He Was A Friend of Mine..

[Kajunite]

I am sure this has been done but I can't stop singing this haltingly perfect lamentation for Ennis.  Bob Dylan wrote this song some time ago but it is perfectly worded for poor Ennis at the end of the movie.

He Was A Friend of Mine.


He was a friend of mine,
He was a friend of mine,
Everytime I think of him, I just
  can't keep from crying.
Cause he was a friend of mine.


He died all alone,
He died all alone,
Just kept on moving, never
  reaped what he could sow.
And he was a friend of mine.


I stole away and cried,
I stole away and cried,
Never had much money; I've
  never been quite satisfied.
And he was a friend of mine.


He was a friend of mine,
He was a friend of mine,
Every time I hear his name Lord
  I just can't keep from crying
Cause he was a friend of mine.

I just getting to where I can sing or hum it without crying but when I think of the last scene of Ennis I start singing this song.  Perfectly worded.

[moremojo]

Hey there, Kajunite--

I love this song too, and find it fits the story's tragic conclusion perfectly. I had never heard of it, or heard any rendition of it, before seeing Brokeback Mountain. I tried looking it up some months ago in a book of Bob Dylan's lyrics I encountered in the bookstore, but was puzzled by not finding any mention of it there. According to Front-Ranger, another of our members, Dylan did not actually write this song, but heard it during his early folk days and wrote it down (I assume he also made a recording of it). Its authorship seems to be anonymous.

Rufus Wainwright's "Maker Makes", which immediately follows "He Was a Friend of Mine" during the closing credits, is another very poignant and apposite song for the film.

Scott

[bbm_stitchbuffyfan]

I love both "He Was a Friend of Mine" and "The Maker Makes" but, like the majority of songs on the Brokeback soundtrack, I cannot often listen to them because they make me really, really depressed and so hurt.

Heartbreaking, perfectly-fitting, and incredible come to mind as apt descriptions for these songs...

[Kajunite]

Hey friends...  I had heard this song before this but it was Willie Nelson singing it.  I have never heard Bob Dylan's rendition and that's just as well because Bob is not (in IMO) a very good singer.  The credits shown for the song said this was a Bob Dylan's song.  The print is so small in the song credits (at the very end of the credits) that it could be saying that Bob Dylan arranged this version, and that does not mean that he wrote it.  It fits the occassion very well.

[tamarack]

... Bob is not (in IMO) a very good singer. 

With Dylan, it's not the singing, it's the writing. (It's definitely not the singing...although some times are better than others.) 

[MaineWriter]

I posted the history on this song a gazillion years ago on the IMDb thread, but of course, that has long since vanished.

Back in 1960/1961, Bob Dylan showed up on the Guthrie family doorstep in NY, looking to meet Woody. Arlo (who was 13 at the time) answered the door and explained that his father was in the hospital. Woody Guthrie, at that time, was in suffering from Huntington's Chorea and spent the last decade of his life in a psychiatric hospital.

Dylan visited Woody in the hospital and began writing songs shortly after that. On November 20 and 22, 1961, Dylan recorded a number of songs, many of which became his debut, eponymous album, "Bob Dylan." "He Was A Friend Of Mine" was actually recorded at that time but not included on the LP. It was not released until 1991, on "The Bootleg Series, Vol 1-3."

Dylan did sing the song in concert and people were familiar with it. There are a number of other cover versions (including Willie Nelson's which is the most recent) that have been released over the years. including The Grateful Dead, Jerry Jeff Walker, and The Byrds, who turned it into a tribute to President Kennedy after his assassination.

Leslie

[Kajunite]

Thanks.  I knew Willie did not write it.  Now I know the whole score on the issue.  I am glad to know the full story.  It is a good song.

[MaineWriter]

Thanks.  I knew Willie did not write it.  Now I know the whole score on the issue.  I am glad to know the full story.  It is a good song.

The Bob Dylan version is actually very good...in early, reedy Bob Dylan voice, of course. Maybe he's an acquired taste, but I like most of his old stuff.

Leslie

[Jeff Wrangler]

Tell you what, I'm notorious for mishearing lyrics.

I thought, "He died all alone," was, "He died on the road," which just made things worse because it made me think of Ennis thinking of Jack's death, so that I could hardly stand to listen to it.

By the end of the theatrical run, I was rushing out of the theater as soon as the final shot faded so I wouldn't have to listen to it.

 

[Front-Ranger]

Thanks, Scott, for remembering and reiterating what I said. Bob Dylan wrote down quite a few old folk songs and recorded them. He is truly amazing. Has anybody listened to his new radio show?