Felipa says there is more than one recording on YouTube of Phil Ochs singing "When I'm Gone." Well, yes, there is more than one YouTube video of Ochs singing the song, but almost all of the videos are the same four-minute-and-twenty-second live recording that appears on the There But for Fortune compilation. There are other Elektra CDs that have the song, but they all seem to be that very same concert recording. I can't find a date for the recording. There's another Elektra record called Phil Ochs in Concert, and it has that same 4:20 recording. The only other recording I can find, is the sloppy but interesting performance of the song by Phil Ochs and Arlo Guthrie. I really think there should be other recordings of Ochs singing this song, and I hope Mudcatters can find and post them.

Gerry says that he noted some of the differences in 2010. That's true, and Gerry's post was very helpful. But once we've gotten to a certain point in a discussion, it's good to post full versions of a song, identifying the sources and the differences between versions. I think we're at that conclusive stage right now. Please note that there is no one "correct" version of any song. Phil Ochs changed the song as time went on, and he had a right to do that. If we are to do accurate research of songs, we need to transcribe songs as they are performed in various performances, noting the differences and not necessarily insisting on a "correct" version.

You will find the song in Issue 128 of Broadside Magazine, January-June 1975:


WHEN I'M GONE (Broadside Magazine #128 - differences from DT in bold)
(Phil Ochs)

There's no place in the world where I'll belong when I'm gone —
And I won't know the right from the wrong when I'm gone —
And you won't find me singing on this song when I'm gone, —
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here!

And I won't feel the flowing of the time when I'm gone
All the pleasures of love will not be mine when I'm gone
My pen won't pour a lyric line when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

And I won't breathe the brandy air when I'm gone
And I can't even worry 'bout my cares when I'm gone
Won't be asked to do my share when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

And I won't be running from the rain when I'm gone
And I can't even suffer from the pain when I'm gone
And there's nothing I can loose (sic) or I can gain when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

Won't see the golden of the sun when I'm gone
And the evenings and the mornings will be one when I'm gone
Can't be singing louder than the guns when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

All my days won't be dances of delight when I'm gone
And the sands will be shifting from my sight when I'm gone
Can't add my name into the fight when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

And I won't be laughing at the lies when I'm gone
And I can't question how or when or why when I'm gone
Can't live proud enough to die when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

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Copyright 1965 by Barricade Music, Inc.