# Bob Dylan Song -- Why Boots of Spanish Leather? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393 "2013-01-16T16:54:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/1 "2013-01-16T16:54:16Z")
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: > [@](#): > > So take heed, take heed of the western winds > Take heed of the stormy weather > And yes, there’s something you can send back to me > Spanish boots of Spanish leather Full lyrics [here](http://lyrics.wikia.com/Bob_Dylan:Boots_Of_Spanish_Leather). 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. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/2 "2013-01-16T16:59:08Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > I’m not even sure what Spanish leather is, so that could be part of it. I mean, obviously it’s leather from Spain, but is Spanish leather supposed to be especially high quality or something? That’s what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/3 "2013-01-16T17:10:09Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > I mean, obviously it’s leather from Spain, but is Spanish leather supposed to be especially high quality or something? That’s what I meant. Yes, in particular [Cordovan leather](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_cordovan), originally from Cordoba. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/4 "2013-01-16T17:24:03Z")
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_’. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/5 "2013-01-16T17:41:25Z")
Probably she wants the boots so she can move on. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/6 "2013-01-16T17:47:38Z")
No doubt ol’ Bob would have chuckled and told you that whatever the song means to you, well, I guess that’s what it was supposed to mean. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/7 "2013-01-16T19:15:23Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Probably she wants the boots so she can move on. And one of these days she’s gonna walk all over HIM! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/8 "2013-01-16T19:54:37Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![epolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@epolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epolo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/9 "2013-01-16T20:28:08Z")
I’ve always thought that it’s an allusion to the Woody Guthrie song “[Gypsy Davy](http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Gypsy_Davy.htm)”. 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. ---
**Author:** ![epolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@epolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epolo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/10 "2013-01-16T21:38:52Z")
Sorry for the double-post, but a bit more Googling turns up the [traditional roots](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gypsy_Laddie) 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](http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_carter_family/black_jack_david.html)”) 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. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/11 "2013-01-16T21:49:39Z")
Black Jack David reminds one of [I’m Seventeen come Sunday.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeen_Come_Sunday) ---
**Author:** ![epolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@epolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epolo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/12 "2013-01-16T22:18:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Black Jack David reminds one of [I’m Seventeen come Sunday.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeen_Come_Sunday) 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](http://www.thecopperfamily.com/songs/coppersongs/as.html)” that mentions “shoes…of Spanish leather”. As I Walked Out seems like a version of Seventeen Come Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/13 "2013-01-17T07:48:13Z")
She was going to ask for boots made of rich Corinthian leather, but as everybody knows, that’s only for cars. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/14 "2013-01-17T07:54:46Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > She was going to ask for boots made of rich Corinthian leather, but as everybody knows, that’s only for cars. Hmmm, I got the sense that Ricardo (or was it Ferando?) had some, er, disciplinary instruments made of fine Corinthian leather. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/15 "2013-01-17T12:12:08Z")
> [@epolo](#): > > Not all versions of the song mention Spanish leather, but the Carter Family seems to have recorded a version of it (“[Black Jack David](http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_carter_family/black_jack_david.html)”) 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. Dylan also recorded a version of this song, as [Black Jack Davey](http://www.metrolyrics.com/blackjack-davey-lyrics-bob-dylan.html). “_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. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/16 "2013-01-17T12:48:48Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/17 "2013-01-17T16:00:44Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Edgar\_Allan\_Foe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c0e974/32.png) [@Edgar\_Allan\_Foe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edgar_Allan_Foe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/18 "2014-01-21T20:37:12Z")
You’ve got the genders reversed. “I got a letter on a lonesome day / it was from her ship a-sailing” **She** is sailing away. **He** wants nothing more than for her to come back. ---
**Author:** ![epolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@epolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epolo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/19 "2014-01-21T21:56:05Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Parenchyma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393/20 "2014-01-21T23:14:08Z")
I love the [Nanci Griffith version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1KxthvX1Ms) of this song. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-dylan-song-why-boots-of-spanish-leather/647393.md?page=2)