Abandoned Love

"Abandoned Love"
"Abandoned Love"
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album Biograph
Released	November 7, 1985
Recorded	July 31, 1975
Genre	Folk rock
Length	4:29
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Bob Dylan

"Abandoned Love" is a song written by Bob Dylan, recorded on July 31, 1975, but not released until 1985, on his compilation album Biograph. It was originally recorded for inclusion on his 1976 album Desire, but was dropped in favor of "Joey". "Abandoned Love" was written during Dylan's breakup with his then-wife Sara Lownds.

Only one live performance of this song is known of, at The Bitter End cafe on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village on July 3, 1975, during a show with Ramblin' Jack Elliott.^[1] Paul Cable, in his book Bob Dylan: His Unreleased Recordings (New York: Schirmer Books, 1980), described this live version of the song as "Beautiful, eerie, easily as good as Blonde on Blonde lyrics and a tune that is unusual and perfect."

Covers

George Harrison recorded an unreleased demo version in the 1980s.
Everly Brothers: Born Yesterday (1985); Wings of a Nightingale (1998)
Seán Keane: All Heart No Roses (1993)
Chuck Prophet: Outlaw Blues, Volume 2 (1995)
Paul Rodgers Nils Lofgren: Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International (2012)

Notes

^ Johnson, Tracy, Encounters with Bob Dylan: If You See Him, Say Hello, Humble press, 2000. ISBN 0-9647009-2-1. Cf. story "1975: Abandoned Love" by Joe Kivak. "On a Thursday night in July 1975, I headed out to see Ramblin' Jack Elliott at The Bitter End in New York City ... Their first song was 'Pretty Boy Floyd,' with Bob singing harmony and his guitar buzzing right along. Then Jack started 'How Long Blues.' After the first verse, he looked at Bob in a way that seemed to ask him to sing a verse. Bob simply shook his head and mouthed something inaudible. When the song finished, however, Dylan began strumming his guitar. But since it was still buzzing, he asked Jack to trade instruments with him. At that moment, everyone in the room was in a trance; it's not every day one gets to hear an impromptu Bob Dylan performance in a tiny club. After a couple of lines, we realized he was performing a new song, with each line getting even better than the last. The song was 'Abandoned Love,' and it still is the most powerful performance I've ever heard."

External links

Lyrics from official site

[1] Johnson, Tracy, Encounters with Bob Dylan: If You See Him, Say Hello, Humble press, 2000. ISBN 0-9647009-2-1. Cf. story "1975: Abandoned Love" by Joe Kivak. "On a Thursday night in July 1975, I headed out to see Ramblin' Jack Elliott at The Bitter End in New York City ... Their first song was 'Pretty Boy Floyd,' with Bob singing harmony and his guitar buzzing right along. Then Jack started 'How Long Blues.' After the first verse, he looked at Bob in a way that seemed to ask him to sing a verse. Bob simply shook his head and mouthed something inaudible. When the song finished, however, Dylan began strumming his guitar. But since it was still buzzing, he asked Jack to trade instruments with him. At that moment, everyone in the room was in a trance; it's not every day one gets to hear an impromptu Bob Dylan performance in a tiny club. After a couple of lines, we realized he was performing a new song, with each line getting even better than the last. The song was 'Abandoned Love,' and it still is the most powerful performance I've ever heard."

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