Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" ...cop out or declaration of independence?

[gmoney]

It Ain't Me, Babe

Go 'way from my window,
Leave at your own chosen speed.
I'm not the one you want, babe,
I'm not the one you need.
You say you're lookin' for someone
Never weak but always strong,
To protect you an' defend you
Whether you are right or wrong,
Someone to open each and every door,
But it ain't me, babe,
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.

Go lightly from the ledge, babe,
Go lightly on the ground.
I'm not the one you want, babe,
I will only let you down.
You say you're lookin' for someone
Who will promise never to part,
Someone to close his eyes for you,
Someone to close his heart,
Someone who will die for you an' more,
But it ain't me, babe,
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.

Go melt back into the night, babe,
Everything inside is made of stone.
There's nothing in here moving
An' anyway I'm not alone.
You say you're looking for someone
Who'll pick you up each time you fall,
To gather flowers constantly
An' to come each time you call,
A lover for your life an' nothing more,
But it ain't me, babe,
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.

Copyright ©1964; renewed 1992 Special Rider Music
===

How does this song read to you? On the face, the singer is declaring that he can't live his life on her terms (I know it could be gender neutral, but I doubt it was when he wrote it) and can't subsume himself to her. A realization that he must be his own person with his own path to follow and objectives to pursue. He can't fight her battles for her.

Or is the guy just "copping out" because he's too selfish to completely give himself over to her, to always be there, to protect her and defend her, and love her unconditionally?

What's your take?

[Sky Masterson]

1. It reads to me like

He doesn't want to change one iota of who he is for this person.
And he can not be or will not be who she wants him to be.
Basically he doesn't really love her or he would be willing to change.Even a little.
Or maybe she wants more from him than he is willing to give.
It's hard to know what goes on inside the mind of a man.
Great song :thumbsup:

[redqueen]

2. He's young and hasn't been in love yet.

Cause he seems to be somewhat hostile to idea of always being there for someone... of being truly committed to them.

I might say he just doesn't love her... but this:

"Someone to close his eyes for you,
Someone to close his heart,"

makes me think he hasn't felt it at all.

[backtoblue]

10. Peter Pan

He knows he's not ready to be a "man" to her, but he cares about her just enough to warn her.

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. it means

if someone wants you to change who you are-----run

[supernova]

4. It's a breakup song and he's feeling claustrophobic

Sometimes the other person's expectations are not possible to bear.

[LynzM]

5. An alternate view:

"She" wants a Hero -

"You say you're lookin' for someone
Never weak but always strong,
To protect you an' defend you
Whether you are right or wrong,
Someone to open each and every door,
You say you're lookin' for someone
Who will promise never to part,
Someone to close his eyes for you,
Someone to close his heart,
Someone who will die for you an' more,
You say you're looking for someone
Who'll pick you up each time you fall,
To gather flowers constantly
An' to come each time you call,
A lover for your life an' nothing more"



He realizes that he is no prince, or hero, that he cannot give her what she desires, and is trying to tell her that. In that way, it reads to me more as a realistic self-assessment than an unwillingness to change who he is. Maybe that assessment means he's not willing to change, but should he *have* to? It also (to me) has an undertone that he's not willing to commit to monogamy (close his eyes, close his heart), and is telling her that, too.

:hi:

[gmoney]

6. Thanks for your perspectives...

:)

[Ptah]

7. And years later:

Diamonds And Rust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMHSbcd_qI

Well, I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall

As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin's eggs
My poetry was lousy you said
Where are you calling from?
A booth in the Midwest
Ten years ago I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust

Well, you burst on the scene, already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes, the girl on the half-shell
Could keep you unharmed

Now I see you standing with brown leaves falling around
And snow in your hair
Now you're smiling out the window of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there

Now you're telling me you're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
'Cause I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes, I once loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid

[Orsino]

8. Polite warning.

Restraining orders are so cold.

[Sequoia]

9. Bob Dylan is over rated.

So, yeah, I like a few of his songs. I think he wrote that about Joan Baez (sp). She brought him out of the woodwork and chucked her in the river.

[kwassa]

15. It is impossible to overrate Bob Dylan.

He is the single most important musical influence in the 60s, and changed what popular music could do and be about forever.

[redqueen]

16. Oh really?

[kwassa]

17. I think Bob was a much, much greater artist than Woody.

and took social protest music much farther, aside from all his other artistic contributions.

[redqueen]

18. We'll have to disagree on that.

I'm gonna try to go find some Guthrie songs about how he can't be with just one woman. :rofl:

[Sequoia]

23. Woody is the KING of folk music !!

[kwassa]

29. how many people can name 5 songs that Woody wrote?

this land is your land ....

[redqueen]

30. Yeah... compare Bach to Led Zeppelin using that logic.

Doesn't hold up too well IMO.

[kwassa]

33. I can name 5 Bach songs

though Led Zep seems the ultimate artistic achievement in music on DU.

Arguing about art is pointless, really, because there are no winners or losers, only personal taste. There is, however, general critical consensus, whether one agrees with it or not.

I don't know of any poll that recognizes Woody Guthrie as more important than Dylan, not that it matters to you.

Rolling Stone puts Dylan at #2, behind the Beatles, though much of his important work precedes them, in their "50 Greatest Artists of All Time" Guthrie doesn't appear there, nor would I expect him to.

