“I hadn’t realized how much you could get out of voice till I lost it in a motorcycle accident in 1966. When it came back, I had this rich, deep sound.”
– Dylan in a 2004 interview
Tell Me That It Isn’t True is the fourth song to feature here from Bob Dylan’s 1969 record Nashville Skyline after his previous entry Lay Lady Lay. The song achieves this warm and mellow sound which reflects the relaxed and joyful approach to the record which was only 4 days in the making. Nashville Skyline is arguably the most laid back album of Dylan’s career and was a far departure from that thin, wild mercury sound attributed to Blonde on Blonde a few years prior.
He embraced a distinct country music sound influenced by his collaborations with Johnny Cash around this time. Also his raspy voice was stripped away to a soft, affected country croon. It’s also suggested this significant voice transformation may have been partly due to his cessation of smoking. Overall, the album saw Dylan building on the rustic style he experimented with on John Wesley Harding. In fact the working title for the album was John Wesley Harding Vol. 2.
Tell Me That It Isn’t True is a lovely, lilting lament from a spurned lover to another (“They say that you’re planning to put me down … they say that you’ve been seen with some other man”). It’s so simple yet graceful. Clocking in well under three minutes, the song is propelled by a lively drumbeat, shimmering with layered guitars, accented by a touch of honky-tonk piano, and elevated by Dylan’s surprisingly lighthearted and inviting vocal delivery. It’s such an underrated song in his cannon and there are hundreds out there.
The concept of recording a country album in Nashville was first discussed with Dylan in 1965 by Johnny Cash, who expressed interest in producing such an album. “I’ve got my own ideas about that Nashville sound and I’d like to try it with Bob,” Cash said in a 1965 interview. Despite the dramatic, commercial shift in direction, the fans, press and critics gave Nashville Skyline a warm reception. It reaching No. 3 in the U.S., the album also scored Dylan his fourth UK No. 1 album.
[Verse 1]
I have heard rumors all over town
They say that you’re planning to put me down
All I’d like you to do
Is tell me that it isn’t true
[Verse 2]
They say that you’ve been seen with some other man
That he’s tall, dark and handsome, and you’re holdin’ his hand
Darling, I’m a-countin’ on you
Tell me that it isn’t true
[Bridge]
To know that some other man is holdin’ you tight
It hurts me all over, it doesn’t seem right
[Verse 3]
All of these awful things that I have heard
I don’t wanna believe them, all I want is your word
So, darlin’, you better come through
Tell me that it isn’t true
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 3]
All of these awful things that I have heard
I don’t want to believe them, all I want is your word
So, darlin’, I’m countin’ on you
Tell me that it isn’t true
References:
1. Nashville Skyline – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Great song by Dylan I didn’t know/remember. I generally dig how his vocals sound on “Nashville Skyline,” which I realize isn’t what you commonly associate with him. In fact, it’s somewhat hard to believe we’re talking about the same artist who did songs like “The Times They Are a-Changin'”, “Maggie’s Farm” or “Like a Rolling Stone.”
I couldn’t agree more.
By the way, I wrote a comment about your article on Jason Isbell, but it didn’t appear. Thoroughly enjoyed his music.
Thanks, Matt! I just checked on your comment, and for some reason, it ended up in the spam filter. I just un-spammed and approved it. Really not sure why that happened – sorry!
That’s happened on occasion to people trying to send me messages. It’s all good.
A moving certified classic from Nashville Skyline. A breezy album, easy to play and enjoy.
I didn’t take to Nashville Skyline much when I first heard it at my best friend’s place. But over the decades there are songs from it I’ve grown to enjoy a lot, including this one, ‘Peggy Day’ and ‘I Threw It All Away’.