Jesus Met The Woman At The Well

Written by 
Trad.
Released on 
Early Acoustic Dylan (–1965) and The Bootleg Series vol. 16: Springtime in New York 1980–1985
Tabbed by 
Eyolf Østrem

As played by Bob Dylan on the Gleason Tape (Feb or March 1961)

Dylan ends his performance by saying, apologetically, I don’t know this song. He knows it well enough to play two different versions of it, though: first one verse in G, then the whole song in A.

The G version is played in a rather square rhythm with constant alternation between G and C:

  G       C
  :   .   .   .
|-------------0---|
|-----0-------1---|
|-----0-------0---|
|-----0-------2---|
|-----2---3-------|
|-3---------------|

The version in A is more lively, with the following figure or some variant of it played where there is an A:

  A
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----5-5---5-2---|-----2-------2---|
|-----2-2---2-2---|-----2-------2---|
|-----2-2---2-2---|-----2-------2---|
|-----2-2---2-2---|-----2-------2---|
|-0---------------|-3---0-------0---|
|-----------------|---------3-------|

See the tab of the intro for more details.

Chords 
A       022225
D       xx0775
Dsus4   xx0785
D7      200212
G     C    G
Jesus
C       G     C    G
met the woman
C      G     C    G
at the well,
C      G     C    G     C
at the well
C     /g   /c
Jesus
/g      /c   /g   /c
met the woman
/g     G     C    G
at the well,
C      G     C    G
at the well
C      Em/b     /e    /b
And he told her
/e   C
everything
             G
that she had done

A

  A                                   D               Dsus4 D
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----0-----0-0---|-----0-------0---|-----5-----5-5---|-5---5---5---5-5-|
|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-------2---|-----7-----7-7---|-8---7---7---7-7-|
|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-------2---|-----7-----7-7---|-7---7---7---7-7-|
|-----2-----------|-----2-------2---|-0------(0)------|-----------------|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

Dsus4 D             D6    D7  D       A
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-5---5---5---5---|-7---5-8---5-5---|-----5-----5-5---|-----5-----5-5---|
|-8---7---7---7---|-7---7-7---7-7---|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-----2-2---|
|-7---7---7---7---|-7---7-7---7-7---|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-----2-2---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-----2-2---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-0---------------|-------------0---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-0-------3-------|

  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----5-----5-5---|-----5-----5-5---|-----5-----5-5---|-----5-5-5---5---|
|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-2-2---2---|
|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-2-2---2---|
|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-----2-2---|-----2-2-2---2---|
|-0---------------|-0-----------0---|-0---------------|-0---------------|
|-----------------|---------3-------|-----------------|-----------------|

A
Jesus

met the woman

at the well

At the well
D     Dsus4
Jesus
        D      Dsus4  D
met the woman
       A
at the well,

at the well
       E
And he told her
     D7
everything
           A
she'd ever done

E

He said, "Woman,"
He said, "Woman,
Tell me, where is your husband?"
He said, "Woman,"
He said, "Woman,
Tell me, where is your husband?"
And the woman
said to Jesus,
"I have none"

Oh woman,
Oh woman,
You have
three husbands
Woman,
woman,
You have
three husbands
And the one
that you have
is not your own.

Oh, this man
she said, this man
She said, this man
is a prophet
This man
this man
this man
he's a prophet
Cause he told me
everything
I ever done.

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