Bob Dylan’s “I’m Ready for love” (I’m ready for you), but not “I’m ready”

by Tony Attwood

This is another of the songs from the “After the Empire” based on a chord sequence – in essence the two primary chords of the major scale with a passing chord tucked in between.  The sequence is sung over and over again, often to the words “I’m ready for you” (rather than the “Ready for Love” printed on the video link that we have.

https://youtu.be/FdSEay_7Gzg

Discogs.com has the song with a very curious listing which includes

• Written by Mick Ralphs
• Composed by Bill Payne, Bob Dylan, Felix Cavaliere, Mick Falphs
• Songwriter: Paul Rogers.

Make of that lot what you will.  Anyway the song proceeds on its repetitive way, and then stops, and then they take it up again, although without lyrics before moving on.

Incidentally Dylan is noted on the official Bob Dylan site has having performed “I’m ready” 24 times in September and October 1978, but there are no details of the song given.

There is also Halleujah I’m ready which might be the song that the site is thinking of, as it is clearly performed in concert, and is not listed under H on the site.

Generally the time, date and place of this recording is given as Cherokee Studio, Hollywood, 31 October 1985, and there’s no reason to disagree.

It is simply a knock around experiment with less impact or possibility than the others we have covered here from this era such as

• Worth The Waiting For
• Nothing here worth dying for
• 26 Storeys High
• Won’t go back til they call me back again

From my perspective these songs do have the benefit of showing Dylan at work at this point in time, but this was certainly not the way he worked at other periods in his life, and rather reflects a moment when he had run out of ideas.

And yet he hadn’t for within a few weeks Dylan was writing and recording songs like When the night comes falling from the sky and Dark Eyes

Ah well, when the ideas are not there, all you can do is wait until they return.

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