Concetti Chiave
- Lord Randal is a well-known ballad involving a conversation between Randal and his mother, suspecting poisoning by his "true-love."
- The ballad reveals Randal's distribution of wealth to his family and his curse upon the girl who poisoned him.
- Bob Dylan's version, "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," maintains the ballad's question-and-answer format but focuses on a nuclear threat.
- Both ballads share a tragic theme and musical accompaniment, but differ in context: personal betrayal versus global catastrophe.
- Dylan's adaptation reflects his anti-nuclear stance, diverging from the medieval themes of hunting and romance.
Lord Randal
It is one of the most popular ballads in western culture.
The ballad opens with two people speaking, Randal and his mother. There is no precise reference to where and when the conversation is taking place, maybe in a castle at late afternoon since the man has just come back from hunting.
Lord Randal's mother suspects her son has been poisoned. Her suspect is reinforced by the fact that Randal's dog and hawk died after eating the remains of his meal.
Bob Dylan’s version of Lord Randal
Each stanza opens with a question; Dylan questions his son on where he has been, what he has seen and heard, who he has met, what he is going to do. His answers are full of words which recall death and sufferings .
Lord Randal and a Hard Rain's a gonna Fall are both ballads and they have a similar structure made of questions and answers ending with a refrain. Both ballads are accompanied by music and have a colloquial language. They both deal with a tragic theme but they are different in their meaning. In Lord Randal we find an handsome young man poisoned by his false "true-love" who is probably going to die, while in Dylan's version we find a radioactive dust in the air after a nuclear explosion. This version is more pessimistic because the desperation is global and it is the end of everything.
With his ballad Dylan wants to express he is against the nuclear threat and he is away from the original medieval ballad made of hunting, dogs, hawks and true loves.
Domande da interrogazione
- ¿Cuál es la sospecha de la madre de Lord Randal sobre su hijo?
- ¿Cómo se diferencia la versión de Bob Dylan de la balada original de Lord Randal?
- ¿Qué quiere dejar Lord Randal a su "verdadera amada" después de descubrir que lo ha envenenado?
La madre de Lord Randal sospecha que su hijo ha sido envenenado, ya que el perro y el halcón de Randal murieron después de comer los restos de su comida, lo que refuerza su sospecha de que la "verdadera amada" de Randal lo ha envenenado.
La versión de Bob Dylan, "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", utiliza una estructura similar de preguntas y respuestas, pero aborda un tema más pesimista relacionado con la amenaza nuclear, en contraste con la historia de amor traicionero y envenenamiento de la balada original.
Después de darse cuenta de que su "verdadera amada" lo ha envenenado, Lord Randal desea dejarle "infierno y fuego", queriendo condenarla por su traición.
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