A large amount of writing and journalistic research has been devoted to trying to ascertain the true identity of who the "Girl" from the North Country might be, and has often been associated with one of Dylan's early girlfriends.
It is debated as to whom this song is a tribute: some claim former girlfriend Echo Helstrom,[2] and some Bonnie Beecher,[1] both of whom Dylan knew before leaving for New York.
[4] In her introduction to the Scaduto book of interviews, Stephanie Trudeau states that Rotolo was the likely inspiration for the related Dylan song "Boots of Spanish Leather.
'"[5] While in London, Dylan met several figures in the local folk scene, including English folksinger Martin Carthy.
Carthy exposed Dylan to a repertoire of traditional English ballads, including Carthy's own arrangement of "Scarborough Fair," which Dylan drew upon for aspects of the melody and lyrics of "Girl from the North Country," including the line from the refrain "Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine".
Musically, this song is nearly identical to his composition "Boots of Spanish Leather",[6] composed and recorded one year later for the album The Times They Are a-Changin'.
Todd Harvey notes that Dylan not only took the tune of "Scarborough Fair", which he learned from Martin Carthy in London but also adapted the theme of that song.
In the song, a supernatural character poses a series of questions to an innocent, requesting her to perform impossible tasks.
Harvey points out that Dylan "retains the idea of the listener being sent upon a task, a northern place setting, and an antique lyric quality".
[7] Carthy actually taught Dylan two English songs that would prove important for the Freewheelin' album.
Both songs displayed Dylan's fast-growing ability to take traditional melodies and use them as a basis for highly personal songwriting.
[9] Dylan was also hoping to make contact with his girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, unaware that she had already left Italy and was on her way back to New York.
Dylan worked on his new material, and when he returned to London, Martin Carthy received a surprise: "When he came back from Italy, he'd written 'Girl From the North Country'; he came down to the Troubadour and said, 'Hey, here's "Scarborough Fair"' and he started playing this thing".
Many Dylan fans have deliberated on who the mystery woman in the song really is, with some suggesting it could have been any of his former girlfriends, Echo Helstrom, Bonnie Beecher or Suze Rotolo.
But verse four turns the tables, supplying no concrete image and questioning the viability of such a reconstruction, primarily of himself ('if she remembers me at all') but, to some extent, of her as well.
An article by Nat Hentoff on folk music appeared in the June issue of Playboy magazine and devoted considerable space to Dylan's achievements, calling him "the most vital of the younger citybillies".
In an article accompanying the list, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards wrote: "While the British Invasion was going on, Bob Dylan was the man who really pulled the American point of view back into focus.
But their lyrics were also inextricably linked to Dylan's relationship with Suze Rotolo, whose absence had helped generate those songs fifty years before the Rome Concerts.
[22] The personnel for the album release is listed as: Technical Charts for response to album for The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan from 1963: Charts for response to Nashville Skyline in 1969: In 2017, a stage play was written titled Girl from the North Country and performed in England.