First printed in 1913 by blind Kentucky street musician Dick Burnett as Farewell Song, Man of Constant Sorrow has been a hymn, a bluegrass standard, a folk-revival anthem, a 1970 rock single and a multi-platinum movie hit. This episode treats the song as a biographical subject and follows it across more than a century, from an 1854 newspaper poem to a Cambodian pop cover.

We trace Emry Arthur’s 1928 recording, the Stanley Brothers’ fast 1951 version and Carter Stanley’s copyright claim, Sarah Ogan Gunning’s Girl of Constant Sorrow, Judy Collins and Bob Dylan’s rewrites, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, and T Bone Burnett’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? version sung by Dan Tyminski after weeks of George Clooney’s vocals didn’t work.

• Why Burnett himself wasn’t sure he wrote it
• How changing the lyric from blind to in trouble broadened its appeal
• The Primitive Baptist a cappella tradition the Stanleys grew up with
• Bob Dylan’s pointed lyric aimed at his girlfriend’s mother
• Why a song about misery makes crowds feel joyful