Where were you last night?

11/11/2008 by Tony Attwood.

The songs on the Traveling Wilburys albums are credited to the band as a whole rather than individual artists, but it is clear that this track from Volume 3 is a Dylan composition with some help from Tom Petty.

It is a simple love song, with an unusual chord structure – after the first 8 bars there are a couple of unexpected minor chords which really makes the listener jump back.

There’s also a bit of the sloppiness in the lyrics that were typical of Dylan at this – rhyming “week” with “tree” really won’t do (although I have seen it written as “creek” – which rhymes but is out of context.)

But what makes this work is the melody – only occasionally one of Dylan’s strong points combining in a perfect way with the lyrics, and mixing with that irresistible bass line.

What did you do, who did you see?

Were you with someone who reminded you of me?

It is not just a lost love song – there is the twist – “who reminded you of me” is one of the most curious lines from type of song.

The purists tend to dismiss these albums as being quite unnecessary, but there is fun and laughter here, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

You weren’t waiting where you said

You sent someone in your place instead.

That’s the twist. What on earth is going on?

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