Who Killed Davey Moore?
"Who Killed Davey Moore?" | |
---|---|
Song by Bob Dylan | |
Written | 1963 |
Genre | Folk |
Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
"Who Killed Davey Moore?" is a topical song written in 1963 by American folk singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. Though the song was not commercially released on Dylan's several studio albums in the 1960s, it was popular in his repertoire for live shows during that era. Dylan's performance of the song at Carnegie Hall on October 26, 1963, would later be released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 in 1991, and an October 1964 performance is on The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall, released in 2004.[1]
Background
Davey Moore was an American boxer whose career spanned 1953 to 1963. Known as "The Little Giant", Moore stood at only 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm). On March 18, 1959, Moore won the World Featherweight Title from Hogan Bassey. Moore held the title for four years and three days, defending it five times before losing it to Cuban Sugar Ramos on March 21, 1963. During the fight with Ramos in Dodger Stadium, Moore was knocked down into the ropes during the 10th round. Moore lost by technical knockout at the end of the 10th round and Ramos took the title. Moore walked back to his dressing room and conducted post-fight interviews, stating his desire to fight Ramos again and regain the title. After reporters left he complained of headaches and fell unconscious. He was taken to White Memorial Hospital where he was diagnosed with inoperable brain damage. Moore never regained consciousness and died as a result of the affliction on March 25, 1963.[2]
Criticism of boxing
Following Moore's death, the morality of boxing was debated by politicians and religious leaders alike. The song "Davey Moore" by folk singer Phil Ochs, who described himself as a "singing journalist," offered a harsh criticism of the sport and those affiliated with it. However, Dylan's song delivered a more indirect message and a message that transcended the arena of boxing to include the enveloping society. In his typically ironic fashion, when Dylan introduced "Who Killed Davey Moore" during his October 31, 1964 show, he addressed the crowd:
This a song about a boxer...
It's got nothing to do with boxing, it's just a song about a boxer really.
And, uh, it's not even having to do with a boxer, really.
It's got nothing to do with nothing.
But I fit all these words together...
that's all...
It's taken directly from the newspapers,
Nothing's been changed...
Except for the words.[3]
Song structure and implications
Dylan's song borrows the structure of the children's rhyme Cock Robin. As Dylan takes the perspective of the referee, the crowd, the manager, the gambling man, the boxing writer, and Sugar Ramos he ends each line in the first person with the refrain
"It wasn't me that made him fall.
No, you can't blame me at all."[4]
Before the chorus, from most likely an objective voice
Who killed Davey Moore,
Why and what's the reason for?[4]
In each verse, the defensive party gives its reasons why it is free from culpability. The sum total of their arguments implies that the blame belongs to them all—the constituent parts of the boxing industry.[citation needed] In the final verse, Sugar Ramos—"the man whose fists, laid him low in a cloud of mist"—is referenced as coming to the United States "from Cuba's door, where boxing ain't allowed no more." In the first released recording of the song from a performance at Carnegie Hall in 1963, a portion of the audience can be heard cheering the invocation of Cuba's then-recent policy to ban boxing, among other professional sports. In Dylan's lyrics, Ramos concludes his defense by stating Moore's death "was God's will". These words were taken from Moore's wife Geraldine's statement upon learning of her husband's death.[2]
Pete Seeger sang the song in 1963 at the We Shall Overcome concert at Carnegie Hall (and recorded it on his 1963 album Broadside Ballads, Vol. 2), in a minor key, inserting the words in the refrain: "How come he died and what's the reason for?".
References
- ^ "The Bootleg Series, Vol 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964 (2004)". bobdylan.com. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- ^ a b Modesti, Kevin (27 July 2001). "Boxer's death inspired change in the fight game". San Francisco Chronicle. Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- ^ The introduction can be heard in Dylan's record The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall
- ^ a b "Who Killed Davey Moore? by Bob Dylan". bobdylan.com. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- v
- t
- e
- Bob Dylan
- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
- The Times They Are a-Changin'
- Another Side of Bob Dylan
- Bringing It All Back Home
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Blonde on Blonde
- John Wesley Harding
- Nashville Skyline
- Self Portrait
- New Morning
- Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
- Dylan
- Planet Waves
- Blood on the Tracks
- The Basement Tapes
- Desire
- Street-Legal
- Slow Train Coming
- Saved
- Shot of Love
- Infidels
- Empire Burlesque
- Knocked Out Loaded
- Down in the Groove
- Oh Mercy
- Under the Red Sky
- Good as I Been to You
- World Gone Wrong
- Time Out of Mind
- "Love and Theft"
- Modern Times
- Together Through Life
- Christmas in the Heart
- Tempest
- Shadows in the Night
- Fallen Angels
- Triplicate
- Rough and Rowdy Ways
- Shadow Kingdom
Contemporary |
|
---|---|
Archival |
|
Hits |
|
---|---|
Themed |
|
Box sets |
|
- Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991
- Vol. 4: The Royal Albert Hall Concert
- Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue
- Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall
- Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
- Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006
- Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964
- Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971)
- Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete
- Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966
- Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981
- Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks
- Vol. 15: Travelin' Thru, 1967–1969
- Vol. 16: Springtime in New York 1980–1985
- Vol. 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996–1997)
- From Newport to the Ancient Empty Street in L.A.
- Great White Wonder
- List of Basement Tapes songs
- 1967
- 1975
- England Tour (1965)
- World Tour (1966)
- Isle of Wight Festival (1969)
- Tour with the Band (1974)
- Rolling Thunder Revue (1975–1976)
- World Tour (1978)
- Gospel Tour (1979–80)
- European Tour (1984)
- True Confessions Tour (1986)
- Tour with the Grateful Dead (1987)
- Temples in Flames Tour (1987)
- Never Ending Tour
- Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour (2021–2024)
- Dont Look Back
- Eat the Document
- Renaldo and Clara
- Hard to Handle
- The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
- MTV Unplugged
- Masked and Anonymous
- No Direction Home
- I'm Not There
- Soundtrack
- 65 Revisited
- The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963–1965
- Trouble No More – A Musical Film
- Rolling Thunder Revue
- Shadow Kingdom
- A Complete Unknown
- Tarantula
- Writings and Drawings
- Chronicles: Volume One
- The Philosophy of Modern Song
- The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia
- Bob Dylan, Performing Artist
- Invisible Republic
- Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan
- The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan
- Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine
- Sara Dylan (first wife)
- Carolyn Dennis (second wife)
- Jesse Dylan (son)
- Jakob Dylan (son)
- Recording Sessions
- The Band
- Traveling Wilburys
- Electric Dylan controversy
- Artists who have covered Dylan songs
- Joan Baez
- Suze Rotolo
- Helena Springs
- The Telegraph magazine
- Festival
- The Concert for Bangladesh
- Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
- Hearts of Fire
- Highway 61 Interactive
- Theme Time Radio Hour
- Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan
- Chimes of Freedom (album)
- The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams
- Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes
- Bob Dylan Center
- Category