Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

I was reviewing Andrew Muir’s Homer the Slut Volume 4 today, which contains a long series of excerpts from various Dylan books about the song, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.  The authors express some surprisingly varied ideas of what the song is about. Is it a love song?Or is it something more akin to It Ain’t Me, Babe?  Here’s are two representative, and contrasting opinions.

Paul Williams – Performing Artist 

Now, when I listen to these songs, or even read the words, I can find no put-down of the woman he’s singing to, just dissatisfaction with her actions towards him.

Allen Rinzler – The Illustrated Record

Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right is a charming, nasty number, the first of a succession of songs Dylan’s written that say so long to a woman.

Dylan chimes in too, from the liner notes of Freewheelin’  – “A lot of people,” he says, “make it sort of a love song — slow and easy-going. But it isn’t a love song. It’s a statement that maybe you can say to make yourself feel better.”

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