Another lost Dylan gem found: “You don’t love me no more”, with added lyrics

By Tony Attwood

Updated 11 March with song lyrics added by Larry

OK it is a bit cheeky of me saying it was found because I don’t know if it was lost, but there are only a few references to it around, and we do have a recording of Dylan performing the song.  So it was lost to me because until yesterday I’d never heard it before.

One site I looked at since finding “You don’t love me no more” suggests that Dylan is not necessarily the composer, but the official Dylan site says he is (although it has no copy of the lyrics) and it certainly sounds like one of his songs of the time.

Now I know from previous attempts that anything I might write down as a version of the lyrics is going to be met with derisive laughter, so, as with other unlisted sets of lyrics I throw the door open.  If you would like to contribute a full set, or even one verse, I’d be delighted to print them here.  (It could of course be in the official book of Dylan’s lyrics, but I am currently on the opposite side of the world from all my Dylan materials, so if it is, sorry, you’ll still have to help me out).

In the recording we have (there’s a link below) it is the opening track which is nice and handy.  The  official site says Dylan never played but it was certainly very well rehearsed and absolutely sounds ready to me, so why having gone to all that trouble to rehearse it perfectly, he let it be, I really don’t know.  But I guess that’s Bob.

It is particularly interesting because the song has a properly written ending which exists outside of the sung material – a fulsome coda no less (to use the correct Italian term).  Something rather rare for Bob – and indeed not that common in pop, rock and blues in general)

So here we have it from September 1978

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ2BfbrH4oM

What makes the song work so well is that the chorus “You don’t love me no more” is based on three chords that make up thousands of pop songs (described in music as tonic, flattened 7th and 4th) while the intervening verse sections go into a series of minor chords, which I am not going to try and guess at without a piano to hand – something I inexcusably failed to bring with me to Australia).

What’s also so interesting is that no one seems to have written much about this.  Heylin gives it a mention to the level of calling it “Pretty Enjoyable” but that is it.

It really has got an interesting reggae derived rhythm at the start which returns throughout, and although I can’t really make it out it almost seems like a whistle playing along although it could be some clever work on an organ, or maybe a flute.

There’s no breakdown among the band or singer and from the recording it seems everyone knew exactly what they were up to throughout.

All I can say is “oh Bob, how could you throw away such a piece?”   Thank goodness for the guy with the tape recorder.

If you can supply any further information about the song I’ll then try and incorporate it within the whole review (with full acknowledgements of course) and an attempt at the chords once I get back to England.

Here’s Larry’s version of the lyrics added after my initial plea…

---

 

Think there’s something missing or wrong with this review?

You are of course always welcome to write a comment below, but if you’d like to go further, you could write an alternative review – we’ve already published quite a few of these.  We try to avoid publishing reviews and comments that are rude or just criticisms of what is written elsewhere – but if you have a positive take on this song or any other Dylan song, and would like it considered for publication, please do email Tony@schools.co.uk

What else is on the site

1: 500+ 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