Talk:Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

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Line Change
I'm a-thinkin' and a-wondering walking down the road has never been changed. The line: so long honey babe, where I'm bound, I can't tell was changed to: so I'm walkin down that long lonesome road babe, where I'm bound I can't tell Lion King 14:20, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Frankenreiter cover
Donavon Frankenreiter also did a briliant cover on the song (better than the original if you ask me) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.227.40.49 (talk) 17:36, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

Played guitar on song?
I heard that Dylan didn't actually play the guitar on the original recording from 'Freewheelin', that he got someone else in to do it for him. Can anyone confirm this is true or false? I hope it's false!

http://www.wirz.de/music/langhfrm.htm http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-freewheelin-bruce-langhorne-a-musician-and-master-chef-442225.html http://www.scaruffi.com/vol3/langhorn.html People keep deleting it when I put that in. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Metsman (talk • contribs) 21:31, 13 November 2008 (UTC) There is evidence needed that Bob was ever able to fingerpick guitar as is heard on the record. Bruce Langhorn could and was there. I have never heard (and seen) Bob pick it, just strumming. The fake court case is nice, but no proof. The ISIS paper that is referred to is not to be found. Bruce had don't think twice on his website as one of his many recordings for years. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.167.189.142 (talk) 20:19, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
 * I heard that too, and it is backed up by this. Dylan didn't play it, it was Bruce Langhorne:

I did some research and found the Witman demos clearly demonstrating that Bob was able to play the fingerpicking arrangement. Furthermore, I found the live concert from 12 april 1963 bootleg, which also contains a version of Bob Dylan picking the song. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.167.189.142 (talk) 22:15, 11 December 2011 (UTC)


 * The original liner notes to The Freewheelin Bob Dylan, reproduced on my CD version, credit not only Langhorn but an entire combo ("band"), intrumentalist by instrumentalist. It also writes as if the song were an old standard composed by someone besides Dylan. Surely there is some sort of mix-up here, but I was expecting this article to comment on it, and I still think it should. For one thing, especially since this combo, including Langhorn, does indeed play on "Corrina, Corrina" from the same album, it seems reasonable to suppose these faulty liner notes could be the original source of this rumor. (I idly read the liner notes today, but I haven't actually listened to the album in many years, so if it turns out there actually is a combo playing on this song, I'm going to feel very silly. I'll listen it then come back here maybe tomorrow.) TheScotch (talk) 04:51, 25 July 2012 (UTC)
 * The credits (in Nat Hentoff's liner notes) for Corrina, Corrina are different from those for 'Don't Think Twice', but they both include Bruce Langhorne on guitar. In the case of 'DTT' they are clearly inaccurate, as there is no audible piano or drums on the track, contrary to Hentoff's notes. That doesn't mean that Langhorne did not play guitar.  Dylan's other recordings show that he could play competent finger-style guitar, but the guitar on DTT is beyond just competent, and I can't think of any other Dylan acoustic track with the same level of skill. This does suggest that Dylan had some help.  The guitar on the Witmark demo is good, but not quite that good.  Indeed, the final recording seems to have two guitars, distinguishable by timbre as well as melody lines.  The main guitar is probably by Dylan, while the second guitar, which plays embellishments in a higher octave, may either be overdubbed by Dylan himself or played by another guitarist.  I don't think it is a big deal.  In those days credits for supporting musicians were a rarity.86.148.132.79 (talk) 22:49, 3 April 2015 (UTC)


 * I just listened to the version on Freewheeling. This is absolutely one guitar, not two. I play the same fingerpick arrangement myself. Like stated earlier, the bootleg with the live concert on april 12 1963 contains a version of Dylan picking the song. Here is recording on youtube from October 26 1963 with Bob picking the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnXbSGTg6dI  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.72.85.127 (talk) 14:35, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

Here's another live version from 1963 with Bob picking the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnXbSGTg6dI

Should this information not be added to the article? Discussion on who is playing guitar is heard now and again. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.72.85.127 (talk) 12:14, 4 May 2022 (UTC)


 * It used to be in the main text but someone removed it. I agree. It should be in there, since it's an well known rumour. Who can add it? 82.72.85.127 (talk) 16:38, 10 January 2023 (UTC)

