Just Like a Woman (song)
| Just like a woman | |
|---|---|
| Bob Dylan | |
| publication | * May 1966 (album)
|
| length | * 4:53 (album version)
|
| Genre (s) | Folk rock |
| Author (s) | Bob Dylan |
| Label | Columbia Records |
| album | Blonde on blonde |
Just Like a Woman is a song by Bob Dylan that belongs to the folk rock genre. The piece was produced by Bob Johnston and first appeared in May 1966 on Dylan's seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde . On the album, the song is the eighth track. The number appeared (in abridged version) in August 1966 as a single, although this did not do well in the Billboard charts ; it only rose to 33rd place.
Just Like a Woman , however, is considered to be one of the best songs that Bob Dylan wrote and recorded in his over fifty year career. The Rolling Stone put it in his list of the ten greatest songs of Bob Dylan behind songs like Tangled Up in Blue and Like a Rolling Stone ranked 4th magazine Mojo lists him at number 10 of the 50 best songs of Bob Dylan. It was ranked 19th in the Uncut list of the 40 best Dylan songs .
Rolling Stone also lists Just Like a Woman at number 232 of the 500 best songs of all time . The song of bands and solo artists like The Byrds , Manfred Mann , Joe Cocker , Jeff Buckley , Van Morrison , Rod Stewart or Gregg Allman gecovert was also one of the pieces that Dylan 1971 at the Concert for Bangladesh played.
Emergence
There has been a lot of speculation over the decades about the creation and inspiration of the piece, as Dylan did not comment on the song. He has at least confirmed that he wrote the text on Thanksgiving 1965, three days after his wedding to Sara Lowndes . Perhaps the text was intended as an indictment of then- it-girl Edie Sedgwick , who is said to have had a short-lived affair with Dylan. The song was recorded in the country mecca of Nashville with musicians Dylan had toured with the entire year before. The mastertake of the recordings for his seventh album Blonde on Blonde was recorded on March 8, 1966.
occupation
- Bob Dylan - vocals , harmonica , guitar (?)
- Charlie McCoy - guitar
- Joe South - guitar
- Wayne Moss - guitar
- Hargus "Pig" Robbins - piano
- Al Kooper - organ
- Kenny Buttrey - drums
Music and lyrics
Musically, Just Like a Woman is a folk song that is played almost entirely acoustically (with the exception of the electric guitars ). However, a very aggressive drumming by Kenny Buttrey brings the piece towards rock 'n' roll . The song is an example of the crossing of folk and rock music. Dylan is continuously accompanied by a picked nylon guitar and piano / organ. It ends with an almost one-minute harmonica - Solo Dylan.
The text is ambivalent. In it, the lyrical self expresses the greatest admiration, but ultimately also aversion, disappointment and regret towards a woman who in all her attributes is just like a woman, but would break apart like a little girl at the moment of separation. Rolling Stone wrote that Just Like a Woman was written as revenge, but sung like a regret .
In the first stanza, Dylan apparently describes the situation after a breakup. The narrator stands in the rain while she is in the dry with new clothes, but that's okay because nobody feels any pain (Nobody feels any pain, first line of the song). Nevertheless, the perfect image of the woman is disturbed because her ribbons and bows have fallen to the floor (But lately I see her ribbons and her bows // Have fallen from her curls) . In the second verse, Dylan's narrator is already more drastic. The High Society is criticized in its superficiality and sung woman is accused in spite of all their smoke, their beads and their amphetamine to be exactly like all the rest. A bridge follows , which has a different melody and chord progression. It is lyrically and musically closely linked to the third and final verse. The relationship began in the rain and was very painful because it seemed impossible for him to move further in these circles. He saw the decision to split up. He assumes that they will be introduced as friends again later, but asks them not to reveal that they already know each other from before. He was hungry and it was her world after all . The last chorus doesn't start with She takes just like a woman , but with Ah, you fake just like a woman - so she pretends exactly like a woman.
Who Bob Dylan sings about in Just Like a Woman and whether there is even a clear role model for the woman in the text is often discussed in musicology, but has never been clarified. Women like Edie Sedgwick or Joan Baez are considered possible role models . A combination of several women is also possible for Dylan fans. The literary critic Christopher Ricks said:
"Everyone can understand the feelings and the relationship described in the song, so why does it matter if Dylan wrote it with one woman in mind?"
"Anyone can understand the feelings and relationships described in the song, so why should it matter if Dylan was thinking of a particular woman?"
Ricks thereby refers to the universal character of poetry and of Dylan's song in particular.
Allegation of misogyny
Dylan's song has been accused of being misogynistic . Alan Rinzler wrote in his book Bob Dylan: The Illustrated Record that none of his other songs got so hard on a former lover. According to Dylan's biographer Robert Shelton , the title is a nasty platitude that easily incites the anger of women.
In his review for Allmusic , Bill Janovitz points out that Dylan may be guilty of the woman's mental breakdown, but that she hit him hard and that he is obviously on the defensive. Janovitz concludes that it is not misogynous to tell a relationship from your own point of view.
However, the discussion on this point continues.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-dylan-mn0000066915/awards
- ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-10-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-20110511/just-like-a-woman-20110511
- ↑ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/mojo_p4.htm#Bob%20Dylan%20Songs
- ↑ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/Uncut_P2.htm#Dylan
- ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/bob-dylan-just-like-a-woman-20110527
- ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-10-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-20110511/just-like-a-woman-20110511