Question 1327: Is this some kind of a joke?

The opening verse of this song has been connected with the lynching of the three black men in Duluth, Minnesota in 1920. The 3 men were employees of a travelling circus and had been accused of raping a white woman. On the night of June 15, 1920, they were removed from custody and hanged on the corner of First Street and Second Avenue East. Photos of the lynching were sold as postcards.


Duluth was the birthplace of the artist/singer who has written the song. At the time of the lynching, the singer’s father, Abram, was eight years old, and lived two blocks from the scene of the lynchings. Abram passed the story on to his son.

The postcard

Which song/artist?

Answer: Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row"