"Drifter's Escape" is a song written by Bob Dylan that he recorded for his 1967 album John Wesley Harding.

Dylan wrote "Drifter's Escape" on a train in New York while traveling to the first session for the John Wesley Harding album.

[6] Biographer Clinton Heylin has noted that in writing "Drifter's Escape", Dylan found a new, economical style that allowed him to tell a five-act story in just three verses.

[3] He sang it again four days later in San Francisco, at which point the lines "The trial was bad enough/ But this was ten times worse" had particular resonance with those who considered that verdict unjust.

[5] "Drifter's Escape" has been recorded by several other artists, including Joan Baez, Billy Strings, and Jimi Hendrix.

[5][9] Hendrix' version was recorded in 1970 and appeared on Loose Ends in 1974, Stone Free in 1981 and South Saturn Delta in 1997.