This is my favorite Dylan song. The tone is so ambiguous — at different points in the song he seems to be wistfully remembering her, angry at her, completely over her and trying to pretend he’s over her but still carrying a torch. It’s also one of the more frequently covered* Dylan songs, for that very reason: it’s open to so many interpretations. *Along with just about every other song off his first couple albums. Cover songs now seem like artful homages, but Peter, Paul & Mary seemed to make a pretty freaking successful career off of just harmonizing whatever single Dylan just released. You can play it as an achingly beautiful accoustic ode to love lost, a punk rock rager at a bitch you disowned, or a bemused memory about a relationship that leaves you no regrets.“Don’t Think Twice (It’s Alright)”—The Indigo Girls and Brandi Carlile (Bob Dylan cover)
Happy Friday, everyone. And hang in there, Dodger fans. As Vin Scully said last night: “No one man stops baseball.”
The multitude of interpretations also came into play when this song was used at the end of Season 1 of Mad Men. In that instance, it seemed hugely regretful, a catalog of all Draper had let slip away — and, having just watched his life click before his eyes with the Carousel, he can feel the incredible weight of what he’s lost. (I haven’t seen Season 2 yet, perhaps a project for this weekend.)
