Bob Dylan - I Threw It All Away

Bob Dylan, "I Threw It All Away" (YSI link)

Bob Dylan, "I Threw It All Away (live)" (YSI link)

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, "I Threw It All Away (1)" (YSI link)

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, "I Threw It All Away (2)" (YSI link)

Yo La Tengo, "I Threw It All Away" (YSI link)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "I Threw It All Away (live acoustic)" (YSI link)

Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave and Mick Harvey, "I Threw It All Away" (YSI link)

For some reason, I've never really listened much to Nashville Skyline, Bob Dylan's 1973 countryish album. I have no good excuse, other than there is only so much time in the day and only so much Dylan a man can listen to in his life. Recently, I've been digging back into the Johnny Cash catalogue (stay tuned!) and I came across a Youtube video (see below) of Dylan performing this song and finally listened to the Dylan/Cash Sessions that have leaked, which give a great behind the scenes look at the making of this album.

I feel like "I Threw It All Away" is a great counterpart to our recent post on "She's Your Lover Now," a sincere testament to love in the face of a breakup, filled more with regret than anger. The first thing you need to notice is how different Dylan's voice sounds here, much less ragged, much cleaner. For anyone who has heard "Lay Lady Lay," it's just like that. I love this sound. Not surprisingly, the album version is my favorite, a minor song in the Dylan canon that still gets interpreted by others and would be one of the best songs for another artist. The theme of the song, the self-loathing, regretful tone, may work more for me, but who knows? It's hard to imagine that there is anyone out there who hasn't felt like they've lost a great relationship because of their faults.

The cover versions are hit and miss. Yo La Tengo hits, as Ira Kaplan provides beautifully fragile vocals. The band holds pretty true to the original, making it a highlight of their early album President Yo La Tengo/New Wave Hot Dogs. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds hit big time, with a sparse acoustic version that brings out the self-loathing dark side the best. Not a great sound quality, but it's well worth a listen. This Blixa Bargeld/Nick Cave/Mick Harvey version misses big time for me. It was a part of the soundtrack for the movie To Have and To Hold and features Scott Walker on vocals. Ugh, he does his normal baroque, cabaret steez and it completely ruins the gentle, sad nature of the song, loses it in avant egotism.

-Check out this amazing footage from the old Johnny Cash show in 1969 (a.k.a. the first version from the Dylan-Cash Sessions above), where Bob sings "I Threw It All Away"



-Allen Iverson played the Sixers for the first time since he was traded to the Nuggets. It was not a good one for AI, as he was ejected at the end, struggled some offensively and lost. While his comments after the game about the ridiculous way that Billy King and Mo Cheeks handled his criticisms of the team's style of play are right on, my advice to AI, from someone who has gone through the same sort of emotional breakup, is to let it go. Look forward buddy, there's no sense in looking back as it will only frustrate and anger you and darken the future. The

-The only football player I've ever truly liked will return to the Eagles for the playoff run. Koy Detmer was resigned yesterday, reversing the fact that the organization threw it all away. Welcome back Koy, it's good to have you back where you belong.