"alone with three children." The stores have all closed and her children "will go, as soon as they grow," because "there ain't nothing here now to hold them." Dylan hides the fact that the narrator is a woman to the end of verse four. The song ends bleakly, as by this time the woman has lost her husband, mother, father and brother; the mine is closed and the town is virtually abandoned; and soon her children will leave her in complete isolation and desolation. According to writer M. Marqusee, this apparently restricting and morose format, referred to as a "formally conservative exercise in first-person narrative", Dylan manages to achieve significant tonal and expressive variation. Cover versions In 1968, Joan Baez included a performance of "North Country Blues" on her Dylan tribute album Any Day Now. See also Iron Range Notes Songs written by Bob Dylan Bob Dylan songs 1964 songs Joan Baez songs Song recordings produced by Tom Wilson (record producer)