Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

Bob won't take that train.
He's given his seat to someone
And stays home with you.

“Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” is the last song on the 1969 country and western album “Nashville Skyline,” and it’s clear that whoever she is, the singer has found her worth canceling his plans to take the train. He throws out his ticket, he throws out his suitcase and he throws out his troubles. All he needs is her. He was supposed to go this morning, but her love proved too strong. He tells the station master to give his seat to a poor boy.

To Be Alone With You

Hang with me, baby.
That's my favorite thing to do:
Be alone with you.

“Is it rolling, Bob?” Dylan asks of producer Bob Johnston at the start of “To Be Alone With You,” one of the sweet country-music love songs that he became so good at writing in the late 1960s. The song, which appears on “Nashville Skyline” in 1969, is a statement of purpose:

Ain’t that the way it ought to be?
Hold each other tight all night.
Everything’s all right when I’m alone with you.
“It only goes to show that while life’s pleasures be few, the only one I know is when I’m alone with you.”
“I’ll always thank the Lord when my working day’s through. I get my sweet reward, to be alone with you.”

Tell Me That It Isn't True

They say she's cheating.
He suspects they might be right.
He hopes that they're wrong.

"Tell Me That It Isn't True," from the 1969 album "Nashville Skyline," is a sad song, but my goodness, does it sparkle like a diamond. It's a perfect pop song, recorded under the country music auspices of a crack team of musicians in the USA's country music capital. It's charming and affecting and perfect. Try to find Robert Forster's version, which appears on his album "I Had a New York Girlfriend." It's nearly as good.

- Everybody in town says you're planning to leave me. Please tell me that it isn't true.
- They say you're hanging out with a tall, dark and handsome man.
- To know that he's holding you "hurts me all over, it doesn't seem right."
- I don't want to believe any of this.

Peggy Day

Peggy Day and Night

Make Bob feel more than all right.

What two girls can do.

A tale of two Peggies. The song "Peggy Day" came out in 1969 on the album "Nashville Skyline," and it's one of Bob Dylan's most insubstantial songs. That's no marker of quality, however. This sweet tune is a keeper and I never grow tired of listening to it.

The story:

1. Peggy Day stole my heart away. By golly, there's not much more than I can say. I love to spend the night with Peggy Day.

2. Peggy Night makes my heart feel all right (Or is she Peggy Knight?) That girl is out of sight. Best to spend the day with Peggy Night.

3. I loved one of these Peggies, maybe both, before I knew their names. Now I tell everybody everywhere I go that I love Peggy, though they might not be sure to which Peggy I refer. I of course refer to both Peggies.

4. Peggy Day stole my heart away. She turned my skies from gray to blue.

You will note that Peggy Night does not make a second appearance.

One More Night

Man left his girlfriend.
That was a big, bad mistake.
Now he's all alone.

This is a splendid song from the 1969 country music album "Nashville Skyline." Here's a closer look:

1. It's one more night --> Stars are out, but this guy is lonely. The moon's shining on everything but him.

2. He had a pal but he lost her because he couldn't be what she wanted him to be. He's looking up at the sky and it's dark because no light will shine on him.

3. He thought she would be true to him, but he was wrong. Women in love are like that, especially if she's in love with someone else.

4. He's still waiting for the light as the wind blows above the trees. He misses her, and didn't mean to see her go, but she is gone, therefore no light shines on him.

5. Etc.

I've always seen this song as describing his breakup with her because she demanded a different kind of guy, and now he regrets it. It's quite possible that she left him too, but I went with the first option for the haiku.

Lay Lady Lay

Bob wants you in bed.
He has balls and beds of brass.
You're lying on them.

I've never tried such a direct approach to get someone to fool around with me. Maybe I was doing it wrong. "Lay Lady Lay," from the 1969 album "Nashville Skyline," is a Dylan fan favorite, and an unabashed invitation to a night on the pillow. Dylan wrote the song for inclusion in the soundtrack to the film "Midnight Cowboy," but didn't file in time. It became a big country and pop hit all the same.

1. Lay across my big brass bed. I'll show you what's in your mind.
2. Stay with me until dawn, make me smile. I have dirty clothes, so maybe I should take them off. At least my hands are washed. You're pretty hot.
3. Let's have cake and eat it too. Wink wink. I'm right in front of you. Why wait?
4. I want you at night. I want you in the morning. Let's not delay our amorous adventures.

I Threw It All Away

Bob tossed them away,
The girl, the mountains, rivers.
Now he feels awful.

A great song from the "Nashville Skyline" album of 1969.

What he threw away:
Her
Mountains
Rivers

Why?
He must have been mad
He didnt' know what he had
He was cruel, treated her like a fool

Love:
You can't do without it. Take it from me.

Lesson:
If you find someone who loves you, take it to your heart and don't throw it away. "Take a tip from one who's tried."

Girl From the North Country

If you go up north,
Check on my former girlfriend.
She might get chilly.

"Girl From the North Country" appeared on two Bob Dylan albums. The first version, sad and bleak, appeared on "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" in 1963. The second was a duet with Johnny Cash, warm and friendly, which opened the 1969 album "Nashville Skyline" and carries a suitably memorable scene in the film "Silver Linings Playbook." The song is simple enough: the singer pines for his former lover, far up north, presumably in Minnesota's north country where Bob came from. Who the woman in the song is really supposed to be is up to the Dylanologists and the Picayunese to research.

Summary:
If you go north, you'll discover hard winds by the border. If you see my ex, please say hello. I used to really love her. By the way, check to see if she's wearing her coat. The river will freeze and there will be snow. Is her hair still long? I remember that look well. I wonder if she remembers me. I still think about her, day and night.

Here are both versions, each beautiful in their ways.

Country Pie

Bob loves all the pies.

Show him a pie, he'll eat it.

Give him some more pie.

This next-to-last song on the "Nashville Skyline" album is a one-minute and 37-second slice of perfection a la mode. Forsake any attempt to look for meaning beyond what we all take to be true: country pie is the best, and everybody wants a piece. Dylan is at his sunniest here, if occasionally cryptic for the hell of it, and his Nashville backing musicians sound like they're ready for some pie too.

1. How does he love his pie? He likes it like old Saxophone Joe when he has the hogshead on his toe.

2. Like the fiddler who plays until dawn.

3. He loves it with raspberry, strawberry, lemon and lime, blueberry, apple, cherry, pumpkin and plum.

4. He loves his pie enough to be tied to a big white goose that will waddle its way toward pie.

5. He loves his pie enough that he won't waste it on throwing pie in someone's face. (But he doesn't need much)

6. He loves it enough that you can shake him up the peach tree and he'll go way faster than Little Jack Horner.

Country Pie

Bob loves all the pies,
Show him a pie, he'll eat it.
Give him some more pie!

Country Pie

Bob loves all his pies
And would ride geese to get them.
Give him some more pie!

Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

Bob won't take that train.
He gives his seat to someone
And stays home with you.

Lay Lady Lay

Bob wants you in bed.
He's got balls and beds of brass.
You're lying on them.