There's a certain urgency that comes from the records of the early 60s before overdubbing and multitracking came into play.
“A farmer travelling with his load Picked up a horseshoe on the road, And nailed if fast to his barn door, That luck might down upon him pour; That every blessing known in life Might crown his homestead and his wife, And never any kind of harm Descend upon his growing farm.”
“I was separated from my wife at the time. A lot of people think I wrote it about prison.”