OK, so I suppose I should keep my mouth shut, and admit that the bullies have beaten me into submission. But if I were to do that, I wouldn't be Joe Offer. My ex-wife called me "compulsively honest." She didn't mean it as a compliment, but I take pride in that nonetheless.

The Nic Jones arrangement of this song is absolute perfection, and I love it and have listened to it over and over. BUT (and I suspect Nic Jones might agree with me on this) I don't give a rat's ass who "owns" a song, especially the various arrangements of a traditional song. To my mind (and despite the laws of commerce), once a poem or a book or a song is published or performed, it becomes part of our literary culture. Many, many people read or listen to these poems and stories and songs, and they make it part of themselves. Despite what the law and the business world may say, I think a work of art moves into the public domain the moment it is received by a person other than the author. Despite economic and legal restrictions, I think it's the most natural thing in the world for people to take works of art and make them their own and to pass them on to others while changing them in drastic or subtle ways - as both Nic Jones and Bob Dylan did with this song.

When I hear a song I really like, I learn it and perform it for others - and I may learn a bit from various arrangements I've heard. I make a buck or two here and there for singing, but mostly I sing for the sheer love of it. I usually give attribution to living (and some dead) songwriters who authored a song, but not always. Can't say I've ever given credit to the "arranger" of a song, but sometimes I'll say I learned a song from a recording by so-and-so. But mostly, I don't care. I like certain songs, so I sing 'em - and I don't particularly care who has "ownership." Now, if Nic Jones can claim authorship of an arrangement of a song and win a lawsuit against Bob Dylan, more power to him - as long as he doesn't try to stop me from singing a song however I want to for the pleasure of it.

So all this folderol about song ownership and performers "stealing" songs from other performers, doesn't mean much to me. I just like songs, so I sing 'em the best I can. I guess I must be a goddam communist or something, but I don't care.

-Joe-