Ride so swift, rain won't lift
Gate won't close, railings froze
Get your mind off wintertime
You aint going nowhere.
Ooh, whee, ride me high
Tomorrow's the day my bride's gonna come
Oh, no, are we gonna fly
Down in my easy chair.
Buy me a flute and a gun that shoots
Tailgates and substitutes
Strap yourself to a tree with roots
You aint going nowhere.
I don't care how many letters they sent
Morning came and morning went
Pack up your money, pick up your tent
You aint going nowhere.
Ghengis Khan, he could not keep
All his kings supplied with sheep
We'll climb that hill no matter how steep
When we get up to it.
”You Ain't Goin' Nowhere” is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1967 in Woodstock, New York, during the self-imposed exile from public appearances that followed his July 29, 1966 motorcycle accident. A recording of Dylan performing the song was first officially released on the Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II album in 1971. An earlier 1967 recording of the song, performed by Dylan and The Band, was issued in 1975 on the album The Basement Tapes. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song in 1968 and issued it as a single. The Byrds' version is notable for being the first commercial release of the song, predating Dylan's own version by three years. The song has been covered by many artists, including Joan Baez, Earl Scruggs, Counting Crows, The Dandy Warhols and Glen Hansard with Markéta Irglová.
Starting in June 1967 and ending in October 1967, Bob Dylan's legendary writing and recording sessions with The Band (then known as The Hawks) in Woodstock, New York, were the source of many new songs for hungry fans and fellow artists alike. „You Ain't Goin' Nowhere” was written during this period and features lyrics that allude to the singer waiting for his bride to arrive and possibly, a final premarital fling. The original version found on The Basement Tapes album was recorded with The Band (minus Levon Helm who had temporarily left the group at this point) in the basement of their house in West Saugerties, New York, called „Big Pink”.
Dylan re-recorded the song in 1971, with Happy Traum playing banjo, second guitar and bass, for inclusion as a previously unreleased track on his Greatest Hits Vol. II album. The lyrics of the version included on Greatest Hits Vol. II differed significantly from the Basement Tapes version, and also played upon a mistaken lyric in The Byrds' cover of three years earlier (see below).