Well, another fine mess you've gotten us into, Stanley! To me, the grammar may or may not jar, and it's usually the grammar that can't be changed without ruin to the song that jars the most.

Sigh.

As for changes of person in ballads, it happens all the time. It's like reading a play without the stage directions. Sometimes the narrator takes over, sometimes the actor(s). Usually, it's fairly easy to keep track of who's speaking, though not always. I suspect that some variants are created by people who couldn't follow the action, or, worse yet, got the action wrong, and tugged at the strands here and there to fit what they thought ought to be the story. Voila! New version!

And where in "Don't Think Twice" does the phrase "That's a name I never knowed" appear? Not that the lyric is grammatical in toto, but I don't remember that particular line. A little help, please?

Bob Clayton