"She's Your Lover Now" is a song written by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, and recorded for his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde, but ultimately never used. It is a "dramatized scene for three players, but only one speaker – the singer – who's attempting to unravel a tangle of complicated emotions."[1] Despite the unfinished recording, critic Greil Marcus wrote in his 1975 book Mystery Train that "thanks to a guitar note here, a piano rumble there, Dylan's bitterest lyrics, and his unforgiving vocal, it is one of the most terrifying performances ever recorded."[2]
Recording
The third session for Blonde on Blonde, which took place on January 21, 1966, in Studio A of Columbia Recording Studios in New York City, focused entirely on laying down a complete take of "She's Your Lover Now". Sixteen takes were recorded between 2:30 pm and 2:30 am, but several were false starts.[3] The most complete take with the full band, albeit one that breaks down before the end of the song, was take 15, which was released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991. After January 21, 1966, the song was dropped from recording and never returned to.
On the recording sheet, each take is titled "Just a Little Glass of Water",[3] which was the song's working name.[1]
Musical style
"She's Your Lover Now" is in the key of C♯, and follows a chord procession similar to that of "Like a Rolling Stone" (C-Dm-Em-F-G).
Lyrics
In the liner notes to The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3, John Bauldie states that "it's just about impossible to do justice to its achievement, without writing an entire dissertation on the many simultaneous levels on which this song works."[1]
Because this recording of "She's Your Lover Now" breaks down before its end, the last verse is missing from the recording:[1]
Now your eyes cry wolf,
While your mouth cries "I'm not scared
Of animals like you."
And you, there's been nothing of you I can recall;
I just saw you that one time. You were just there, that's all.
However, it has been speculated that Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Sandy Konikoff did not play on this version, with Al Kooper on organ, Paul Griffin on piano, and Levon Helm on drums, instead.[1]
References
^ abcdefBauldie, John, Liner Notes to the Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3, Sony, 1991
^Marcus, Greil (1975). Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music. E.P. Dutton & Co. p. 225. ISBN0-525-47422-6.