The Clown's Baby
Channel: Peter Hayward
Date: 2021-03-05

“The Clown’s Baby” was a poem written by Margaret Vandergrift at some point in the late 1800’s. While it was seemingly never set to music, the opening verse, meter, and themes of the song clearly served as the inspiration for Bob Dylan’s classic 1965 song “Desolation Row.”

Last month, I was approached by a Dylan fan that runs dylyricus.com, who had made this discovery while sifting through the John Lomax book "Songs Of The Cattle Trail And Cow Camp” in the mid 1990’s.

Now in 2021, for the first time, you can hear Vandergrift’s poem, “The Clown’s Baby,” set to the tune of the song it inspired, Dylan’s “Desolation Row.”

Performed by Peter Hayward

https://peterhayward.bandcamp.com/track/the-clowns-baby