Dylan's love songs

[ken]

I was chatting with a friend the other day and I said, "Man, I don't know if there's anyone out there who has written more love songs than Bob Dylan."� My friend looked at me and said, "What?� Dylan doesn't write love songs..."

Well, of course Dylan writes love songs, and he's written lots.� So I thought I'd post this here and kick off a list.� Add a number and a song title...define "love song" by whatever parameters float your boat.� And I still wonder...has anyone written more love songs that Bob Dylan?

1.� To Make you Feel My Love

ken

[Dr_dudley]

On Apr 22, 6:55 pm, dylanl...@yahoo.com (ken) wrote:
hey ken,

i'll add a couple few since i'm sporadic hearabouts.

1. To Make you Feel My Love

2. Girl From The North Country
5. I'll Keep It With Mine
9. Sara

Add track

[Bernie Woodham]

I'm not too familiar with your numbering system.

I was going to put "She Belongs to Me"

Only one I can think of right now.

[Bernie Woodham]

Damn, I got to be knackered. "Visions of Johanna"

I think that stands as a love song.

[Dr_dudley]

On Apr 23, 3:33 am, Bernie Woodham <birnhamw...@insightbb.com> wrote:

the numbering system i used was just based on the track number of the
recording i took them from. nothing other of significance. i'll emend
it so we can tally. ho.

1. To Make you Feel My Love
2. Girl From The North Country

3. I'll Keep It With Mine
4. Sara
5. She Belongs to Me
6. On a Night Like This

[chris]

to add to the others


tomorrow is such a long time
nettie moore
brownsville girl

and the ever painful "Forgetful Heart"

[gemjack]

I thought they were all protest songs. But to me there's one that
stands above all others in terms of spewing forth unconditional
devotion and loooove:

Wedding Song.
-gj

[really real]

Back around the time of Bringing It All Back Home, I used to fantasize
about an album of Dylan's love songs as way to make him more
commercially successful. The album would include Love Minus Zero, She
Belongs to Me, It's All Over Now Baby Blue, and the love songs from
Freewheelin'.

[really real]

On 4/23/2013 1:39 PM, poisoned rose wrote:
> really real <reall...@shaw.ca> suggested:

>
>> It's All Over Now Baby Blue
>

> More trollbait, I guess.
>

>
Don't be so anal, poisoned rose.

I was also going to include "It Aint Me Babe." It would be all the songs
on the topic of love.

I wouldn't include Visions of Johanna though, because it's a song about
visions and not a song about love.

[Martin Grossman]

I'd call it an anti-love sing, just as Yossarian is the anti-hero of
Catch-22.

On 4/23/2013 4:07 PM, poisoned rose wrote:

> Still wondering what could make "Baby Blue" a love song. Though you'll
> probably just duck the question and call me "anal" some more.
>


--
Martin Grossman
www.martingrossman.net

[really real]

> I'd call it an anti-love sing, just as Yossarian is the anti-hero of
> Catch-22.

It's a breakup song. How can someone not know this?

[really real]

On 4/23/2013 5:24 PM, poisoned rose wrote:
> really real <reall...@shaw.ca> baited:

>
>> It's a breakup song. How can someone not know this?
>

> I guess this is just another case of RR living in his own world, making
> his own definitions for terms and then assuming everyone else will go
> along with them. A recurrent pattern (see "poetic," for instance).
>


It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - what do you think the song is about?

Have we ever heard you be specific here about the lyrical content of a song?

Why are you attacking me without you saying anything about the song?

[c r]

something there is about you.

[c r]

you're gonna make me lonesome when you go.

[Dr_dudley]

1. To Make you Feel My Love
2. Girl From The North Country

3. I'll Keep It With Mine
4. Sara
5. She Belongs to Me
6. On a Night Like This

7. Visions of Johanna
8. Tomorrow Is a Long Time
9. Nettie Moore
10. Brownsville Girl
11. Forgetful Heart"
12. Wedding Song
13. Love Minus Zero
14. It's All Over Now Baby Blue
15. It Aint Me Babe
16. Something There Is About You
17. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

Carry on. As you were.

rdd

[Bernie Woodham]

I'd think Simple Twist of Fate would be a love song:

"People tell me it's a sin
To know and feel too much within
I still believe she was my twin but I lost the ring
She was born in spring but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate."

