On this day in music history: September 7, 1965 - “Positively 4th Street” by Bob Dylan is released. Written by Bob Dylan, the stand alone single is issued between the releases of “Highway 61 Revisited” and “Blonde On Blonde” but is not included on either album. Over the years there has been much speculation over the meaning of the songs lyrics. Most believe its bitter and cynical tone is Dylan’s rebuke of the New York folk music community (4th Street being where Dylan lived in Greenwich Village) where he first gained fame as a songwriter and performer, feeling that many have turned on him when he begins moving away from his acoustic based folk sound towards a more band oriented electric sound. The track is recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City on July 29, 1965, during the same session that produces the songs “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry”, and “Tombstone Blues” (both featured on “Highway 61 Revisited”), The session features musicians such as Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Al Kooper (organ), Harvey Brooks (bass), Paul Griffin (piano), and Robert Gregg (drums). When Columbia Records releases the single, some early copies are accidentally pressed with an outtake version of “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” (another take is released as the follow up to “4th Street” on December 21, 1965). “Positively 4th Street” peaks at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 6, 1965. The song goes on to become one of Dylan’s most popular and often covered songs. The original US 7" and picture sleeve are both replicated in the limited edition vinyl box set “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?”, released on Black Friday Record Store Day in November of 2011 in the US, and in Europe in April of 2012. “Positively 4th Street” makes its full length album debut on “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits” in March of 1967.
thanks to the most excellent Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves On this day in Music History
Positively 4th Street
WRITTEN BY: BOB DYLAN
You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning
You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that’s winning
You say I let you down
You know it’s not like that
If you’re so hurt
Why then don’t you show it
You say you lost your faith
But that’s not where it’s at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it
I know the reason
That you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd
You’re in with
Do you take me for such a fool
To think I’d make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don’t know to begin with
You see me on the street
You always act surprised
You say, “How are you?” “Good luck”
But you don’t mean it
When you know as well as me
You’d rather see me paralyzed
Why don’t you just come out once
And scream it
No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I’d rob them
And now I know you’re dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don’t you understand
It’s not my problem
I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning
You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that’s winning
You say I let you down
You know it’s not like that
If you’re so hurt
Why then don’t you show it
You say you lost your faith
But that’s not where it’s at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it
I know the reason
That you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd
You’re in with
Do you take me for such a fool
To think I’d make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don’t know to begin with
You see me on the street
You always act surprised
You say, “How are you?” “Good luck”
But you don’t mean it
When you know as well as me
You’d rather see me paralyzed
Why don’t you just come out once
And scream it
No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I’d rob them
And now I know you’re dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don’t you understand
It’s not my problem
I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you
Copyright © 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music
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