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Bob Dylan — I and I
Album: Infidels
Avg rating:
6.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 430









Released: 1983
Length: 5:06
Plays (last 30 days): 1
Been so long since a strange woman has slept in my bed

Look how sweet she sleeps, how free must be her dreams

In another lifetime she must have owned the world, or been faithfully wed

To some righteous king who wrote psalms beside moonlit streams



I and I

In creation where one’s nature neither honors nor forgives

I and I

One says to the other, no man sees my face and lives



Think I’ll go out and go for a walk

Not much happenin’ here, nothin’ ever does

Besides, if she wakes up now, she’ll just want me to talk

I got nothin’ to say, ’specially about whatever was



I and I

In creation where one’s nature neither honors nor forgives

I and I

One says to the other, no man sees my face and lives



Took an untrodden path once, where the swift don’t win the race

It goes to the worthy, who can divide the word of truth

Took a stranger to teach me, to look into justice’s beautiful face

And to see an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth



I and I

In creation where one’s nature neither honors nor forgives

I and I

One says to the other, no man sees my face and lives



Outside of two men on a train platform there’s nobody in sight

They’re waiting for spring to come, smoking down the track

The world could come to an end tonight, but that’s all right

She should still be there sleepin’ when I get back



I and I

In creation where one’s nature neither honors nor forgives

I and I

One says to the other, no man sees my face and lives



Noontime, and I’m still pushin’ myself along the road, the darkest part

Into the narrow lanes, I can’t stumble or stay put

Someone else is speakin’ with my mouth, but I’m listening only to my heart

I’ve made shoes for everyone, even you, while I still go barefoot



I and I

In creation where one’s nature neither honors nor forgives

I and I

One says to the other, no man sees my face and lives
Comments (27)add comment
Freakin' staggering, how utterly brilliant, infinitely deep, and unapologetically bold, unique, and genius this is... Another Nobel Prize-worthy work among many by him!
Is Mark Knofler playing guitar on this?   Sure sounds like his trademark sound
 ick wrote:

Dylan's Rastafarian era?



Funny!   I thought the same thing
Never heard this on RP until now; much welcome. One of my top 3 Dylan albums actually.
I lost interest in Bob after he and the sound police started going after every little Tom, Dick, and busker who played one of his precious revenue-earning songs. He's always needed more money, ya know. But O  I have to admit, even though he deigned to spurn the Nobel Committee upon his poetry prize, this song is an example of some pretty fine poetry.
 amb599 wrote:

Today I was working and I gradually felt a horrible feeling in my stomach, and it kind of radiated out all over my body.  I got a headache and started to feel nauseous.  My hands were cold and clammy and I started think about my own death.  I wondered why this world exists at all, and how anyone could ever find any beauty anywhere in the world.  And then I realized it was just the voice of Bob Dylan, I hit skip and the world was right as rain.  

This song may be beautiful, and the lyrics moving, but I'll never know because Bob Dylan's voice wrapped it in a grenade of torture.



Hey amb,

You should send your complaint to Bob.  His trademark for last 60 years has been changing musical styles due to listener feedback. 

Remember when his disco music  and then punk was quite fashionable for a few years?   Fashion is a high priority for him.  
always fun to hear bob sing, when he's a little pissed off
Sing on brother bob.

We are all Infidels at some time in our lives.  
Dylan's Rastafarian era?
Probably my favorite track off his very underrated Infidels album. This was the first record he put out after his Christian-themed Slow Train Coming and Saved albums. I can't think of any other artist who bared his soul and shared his most intimate thoughts more than the ever-evolving Bob Dylan. What a gifted songwriter.
I really like this album, the first one of his I ever properly heard. 
 Essbee63 wrote:

One of the most profoundly overrated artists ever, and one of the top worst singers of all time.




I think you don't what the definition of "artists" is. You might not like his voice. You might not follow the lyrics. But that says more about you than Bob.
 On_The_Beach wrote:

I feel the same way about people who whine like babies about the great music that Bill plays for us.


I don't.  There is so much diversity of people and music here that there's always going to be someone who loves what you hate and hates what you love.  Kinda what I love about this place.  Cheers!
 amb599 wrote:

Today I was working and I gradually felt a horrible feeling in my stomach, and it kind of radiated out all over my body.  I got a headache and started to feel nauseous.  My hands were cold and clammy and I started think about my own death.  I wondered why this world exists at all, and how anyone could ever find any beauty anywhere in the world.  And then I realized it was just the voice of Bob Dylan, I hit skip and the world was right as rain.  


I feel the same way about people who whine about the great music that Bill plays for us.
@ Essbee63: "One of the most profoundly overrated artists ever, and one of the top worst singers of all time.” Yet more proof that youth is wasted on the young. Too bad for you that Bob got a Nobel prize for…being Bob and singing songs. No doubt you were hoping to hear something more in line with Celine Dion…whoops, sorry, wrong station for that.
One of the most profoundly overrated artists ever, and one of the top worst singers of all time.
Today I was working and I gradually felt a horrible feeling in my stomach, and it kind of radiated out all over my body.  I got a headache and started to feel nauseous.  My hands were cold and clammy and I started think about my own death.  I wondered why this world exists at all, and how anyone could ever find any beauty anywhere in the world.  And then I realized it was just the voice of Bob Dylan, I hit skip and the world was right as rain.  

This song may be beautiful, and the lyrics moving, but I'll never know because Bob Dylan's voice wrapped it in a grenade of torture.
 Tippster wrote:

Is that Knopfler?

Edit: turns out it is, and he also produced this song. 




Good ear but unmistakable contribution.
Is that Knopfler?

Edit: turns out it is, and he also produced this song. 
First time I've heard it also.

Awesome. What a talent.
New tune for me and it is almost 40 years old.
Thanks to RP it is not new anymore.
It appears to be new on RP recently as well.

Need to hear at least once more before rating Bob here.
Mark Knopfler in autopilot ? 
I wonder if I would have understood a word of this song in 1983. Almost 40 years later, though, it resonates deeply, though much has to do with coming to understand Dylan better in that time, since the song is about him. Dylan's craft involves shifting from metaphor, to symbolism, to exposition so effortlessly, and so subtly, that we forget just how good a lyricist he really is, and why he deserves the Nobel for Literature. There is true literary art and meaning in this song -- a pleasure to have discovered it on RP today.
 pxd wrote:

Missed it by 33 seconds! pxd



Sorry mate!!
Missed it by 33 seconds! pxd
No previous comments?  Oh weel, I can't pass that up. 7 for me. pxd
Guess I missed this album. Must check out the rest of it. This track has something to say...

My 1st ever 1st BTW