Red Iron Ore Pits Aren't Red

Folk musician and American sing-songwriter Bob Dylan was seen as a controversial figure in the 1960's American folk music genre. Not only was Dylan the pioneer to include electric guitar into his folksy ballads (his critics called this incorporation a "disgrace" to the folk genre, since the genre is typically highlighted with its dense accumulation acoustic guitar), but he was also controversial because he used his music to incorporate concerning issues in society such as racism, poverty, and social change.
In 1964, Dylan released his third studio album called The Times They Are-a-Chanin', which brought to light the social and political upheaval that was occurring in America during the early '60s (hence the literal name: the times are changing). The entire album itself encompasses stark and often melancholy ballads; specifically the track "North Country Blues".
"North Country Blues" is one of the few songs that Dylan writes from a female's perspective. In general, the songs tells the story of what life is like for a woman living in an old iron mining town; yet, at closer consideration, the poem hints at a life of desolation and isolation.

Come an' gather 'round friends
And I'll tell ya a tale
Of when the red iron ore pits run a-plenty
But the cardboard filled windows
And old men on the benches
Tell you now that the whole town is empty

This first verse shifts tense in many ways. At first, when the speaker tells her friends to gather "'round", it is clear that we as readers are taken into the present. However, when the poet states that this is a "tale" of how the ore pits "run a-plenty", it shows that the story is not taking place in the past and that in the past, the ore pits used to be bustling with work until now, when the whole town is empty and are filled with cardboard windows (i.e.: when a place closes, cardboard is placed on the windows in order to show that the store is not working anymore). This contrast between the past and the present allows the audience to understand that the ore pits remain empty and desolate.

In the wee hours of youth
My mother took sick
And I was brought up by my brother

It's interesting to note how the poet mentions the words "wee" and "youth", which are two words that are synonymous to describing young age; it seems that by using these two similar words, the poet is highlighting the young age they were in when their mother became sick. It is also interesting to note that the poet does not explicitly state that their mother died -- only that their mother "took sick" and that their brother was left to take care of them. Yet, the fact that the poet was so young when their mother died and was left to be "brought up" by their brother pulls at the emotions of the audience, which highlights the melancholy that this iron ore town brought to the poet and how the poet coped with this loneliness.

The iron ore poured
As the years passed the door

This line, while short, encompasses a lot. Mainly, however, this line uses the word "passed" which gives the effect that the years entered and left the door in a very informal and almost sluggish way -- again highlighting how the poet feels isolated since they are paying such a high attention to the years passing by them.

And my school it was cut
As I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner

This is the first line in the poem in which the poet reveals their gender. The poet is a female because she was taken out of school to marry a man named John Thomas. This line is also very important in the poem's meaning because it shows the culture of the town. The poet was forced to "quit" school in order to marry, because she needed someone to take care of her after her mother and (eventually) brother died. In addition, this line also adds to the idea that this poem emphasizes the experiences of a life of desolation and isolation because the poet was ironically married to a miner -- it is clear that the men of this town had no other job besides mining, showing how the town in which the poet lived in was very structured and bland since it contained no other job besides mining.
After she marries John Thomas, the poet continues her story, explaining that after she had three children, the iron ore mine spontaneously and unknowingly began to fire its employees until it ran out of work because the iron moguls in the East moved the mining to the "South American towns / where the miners work almost for nothin'".

And more work was cut
and the fire in the air, it felt frozen

Similar to how the work was frozen because the mine  shut down, the fire that the iron ore used up felt frozen because it was no longer being used. In addition, the usage of the word "frozen" not only gives the meaning of the mine freezing its work, but it also gives the audience the experience of the town freezing up into an isolated place, since the mines (the only source of work for the people) were shut down.
Once the mines were shut down, the poet explains that "the sad silent song / Made the hour twice as long". Similar to how the "years passed the door," the silence and desolation of the town and the people that lived there added an extra sense of time and slowness to the days of the poet. She feels as though there is nothing let in the town to make the days go by faster.
Lastly, the poet explains that her husband commits suicide since he has no work, and she is left alone with three children and explains that her "children will go / As soon as they grow / Well there ain't nothin' here to hold them". Essentially, the poet knows that once her children grow up, they will leave her in this poor and desolate town because they will not have any jobs left to keep them in the town, since all the mines are closed; she is awaiting for them to leave her, and is dreading the day when she is left alone once again.