New Morning
A rare cover song for you
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In December of 2024, I took a long train trip from London to an auction house in Devon in the southwest of England to pick up a few dolls all of which were about 100 years old. They were in various states of disrepair and I’d been experiencing a kind of fever about antique dolls in various states of disrepair.
It’s pretty straightforward really. When the world around me becomes so disordered and mean-feeling, I find solace in repairing things. I wish I could repair hearts, too, like I sing about in “The British Invisible Mending Service.” But, being only human, I pull teddy bears from the actual trash and go on train rides to rescue dolls who have seen kinder times.
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While traveling on the train back toward London from Ashburton to Exeter, I sat across from an exceptionally tall teenage boy wearing headphones who was reading an actual book – Dune. I was a big fan of the recent film adaptation of Dune, so I thought I’d take a risk on some conversation. I was designing a doll sock knitting pattern, but the light was going and the needles were small. I interrupted the boy’s reading and asked if he’d liked the movie. Definitely a fan. Definitely a Timothee Chalamet fan. Chalamet plays the protagonist Paul Atreides in Dune.
I asked the boy if he planned to see Chalamet in the new Bob Dylan biopic. He said, “Who’s Bob Dylan?”
After my brain quietly exploded, I said, “He’s a folk . . .”
“Hero?” asked the boy.
“You could say that,” I said.
Then the train voice announced his stop and he waved goodbye.
Who is Bob Dylan?
WOW.
Because my parents were seventeen when I was born, I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Jeff Walker, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Simon & Garfunkel, Emmylou Harris, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and some outliers like Shelly West and Conway Twitty. I had my own music, too, like Cyndi Lauper and, so help me, Cutting Crew and INXS. We had family favorites like Talking Heads and Don Henry.
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But Bob Dylan. Well, he was the one. He had an answer for everything. He knew all of life. If you got on Bob’s bad side, he’d tell you “You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend. When I was down, you just stood there grinnin.’” If Bob loved you, he’d say, “Seen a shooting star tonight and I thought of you.” If he thought you’d done wrong, he’d send you up like William Zanzinger in “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.” If he thought you’d been wronged he’d sing for you whether you were the Hurricane, the Jack of Hearts, or JFK.
If you wanted to protest, Bob laid it all out in the hard rain and the blowing wind.
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Dad loved Bob Dylan. Our house sang with Bob Dylan records. My sister and I fell asleep in our bunk beds under Winnie-the-Pooh comforters with Bob Dylan’s voice drifting in from the living room. Bob Dylan is a character in one of the many songs I’ve written to honor my dad – “If I had your yellow bike, I’d ride it everywhere, singing Bob Dylan songs. We wouldn’t care. We’d be loud and we’d be free. You on a trip with me. You’re on this trip with me – just like you said you’d be.”
I can’t remember if Billy Kemp and I recorded Bob Dylan’s “New Morning” as a gift for my dad. I think that might’ve been why. The other day, I found this recording in an old email. Dad passed away in 2016 from leukemia and coming across old email exchanges with him is exciting sometimes and really hard other times.
I have no memory of learning this song or recording it. But I thought it the most fitting song to send to you right now. On a bright, cool day in Nashville with the leaves making shadow movies on my bedroom curtains, I appreciate being alive. I wish a lot of things were different about kindness and un-kindness, peace and justice, care for our human family and our earth. I don’t talk about it much, but these things upset and frustrate me, too. That’s why I like to find something to mend or to grow – one little better thing, a day at a time.
I’ve started some hollyhocks, I’m growing lettuce, I’ve just given an elephant toy a new ear, there’s a rabbit doll who needs mended trousers sitting right beside me, I have a bunch of songs brewing in my head, and I’m grateful to be here.
If your head feels a little cracked and your dress is dusty. If you hair needs brushing and your limbs are loose. If you feel like you’ve spent a long time forgotten in an attic, but you remember a time when you had lots of adventures and were held closely with love, this song is for you. I see you, my friend. Let’s see what we can mend together. Let’s look for that new morning.
With kindness and love, your friend,
Jeni
P.S. New Song Club Members (aka Paid Subscribers), you’ll receive a separate email with a download link for this song! Thank you, again, for helping me to license this song for release!
If you’d like to purchase this song as a single, you can download it from my shop!
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New Morning by Bob Dylan Can’t you hear that rooster crowin’? Rabbit runnin’ down across the road Underneath the bridge where the water flowed through So happy just to see you smile Underneath the sky of blue On this new morning, new morning On this new morning with you Can’t you hear that motor turnin’? Automobile comin’ into style Comin’ down the road for a country mile or two So happy just to see you smile Underneath the sky of blue On this new morning, new morning On this new morning with you Can’t you feel that sun a-shinin’? Groundhog runnin’ by the country stream This must be the day that all of my dreams come true So happy just to be alive Underneath the sky of blue On this new morning, new morning On this new morning with you So happy just to be alive Underneath the sky of blue On this new morning, new morning On this new morning with you New morning . . . Copyright © 1970 by Big Sky Music; renewed 1998 by Big Sky Music Jeni Hankins, vocals. Billy Kemp, guitar, harmonica, and vocals. Recorded January 2016.
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In Memory of my Dad, Greg Hankins, a dedicated fan of Bob Dylan and of storytellers and troubadours. You’re on this trip with me, just like you said you’d be.
A enthusiastic wave to all of the folks who’ve recently found my music and my Substack after my performance at NashYarnFest. WOW! I had a ridiculously wonderful time. Thank you for finding my Substack when you got home and for supporting my music! And thank you to everyone who kindly spoke to me over the weekend and also gave a tiny dolly handshake to my Mary Hoyer doll.
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While I was performing at NashYarnFest, I brought along ten of my rescue friends – nine bears and a monkey! I couldn’t believe that they all found homes. There were only two left before my performance at 1:00. Thank you for giving these fluffy friends a second chance and for keeping good and sturdy bears out of landfill.
If you’d like to read about how I became a knitter, you can find my article right here!
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