| "Abandoned Love" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Bob Dylan | |
| from the album Biograph | |
| Released | November 7, 1985 |
| Recorded | July 31, 1975 |
| Genre | Folk rock |
| Length | 4:29 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
"Abandoned Love" is a song written by Bob Dylan, recorded on July 31, 1975, but not released until 1985, on his compilation album Biograph . [1] It was originally recorded for inclusion on his 1976 album Desire , but was dropped in favor of "Joey". "Abandoned Love" was written during Dylan's breakup with his then-wife Sara Lownds. A working title for the song was "Sara Part II Abandoned Love." [2] It was also known at one point as "Saint John the Evangelist", after a line in the song lyrics.
Only one live performance of this song is known of, at The Bitter End cafe on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village on July 3, 1975, during a show with Ramblin' Jack Elliott. [3] Paul Cable, in his book Bob Dylan: His Unreleased Recordings (New York: Schirmer Books, 1980), described this live version of the song as "Beautiful, eerie, easily as good as Blonde on Blonde lyrics and a tune that is unusual and perfect".
Rolling Stone listed "Abandoned Love" as #64 on its list of Dylan's 100 greatest songs, calling the Biograph version "one of Dylan's most tortured, heartbroken recordings". [4] Billboard included the song in its list of Dylan's 15 "most poetic lyrics". [5] The Big Issue placed it at #37 on a 2021 list of the "80 best Bob Dylan songs - that aren't the greatest hits" and called it a "jolly break-up song for a change". [6] A 2021 Guardian article included it on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know". [7]
"Abandoned Love" has been covered numerous times, notably by:
Desire is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 5, 1976, through Columbia Records. It is one of Dylan's most collaborative efforts, featuring the same caravan of musicians as the acclaimed Rolling Thunder Revue tours the previous year. Many of the songs also featured backing vocals by Emmylou Harris and Ronee Blakley. Most of the album was co-written by Jacques Levy, and is composed of lengthy story-songs, two of which quickly generated controversy: the 11-minute-long "Joey", which is seen as glorifying the violent gangster "Crazy Joey" Gallo, and "Hurricane", the opening track that tells a passionate account of the murder case against boxer Rubin Carter, who the song asserts was framed. Carter was released in 1985, after a judge overturned his conviction on appeal.
"Blind Willie McTell" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Named for the blues singer of the same name, the song was recorded in the spring of 1983, during the sessions for Dylan's album Infidels; however, it was ultimately left off the album and did not receive an official release until 1991, when it appeared on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 1961–1991. It was also later anthologized on Dylan (2007).
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 14, 1965, and released as a single by Columbia Records, catalogue number 43242, on March 8. It was the lead track on the album Bringing It All Back Home, released some two weeks later. It was Dylan's first Top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also entered the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. The song has subsequently been reissued on numerous compilations, the first being the 1967 singles compilation Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits. One of Dylan's first electric recordings, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is also notable for its innovative music video, which first appeared in D. A. Pennebaker's documentary Dont Look Back. An acoustic version of the song, recorded the day before the single, was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 1961–1991.
"Tangled Up in Blue" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the opening track on his 15th studio album Blood on the Tracks (1975). The song was written by Dylan and produced by David Zimmerman, Dylan's brother. Released as a single, it reached No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song concerns relationships and contains different narrative perspectives. Dylan has altered the lyrics in subsequent performances, changing the point of view and details in the song.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott is an American folk singer and songwriter.
"Visions of Johanna" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Several critics have acclaimed "Visions of Johanna" as one of Dylan's highest achievements in writing, praising the allusiveness and subtlety of the language. Rolling Stone included "Visions of Johanna" on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1999, Sir Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, listed it as the greatest song lyric ever written.
"Shelter from the Storm" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on September 17, 1974, and released on his 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks, in 1975. It was later anthologized on the compilation album The Essential Bob Dylan in 2000.
Modern Times is the 32nd studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 29, 2006, by Columbia Records. The album was the third work in a string of albums by Dylan that garnered wide acclaim from critics. It continued its predecessors' tendencies toward blues, rockabilly and pre-rock balladry, and was self-produced by Dylan under the pseudonym "Jack Frost". Despite the acclaim, the album sparked some debate over its uncredited use of choruses and arrangements from older songs, as well as many lyrical lines taken from the work of 19th-century poet Henry Timrod.
"Every Grain of Sand" is a song written by Bob Dylan, recorded in Los Angeles in the spring of 1981 and released in August of that year on Dylan's album Shot of Love. It was subsequently included on the compilation Biograph. An early version of the song, recorded in September 1980 and featuring Jennifer Warnes on backing vocal, was released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 1961–1991.
"Mississippi" is a medium-tempo country-rock song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan that appears as the second track on his 2001 album Love and Theft. The song was originally recorded during the Time Out of Mind sessions, but was ultimately left off the album. Dylan rerecorded the song for Love and Theft in May 2001.
"Gotta Serve Somebody" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as the opening track on his 1979 studio album Slow Train Coming. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male in 1980. It was later anthologized on the compilation albums Biograph (1985), Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3 (1994), The Essential Bob Dylan (2000), The Best of Bob Dylan and Dylan (2007).
"Simple Twist of Fate", a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, was recorded on September 19, 1974, and was released in 1975 as the second song on his 15th studio album Blood on the Tracks.
"You're a Big Girl Now" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks, in 1975. It is one of five songs on the album that Dylan initially recorded in New York City in September 1974 and then re-recorded in Minneapolis in December that year. The latter recording, made on December 27, 1974, became the album track.
"I'll Keep It with Mine" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1964, first released by folk singer Judy Collins as a single in 1965. Dylan attempted to record the song for his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde.
"Señor " is a minor-key ballad written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and released as the sixth track of his 18th studio album Street-Legal (1978). The song was produced by Don DeVito and later anthologized on the Biograph box set in 1985. Street-Legal was remixed and remastered for a 1999 compact disc release, with a further 5.1 remix done for a Super Audio CD release in 2003. Both re-releases featured the song.
"Born in Time" is a rock song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, who first released the track on September 10, 1990, on his twenty-seventh studio album Under the Red Sky. It is a reworking of a song originally recorded at the previous year's Oh Mercy sessions. The British recording artist Eric Clapton covered the song for his 1998 studio effort Pilgrim and released his take on the tune as a single. The song has been praised by critics for its catchy melody and romantic, dreamlike lyrics.
"Jokerman" is a song by Bob Dylan that appeared as the opening track of his 1983 album Infidels. Recorded on April 14, 1983, it was released as a single on June 1, 1984, featuring a live version of "Isis" from the film Renaldo and Clara as its B-side.
"Sweetheart Like You" is a song by Bob Dylan that appeared as the second track of his 1983 album Infidels. The song was recorded on April 18, 1983 and released as a single in December 1983, with "Union Sundown" as its B-Side.
"The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" is a song written by Bob Dylan, recorded in Los Angeles in the spring of 1981 and released in September of that year as a B-side to the single "Heart of Mine". It was included on the compilation albums Biograph in 1985, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3 in 1994 and Dylan in 2007.
"One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the fourth track on his seventeenth studio album Desire (1976). The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Don DeVito. The album version of "One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)" was recorded on July 30, 1975, and released on Desire in January 1976. Dylan said the song was influenced by his visit to a gypsy celebration at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in France on his 34th birthday.