[really real]

Not bad, poisoned rose, you actually responded with some content. But I
think you are being too literal in your interpretation.

It's all over now, Baby Blue, the title, implies the end of a
relationship, which starts in the first line:

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last

True, there's an orphan with a gun and some seasick sailors, but there's
also a painter drawing patterns on her sheets, a lover who has taken his
blankets from the floor, and a vagabond at the door. This is all
domestic imagery from a broken love affair. "Strike another match" he
says at the end.

Of course there's a lot more going on in the song, as there is in most
Dylan songs, but it's clearly a song about love. How can anyone not
understand this?




>
> I'd categorize "Baby Blue" as a character-assassination song, along the
> lines of "Rolling Stone," "Positively 4th Street" and "Ballad of a Thin
> Man." Dylan was writing plenty of those at that time.
>
> There is next to nothing in the lyric to indicate the song's speaker has
> broken up with the song's "target" -- the most explicit lines are
> written in the third person ("Your lover who just walked out the
> door...") and are confined to one verse. I'd say the other lyrics are
> more about dislocation, failing to keep up with the changing times and
> that sort of thing.
>
> And you do have a standard pattern of weirdly fixating on some
> descriptive word or phrase. So, this week, I guess it's going to be
> "love song." And regardless of how most of the world defines this term,
> you're going to insist it just means any song discussing a romantic
> relationship. Either positively or negatively. There are "heartbreak"
> songs that get classified as love songs, but they're typically sad
> rather than pissed off.
>

[really real]

>
> Why in the world does a "vagabond" imply a broken love affair?
>


Well, especially when you've got Dylan dressing like a vagabond in this
period, a vagabond at the door is a lover.

I forgot that the seasick sailors are also a boyfriend image, a rapant,
out of control series of boyfriends.

[Dr_dudley]

18. Simple Twist of Fate
19. I Threw it All Away
20. Tell Me That It Isn't True

[rwalker]

Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
Hazel

[Just Kidding]

On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:13:52 -0400, rwalker <rwa...@despammed.com>
wrote:

Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather
If You See Her Say Hello
To Ramona

[really real]

>
>>> Why in the world does a "vagabond" imply a broken love affair?
>>
>> Well, especially when you've got Dylan dressing like a vagabond in this
>> period, a vagabond at the door is a lover.
>

> I don't buy that at all.

>
>> I forgot that the seasick sailors are also a boyfriend image, a rapant,
>> out of control series of boyfriends.
>

> When you clip an extended post of varied points down to one line, I know
> you've run aground.
>


Remember the scene in Don't Look Back where Dylan plays the song to
Donovan and Donovan softly replies "I once had a girl named Baby Blue?"

[Melia]

On Apr 22, 3:55 pm, dylanl...@yahoo.com (ken) wrote:
> I was chatting with a friend the other day and I said, "Man, I don't know if there's anyone out there who has written more love songs than Bob Dylan." My friend looked at me and said, "What? Dylan doesn't write love songs..."
>
> Well, of course Dylan writes love songs, and he's written lots. So I thought I'd post this here and kick off a list. Add a number and a song title...define "love song" by whatever parameters float your boat. And I still wonder...has anyone written more love songs that Bob Dylan?

>
> 1. To Make you Feel My Love
>

> ken

Soon after midnight.

[gemjack]

New Pony!
-gj

[Just Walkin']

On Apr 26, 6:56 am, gemjack <geminijackso...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:32:13 -0700 (PDT), Melia
>

Wigwam

[Dr_dudley]

21. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
22. Hazel
23. Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather
24. If You See Her Say Hello
25. To Ramona
26. Soon after midnight
27. New Pony
28. Wigwam
29. Sugar Baby
30. Suze (The Cough Song)

[Bernie Woodham]

Don't Think Twice is a love song.

[icn...@gmail.com]

"Don't think twice" is a love/hate song

[Just Kidding]

On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 06:33:24 -0700 (PDT), icn...@gmail.com wrote:

> "Don't think twice" is a love/hate song

That could describe half of Dylan's catalogue.

