’s dead and gone

                       C
Baby sister’s all gone wrong

         D7sus4                      G
And your daddy needs you home right away
[Verse 3]
      G
Not a shirt on my back

                  C
Not a penny on my name

       D7sus4               D7sus4
Well I can’t go home this-a-way

       G
This-a-way

            C
Lord, Lord, Lord

      D7sus4               G
And I can’t go home this-a-way
[Interlude] | G | % | % | C | % | D7sus4 | % | G | % | | G | % | [Verse 4]
       G
If you miss the train I’m on

                   C
Count the days I’m gone

         D7sus4                           D7sus4
You will hear that whistle blow a hundred miles

          G
A hundred miles, honey baby

          C
Lord Lord Lord

           D7sus4                           G
And you’ll hear that whistle blow a hundred miles
[Verse 5]
    G
I’m playing on a track

                           C
Ma would come and whoop me back

         D7sus4                    D7sus4
On them trestles down by old Jim McKay’s

       G
When I pay the debt I owe

                  C
To the commissary store

       D7sus4                         G
I will pawn my watch and chain and go home

   G
Go home

          C
Lord Lord Lord

       D7sus4                         G
I will pawn my watch and chain and go home
[Interlude] | G | % | % | C | % | D7sus4 | % | G | % | | G | % | [Verse 6]
        G
Used to tell Ma sometimes

                       C
When I see them riding blinds

      D7sus4                    D7sus4
Gonna make me a home out in the wind

       G
In the wind

            C
Lord in the wind

D7sus4                    G
Make me a home out in the wind
[Verse 7]
        G
I don’t like it in the wind

                    C
Wanna go back home again

      D7sus4               G
But I can’t go home this-a-way

       G
This-a-way

          C
Lord Lord Lord

      D7sus4               G
And I can’t go home this-a-way
[Interlude] | G | % | % | C | % | D7sus4 | % | G | % | | G | % | [Verse 8]
      G
I was young when I left home

                           C
But I been out a-ramblin’ ‘round

      D7sus4                     D7sus4
And I never wrote a letter to my home

      G
To my home

          C
Lord Lord Lord

      D7sus4                     G
And I never wrote a letter to my home
[Coda] | G | % | % | C | % | D7sus4 | % | G | G