I Threw It All Away

“I Threw It All Away” is one of the finer moments on Dylan’s Nashville Skyline. The country ballad consists of an unadorned, compressed song structure: intro, two verses, a bridge, and final verse -- and lyrically, Dylan exhibits a simplicity of expression absent in earlier material. Even compared to much of the previous album John Wesley Harding, which was simple yet tauntingly elliptic, “I Threw It All Away” cuts to the chase with calm assurance.With crackerjack Nashville studio musicians backing him up on organ, bass, drums and acoustic guitar, Dylan delivers a world-wise lesson in life in his newfound soft country crooner voice: “I once held her in my arms / she said she would always stay / but I was cruel / I treated her like a fool / I threw it all away.” We’re a far cry from the surrealistic wordplay of Blonde on Blonde, yet Dylan proves his mettle at penning a craftsmanlike ballad in the tradition of Hank Williams. It would prove to be a minor country-rock classic. The message is simple: the singer lost the girl, he lost his world, and because “love is all there is” and all you need (an oblique reference to the Beatles’ “All You Need is Love” perhaps?), he concludes by saying if you find that special someone, don’t let her go by throwing it all away. The melodic structure nicely echoes the pain and bitterness in line three of each verse (“But I was cruel”, “I must have been mad”, “For one thing’s that’s certain”) by reaching high for a dissonant blues pitch out of range from the rest of the melody. A live version appeared on Hard Rain, jacked up with strained, mournful vocals, an electrified arrangement courtesy of the road-tested Rolling Thunder backup band and modified lyrics by Dylan. The tune continues to speak to other artists and has been covered by Elvis Costello, Yo La Tengo, Jimmy LaFave, and Scott Walker.