[redqueen]

35. Hahaha...

It's pointless yeah but you seem to enjoy it. :P

Anyway of course I well know it is, but when you make absolute statements like that you invite disagreement... hope the rest of your evening goes well. :hi:

[Sequoia]

22. "Bob Dylan is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life"

You're brainwashed !!

[gmoney]

25. "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world..."

"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." -- Steve Earle

[redqueen]

31. Hahaha...

I love that quote. :D

[kwassa]

28. and the price of rice in China is?????

[graywarrior]

19. Hmmmm...

[Heidi]

11. I think it's a declaration of personal independence.

I think it's pretty unselfish to tell someone, "I'm not the one you're looking for," even if the other person doesn't want to hear it. I guess it could be crushing to hear if you want/need someone to take care of you, though.

ETA: It's also, in my view, an expression of truth and compassion.

[tigereye]

27. yup, that's what I was thinking...

:hi:

[pokerfan]

12. Free Bird or fear of commitment?

If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be traveling on, now,
Cause there's too many places I've got to see.
But, if I stayed here with you, girl,
Things just couldn't be the same.
cause Im as free as a bird now,
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I cant change.

Bye, bye, it's been a sweet love.
Though this feeling I cant change.
But please don't take it badly,
cause lord knows I'm to blame.
But, if I stayed here with you girl,
Things just couldn't be the same.
Cause I'm as free as a bird now,
And this bird you'll never change.
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I cant change.
Lord help me, I cant change.

[Zomby Woof]

13. It was a lyrical breakthrough

Sure, there were plenty of break-up songs in the rock and pop canon before Dylan came along, but this was truly the first anti-love song. He took love song cliches and turned them on their ear. He started on this path with "Don't Think Twice It's Alright", which would demolish all other break-up songs in its wake, and would continue in the vein mined with "It Ain't Me Babe" with "Positively 4th Street".

This is often forgotten now this many years later, but when one considers the very real barriers he broke and the ground he pioneered in lyrical POV, subject matter, meter, unique phrasing and voice, etc, he remains underrated - even as he is celebrated as one of the 20th century giants.

[mitchum]

14. He's also vastly underrated as a melodist...

Although, his voice, to many, has limitations and his harmonica playing is downright atrocious, the man has written some absolutely gorgeous melodies.

[greendog]

20. It's metaphor.

"Babe" is either Church, State, or both.

[zanne]

21. In 1964, the Women's Movement had barely begun...

Those of us (women) who heard that song later on admired the honesty and the independence of the words (which meant to us that an affair didn't have to be a committed one), but the male ego of the song appeared to us to be just what it was. Dylan was never a truly political artist, nor one who fought for social justice.

[gmoney]

24. isn't it also an admission of imperfection and human-ness?

maybe it's the first realistic, anti-macho song... popular songs up to that point were filled with unrealistic promises of boundless heroism, chivalry, endless devotion, and complete submission to her every whim. "someone who's never weak, but always strong" "gather flowers constantly" "open each and every door" "a lover for your life AND NOTHING MORE" -- he knows in the real world, that's NOT going to happen, or at least he's not ready to turn over his life just so she's not inconvenienced or troubled. "Defend you and protect you, whether you are right or wrong" "Someone who will die for you and more" -- he's not a "Knight in White Satin" -- he's just a man who has his own life to live, and he wants a woman who will let him live it.

[redqueen]

32. Many popular songs up to that point were also about womanizing.

So... I dunno.

[zanne]

36. Actually, if you get to listen to the song "Diamonds and Rust"...

It's a song by Joan Baez, supposedly about her love affair with Dylan. He didn't show alot of just plain old affection to women, either.

[Mike 03]

26. Irony.

He's making fun of women who have a notion of a male partner as perfect. He's saying that no one can live up to the fantastical expectations of the woman he is writing about.

Was this song about Edie Sedgewick? Or more likely, Baez?

[nomorenomore08]

34. Little from Column A, little from Column B.

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive at all.

[fishwax]

37. the lover's demands (if reflected accurately by the singer) are neither wise nor reasonable

You say you're lookin' for someone
Never weak but always strong,
To protect you an' defend you
Whether you are right or wrong,
Someone to open each and every door

As someone said upthread, the lover wants a hero rather than a human being. Also, this makes it pretty clear that the lover imagines the relationship to be completely one-sided--the singer is not allowed to be weak, suggesting both that the lover expects perfection and also that the lover can't be bothered to help support the singer in the same ways the lover expects to be supported. The first is an unreasonable expectation. The second is an unhealthy relationship for both parties, as are several other of the lover's demands, which imagine nothing approaching partnership and leave the lover completely helpless (pick you up each time you fall) and in need of constant attention (gather flowers constantly).

Assuming the lover is female, it is also suggestive of the imbalance of traditional patriarchal relationships and the ways in which women were trained to be helpless and reliant, trained to downplay or ignore their own abilities and potential, etc. That's a pattern that's repeated throughout the song, and while some of that critique might certainly stem from a "selfish" unwillingness to not live up to his end of that bargain, I think that the implicit critique of the constricted space such patriarchal relationships force women into is very clear and consistent.

greendog mentioned upthread that it's a metaphor and that the lover represents the church, the state, or both, and the "write or wrong" line calls that to the fore. In addition to the church and the state, I would also suggest that the lover also represents "the left," as this song was released on Another Side of Bob Dylan, his last all-acoustic album before going electric; at the time Dylan was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the expectations placed on him as a "protest singer" and "voice of his generation." This was the last album before Dylan went electric.