[Bernie Woodham]

Apr 27, 9:33 am, icn...@gmail.com wrote:
>     "Don't think twice" is a love/hate song

Well, my first response is a love/hate song isn't a love song?

But, I don't get where you think this is a love/hate song. I don't
see any hate. The singer is resigned to the fact that the
relationship isn't working out. But, by my reading, he still loves
her.

Throughout the song he is calling her babe. Not bitch.

"It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
It don't matter, anyhow"

Maybe at times the relationship caused him to embarrass himself:

"I'm a-thinking and a-wond'rin' walking down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I'm told"


And, sometimes he's ambivalent about the relationship. But, if it were
possible, he'd stay:

"But I wish there was somethin' you would do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay"


Just doesn't sound like hate to me. In fact, she done good by him:

"I ain't saying you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind"

Sorry, I just can't see love/hate.

[Dr_dudley]

31. Don't Think Twice
32. To Ramona
33. Spanish Harlem Incident

[Dr_dudley]

On Apr 22, 6:55 pm, dylanl...@yahoo.com (ken) wrote:
> I was chatting with a friend the other day and I said, "Man, I don't know if there's anyone out there who has written more love songs than Bob Dylan." My friend looked at me and said, "What? Dylan doesn't write love songs..."
>
> Well, of course Dylan writes love songs, and he's written lots. So I thought I'd post this here and kick off a list. Add a number and a song title...define "love song" by whatever parameters float your boat. And I still wonder...has anyone written more love songs that Bob Dylan?
>

> 1. To Make you Feel My Love
>

> ken

just an aside or sidebar.

following your original post i've tried to maintain a listing of bob's
loveSongs as suggested by the denizens of this, um, area.

if i felt like firing up Excel i could make a worksheet where we
suggest whether a particular song is a love song, a breakup song, or a
love/hate song (see also Cohen, Leonard "Songs of Love and Hate", and
tell me which is which).

without love there can be no hate. without breakup, there can be no
make up.

we're up to 33. there's maybe somebody wrote more.

carry on,
rdd

[pcallas]

I've been out of town a couple of weeks so am just seeing this thread. Several years ago I posted on rmd asking people to email me the answer to the question "Name the best love song of all time". The response rate was low, but that didn't matter for my purpose, which was to have some data to compare to a similar poll from Entertainment Weekly, with my point being that the poll results depend on who you ask (an example of selection bias). The results I got were:

1. Boots of Spanish Leather
2. Make You Feel My Love
3. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
4. Spanish Harlem Incident
5. Girl from the North Country
6. Sara
7. If Not for You
8. Covenant Woman
9. I Want You
10. Emotionally Yours

I think only one person mentioned each of the last 3, but perhaps they should be added to the list of 33 (and If Not for You also)?

If you're interested, the most recent Entertainment Weekly online list that I've run across is:

Best love songs ever
Feb 14, 2011

1. ''God Only Knows'' The Beach Boys (1966)
2. ''Can't Help Falling in Love'' Elvis Presley (1961)
3. ''Something'' The Beatles (1969)
4. ''(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman'' Aretha Franklin (1967)
5. ''Let's Stay Together'' Al Green (1971)
6. ''I Will Always Love You'' Whitney Houston (1992)
7. ''Wild Horses'' The Rolling Stones (1971)
8. ''Sweet Child O' Mine'' Guns N' Roses (1988)
9. ''All I Want Is You'' U2 (1988)
10. ''In Your Eyes'' Peter Gabriel (1986)

It's fun to show this in class and then show the Dylan list.

Peter

[Bernie Woodham]

On Apr 29, 3:23 pm, poisoned rose <pros...@poissonedrose.com> wrote:

> Bernie Woodham <birnhamw...@insightbb.com> wrote:
> > Sorry, I just can't see love/hate.
>

> In a song with "You just kinda wasted my precious time" as its climactic
> button?

I thought about that line. But even that line is a bit too subdued
too say it's hate.

I'm not saying he doesn't have deep feelings. Certainly there is a lot
of pain. But, he sees it as being his mistake, owns up to it and
moves on.

