"I Threw It All Away" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Bob Dylan | ||||
from the album Nashville Skyline | ||||
B-side | "Drifter's Escape" | |||
Released | April 9, 1969 | |||
Recorded | February 13, 1969 | |||
Studio | Columbia Studio A (Nashville, Tennessee) [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:23 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan | |||
Producer(s) | Bob Johnston | |||
Bob Dylan singles chronology | ||||
|
"I Threw It All Away" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The track appeared on Dylan's album Nashville Skyline in 1969, and was released as its first single later that year, where it reached number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. It is considered to be one of the best and most popular songs on the album. [2]
"I Threw It All Away" was one of the first songs written for Nashville Skyline and one of only two new songs that were definitely written prior to the recording sessions ("Lay Lady Lay" being the other). [3] Dylan played the song for George Harrison and his wife Pattie in November 1968, and Harrison was apparently impressed enough with the song to learn it himself. [3] [4] It was the second song recorded for Nashville Skyline, after "To Be Alone with You", on February 13, 1969. [3] [4]
Dylan is singing about a love that he has lost by being cruel and angry. There has been some speculation on whom Dylan is referring to in the song. Many have speculated that it could be about a number of women including Suze Rotolo, Joan Baez, and Edie Sedgwick.
Unlike many songs Dylan wrote about failed relationships, such as "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right", "It Ain't Me, Babe" and "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)", Dylan takes responsibility for the failure in this song. [5] The song has also been interpreted as a portrait of Dylan's muse. [4]
Cash Box described it as "a love song bristling with tenderness of a masculine sort." [6] Record World said it was "pretty." [7]
Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave cited it in a 1995 interview as the one song he "wished he had written". [8]
In a 2005 poll reported in Mojo , "I Threw It All Away" was listed as the #55 all-time Bob Dylan song. [9] In 2002, Uncut listed "I Threw It All Away" as the #34 all-time Bob Dylan song. [10]
Benjamin Booker and Laura Marling both cited it as their favorite Dylan song in a 2021 Stereogum article. Booker wrote, "I rarely get a glimpse of the man behind the songs. But, on 'I Threw It All Away' I think he’s looking us straight in the eye. That’s why I love this song. The notorious Casanova who threw everything he had into becoming a legend had made it, but not without regrets". Marling noted, "It just feels like he opens up and shows this super vulnerable side and lets his voice soar like I haven’t really heard before. And it’s so sincere. I’d give him another chance if I was the one he was singing to, that’s for sure". [11]
Dylan performed "I Threw It All Away" live for the first time on The Johnny Cash Show , broadcast on June 7, 1969. [4] [5] It was the second song in Dylan's set with The Band at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 31, 1969 [4] and is included on Isle of Wight Live, part of the 4-CD deluxe edition of The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971) , released in 2013. (Another song from Nashville Skyline, "Lay Lady Lay", was also in Dylan's Isle of Wight set.)
Dylan performed "I Threw It All Away" in the spring of 1976 during the Rolling Thunder Revue. The May 16, 1976 performance would later be included on the live album Hard Rain . The Rolling Thunder rendition of the song was a raging rock song with strident lyrics, in contrast to the original version. [4] [5]
Dylan also played the song on his 1978 tour, but did not play it again live until 1998 during his Never Ending Tour. [5] By 2002, the date of its final performances on the Never Ending Tour, Dylan was playing an acoustic version of the song. [5] According to his official website, Dylan played the song a total of 48 times in concert. [12]
Nashville Skyline is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 9, 1969, by Columbia Records as LP record, reel-to-reel tape and audio cassette.
"Lay Lady Lay", sometimes rendered "Lay, Lady, Lay", is a song written by Bob Dylan and originally released in 1969 on his Nashville Skyline album. Like many of the tracks on the album, Dylan sings the song in a low croon, rather than in the high nasal singing style associated with his earlier recordings. The song has become a standard and has been covered by numerous bands and artists over the years.
"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released on the second side of his seventh studio album Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Bob Johnston. Dylan has denied that the song references any specific individual, although critics have speculated that it refers to Edie Sedgwick, who Dylan had spent time with in December 1965.
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter. Often considered to be one of the greatest songwriters in history, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 60-year career. He rose to prominence in the 1960s, when songs such as "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements. Initially modeling his style on Woody Guthrie's folk songs, Robert Johnson's blues and what he called the "architectural forms" of Hank Williams's country songs, Dylan added increasingly sophisticated lyrical techniques to the folk music of the early 1960s, infusing it "with the intellectualism of classic literature and poetry". His lyrics incorporated political, social and philosophical influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning counterculture.
"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Columbia Records first released an edited version as a single in March 1966, which reached numbers two and seven in the US and UK charts respectively. A longer version appears as the opening track of Dylan's seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde (1966), and has been included on several compilation albums.
