By Tony Attwood
The songs that we have covered so far in this series are listed at the end of this piece, and if you’ve played through the songs, or indeed already know them, I rather suspect you might have noted just how complex they tend to be both musically and lyrically.
However the second Gordon Lightfoot song Bob chose (and to be clear, this is a song written and recorded by Gordon Lightfoot) is a song of utterly elegant simplicity in its musical construction but (if press reports are true) is a song that tells a story much more complex than appears on the surface.
But before I dig further into the origins, here’s the original version of the song…
And just in case you don’t feel that simplicity by listening to the music, just play the song again and follow the lyrics
I can see her lying back in her satin dress In a room where you do what you don't confess Sundown, you better take care If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs Sundown, you better take care If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs She's been looking like a queen in a sailor's dream And she don't always say what she really means Sometimes I think it's a shame When I get feeling better, when I'm feeling no pain Sometimes I think it's a shame When I get feeling better, when I'm feeling no pain I can picture every move that a man could make Getting lost in her loving is your first mistake Sundown, you better take care If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs Sometimes I think it's a sin When I feel like I'm winning, when I'm losing again I can see her looking fast in her faded jeans She's a hard-loving woman, got me feeling mean Sometimes I think it's a shame When I get feeling better, when I'm feeling no pain Sundown, you better take care If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs Sundown, you better take care If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs Sometimes I think it's a sin When I feel like I'm winning, when I'm losing again
There are four two-line verses and five choruses with tiny variants in them – in effect there are three choruses, but even then the variations are very small.
So when we compare this beautiful, elegant piece with Dylan’s master works the contrasts could not be different. Dylan, the songwriter who uses words to create a complexity of images and this piece which makes a song that we (or at least I) can never play just once but need to play over and over.
Here the opening tells us all: acoustic guitar, bass and gentle percussion. The only surprise we get is the second line of the chorus with the harmonies. And the music itself is so simple – the verse consists of only three different notes repeated in varying ways and turned into an elegant melody. The percussion is simple, as is the guitar part.
Plus to emphasise this while the bass has an interesting part to play in the introduction now is mostly reduced to playing the fundamental note of each chord.
So what makes this such a remarkable piece of music?
First, simplicity can be elegant, and second the simplicity of the music contrasts with the essence of the lyrics
Sometimes I think it's a sin When I feel like I'm winning, when I'm losing again
Second the song, in its simplicity incorporates the essence of heartache. Just ignore the chorus for a moment and consider those lyrics
I can see her lying back in her satin dress In a room where you do what you don't confess She's been looking like a queen in a sailor's dream And she don't always say what she really means I can picture every move that a man could make Getting lost in her loving is your first mistake I can see her looking fast in her faded jeans She's a hard-loving woman, got me feeling mean
This is every man’s angst when he finds himself in love with a beautiful sexy woman who has a mind of her own. And the lyrics really are exquisite – just consider
Sometimes I think it's a sin When I feel like I'm winning, when I'm losing again
It is that contradiction that a man can feel if he falls in love with the adventurousness of a woman, and then worries she is that adventurous when he’s not there.
So yes it is a brilliant and remarkable song. It reached number 1 on the Billboard charts – Gordon Lightfoot’s only number one single. In a 2008 interview, Lightfoot said: “I think my girlfriend was out with her friends one night at a bar while I was at home writing songs. I thought, ‘I wonder what she’s doing with her friends at that bar!’ It’s that kind of a feeling. ‘Where is my true love tonight? What is my true love doing?'”
- Bob Dylan’s favourite songs: Death of an Unpopular Poet
- Bob Dylan’s favourite songs 2: Shadows
- Dylan’s favourite songs 3: ‘Desperado Under the Eaves’
- Dylan’s favourite songs 4: Randy Newman: Sail Away
- Dylan’s favourite songs 5: Sam Stone
- Dylan’s favourite songs 6: He Went to Paris’