Traditional / Arrangement Bob Dylan / 5:45
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Bob Dylan Garage Studio, Malibu, California: May 1993 / Producer: Bob Dylan / Sound Engineer: Micajah Ryan
In the World Gone Wrong liner notes, Dylan says he was introduced to “Two Soldiers,” “a battle song extraordinaire” by his friend Jerry Garcia. “Two Soldiers” is a popular English ballad that was brought over to the New World by settlers—all the way to Arkansas in the Deep South. The song was later used to evoke the horrors of the American Civil War. Consequently, it was also known as “The Last Fierce Charge,” as recorded by country musician Carl T. Sprague, sometimes called the original singing cowboy. In 1937, ethnomusicologists Alan and Elizabeth Lomax did a recording of Willard Johnson (later known as Uncle Willie), titled “Two Soldiers.” Mike Seeger’s adaptation for his eponymous album in 1964 was based on Lomax’s version, which later inspired the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band (Ragged but Right, 1987/2010), David Grisman (Garcia/Grisman, 1991), and finally Dylan, who reconnected with this piece through the protest songs of his early days. Dylan’s strength is to tell the story and capture our attention using the intonation of his voice. Note the slight saturation in some passages, especially at 3:49.