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Why it matters
Written as his marriage was breaking down, these songs of love, regret and memory are often ranked among the best of his career. He recorded it in New York in September 1974, then re-cut five songs with local musicians in Minneapolis that December, and those versions made the final record.
By 1974 Dylan's marriage was in trouble, and the songs he wrote that year are full of loss, anger, tenderness and memory, told with shifting points of view and time that slides back and forth. He recorded them in New York in September with a small group, the arrangements often reduced to his guitar, harmonica and a bass. Just before release, his brother David persuaded him to try some songs again in Minneapolis, where local musicians cut new versions of five of them over the holidays. Those fuller, livelier takes replaced the New York ones, giving the album its mix of intimacy and drive. It came out in January 1975 on Columbia, to which he had returned, and it was soon hailed as a masterpiece and a return to form. Dylan has played down its autobiographical side, but it remains one of the most admired breakup albums ever made.
Track list · 10 songs
A man retraces a love affair across years, jobs and cities, with the story shifting between viewpoints.
love · the road · time
Its page ›A brief encounter with a woman ends when she leaves, and he is left blaming chance.
love · loss
Its page ›A man tells a woman who has moved on without him that he sees her growing and wishes he could change.
love · loss · time
Its page ›A bitter, furious outpouring at a former lover and the gossip around them, which finally turns back on himself.
love · loss
Its page ›A light-hearted song that already feels the loneliness ahead while a love is still in bloom.
love · loss
Its page ›A weary man asks a woman to meet him at dawn so they can leave together, though he senses she may not come.
love · the road · loss
Its page ›A western caper in which a mysterious card player's arrival in a small town sets off robbery, jealousy and a killing.
love · death
Its page ›A man asks a friend to pass his greetings to the woman who left him, hiding how much he still misses her.
love · loss · time
Its page ›A weary man remembers a woman who once took him in and gave him refuge from a hostile world.
love · faith
Its page ›A playful, weary song about doing what you must and loving someone through hard times.
love
Its page ›
Where its songs lead
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