I’ll only let you down.
I’ll admit to ignorance on this one: I didn’t know Bob Dylan wrote, “It Ain’t Me, Babe.”
I probably should have. All the signs are there. It’s virtually the fraternal twin of my all-time favourite song of all-time, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” Three verse/chorus structure, the detached, snarky tone, self-loathing, directional lyric…it’s practically the same song. Hell, even the use of the word “babe” betrays the knowledge, as it’s frankly quite rare to hear anyone else use that word seriously in melodramatic popular song (at least until Sonny and Cher co-opted it).
Perhaps that’s what makes the song so good, the fact that it sounds so natural in the hands of Johnny Cash and June Carter. When Dylan wants to write accessible he puts a piece of clay in other artist’s hands that is packed with dynamite. Cash/Carter, the Turtles, Joan Baez, Nancy Sinatra, New Found Glory, and even more less well-known pop/rock acts have done it. It’s a versatile bed. Interchangeable, perhaps.
Intriguing.
Bob Dylan - It Ain't Me, Babe [3:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash - It Ain't Me, Babe: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Johnny Cash/Bob Dylan - Girl From North Country [3:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadDylanTunes: They’ve got lots of Dylan. I have it on good authority that you’ll never find a better deal on anything anywhere than you will here: the entire recorded works of Bob Dylan. Literally everything, right down to the official bootlegs. Seriously. Even collections are completely intact, duplicate songs and all.
CashTunes: Lots of Cash, for a little ca$h.
And of course you realize that you can waltz in to literally any physical music retailer anywhere in the world and get some of their material. You don’t need to order it online.
