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No, no. I knew a lot of those people but I also know a lot of lesbians. They’re not going to ask me to join a lot of campaigns just because I wrote Just Like A Woman
~Bob Dylan (to Philip Fleishman, Feb 1978)

Well, that’s true, that’s true, I believe that. I believe that that feeling in that song [Just Like A Woman] is true and that I can grasp it, you know, when I’m singing it. But if you’re looking for true companion in a woman, I mean… I can’t stand to… to run with women anymore, I just can’t, it bothers me. I’d rather stand in front of a rolling train, y’know. But if you find a woman that is more than a companion, that is also your sister, and your lover and your mother, y’know, if you find all them ideas in one woman, well, then you got a companion for life. You don’t ever have to think about.
~Bob Dylan (to Matt Damsker, Sept 1978)

..a devastating character assassination..[it] may be the most sardonic, nastiest of all Dylan’s put-downs of former lovers.
~Alan Rinzler (quotet in Paul William’s “BD – Performing artist 1960-73)

@ #23 on my list of Dylan’s 200 best songs. The original version from “Blonde On Blonde” was recorded on March 8 – 1966.

“Blonde on Blonde” version:

spotify:

Musicians:

• Bob Dylan (guitar, harmonica, vocal)
• Charlie McCoy (guitar)
• Robbie Robertson (guitar)
• Wayne Moss (guitar)
• Joe South (guitar, bass)
• Al Kooper (organ)
• Hargus “Pig” Robbins (piano)
• Henry Strzelecki (bass)
• Kenneth Buttrey (drums).

 

First of all, the song (the performance of the song included on Blonde On Blonde) is affectionate. This is evident in the opening harmonica notes, and the vocal that follows is affectionate in tone from beginning to end; there’s never a moment in the song, despite the little digs and the confessions of pain, when you can’t hear the love in his voice..
~Paul Williams (BD Performing artist 1960-73)

Bangladesh concert w/ George Harrison – 1 August 1971(audio):

From Wikipedia:

“Just Like a Woman” is a song written by Bob Dylan and first released on his 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde. It was also released as a single in the U.S. during August 1966 and peaked at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dylan’s recording of “Just Like a Woman” was not issued as a single in the United Kingdom but the British beat group, Manfred Mann, did release a hit single version of the song in July 1966, which peaked at #10 on the UK Singles Chart.  In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Dylan’s version of the song at #232 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Released	August 1966
Format	7″ single
Recorded	March 8, 1966, Columbia Studios, Nashville, TN
Genre	Folk rock
Length	4:53 (album version) 2:56 (single edit)
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Bob Dylan
Producer	Bob Johnston

Everyone can understand the feelings and the relationship described in the song, so why does it matter if Dylan wrote it with one woman in mind?
~Christopher Ricks

 

Live from “Rolling Thunder” tour:

Lyrics

Nobody feels any pain
Tonight as I stand inside the rain
Ev’rybody knows
That Baby’s got new clothes
But lately I see her ribbons and her bows
Have fallen from her curls
She takes just like a woman, yes, she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl

Queen Mary, she’s my friend
Yes, I believe I’ll go see her again
Nobody has to guess
That Baby can’t be blessed
Till she sees finally that she’s like all the rest
With her fog, her amphetamine and her pearls
She takes just like a woman, yes, she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl

It was raining from the first
And I was dying there of thirst
So I came in here
And your long-time curse hurts
But what’s worse
Is this pain in here
I can’t stay in here
Ain’t it clear that—

I just can’t fit
Yes, I believe it’s time for us to quit
When we meet again
Introduced as friends
Please don’t let on that you knew me when
I was hungry and it was your world
Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes, you do
You make love just like a woman, yes, you do
Then you ache just like a woman
But you break just like a little girl

Live 1966:

Live – Ann Arbor 1981.11.08:

Other related posts here @ JV:

• Bob Dylan’s best songs

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Let’s round off with a great cover version..

Van Morrison – Live 2004:

-Egil