"I Want You" is a song by the American singer-songwriter

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, which was released as a single in June 1966, and, later that month, on his seventh studio album, ''

Blonde on Blonde ''Blonde on Blonde'' is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as a double album on June 20, 1966, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions began in New York in October 1965 with numerous backing musici ...

''. The song was written by Dylan, and produced by

Bob Johnston Donald William "Bob" Johnston (May 14, 1932 – August 14, 2015) was an American record producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, and Simon & Garfunkel. Early life and career Johnston was born into a profe ...

. The song has been interpreted as a straightforward expression of lust, although critics have highlighted that the symbolism of the song is complex. It was the last song recorded for ''Blonde on Blonde'', with several takes recorded in the early hours of March 10, 1966. It was included on ''

Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits ''Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits'' is a 1967 compilation album of songs by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Released on March 27, 1967, by Columbia Records, it was a stopgap between Dylan's studio albums '' Blonde on Blonde'' and '' John Wesley ...

'' (1967). The song has received a largely positive critical reception, with a number of commentators highlighting Dylan's use of imagery, although some of the meanings are obscure. Dylan has performed the song live 294 times, from its debut in 1966 to his most recent live rendition in 2005. It was presented in the style of a

torch song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affect ...

during his 1978 World Tour, as heard on ''

Bob Dylan at Budokan ''Bob Dylan at Budokan'' is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released August 1978 on Columbia Records in Japan only, followed by a worldwide release in April 1979. It was recorded during his 1978 world tour and is composed mo ...

'' (1978). Dylan also revisited the song in 1987 on a co-tour with the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

; their version was released on '' Dylan & the Dead'' (1989). The sessions for the original March 1966 recording were released in their entirety on the 18-disc Collector's Edition of '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966'' in 2015, with the penultimate take of the song also appearing on the 6-disc and 2-disc versions of that album. The single charted in several countries; it reached number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number 16 on the UK charts. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

was a live version of "

Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan. It was originally recorded on August 2, 1965, and released on the album ''Highway 61 Revisited''. The song was later released on the compilation album '' Bob Dylan's Grea ...

" recorded in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England at the Odeon Theatre in May 1966. Sophie B. Hawkins recorded what was termed a "breathy techno-MOR"/"quasi hip-hop" version of "I Want You" for '' Tongues and Tails'' (1992) and released it as a single which reached No. 49 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1993. Her version received mixed reviews. She performed the song at Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration in 1992; the performance was criticised, and was not included on the 1993 double-album and VHS releases of the concert.

Background and recording

American singer-songwriter

started to move away from the

contemporary folk music Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid-20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from trad ...

sound that had characterized his early albums with his fourth LP, '' Another Side of Bob Dylan'' (1964). The 1965 album ''

Bringing It All Back Home ''Bringing It All Back Home'' is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in April1965 by Columbia Records. In a major transition from his earlier sound, it was Dylan's first album to incorporate electric inst ...

'' included both electric and acoustic tracks, and was followed by the purely electric ''

Highway 61 Revisited ''Highway 61 Revisited'' is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Dylan continued the musical approach of his previous album ''Bringing It All Back Home'' (1965), usi ...

'' later that year. In 1965, Dylan hired the Hawks as his backing group for live shows, but recording sessions in New York for a new album were not productive with them, and he accepted a suggestion from his producer

that the sessions should transfer to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Dylan went to Nashville in February 1966, with

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Throughout much of the 1960s and 1970s he was a prolific studio musician, including playing organ on the Bob Dylan song " Like ...

and

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...

from the New York sessions also making the trip. The track was recorded at Columbia Studio A in Nashville in the early hours of March 10, 1966, starting as dawn was approaching. While some of the songs on ''Blonde on Blonde'' are in the established

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

" A-A-B-A" form, an extra section at the end of "I Want You" gives it an A-A-B-A-A format . Dylan demonstrated the song to his accompanying musicians using an acoustic guitar. After Johnston had announced that recording had started, and confirmed the song's title with Dylan, guitarist

Charlie McCoy Charlie McCoy (born Charles Ray McCoy, March 28, 1941) is an American harmonica virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist in country music. He is best known for his harmonica solos on iconic recordings such as " Candy Man" ( Roy Orbison), "He Stoppe ...

asked about the song's intro, which had not been established; Dylan played the chord progression of the intro, and after the band had played through the first take, they discussed the arrangement again before the second take. There were three complete takes of "I Want You" and two incomplete ones. The final take was the

master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

. A version called "Take 5b" is marked with "insert, guitar overdub", though all the musicians involved say there was no guitar overdub. It was the last song recorded for Dylan's seventh album, ''

'', with the session concluding at around 7:00a.m.

Composition and lyrical interpretation

Sean Wilentz Robert Sean Wilentz (; born February 20, 1951) is an American historian who serves as the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University, where he has taught since 1979. His primary research interests include U.S. ...

felt that the manuscript indicated some "lyrical experiments that fail", such as "deputies asking him his name... lines about fathers going down hugging one another and about their daughters putting him down because he isn't their brother". However, once recording started, the only notable change between the takes was to the tempo.

