Dirt Road Blues
Words and music by Bob Dylan
Released on Time out of Mind (1997)
Tabbed by Eyolf Østrem
The guitars in the original recording are playing high up on the fretboard, so I originally suggested a capo on the 5th fret and the chords E, A, and B. Then it is possible to play the little lick that runs through the whole song:
with E with A
: . . . : . . . : . . . : . . .
|-3b------0-----0-|-----------0-----||-3---------------|------------------||
|-0-----------2---|-----0---2-------||-2-------5---2-5-|---------2-5------||
|-1---------------|-----------------||-2---------------|-----4------------||
|-2---------------|-----------------||-2---------------|------------------||
|-2---------------|-----------------||-0---------------|------------------||
|-0---------------|-----------------||-----------------|------------------||
Note 1: it is mostly played on the E, but can occasionally be heard for
the other chords too.
Note 2: It is played with the tone on the 2nd fret, 2nd string, although
the 3rd fret falls more naturally, to me, at least.
Note 3: It’s easier and sounds better if the initial bent note is moved
to the second beat, so that the first beat gets a clear bass note.
Another option is to use the 076750 shape for the E. The open third string can be left sounding, since it produces the same clash as the first note in the lick, which leaves you with enough fingers to play a modified version of the lick, combined with the bass figure:
: . . . : . . .
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----7b--5-----5-|-----------------| (or 8 or 8b on the first note on this string)
|-------------7---|-----------------|
|-6---------------|-6---------------|
|-7---------------|-7-------5---7---|
|-0---------------|-0---7-----------|
For the B I’d suggest to leave out the lick an instead do the bass:
B7 E
: . . . : . . . : . . . : . . . :
|(3)--------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----
|-0---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----
|-2---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----
|-1---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----
|-2-----------0---|-2-----------0---|-2-----------0---|-2---0-----------|----
|---------2-------|---------2-------|---------2-------|---------3---2---|-0--
It may be easier to make an interesting solo-song out of it with no capo and something like the following bass line, which can be combined with a variant of the lick, an octave lower (or just play the bass line – that’s much easier…):
with A with D
: . . . : . . . : . . . : . . .
|-----------------|-----------------||----------------|-----------------||
|-----------------|-----------------||(3)-------------|-----------------||
|-5b------2-----2-|-----------------||-5b-----2-----2-|-----------------||
|-2-----------4---|-----------------||-0----------4---|-0---------------||
|-0---------------|-0---------------||----------------|--------0---3----||
|-----------------|--------0----3---||----------------|-----------------||
with E
: . . . : . . . : . . . : . . .
|-0---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----
|-5---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----
|-7---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----
|-6---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----
|-7-----------5---|-7-----------5---|-7-----------5---|-7---5---3---2---|-0--
|-0-------7-------|---------7-------|---------7-------|-----------------|----
Capo 5th fret (original key A)
E
Gonna walk down that dirt road 'Til someone lets me ride
A E
Gonna walk down that dirt road 'Til someone lets me ride
B
If I can't find my baby
E
I'm gonna run away and hide
Well, I been pacing round the room, hoping maybe she come back
pacing round the room, hoping maybe she come back
Well, I been praying for salvation
Laying round in a one-room country shack
Gonna walk down that dirt road, until my eyes begin to bleed
Gonna walk down that dirt road, until my eyes begin to bleed
'Til there's nothing left to see
'Til the chains have been shattered and I been freed
But I'm looking at my shadow, I been watching the clouds up above
looking at my shadow, watching the clouds up above
Rolling through the rain and hail
Looking for the sunny side of love
Gonna walk down that dirt road 'til everything becomes the same
Gonna walk down that dirt road 'til everything becomes the same
I keep on walking
'til I hear her holler out my name
Version with no capo:
A
Gonna walk down that dirt road 'Til someone lets me ride
D A
Gonna walk down that dirt road 'Til someone lets me ride
E7
If I can't find my baby
A
I'm gonna run away and hide