“Guess I’m doing fine”: Dylan says, “Look at me I’m hurting”

By Tony Attwood

To put this song in context we have to look at what Dylan had written at the end of 1963 – this is an unedited list (by which I mean I haven’t taken out the lesser known pieces – as far as I can see this is the complete chronological list).

• With God on our Side
• Talking World War III Blues
• Only a pawn in their game
• Eternal Circle
• North Country Blues
• Gypsy Lou
• Troubled and I Don’t Know Why 
• When the ship comes in
• The Times they are a-Changing
• Percy’s Song
• The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
• Lay Down your Weary Tune
• One too many mornings
• Restless Farewell

And that is not a selection – that is all the songs we know about, in the best order we can put them in, in terms of writing.

Then came “Guess I’m doing fine”

After which came

• Chimes of Freedom
• Mr Tambourine Man
• I don’t believe you (She acts like we never have met)
• Spanish Harlem Incident
• Motorpsycho Nightmare
• It ain’t me babe
• Mama you’ve been on my mind

Again that is not a selected list.  It is the lot.

If you take a moment to listen to “Guess I’m doing fine” (available on Spotify – it is a and  on the Whitmark album) I suspect the question might be “What?”

As in, “What made Bob write this song in between all those works?”  Just to take the end of the first list and the start of the second list it looks very odd.

• One too many mornings
• Restless Farewell
• Guess I’m doing fine
• Chimes of Freedom
• Mr Tambourine Man

 

The songs around it (not just these two before and after but going back through the more complete earlier lists) are major works.  One after the other after the other.  Not a masterpiece and a few duds, but brilliant compositions showing Dylan at the height of his powers.  And in between, this song.

In a sense I could understand what was going on if “Guess I’m doing fine” was written and then forgotten – every composer like every author, artist, playwright etc has ideas that are quickly set aside.  But that it was kept and recorded… that bemuses me.  One can only presume that Bob really seriously did want to have a record of everything he did – although I can’t quite see why.

Particularly since a little while before he let all those Town Hall pieces just be played once in public and then vanish.

But record it he did.  And the only explanation I can muster is that since he broke up with his girlfriend at this time, he was trying the old folksy idea in which the song recounts all the many things that are wrong, but then says by way of stark contrast, but I suppose it is all ok somehow.

Or maybe he just wanted people to know he was hurting.

Well, I ain’t got my childhood
Or friends I once did know
No, I ain’t got my childhood
Or friends I once did know
But I still got my voice left
I can take it anywhere I go
Hey, hey, so I guess I’m doin’ fine

So in a sense he was perhaps just getting a feeling dealt with, and part of that “dealing with” involved writing and recording this song, before he could move on.

Certainly by verse three this is where he seems to be… my relationship has screwed up, but that is nothing compared to what is happening in the world at large.

Trouble, oh trouble
I’ve trouble on my mind
Trouble, oh trouble
Trouble on my mind
But the trouble in the world, Lord
Is much more bigger than mine
Hey, hey, so I guess I’m doin’ fine

And a little later he really is emphasising the way the music industry and his fans were treating him

I been kicked and whipped and trampled on
I been shot at just like you
I been kicked and whipped and trampled on
I been shot at just like you.
But as long as the world keeps a-turnin’
I just keep a-turnin’ too
Hey, hey, so I guess I’m doin’ fine

and really I find it rather hard to emphasise with this.  I am not saying break ups of love affairs are not tough – they most certainly can bring the whole world crumbling down, but this doesn’t seem to ring true to me.  Not one bit.

There isn’t even too much to rescue the song as a piece of music – the basis of the piece is three chords over and over (C, Dm7, F), but maybe that is just how Bob wanted to express himself, going over and over, round and around.  Thankfully he didn’t play it at any gigs.

I want to stress this is not a criticism of Bob for writing this – as I say all artists do sketches and have ideas that don’t go anywhere, it is, most certainly, much more a failing of mine.  I can’t understand why he recorded this, and why he wanted to keep it, when all around him were the masterpieces.

Unless it was just to say, “Look at me.  I’m hurting.”

What else is on the site

1: Over 470 reviews of Dylan songs.  There is an index to these in alphabetical order on the home page, and an index to the songs in the order they were written in the Chronology Pages.

2: The Chronology.  We’ve taken the songs we can find recordings of and put them in the order they were written (as far as possible) not in the order they appeared on albums.  The chronology is more or less complete and is now linked to all the reviews on the site.  We have also produced overviews of Dylan’s work year by year.     The index to the chronologies is here.

3: Bob Dylan’s themes.  We publish a wide range of articles about Bob Dylan and his compositions.  There is an index here.

4:   The Discussion Group    We now have a discussion group “Untold Dylan” on Facebook.  Just type the phrase “Untold Dylan” in, on your Facebook page or follow this link 

5:  Bob Dylan’s creativity.   We’re fascinated in taking the study of Dylan’s creative approach further.  The index is in Dylan’s Creativity.

6: You might also like: A classification of Bob Dylan’s songs and partial Index to Dylan’s Best Opening Lines and our articles on various writers’ lists of Dylan’s ten greatest songs.

And please do note   The Bob Dylan Project, which lists every Dylan song in alphabetical order, and has links to licensed recordings and performances by Dylan and by other artists, is starting to link back to our reviews