You know,  It Ain’t Me Babe was on the radio the other day and it never really occurred to me how different it was as a hit to how it was in my repertoire.
~Bob Dylan (to Adrian Deevoy, Oct 1989)

Save for a faux-reggae arrangement ten years on—one of the absolute highlights of the Renaldo and Clara film—the song has usually relied on the sparsest of acoustic accompaniments in live performance, often serving as a set closer, which tempts one to suggest it addresses the audience—specifically that element that wants the man to stay the same. That ain’t him.
~Clinton Heylin (Revolution in the air)

@ #46 on my list of Dylan’s 200 best songs. Recorded on June 9th, 1964 @ Columbia Studios – NYC. This was the one & only recording session for “Another Side of Bob Dylan”

“It Ain’t Me Babe” is a song by Bob Dylan that originally appeared on his fourth album Another Side of Bob Dylan, which was released in 1964 by Columbia Records. The song, along with others on the album, marked a departure for Dylan as he began to explore the possibilities of language and deeper levels of the human experience. Within a year of its release, the song was picked up as a single by artists who were forging the folk rock movement, including The Turtles and The Byrds. Wikipedia

Go ’way from my window
Leave at your own chosen speed
I’m not the one you want, babe
I’m not the one you need

Spotify:

Bob Dylan was never at a loss for a putdown, and “It Ain’t Me Babe,” which appeared as the final track on his fourth album, Another Side of Bob Dylan, in August 1964, was one of his classic songs of criticism and rejection, in the tradition of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” The difference between it and Dylan’s several earlier songs about romantic discord is that he gives no indication that he was ever interested in the person he is dismissing. .. some listeners have interpreted “It Ain’t Me Babe” as a message from the singer to his audience, telling them that he is no longer willing to be the political spokesman, “the voice of his generation” that he had been cast as in the past year.
~William Ruhlmann (allmusic.com)

Here is the BRILLIANT 75 Rolling Thunder 1 (Renaldo & Clara) version:

Johnny Cash recorded the song with June Carter. The song was released on Cash’s 1965 album, Orange Blossom Special, and became a hit.

We have to include Johnny Cash’s  (w/June Carter)version:

Lyrics

Go ’way from my window
Leave at your own chosen speed
I’m not the one you want, babe
I’m not the one you need
You say you’re lookin’ for someone
Never weak but always strong
To protect you an’ defend you
Whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door
But it ain’t me, babe
No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe
It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe

Go lightly from the ledge, babe
Go lightly on the ground
I’m not the one you want, babe
I will only let you down
You say you’re lookin’ for someone
Who will promise never to part
Someone to close his eyes for you
Someone to close his heart
Someone who will die for you an’ more
But it ain’t me, babe
No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe
It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe

Go melt back into the night, babe
Everything inside is made of stone
There’s nothing in here moving
An’ anyway I’m not alone
You say you’re lookin’ for someone
Who’ll pick you up each time you fall
To gather flowers constantly
An’ to come each time you call
A lover for your life an’ nothing more
But it ain’t me, babe
No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe
It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe

Live versions

Troy, New York – 1989-10-27  (Video):

Cardiff, Wales – 1995-03-27 (Video):

Hammersmith – London – 1990-02-08 (Audio):

-Egil