Clinton Heylin Clinton Heylin (born 8 April 1960) is an English author. Heylin has written extensively about popular music, especially on the life and work of Bob Dylan. Education Heylin attended Manchester Grammar School. He read history at Bedford College ...

felt that the tune used for the song illustrated the sentiment expressed by Dylan when he told an interviewer in 1966 that he took a holistic view of songs: "It's not just pretty words to a tune or putting tunes to words... t'sthe words and the music ogether��I can hear the sound of what I want to say." Despite the straightforward title,

Mike Marqusee Mike Marqusee (; 27 January 1953 – 13 January 2015) was an American writer, journalist, and political activist in London. Life and career Marqusee's first published work was the essay "Turn Left at Scarsdale", written when he was a sixteen-y ...

found the song to be "packed with enigmatic imagery and haunted by ambivalent emotions". For literature scholar Richard Brown, "the song shows a mastery of its apparently casual form... it is neatly balanced between the directness of the repeated refrain and the mystery and interest of the material in the stanzas." Andy Gill observed that the song's tension is achieved through the balance of the "direct address" of the chorus, the repeated phrase "I want you," and a weird cast of characters, including a guilty

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker or mortician (American English), is a professional who has licenses in funeral arranging and embalming (or preparation of the deceased) involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks o ...

, a lonesome

organ grinder A street organ ( or ) played by an organ grinder is a French automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play its music in the street. The two most commonly seen types are the smaller German and the larger Dutch street or ...

, weeping fathers, mothers, sleeping saviours, the queen of spades, and "a dancing child with his Chinese suit". Gill reports that "the dancing child" has been interpreted as a reference to

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, and his then girlfriend Anita Pallenberg. Clinton Heylin agrees there may be substance to this interpretation because the dancing child claims that "time was on his side", as an allusion to "

Time Is on My Side "Time Is on My Side" is a song written by Jerry Ragovoy (using the pseudonym "Norman Meade"). First recorded by jazz trombonist Kai Winding and his orchestra in 1963, it was covered (with additional lyrics by Jimmy Norman) by both soul singer I ...

", the Stones' first U.S. hit. Noting Dylan's interest in

classical literature Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

, English professor Graley Herren hypothesized that the song, which references an undertaker, is about the narrator's failure to accept the death of a loved one, echoing the ancient tale of

Orpheus and Eurydice In Greek mythology, the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice () concerns the pitiful love of Orpheus of Thrace, located in northeastern Greece, for the beautiful Eurydice. Orpheus was the son of Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope. It may be a late addition ...

. However, commentators have typically taken the song to be an expression of lust, perhaps for a new love, or someone other than the narrator's current partner. Mellers felt that "The timbre generates an overwhelming erotic compulsion from what on paper is no more than a series of oscillation between two tones."

Release and reception

"I Want You" was released as a single on June 10, 1966. A live version of "

recorded in

on May 14, 1966 was included as the

. ''Blonde on Blonde'', Dylan's seventh studio album, was issued as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

on June 20, with "I Want You" as the first track on side two. The album version had a duration of three minutes and eight seconds. It was later included on ''

'' (1967). The recording session was released in its entirety on the 18-disc Collector's Edition of '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966'' in 2015, with the penultimate take of the song also appearing on the 6-disc and 2-disc versions of that album. The reviewer for ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described the song as a "medium-paced, blues-soaked plea for romance with an infectious, repeating rhythmic

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

" that it considered a "sure-fire blockbuster candidate." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine recorded the release of "I Want You" in its June 25 issue, and predicted it would reach the Top 20. The track entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts on July 2, 1966, at number 90, and ''Billboard'' identified the single as a "star performer"—a side "registering greatest proportionate upward progress this week". It peaked at 20th on July 30. "I Want You" entered the ''Cash Box'' charts at number 59 on July 2, and was tipped for strong upward movement. It peaked at number 25 on August 6. It was also a hit in the UK, where it peaked at number 16. Richard Goldstein of

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

found that despite the "complex" imagery, the song should appeal to teenagers in Dylan's expanding fanbase as it expressed its subject in straightforward phrasing. Not all critics were positive. Craig McGregor of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' found the song unremarkable, and Peter Murray's brief assessment was that the track was "rather disappointing". In 2013, Jim Beviglia rated it as the 70th-best of Dylan's songs, and praised Dylan's "ingenious poetic techniques".

Neil Spencer Neil Spencer is a British journalist, author, broadcaster and astrologer who lives in north London. He edited the ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') from 1978 to 1985 and was a founding editor of the men's magazine ''Arena'' and of the jazz/art ma ...

gave the song a rating of 5/5 stars in an '' Uncut'' magazine Dylan supplement in 2015. Highlighting Dylan's harmonica part and

Wayne Moss Wayne Moss (born February 9, 1938, in South Charleston, West Virginia, United States) is an American guitar player, bassist, record producer and songwriter best known for his session work in Nashville. In 1961, Moss founded Cinderella Sound reco ...

