The Ballad of Jesse James

E775153

"The Ballad of Jesse James" is a traditional American folk song that recounts and mythologizes the life and death of the outlaw Jesse James.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
The Ballad of Jesse James canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf folk song ⓘ
associatedWith Old West folklore ⓘ
outlaw folklore ⓘ
basedOn historical events in the life of Jesse James ⓘ
characterizes Robert Ford as a coward ⓘ
collectedIn American folk song tradition ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States ⓘ
describes death of Jesse James ⓘ
killing of Jesse James by Robert Ford ⓘ
life of Jesse James ⓘ
firstLineVariant Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man ⓘ
Jesse James was a man who killed many a man ⓘ
genre American folk ⓘ
folk ⓘ
outlaw ballad ⓘ
hasForm strophic ballad ⓘ
hasNotableRecordingBy Bruce Springsteen ⓘ
Johnny Cash ⓘ
Pete Seeger ⓘ
The Kingston Trio ⓘ
Van Morrison ⓘ
Woody Guthrie ⓘ
influenced later outlaw country songs ⓘ
language English ⓘ
mentions Robert Ford ⓘ
meter common ballad meter ⓘ
mythologizes Jesse James ⓘ
narrativeFocus Jesse James ⓘ
portrays Jesse James as a victim of betrayal ⓘ
Jesse James as sympathetic ⓘ
portraysAs Jesse James as a Robin Hood figure ⓘ
refrainVariant For he’d killed many a man ⓘ
That dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard ⓘ
setting American Midwest ⓘ
subject James–Younger Gang ⓘ
bank robbery ⓘ
train robbery ⓘ
theme betrayal ⓘ
crime ⓘ
outlaw mythology ⓘ
social injustice ⓘ
vengeance ⓘ
timePeriodOfOrigin late 19th century ⓘ
transmission oral tradition ⓘ
usedIn American folk revival repertoire ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Chapter and Verse → featuresSong → The Ballad of Jesse James ⓘ