"I Want You" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as a single in June 1966, and, later that month, on his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde. The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Bob Johnston. The song has been interpreted as a straightforward expression of lust, although critics have highlighted that the symbolism of the song is complex. It was the last song recorded for Blonde on Blonde, with several takes recorded in the early hours of March 10, 1966. It was included on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (1967). The song has received a largely positive critical reception, with a number of commentators highlighting Dylan's use of imagery, although some of the meanings are obscure.
"She Belongs to Me" is a song by Bob Dylan, and was first released as the second track on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The song may be about a former girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, or fellow folk singer Joan Baez, contemporary siren Nico, or Sara Lownds, the woman that Dylan would wed in November 1965.
"Pledging My Time" is a blues song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song, written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston, was recorded on March 8, 1966 in Nashville, Tennessee. Dylan is featured on lead vocals, harmonica, and guitar, backed by guitarist Robbie Robertson and an ensemble of veteran Nashville session men.
"To Ramona" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, first released on his fourth studio album, Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Tom Wilson. The lyrics were started at the May Fair Hotel in London in May 1964, and finished during a week-long stay in the Greek village of Vernilya later that month. Dylan recorded all the tracks for the album, including the song, in a single three-hour session on June 9, 1964, at Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios, New York. Its narrator advises Ramona, who is preparing to return to "the South", not to follow the advice of others. Critics have suggested several different people as inspirations for the song, including Joan Baez, Suze Rotolo, and Sara Lownds.
The 1969 Isle of Wight Festival was held on 29–31 August 1969 at Wootton Creek, on the Isle of Wight. The festival attracted an audience of approximately 150,000 to see acts including Bob Dylan, the Band, the Who, Free, Joe Cocker, the Bonzo Dog Band and the Moody Blues. It was the second of three music festivals held on the island between 1968 and 1970. Organised by Rikki Farr, Ronnie and Ray Foulk's Fiery Creations, it became a legendary event, largely owing to the participation of Dylan, who had spent the previous three years in semi-retirement. The event was well managed, in comparison to the recent Woodstock Festival, and trouble-free.
"If Not for You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his October 1970 album New Morning. It was issued as the A-side of a single in Europe in early 1971. The song is a love song to Dylan's first wife, Sara Dylan. He recorded it several times in 1970; the session for the released version took place in New York in August. He also recorded the song with George Harrison on May 1, soon after the break-up of the Beatles, a session that attracted much speculation in the music press. The May recording remained unreleased until its inclusion on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 in 1991.
"Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine", or "Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine)", is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released as the first track on side three of his seventh studio album Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. Dylan recounted that he had probably written the song after the end of a relationship. The song's narrator criticizes the lies and weakness of a woman, and says that he finds it hard to care. The final verse establishes that the woman has been unfaithful to the narrator by having a relationship with another man, as he suspected all along.
"Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" is a song written by Bob Dylan from his 1969 album Nashville Skyline. It was the closing song of the album. The song was the third single released from the album, after "I Threw It All Away" and "Lay Lady Lay", reaching #50 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and reaching the top 20 in other countries. It was anthologized on the compilation albums Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II and Playlist: The Very Best of Bob Dylan '60s.
The Bob Dylan World Tour 1966 was a concert tour undertaken by the American musician Bob Dylan, from February to May 1966. Dylan's 1966 World Tour was notable as the first tour where Dylan employed an electric band backing him, following him "going electric" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The musicians Dylan employed as his backing band were known as the Hawks, who later became famous as the Band.
Bob Dylan bootleg recordings are unreleased performances by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, that have been circulated throughout the public without undergoing an official, sanctioned release. It is commonly misconceived that bootlegs are only restricted to audio, but bootleg video performances, such as Dylan's 1966 film Eat the Document, which remains officially unreleased, are considered to be bootlegs. Dylan is generally considered to be the most bootlegged artist in rock history, rivaled only by the Grateful Dead.
"To Be Alone with You" is a country-rock song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as the third track on his 1969 album Nashville Skyline.
"John Wesley Harding" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan that appears as the opening track on his 1967 album of the same name.
"Behind That Locked Door" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Harrison wrote the song in August 1969 as a message of encouragement to Bob Dylan, who was making a highly publicised comeback to the concert stage, accompanied by the Band, with a headlining performance at the Isle of Wight Festival. "Behind That Locked Door" is a rare Harrison composition in the country music genre and the second song dealing with the friendship between himself and Dylan, after their 1968 collaboration "I'd Have You Anytime". Its lyrics address Dylan's elusive nature, and reflect the high regard in which Harrison held the American singer's work. The same reluctance on Dylan's part to re-engage with a concert audience led to him retreating again from live performance until August 1971, when he responded to Harrison's request to play at the Concert for Bangladesh.
The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971) is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 27, 2013 on Legacy Records. The eighth installment of the ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, it consists of unreleased recordings, demo recordings, alternative takes mostly from Dylan's 1970 albums Self Portrait and New Morning, and two live tracks from the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival.
"I Pity the Poor Immigrant" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was recorded on November 6, 1967, at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, produced by Bob Johnston. The song was released on Dylan's eighth studio album John Wesley Harding on December 27, 1967.