's guitar, Dylan discography author John Nogowski gave the song an "A" rating.

Live performances

Dylan first performed "I Want You" live in concert in 1973, accompanied by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

and members of

the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

, at a benefit concert for Students Need Athletic and Cultural Kicks (SNACK). Three years later, he performed it during the

Rolling Thunder Revue The Rolling Thunder Revue was a 1975–76 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan with numerous musicians and collaborators. The purpose of the tour was to allow Dylan, who was a major recording artist and concert performer, to play ...

, in a manner that journalist Oliver Trager called a "painful dirge." During his 1978 World Tour Dylan performed "I Want You" as a

, while in 1981 it appeared in his live performances in a more up-tempo version. After this, he next performed it during the Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead 1987 Tour, with it remaining part of his live repertoire for the 1987 Temples in Flames Tour. A 1978 performance, featuring Dylan accompanied by Steve Douglas on recorder, was released on the live album ''

'' (1978). One of the performance with the

was issued on '' Dylan & the Dead'' (1989), and an incomplete rehearsal from 1975 was included on '' Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings'' (2019). According to his official website, Dylan has performed the song live 294 times, from its debut to his most recent live rendition in 2005.

Personnel

The track was written by Dylan. The credits below are adapted from ''That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound: Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde''. Musicians *

vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica *

acoustic guitar *

electric guitar *

organ * Hargus "Pig" Robbinspiano *Either Henry Strzelecki or

Joe South Joe South (born Joseph Alfred Souter; February 28, 1940 – September 5, 2012) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Best known for his songwriting, South won the Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Song of the Year, ...

electric bass * Kenneth Buttreydrums Technical *

– record producer

Sophie B. Hawkins version

American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins recorded "I Want You" for her April, 1992 debut album, '' Tongues and Tails'', produced by

Rick Chertoff Richard E. Chertoff (born March 29, 1950) is an American record producer and songwriter. He is credited on the singles Joan Osborne's " One of Us", Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and " Time After Time" and Sophie B. Hawkins' " Damn ...

and

Ralph Schuckett Ralph Schuckett (March 2, 1948 – April 4, 2021) was an American keyboardist, composer and songwriter known as one of the founding members of Todd Rundgren's band Utopia. He composed for film and television, including ''Pokémon'', ''Sonic X'', ...

, on Columbia records. Hawkins' version had a different melody and featured the vocals from her first take. Hawkins has said of Dylan's lyrics, "Each time I sing hesong I struggle to grasp what the words are saying." She elaborated, "I completely feel the song, but I don't understand it." In ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Paul Evans described the style of her version as "breathy techno-MOR"; the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

reviewer called it "quasi hip-hop".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

, writing for ''Billboard'', praised Hawkins' version for being "deliver dwith chatty finesse, amid a cushiony synth arrangement". Randy Clark, reviewing for ''

'', noted that despite Dylan's "obvious lyrical/poetic style", Hawkins' "sultry performance style permeates the recording". ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' felt Hawkins "manages to completely transform the Bob Dylan classic" and noted it "sounds like

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

in a

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

setting". Amongst the negative reviews, Adam Sweeting of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described Hawkins's vocals as a "cloisterish drone" where she attempted but failed to match Dylan's delivery, Richard Plunkett of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' predicted that Dylan's fans would dislike the "quite bad" cover. The Associated Press review suggested that the idea for the cover should have been discarded, and anticipated that Dylan fans would be upset by the track. Hawkins performed the song at Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in October, 1992. ''Rolling Stone'' reviewer

David Wild David Wild (born December 16, 1961) is an American writer and critic in the music and television industries and a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. His published books include ''Friends: The Official Companion'' (1995), ''Sein ...

wrote that Hawkins's inclusion on the bill "struck some as a case of label boosterism", and Wayne Robins of ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'' felt that her performance was "superfluous", while

Tom Moon Thomas Raphael Moon (born November 3, 1960) is an American saxophonist, author and music critic. He is best known for his 2008 book '' 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die''. He has won two Deems Taylor Awards from the American Society of Comp ...

characterised the performance as "listless" in

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

. Hawkins' performance was one of a number of omissions from the 1993 double-album and VHS releases of the concert. Issued as a single in the US in October 1992 and in the UK in January 1993, it reached No. 49 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1993. The single version had a duration of 4 minutes and 19 seconds, and was backed with "Live and Let Love" as the B-side. The accompanying music video, which was shot in Paris, was directed by Lydie Caller and produced by Odille DeVars.

Charts

Notes

References

Citations Books and journal articles * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Radio documentary *

External links

Lyrics
at Bob Dylan's official website. {{authority control Songs written by Bob Dylan Bob Dylan songs Grateful Dead songs 1966 singles Song recordings produced by Bob Johnston Columbia Records singles 1966 songs Cultural depictions of Brian Jones