Taken from the recording sessions for Bob Dylan’s 1962 debut solo self-titled studio album (though first seeing release in 2001, with a limited edition of Love and Theft) Thomas Stajcer has committed to posterity a recording of his own version of, “I Was Young When I Left Home.” It’s a drawn out version on the classic, swapping those bright finger-picked rolls for some sorrowful country crooning.
The song is a reworking of the traditional tune, “Nine Hundred Miles,” which has been performed, shuffled about, and recorded by nearly anyone who could pick up a guitar, though most famously by the likes of Ramblin Jack Elliot and Hedy West. It’s in the same category as the classic “In the Pines.”
For Dylan it boldly carries that image of the vagabond that he cultivated for his career, even proudly so despite the forlorn nature of the lyrics.
It’s well suited to plight of a travelling musician, and has since been covered by bands like Mumford and Sons.
For Stajcer, the melancholy of his delivery is deep, but purposeful. It’s an acknowledgment of a sacrifice, but an intentional choice all the same.
“This song has meant a lot to me since I first learned it as a 17 or 18-year-old, as all I ever wanted to do was leave my hometown for greener pastures. A decade [or more] on now and I’ve played the song hundreds, if not thousands of times and think I’ve developed my own take on it. The release is a live-off-the-floor solo acoustic take – the way I play it on stage,” explains Stajcer.
For the most authentic performances of this song by sure to catch Stajcer in the middle of his upcoming tour.
Tour Dates:
07.11.19 – Kentville, NS @ Maritime Express Cider Co.
07.20.19 – Hantsport, NS @ Hantsport Music Fest
08.10.19 – Wolfville, NS @ Wolfville Farmers’ Market
09.08.19 – Dartmouth, NS @ Sullivan’s Pond