I see you around and around: Bob Dylan torments us poor fans

By Tony Attwood

This is a tiny fragment of which the person who put it up on YouTube has taken the title literally to give us the fragment over and over, around and around and around

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nutAvSExOk4

But it is a lovely melody, a gentle rhythm and the hint at some interesting lyrics of the love song variety.

The same melodic line is sung three times before we get what was presumably going to be the chorus line of of “Around and Around”.

Of course if you do keep playing the fragment over and over it will ultimately get a bit much and those last two words (which sound to me rather like “on and on”) become a reflection of what we are hearing.

I’ve included it not just for completeness – it exists so I put it on our list – but also because it is once more a perfect example of how Dylan can work.  That charming melody demands to have a set of interesting lyrics with it, which worked over time will create if not a great song certainly a very listenable song.  It is just that on this occasion Bob never quite got around to it.

The recording comes from May 1984 and fits into this sequence of composition:

• I once knew a man
• Who loves you more
• Almost done
• I see you round and round
• Dirty lie
• Go way little boy
• Drifting too far from shore

Which certainly means it comes from a most interesting time.

One little bonus – if you do leave the recording running, it is followed by Absolutely Sweet Marie – in a rather different version from that which we got used to on the album – although beware, because the maker of the video also runs this twice.  It must be his thing.

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