The Lyrics and the Music: She Belongs to me

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I don’t know what it means either: an index to the current series appearing on this website.

A list of previous articles in this series is at the foot of  the page.

By Tony Attwood

“She Belongs to me” from “Bringing it all back home” was played live 491 times between 1965 and 2016.   It is a song that many Dylan fans can immediately hear in their heads because it is, at least on the surface, so simple.

It is in fact a classic 12 bar blues, using just three chords and two lines of music per verse, with the first line repeated.  Musically it is just the third line of each verse which is unexpected, introducing a minor chord.

But even so with the extra chord, the music itself is very simple, and the lyrics contain only two lines per verse.   So what makes it such a superb piece of music?

The answer is that there is a beautiful set of contradictions in the song.   Musically that final line of each verse is not what we expect, leading as it does with a minor chord.   And lyrically, with that line Bob does something else unexpected.  In verse one for example that minor chord accompanies

She can take the dark out of the nighttimeAnd paint the daytime black
In the second verse the trick is repeated but with even more uncertainty in terms of what we are actually listening to…
But you will wind up peeking through her keyholeDown upon your knees
The point is we all know the format of 12 bar blues songs, even if we don’t know anything about music – because we have heard millions of them.   The first two lines of this song are exactly as we expect and they are full of “her” virtues…
She never stumbles, she's got no place to fallShe never stumbles, she's got no place to fall
But that third line is always unexpected – both musically and lyrically.
She's nobody's child, the law can't touch her at all
All the confusion comes in that last line, and although having heard the song so many times we are not really confused any more there is still that little something.  For example with the verse…
She wears an Egyptian ring, it sparkles before she speaksShe wears an Egyptian ring, it sparkles before she speaksShe's a hypnotist collector, you are a walking antique
the opening line (repeated) tells us that she looks good and sounds good.  And yes, we have got this idea now.   But then with the two slightly unexpected chords of the third line we get the challenge.  And the song is making it clear that we might adore and even worship her, but really she is on another planet, and we are so far behind.
(And it is not necessary to understand the structure of the unexpected chord change – for most non-musicians it just feels slightly different, slightly edgy, slightly unexpected).
Dylan songs are almost all strophic (that is to say verse – verse – verse etc without variation).  And we know that format so well, that we can quickly adjust to this slightly unexpected approach to the form, and not let it disturb the pleasure the music gives us, although that last line really can be a bit confusing.
But Dylan does not let it go at that.  He gives us a real kick in the final verse with that last line: is he after all talking about a child rather than a lover?  We are left unsure.
Bow down to her on Sunday, Salute her when her birthday comesBow down to her on Sunday, Salute her when her birthday comesFor Halloween, buy her a trumpet, And for Christmas, get her a drum

The lyrics can be read either that she is a child who wants childhood toys or that she is an activist, getting attention for her cause, and the trumpet and drum are not literal but metaphorical.

We don’t know – and what makes us even more confused (even if we know the song so well that we can just accept it and move on) if we come back and really think, the smoothness and repetitiveness of the song will catch us out.   We have been lulled into the complacency of thinking that she is a very self-assured and competent child – and the gentle music encourages this.  But suddenly that last verse says something different, but the music just carries on as before.

Is she a child or not?  Is everything calm and simple, or is she a woman leaving lovers behind, while she pretends still to revel in childhood pleasures?

The music takes us one way, the lyrics another.   It may sound a simple idea but believe me, it is very hard to pull off with success.  But of course this is Bob, and he can not only pull it off on the recording, he can keep on doing it with further variations live on stage.  Including pulling out the occasional extra trick with the instrumental break between the verses.  This is 1993, Hammersmith (West London).  And please do listen to the final instrumental section with its repeated last line.   That really does confirm, this is not about childhood pleasures.

The songs reviewed from the music plus lyrics viewpoint…

One comment

  1. In opposition to the title, ‘she’ does not belong to ‘me’ noat all; quite the reverse, he is hers – captivated by the dazzling variety of her wondrous qualities, but hypnotised into abject submission.
    In the final verse, he breaks free leaving parting gifts: from now on she can bang her own drum, blow her own trumpet.

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