Bob Dylan covers are nothing new, but when you’ve got a gorgeous and underrated original, and covers by The Beatles (well, John Lennon), Johnny Cash and Jeff Buckley, you’ve got something extraordinary.

“Mama” was originally recorded during the Bringing It All Back Home sessions in 1965, but wasn’t officially released until 1991 with the release of the excellent three-disc The Bootleg Series. The song is classic Dylan with a simple melody and chord structure and provides a perfect canvas for other musicians to paint their own style.

Although unreleased for so long, it was a live favorite - especially during the 1975 “Rolling Thunder Revue” tour (see below) - undoubtedly providing the source material for many of the artists below.

The Cash cover (pre-Rubin) is the only one who takes any real liberties, starting with the last verse and rewriting others. It’s pretty ballsy to take a red pen to Dylan lyrics, but as my girlfriend pointed out, he is Johnny Cash.

Original:

Bob Dylan - “Mama, You Been on My Mind” [Studio]
Bob Dylan - “Mama, You Been on My Mind” [Live]

Covers:

Jeff Buckley - “Mama, You Been on My Mind”
The Beatles - “Mama, You Been on My Mind”
Johnny Cash - “Mama, You’ve Been on My Mind”
Steve Howe - “Mama, You Been on My Mind”
Rod Stewart - “Mama, You Been on My Mind”
Jack Johnson - “Mama You’ve Been on My Mind / A Fraction of Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie”

Mama, You Been on My Mind

Perhaps it’s the color of the sun cut flat
An’ cov’rin’ the crossroads I’m standing at,
Or maybe it’s the weather or something like that,
But mama, you been on my mind.

I don’t mean trouble, please don’t put me down or get upset,
I am not pleadin’ or sayin’, “I can’t forget.”
I do not walk the floor bowed down an’ bent, but yet,
Mama, you been on my mind.

Even though my mind is hazy an’ my thoughts they might be narrow,
Where you been don’t bother me nor bring me down in sorrow.
It don’t even matter to me where you’re wakin’ up tomorrow,
But mama, you’re just on my mind.

I am not askin’ you to say words like “yes” or “no,”
Please understand me, I got no place for you t’ go.
I’m just breathin’ to myself, pretendin’ not that I don’t know,
Mama, you been on my mind.

When you wake up in the mornin’, baby, look inside your mirror.
You know I won’t be next to you, you know I won’t be near.
I’d just be curious to know if you can see yourself as clear
As someone who has had you on his mind.