Understand Your Man
Any comment on the similarity between Don't Think Twice, It's Alright and Johnny Cash's song Understand Your Man?166.182.64.180 (talk) 15:20, 19 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Remarkable. Listened to it on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipjaLMd8TqM
 * In the comments it reads:
 * Cindy Cash
 * 4 jaar geleden
 * The truth is (and dad told me this himself). I asked him one day why every time I sang understand your man I went into Dylan’s don’t think twice. He said he called Dylan after he wrote understand your man and said “Hey Bob, I’m having trouble coming up with a melody for a song I just wrote. You don’t mind if I borrow the melody to “Don’t think twice” do ya? Dylan said nah.  Go ahead. Typical dad story and that IS the truth to you who called me fake! I was there so I guess I ought to know! As dad would say in another 82.72.85.127 (talk) 14:16, 24 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Also mentioned on the wiki page: Understand Your Man#cite note-5 82.72.85.127 (talk) 14:19, 24 January 2023 (UTC)

Removed material on Kesha's cover of "Don't Think Twice"
I removed the section on the cover of "Don't Think Twice" by Kesha under WP:NOT as not warranting its own section plus a photo. This recording - as yet unreleased - is no more notable than any other particular cover of the song, except perhaps in the eyes of the artist's fans. On that point, the material relates more to the cover artist than to the song itself, and, therefore, if it is notable, then it belongs with the artist's article. Allreet (talk) 06:37, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
 * As explained in the edit summary and on your talk page, this information passes WP:SONGCOVER - which is what we use to decide what gets added to cover sections. I suggest you actually read WP:NOT and not spit random guidelines that don't relate directly to what you are trying to do; that guideline doesn't have anything to do with this. If the other covers have more information, add it. Just because I haven't gone in and added information about the others doesn't make this any less notable. - (CK)Lakeshade  -  talk2me  - 06:45, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
 * WP:SONGCOVER addresses inclusion, but not how much material is worthy of that. WP:NOT is the main issue. I don't dispute that Ke$ha (to use the Rolling Stone blogger's spelling) is notable, as is the Amnesty International compilation, but given the original song's nearly 50-year history and the fact that the album hasn't even been released, the verdict is a long time off on whether the cover deserves this level of attention (its own section and a photo), here or on Kesha's main page. Allreet (talk) 08:22, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Correction: the issue is WP:Notability. My error on the wikilink. Allreet (talk) 08:34, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
 * On a quick check of Allmusic, there are 400+ released versions of this song, I cannot for one minute think that an UNRELEASED album version is notable, see WP:CRYSTALBALL. Remove all Ke$ha references for the time being (that's not to say it can't be returned if her version attains notability). I truly hope that all the other 75 songs contained in the album are not treated this way!--Richhoncho (talk) 16:26, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
 * I agree with Allreet and Richhoncho. If it merits any inclusion at this point, it may be as a single sentence mentioning an upcoming cover by her on the tribute album. Two paragraphs? I hate to say this - as it looks like (CK)Lakeshade took a lot of time on them - but at the moment that's excessive. Once the album is released the removed info on the recording could be moved to the album page, where it may fit in better. - I.M.S. (talk) 17:52, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Two substantial paras and a photo add up to disproportionate coverage of unreleased Kesha version of song. When released, Kesha's version can be summarised in a couple of sentences in the "Cover version" section. Expansion of article should address history and structure of song. Not the wisdom of Kesha informing us that "[Dylan is] a huge influence – he writes his own music and means what he says. I write my own music and I fucking mean every word I sing." I.M.S. point that this material will fit better into an article on the forthcoming album Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International is a good one. Mick gold (talk) 18:05, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Somebody added a 1-liner about this version, I have just edited it a little - if anybody feels even this shouldn't be in at this stage feel free to remove. I have no great opinion on it, save to note it is unreferenced. --Richhoncho (talk) 17:07, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

I think the article should merely say exactly what Richhoncho says at the beginning of his first posting in this section: "On a quick check of Allmusic, there are 400+ released versions of this song." There is no need to list any particular recording (as of this writing, the article, listing lots and lots and lots in a single giant sentence, looks very silly). And why not ascribe the information (directly in the article, not in a footnote) to Allmusic? The article could read, "According to Allmusic over four hundred recorded versions of this song have been released." That seems reasonable and appropriate to me. TheScotch (talk) 05:21, 25 July 2012 (UTC)

Trivial alleged borrowings
Re: "''As well as the melody, a couple of lines were taken from Clayton's 'Who's Goin' to Buy You Ribbons When I'm Gone?' which was recorded in 1960, two years before Dylan wrote "Don't Think Twice." Lines taken word-for-word or slightly altered from the Clayton song are, "T'ain't no use to sit and wonder why, darlin'," and, 'So I'm walkin' down that long, lonesome road.' On the first release of the song, instead of 'So I'm walkin' down that long, lonesome road babe, where I'm bound, I can't tell' Dylan sings 'So long, honey babe, where I'm bound, I can't tell'. The lyrics were changed when Dylan performed live versions of the song and on cover versions recorded by other artists. Both Clayton's song and Dylan's song were based on the public domain traditional song 'Who's Gonna Buy Your Chickens When I'm Gone'."