[Dr_dudley]

34. If Not for You
35. Covenant Woman
36. I Want You
37. Emotionally Yours

[Dr_dudley]

On Apr 29, 12:18 pm, pcallas <pcal...@zoo.uvm.edu> wrote:
> I've been out of town a couple of weeks so am just seeing this thread.  Several years ago I posted on rmd asking people to email me the answer to the question "Name the best love song of all time".  The response rate was low, but that didn't matter for my purpose, which was to have some data to compare to a similar poll from Entertainment Weekly, with my point being that the poll results depend on who you ask (an example of selection bias).  The results I got were:
>
> 1. Boots of Spanish Leather
> 2. Make You Feel My Love
> 3. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
> 4. Spanish Harlem Incident
> 5. Girl from the North Country
> 6. Sara
> 7. If Not for You
> 8. Covenant Woman
> 9. I Want You
> 10. Emotionally Yours
>
> I think only one person mentioned each of the last 3, but perhaps they should be added to the list of 33 (and If Not for You also)?
>

Hey Peter thanks and welcome back from out of town. I hope your return
is to a good town. Your bullet points have been duly noted and the
list emended. (i'm doing my best, sooner or later a duplicate entry
will creep in. please ya'll be alert, the world needs more lerts.)

> If you're interested, the most recent Entertainment Weekly online list that I've run across is:
>
> Best love songs ever
> Feb 14, 2011
>
> 1. ''God Only Knows''  The Beach Boys (1966)
> 2. ''Can't Help Falling in Love''  Elvis Presley (1961)
> 3. ''Something''  The Beatles (1969)
> 4. ''(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman''  Aretha Franklin (1967)
> 5. ''Let's Stay Together''  Al Green (1971)
> 6. ''I Will Always Love You''  Whitney Houston (1992)
> 7. ''Wild Horses''  The Rolling Stones (1971)
> 8. ''Sweet Child O' Mine''  Guns N' Roses (1988)
> 9. ''All I Want Is You''  U2 (1988)
> 10. ''In Your Eyes''  Peter Gabriel (1986)
>

mind you, pcallas, i understand this isn't *your* list but rather
EW's.

it reminds me of those "greatest guitarists of all time" that seem to
neglect Andrés Segovia, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, and
suchlike.

that is to say, there were no love longs, and no greater love,
pre-1961.

> It's fun to show this in class and then show the Dylan list.
>

'tis

> Peter

rdd
___
upon request, i can link to U2Bs of the aforementioned guitarists, and
some nifty loveSongs predating EW's readership.

[Just Kidding]

Make it 36....you have "To Ramona" listed twice.

[Dr_dudley]

32. Spanish Harlem Incident
33. If Not for You
34. Covenant Woman
35. I Want You
36. Emotionally Yours

thnkas, jk

[Melia]

That Red River Shore Girl,

[Tif]

On Apr 23, 5:32 am, gemjack <geminijackso...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:12:57 -0700 (PDT), Dr_dudley

>
> <dud...@cloud9.net> wrote:
> >On Apr 22, 6:55 pm, dylanl...@yahoo.com (ken) wrote:

> >hey ken,
>
> >i'll add a couple few since i'm sporadic hearabouts.

>
> >1. To Make you Feel My Love

> >2. Girl From The North Country

> >5. I'll Keep It With Mine
> >9. Sara
>
> >Add track
>
> I thought they were all protest songs.  But to me there's one that
> stands above all others in terms of spewing forth unconditional
> devotion and loooove:
>
> Wedding Song.
> -gj

Born in Time

[luisb...@aol.com]

Isis

[Dr_dudley]

37. Born in Time
38. Red River Shore
39. Isis
40. Abandoned Love
41. Up to Me
42. Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word

and the hits just keep on happening
___
http://www.bobdylan.com/us/home#us/songs/love-is-just-a-four-letter-word
(i think joan sometimes had an "extra" verse, something about it is
very very weird indeed to hear words like forever and please)
Joan Baez & Earl Scruggs Together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY3VAWZJ1T8

Joan Baez - Love is just a four letter word (from NDH)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrZ0Ww7qXEA

Earl Scruggs - Love Is A Four-Letter Word
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbKUyuUrp1k

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