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The only Bob Dylan song JJ Burnel ever loved

Thu 12 December 2024 21:14, UK

For many people, arriving at their favourite Bob Dylan song is a result of deep personal turmoil: days, weeks, even months spent agonising between his litany of classics. But for The Stranglers’ legendary bassist JJ Burnel, the decision is pretty straightforward. He only likes only one Bob Dylan song, but would rank that song among his all-time favourites, and it probably raises some eyebrows.

As part of an interview with Uncut in January 2024, Burnel was asked about some of the songs that have shaped his life so far. His selection is a pretty diverse mix of 1960s blues, 1980s electro and even a slice of ambient music from Japanese composer Isao Tomita.

His final choice was, in his words, “One of my all-time favourite songs”. And Burnel was pretty gushing in his praise for a Dylan song that maybe wouldn’t usually be included among his best tunes: “I know to look at me, you wouldn’t think I was a Bob Dylan fan, and I find most of his output leaves me cold,” Burnel said. “But that particular song hits the nail on the head for me. It’s quite humble, and I’m sure we could all identify with the lyrics and the sentiment of the song. Also, the playing’s loose – it’s completely the antithesis of what The Stranglers do, for instance.”

The song in question was 1969’s ‘I Threw It All Away’, which appeared on Dylan’s country album Nashville Skyline. Though the album received mixed reviews upon its release, ‘I Threw It All Away’ is considered one of the strongest songs on the record. A far more honest, direct and personal love song than his previous efforts, it sees Dylan looking back at lost love and criticising himself for not doing more to save it: “Once I had mountains in the palm of my hand / And rivers that ran through every day / I must have been mad, I never knew what I had / Until I threw it all away,” he sings.

‘I Threw It All Away’ was a notable moment in Dylan’s canon for a number of reasons. Firstly, it marked his first proper foray into country music after dabbling with it on 1967’s John Wesley Harding. He also ditched the abstract lyrics and heavy electric sound he had established in his mid-1960s releases, instead taking things back to basics both musically and lyrically. But perhaps most striking was Dylan’s new singing voice. On Nashville Skyline, he suddenly developed a smooth, crooning country voice, worlds away from the rough, gravelly tones we had become accustomed to.

As for Burnel, he may have loved ‘I Threw It All Away’, but it didn’t exactly open the Dylan floodgates for him. “Not that I know much about his previous music, but certainly, there are a couple of tracks on Nashville Skyline that are listenable, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “You can like a song by someone and not necessarily pursue it further and become a fan.”

Perhaps not, JJ. But on this occasion, we reckon digging into Dylan’s back catalogue will be more than worth your time.