I have three objections to this paragraph: 1) It's written in a muddled sort of way. You have to read it twice (and that's not all right, ma) to discover it means Dylan's subsequent "live" alteration of the second mentioned bit is "taken word-for-word", not the original recording. 2) As far as I'm concerned the originally released Dylan recording (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) represents the actual song. Everything else is a variation. 3) Although I'm willing to believe Dylan derived these lines specifically from the song mentioned, it seems clear he didn't have to. They're such an obviously insignificant part of this song and they're so common place in and of themselves that it scarcely seems worth pointing out. If we absolutely have to include this information, we should do it in a manner that presents it in a reasonable perspective. It almost sounds as if this is accusing Dylan of plagiarism for incorporating some commonplace phraseology. Are we next to be admonished that Todd Rundgren's "Hello, It's Me" derives the word hello from song x by person y? TheScotch (talk) 05:07, 25 July 2012 (UTC)

I agree the paragraph could be cleaned up for readability, but I do not see this as trivial at all. Dylan clearly took the melody from Clayton's song, and used some of the same words as Clayton's song. He took the melody and some words FROM THE SAME SONG. That's why the Rundgren comparison does not apply here. There apparently even was a court settlement, though there are scant details about it.

Below is a section from Clayton's bio:

"Alleged plagiarism by Bob Dylan"

Bob Dylan's friendship with Clayton dated back to 1961, Dylan's first year in New York City. Dylan traveled cross-country with Clayton and two other friends in 1963, during which they visited poet Carl Sandburg in North Carolina, attended Mardi Gras in New Orleans and rendezvoused with Joan Baez in California.[29]

In an interview published as part of a history of Greenwich Village folk club Gerde's Folk City, folksinger Barry Kornfeld described how Clayton's "Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I'm Gone)" morphed into Dylan's "Don't Think Twice":

"I was with Paul one day, and Dylan wanders by and says, 'Hey, man, that's a great song. I'm going to use that song.' And he wrote a far better song, a much more interesting song - 'Don't Think Twice, It's All Right'."[30] Dylan's and Clayton's publishing companies sued each other over the alleged plagiarism. As it turned out, Clayton's song was derived from an earlier folksong entitled "Who's Gonna Buy You Chickens When I'm Gone?",[31] which was in the public domain. The lawsuits, which were settled out of court, had no effect on the friendship between the two songwriters.[5]

In the notes to Biograph (album) (1985), Dylan acknowledges that "'Don't Think Twice' was a riff that Paul [Clayton] had." He also credits Clayton for the melody line to "Percy's Song".[32]

So Dylan clearly, on some level, plagarized Clayton's song. Does that make "Don't Think Twice" a bad song, or compromise Dylan's artistic reputation? Absolutely not. As inferred by Kornfeld, Dylan made a better song using Clayton's existing prototype. Certainly the meaning and context of the words are different in Dylan's version.

I almost think it would be better to just paste the relevant parts from Clayton's section into this artice, and remove or seriously curtail the old. Any thoughts? - TW


 * A bit late getting back. After having listened to Paul Clayton sing "Who’s Going to Buy You Ribbons?", I now agree that the lines in question are much more important than I earlier assumed. On the other hand, the music for Don't Think isn't quite the same as the music for Ribbons. It's nevertheless obvious that Zimmerman derived Don't Think from Ribbons, and whether or not you like the former better than the latter (which is entirely a subjective judgement--just now I'm thinking I personally prefer Ribbons), clearly Zimmerman ought to have acknowledged the borrowing--that is, acknowledged it where it counts: on the record label and in the royalties. Whether or not Zimmerman's failure to do that in this instance and countless other instances "compromise[s] [his] artistic reputation", it ought to. There's really no excuse, and it's sickening to see his fans contorting themselves to try to justify it. TheScotch (talk) 08:23, 5 January 2017 (UTC)

first recorded version to be released
F:\image backup\backup from dlz\donthink2.jpg Bbrent73 (talk) 14:23, 12 February 2017 (UTC)bbrent73 well - the image didn't upload

Gil Turner's version was sent out on Jun 1 1963