“I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind/You could’ve done better, but I don’t mind.”
Confession: The words ‘don’t think twice, it’s alright’ have always mystified me. The rest of the song is clear as a bell. Dylan can be cryptic, but this needs no scholarly breakdown. The bemused ending of a wan affair, it’s a feeling we can all recognize. Haven’t we all? Walked away not bitter and not angry and not because something is horrid but only because we just don’t care anymore? But just because something’s gotta be cryptic, the refrain speaks no sense. I don’t even understand if these are kind words or harsh ones. Is it that we shouldn’t worry our pretty little heads with thinking twice, because whatever it is, is alright? Or should we not make the mistake of thinking it’s alright, twice? The answer, you might agree, is that there is no answer. The meaning will swing either way, depending on what you need to hear.
Shockingly, I don’t see a clip on the ‘tube of Dylan actually playing the song, or even any clip of it at all, except for a 70′s live recording, which I don’t care much for. There’s a plethora of other people singing it, as it has been covered by just about everyone from Peter, Paul & Mary straight on through to John ‘David Duke Dick’ Mayer. For my money, you have three basic choices of suitable substitutes. One, you can’t go awry with Joan Baez – her version is pristinely lovely. If you can take a little twang with your tea, Johnny Cash did an admirable interpretation. And of course, it wouldn’t be a party without Bryan Ferry. He’s made it a hobby to cover Bob Dylan, and he does it so suavely. The wonder and magic of great songwriting is, besides, like, good songs and stuff is the infinitude of possibility. What I mean is, a song like this contains an infinite number of parallel universes. That makes sense. What I mean is, for every singer who tries it, it takes on an a life that is, while similar to the previous one, is unique and new. That may, in a technical sense be true of any song. But it takes a great one to sustain the unique personalities of multiple singers and while holding its power. Every time it’s the same story, but it’s a different story. Now I’m making a lot of sense.
On an unrelated note – This happens to be my blog post number 1,000. So let’s have a drink. I kind of wish it’d been a more festive song, but it be what it be, so let it be. Here’s to one thousand more!
LYRICS:
It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
It don’t matter, anyhow
An’ it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If you don’t know by now
When your rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window and I’ll be gone
You’re the reason I’m trav’lin’ on
Don’t think twice, it’s all rightIt ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe
That light I never knowed
An’ it ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe
I’m on the dark side of the road
Still I wish there was somethin’ you would do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay
We never did too much talkin’ anyway
So don’t think twice, it’s all rightIt ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal
Like you never did before
It ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal
I can’t hear you anymore
I’m a-thinkin’ and a-wond’rin’ all the way down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I’m told
I give her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don’t think twice, it’s all rightI’m walkin’ down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where I’m bound, I can’t tell
But goodbye’s too good a word, gal
So I’ll just say fare thee well
I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don’t mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don’t think twice, it’s all right
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