Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd"

A few months ago, I got to thinking about Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd."  I should add a disclaimer that I don't know Guthrie's version (I think I heard it once, but that was years ago); I know only the Byrds' version from Sweetheart of the Rodeo.  I have Guthrie's version on CD, but I can't get the disc to work.

In transcribing the lyrics of the Byrds' version, I found multiple instances of parallel structure:

• "Then Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain; the deputy grabbed a gun"
• "And he ran through the trees and bushes; he lived a life of shame" parallels with "He ran through the trees and bushes on the Canadian river shore"
• "Was in Oklahoma city; it was on a Christmas day,"
• "'You say that I’m an outlaw; you say that I’m a thief'"
• three instances between "As through this life you travel, you’ll meet some funny men" and "As through this life you ramble, as through this life you roam" (along with alliteration between "ramble" and "roam")
• "Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen."

The first line also struck me as significant.  In the Byrds' version, it's "Well, gather ‘round near, children, a story I will tell."  I think it's pretty likely that this is where Bob Dylan got the idea for the first line of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" - "Come, gather 'round, people."  Both directly address the audience.

Those two lines by themselves aren't very convincing, but Dylan mentions Guthrie in two other songs, both on his debut album Bob Dylan.  One is obvious - "Song to Woody."  The other is more subtle.  In "Talkin' New York," there're the lines "Now, a very great man once said / That some people rob you with a fountain pen."  The "very great man" is Woody Guthrie, and "Pretty Boy Floyd" is the song Dylan is referencing.  The first two lines of the last verse (in the Byrds' version, at least) are "As through this life you travel, you’ll meet some funny men / Some will rob you with a six-gun and some with a fountain pen."  Granted Bob Dylan and The Times They Are A-Changin' are two years apart, but I think Guthrie's influence on Dylan was great enough that the connection between "Pretty Boy Floyd" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" is valid.

Incidentally, I've covered both "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "Pretty Boy Floyd," although both are based on other versions - Peter, Paul, & Mary's version of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and the Byrds' version of "Pretty Boy Floyd."