When I was at my brother’s place in Nowra on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia cerca 2005, I decided to go to the local tavern and blow the froff off a few. It was Karaoke night and when I felt animated yet relaxed, I delved into their music catalogue. My first instinct was to see what selections by Dylan were available. Today’s featured track Positively 4th Street was my choice. When I look back on it now that choice of song could have got me into trouble if anyone was listening. This song always makes me smile from a compositional perspective. It never delivers that chorus, and it always feels like it’s right around the corner. Positively 4th Street is one of Dylan’s biggest hits reaching No. 1 in Canada, No. 7 in the U.S and No. 8 in the UK.
The song was first recorded in New York in July 1965 and released by Colombia records in September that year between Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde record. Positively 4th Street was a follow-up to Dylan’s hit single Like a Rolling Stone, but was not included on any studio album. By modern standards, it seems incredulous that a song of this quality could go without an album home.
The song’s title does not appear anywhere in the lyrics and there has been much debate over the years as to the significance or which individual the song concerns. Many argue the song is Dylan’s reaction to being booed at the Newport Folk Festival on the 25th of July 1965 when he infamously showed up on stage playing electric guitar. This scene is re-enacted in Todd Haynes’ 2007 Dylan biopic I’m Not There. Others have attributed the song’s meaning to be a rebuke of fellow Greenwich Village folk-singer Phil Ochs, and even a scathing dig at former lover Joan Baez.
According to Rolling Stone magazine, this song is about all the naysayers and plastic people Dylan encountered during his time in Greenwich Village (when he lived on West 4th street) and his stint on fraternity row at the University of Minnesota (located on 4th Street in Minneapolis). The song deals allegedly with the jealousy he encountered from people in the artistic community who resented his success.
Positively 4th Street is an unforgettable artistic achievement on so many levels as discussed below. It’s such a short and simple song — just verses, no choruses, and no bridge, and yet makes such an impact.
The beauty of the track is the juxtaposition that Dylan offered, with an unbridled disdain which he parades on a sanguine soundscape to give the impression of pure hard-earned indifference. It packs all the same punch and caustic acerbic wit, riding along on a slightly sweeter organ tone. Dylan’s singing really works well on this track; he really nails the melody and the emotion. The gem in the crown of this piece of folk-rock perfection is the very last verse, perhaps one of the best break-up verses ever penned: “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.”
– Far Out article
Added (22/9/2025):
Bob Dylan Performs, Positively 4th Street, at Outlaw Festival, Saratoga Springs 2 August 2025
Concert video at Music Legend
Two blogger friends – Max (PowerPop) and Christian (@Music Musings), had the good fortune to see Bob Dylan recently on the 10th anniversary Outlaw Music Festival. So naturally, I have been paying closer attention to performances from Dylan on the tour on my YT feed. Lo and behold, this fantastic performance of Positively 4th Street turned up – a song I wrote about here back in February last year. Max and I agreed this rendition comes pretty close to the original. Also, he pulls off some magic with his vocal intonations. Two other performances I love from the tour, both from the same show (20/6/25) which I added to my Music Library Project are the following:
Desolation Row I love his jangly saloon-bar piano playing. Just a fantastic sound from a bygone era. Despite being 84 years old he can always find a way to get something new out of a song, and
Under The Red Sky Bob’s vocals here are great. Wonderful performance of a very underrated song.
[Verse 1]
You got a lot of nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning
You got a lot of nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that’s winning
[Verse 2]
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
[Verse 3]
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 it don’t know to begin with
[Verse 4]
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
[Verse 5]
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
[Verse 6]
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
References:
1. Positively 4th Street – Wikipedia
2. The Story Behind The Song: Bob Dylan’s ultimate musical middle finger on ‘Positively 4th Street’ – Far Out
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
The organ makes it. Nice.
Yeh!!!!
My Goodman grandfather, and his eleven brothers, were sent to Nowra (at different times) from Dunedin NZ to stay with a rich aunt who lived there – as a sort of “finishing school”! This was in the late 1800s.
Hi Bruce. Thanks for touching base with your fascinating family backstory involving your Grandfather in such elucidate detail from so long ago. I just sent your recollection to Gloria (our illustrious painter) and Connie. It means a lot Bruce that you shared that.
I’ve always loved “Positively 4th Street” and Dylan’s vocals on that song, which I’ve known for many years. The funny thing is it never occurred to me it there’s no chorus, so thanks for finally making me realize that. While one could argue the lack of a chorus makes the melody more repetitive, this still doesn’t change my opinion of the song! Some songs are great even though they keep repeating the same melody. This is one of them!
What amazes me hearing this song now is how it seems so ‘now’. It’s so hip and current musically that it feels like a song you’d hear today. I wish this kind of brashness and obscenity (but done well) and quality of music was delivered now. It doesn’t happen almost.
I know I’m in the minority on this one but I like this one just as well as Like A Rolling Stone.
I don’t blame you Max. I still cant believe he did it in 1965. I mean who was doing that?
Yea I know…I thought it was more vicious than Like A Rolling Stone.
It is more personally incited. Like a Rolling Stone is another beast to me.
One of the best songs ever….
It’s up there.
One of my favorite Dylan songs.
Yeh. There are not enough superlatives to describe this song. Everything is as close to perfect as far as songwriting and musicianship goes here.