The Bob Dylan song that makes Nick Cave “ragingly envious”
Like authors, and indeed artists of all disciplines, musicians can be very jealous people. That being said, jealousy – when handled with care – can be a very beneficial emotion in the creative sphere. It implies drive, determination and vision. To experience another person’s work and feel the desire to scream, “It should have been me!” suggests fragility, yes, but also optimism that, one day, it will indeed be you. When it comes to envy, there are few artists who have been subjected to the narrow gaze of the green-eyed monster like Bob Dylan.
Nick Cave is just one of the countless artists who, on listening to Dylan, have felt the overwhelming desire to pack it all in. When asked to name the one song he wishes he’d written during an interview on More 4, the Australian provocateur replied: “Well, I like that Dylan song ‘I threw It All Away’ off Nashville Skyline. There was always something about that song that was so simple… and an audacity to the simplicity of that song. But it was so…so powerful at the same time, for me at least. I was always ragingly envious of that song.”
‘I Thew It All Away’ is a startlingly unusual Dylan song for two reasons. Not only does the famously hoarse songsmith sing it like a balladeer, but it also expresses something far more profound and introspective than fans were used to. Many regard this track as representing a shift in Dylan’s narrative gaze. In the past, when Dylan would write a break-up song, he would cast himself as the victim. Not here.
In ‘I Threw It All Away’, Bob accepts that he was responsible for the failure of his previous relationships. Arguably, however, this track doesn’t represent a moment of epiphany but a moment of recalibration. ‘Ballad In Plain D’, released on Another Side Of Bob Dylan in 1964, sees the singer-songwriter accept responsibility for the collapse of his relationship with Suze Rotolo. “Myself, for what I did, I cannot be excused,” he sings, seemingly willing to take at least some of the responsibility.
Still, a sense of the revelatory pervades ‘I Threw It All Away’. After a period away from the limelight, Nashville Skyline seemed to imply that all Dylan had ever wanted to do was write simple, tender music. As Cave himself noted, it is this stripped-back, heartfelt honesty that makes ‘I Threw It All Away’ such a joy to listen to. Makes sure you take some time out of your day to listen to the track below.
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