A true man of his word indeed. Here Bob Dylan is still touring at the ripe old age of 85. You can read his set list from last night’s concert in Queens, New York.
An artist keeps creating until they simply can’t anymore. It’s a lifelong pursuit. Dylan is not only a songwriter and performer; he’s also a respected painter and even works with iron in his welding sculptures.
Today brings to an end the trilogy of songs from Bob Dylan’s much-scorned Knocked Out Loaded that I adore and have featured here, namely Precious Memories, They Killed Him and now Under Your Spell.
I am perplexed by how little known this song is. At the time of writing, it has attracted just 33,000 views since being uploaded to YouTube eight years ago. I know the list of Dylan’s underrated songs is endless, but Under Your Spell sits, in my humble estimation, near the very top of that list.
That period in Dylan’s career is generally viewed as a low point. Perhaps because the album itself was largely dismissed as a write-off, almost everything on it was overlooked by critics and fans alike. But hey, not so fast, mister!
Under Your Spell completes a run of three consecutive songwriting collaborations that close out Knocked Out Loaded. It is also this song that gives the album its title:
I was knocked out and loaded in the naked night.
The song was written with Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Carole Bayer Sager, who also wrote major pop hits such as That’s What Friends Are For. In her memoir, Bayer Sager described the collaboration as “weird” and “bizarrely thrilling.” She recalled that Dylan kept “maybe three or four lines” from what they wrote together, yet he insisted the song would never have happened without her contribution.
I love Under Your Spell‘s laid-back sound and the soulful backing vocals from the female singers. Along with the tropical feel of Precious Memories from the same album, it shows a side of Dylan that few people associate with him and is further testament to his versatility. The song also features an unusual chord sequence and a verse-heavy arrangement that avoids a conventional pop structure.
Under Your Spell remains one of Dylan’s few major collaborations with a female pop songwriter and has never been performed live in concert.
[Verse 1]
Something about you that I can’t shake
Don’t know how much more of this I can take
Baby, I’m under your spell
[Verse 2]
I was knocked out and loaded in the naked night
When my last dream exploded, I noticed your light
Baby, oh what a story I could tell
[Verse 3]
It’s been nice seeing you, you read me like a book
If you ever want to reach me, you know where to look
Baby, I’ll be at the same hotel
[Verse 4]
I’d like to help you but I’m in a bit of a jam
I’ll call you tomorrow if there’s phones where I am
Baby, caught between heaven and hell
[Verse 5]
But I will be back, I will survive
You’ll never get rid of me as long as you’re alive
Baby, can’t you tell
[Verse 6]
Well, it’s four in the morning by the sound of the birds
I’m staring at your picture, I’m hearing your words
Baby, they ring in my head like a bell
[Bridge]
Everywhere you go it’s enough to break hearts
Someone always gets hurt, a fire always starts
You were too hot to handle, you were breaking every vow
I trusted you, baby, you can trust me now
[Verse 7]
Turn back, baby, wipe your eye
Don’t think I’m leaving here without a kiss goodbye
Baby, is there anything left to tell?
[Verse 8]
I’ll see you later when I’m not so out of my head
Maybe next time I’ll let the dead bury the dead
Baby, what more can I tell?
[Verse 9]
Well, the desert is hot, the mountain is cursed
Pray that I don’t die of thirst
Baby, two feet from the well
References:
1. Knocked Out Loaded – 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 
Admito que no había escuchado a Dylan con detenimiento antes, pero ‘Under Your Spell’ tiene un sonido genial y muy diferente a lo que imaginaba. Me encantó la reseña, ¡un saludo!
Hola Leidy, ¿nos conocemos? Me alegra que te haya gustado tanto “Under Your Spell”. Sí, es muy distinta de la música típica de Dylan, aunque todavía no sé qué es realmente el “estándar” de él, jaja.
Gracias por tus palabras de ánimo. Eres muy amable.
si señor,nos conocemos😉 solo que ya no soy tan rubia.
such a great song
It is indeed, yet seems underappreciated even in Dylan circles.
always something.
he moves so fastly between this thought and that excellent Matt…
I remember the 80s. Nobody was paying attention to Dylan in the 80s. The best thing he did was tour with the Dead in 1987 & that bring a lot of attention to himself that way.
I think that whole “’80s Dylan low point” rhetoric is a load of hogwash. Excuse the French, but it pisses me off. I’ve featured as much, if not more, from his ’80s output than his ’70s, and way, way more than his ’90s.
If people are going to slag off an entire decade from their lofty perch, then the ’90s would be a far better candidate. In the ’80s Dylan was incredibly active. He was part of the Traveling Wilburys, toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers — which was huge in Australia — and, as you mentioned, spent time touring with the Grateful Dead. His collaborations with Knopfler on Infidels and Christian albums. It goes on!
The sheer number of brilliant songs he produced during the ’80s is staggering. The idea that it was some artistic wasteland has never matched the music for me.
Yes, he produced a whole bunch of tunes in the 80s but they weren’t getting airplay. That’s my point.
I never said it was an artistic wasteland. I said he wasn’t getting played on the radio. That’s a different thing.
“excuse my French” always amused me. I never heard it before I started working in bars.