The Story In The Song Bob Dylan Talkin Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues

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An early and rarely recorded Bob Dylan song, only issued later in his career from Bootleg compilations. The song is mostly a spoken ballad, a proto-rap style used by Dylan’s hero Woody Guthrie and later by Arlo Guthrie in The Alice’s Restaurant Masacree. Dylan’s song is mostly comedic, with a political twist in the closing verse. It is based however on a genuine tragedy from 1904. Bear Mountain is a real place close to New York City, and it was once common for tourist groups to travel there by ferries on the Hudson River. In 1904 a leading church group organized and widely publicized a picnic on the mountain. It sold out and many people bought forged tickets too. The paddle steamer, The General Slocum sailed despite severe overcrowding and sank on route. 1,037 passengers and crew died. There were only 321 survivors. There are monuments in New York commemorating the tragedy including at least one near where Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) lived. The song plays the story for laughs. The narrator gets tickets for his entire family, including the children, but laments never getting near either the mountain or any bears. He describes how the boat looks too small for the 6,000 boarding, but gets on anyway and then describes the sinking. He centres on his own fate with little regard for the family, but captures the panic, screaming and fighting. The next thing he recalls is waking up washed onto the river bank. He exaggerates his injuries to include broken bones, being blind, bald and naked, but he get up and goes home, having rescued his picnic basket despite this. He goes on to talk of being put off public trips and picnics forever (Dylan has a reputation for reclusiveness). Any future picnics will be in his own house. Then comes his political footnote lines where he describes corrupt politicians and businessmen. He recommends signing them up for a boat trip to Bear Mountain, hoping for history to repeat itself. A fun song wildly different to the tragedy that inspired it. The song on Youtube. Arthur Chappell