The song “Boots of Spanish Leather” off of Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ is mostly a dialogue between two lovers, one of which is leaving the following day on a long trip overseas. He asks her if she’d like him to bring anything back for her, and she replies (over and over again, finally getting a little mad about it) that all she wants is him back again, safe, with her.
Finally, at the end of the song, he’s gone, and she gets a letter from him telling her that he’s probably not coming back at all. She writes back in the last verse:
My question – why, specifically, Spanish boots of Spanish leather? Is it just a generic “screw you” and could really have been anything (as long as it scanned)? Or is there some other meaning that I’m missing?
I’m not even sure what Spanish leather is, so that could be part of it.
Beautiful song. Inspired by Dylan’s girlfriend Suze Rotolo, who left him heartbroken in the summer of 1962 when she left for Italy to study art. Rotolo wrote an interesting book about their relationship. She passed away just last year. She’s the girl with him on the cover of Freewheelin’.
I think it may be because Dylan’s reputation is overrated. I feel sometimes he writes a few lines, get stuck for a rhyme, and then just throws in a nonsense line rather than work on coming up with something that fits. And his fans, rather than calling him out for half-assing his lyrics, assume that anything that doesn’t make sense must have some deep hidden meaning.
I’ve always thought that it’s an allusion to the Woody Guthrie song “Gypsy Davy”. It’s a thematically similar song and Bob borrowed a lot from Woody. The song ends with the jilted husband asking his wife to remove her Spanish leather gloves and ride home with him and her refusing.
Sorry for the double-post, but a bit more Googling turns up the traditional roots of the Gypsy Davy song (not totally surprising). Not all versions of the song mention Spanish leather, but the Carter Family seems to have recorded a version of it (“Black Jack David”) at least as far back as the '30s that refers to “high-heeled shoes…of Spanish leather”. Which means that Bob’s use of boots is a return to tradition.
Neat. I was just letting folk songs with Spanish leather lead me on a merry chase through the interwebs and I stumbled over a version of “As I Walked Out” that mentions “shoes…of Spanish leather”. As I Walked Out seems like a version of Seventeen Come Sunday.
Dylan also recorded a version of this song, as Black Jack Davey.
“Pull off, pull off them high-heeled shoes
All made of Spanish leather”
If you consider the two songs together, one possible interpretation is that Boots of Spanish Leather continues the story of Black Jack Davey and the young lady.
I didn’t know about the reference to Guthrie’s work, which makes a lot of sense given Dylan’s deep appreciation for him. I’ve always interpreted that as “you’re probably not coming back, and if you do it’s longer than I’m going to wait, so send me something that will last and I’m moving on.”
I like that. All the allusions to prior songs probably informed the choice as well, but I hadn’t made the connection that Spanish leather = something that will last (unlike this relationship). I can totally see that.
I think we’re all clear on the genders. There seem to be a whole series of variations of songs about women leaving men that all mention “Spanish leather” in some way. Not sure why there’s a connection between unfaithful women and Spanish leather, though. Unless as Bob suggests, it’s a contrast between something impermanent and something especially durable.
Mostly I’m just responding to quote this, though:
“If it was never new and it never gets old, then it’s folk music”
-Llewyn Davis