Great effort at the lyrics. I doubt anyone has done as good a job on them. This must be the definitive version, apart from the one deep inside Dylan’s head. You’re right about ‘atrocious’ versions out there. Only word that I would quibble with is diffusin’ (not diffusion) even though that’s only a partial rhyme with affirmation. Sorry, don’t know the clown species but long forsaken sounds ok.
What an amazing song it is, even in the slightly fuzzy mp3 version. I saw the film but the song went past too fast. Mind you, the film hype has sure brought the song out of the shadows. It shines! I was playing it today and i looked out the window and this old black neighbour of mine who has as serious limp, was walkin in perfect rhythm with the song, swingin the bad leg out even though he couldn’t possibly have been hearing it. Made me think of Sonny Terry and the Marcus “old weird America” thing (even though this is Canada). It gets its hooks in like a kind of monotonous chant. Have you seen any guitar chords for it? I’m a beginner with a bad ear.

Deciphering I’M NOT THERE (1956)

It’s alright and she holds her tight
In my neighbourhood, she cried both day and night.
I know it because he was there.
It’s a milestone but she’s down on her luck
And she daily salutin’, but to make an hard to buck.
I believe.

This first verse starts fairy abruptly, so it may be incomplete or perhaps not even the first verse. However, I think that it is the first verse and only the first word is slightly truncated. Some transcriptions give, “Things all crashing there, she’s all too tight”, but I’ve never been able to hear any mention of “crashing”, unless there is some other version I’ve never heard. I’ve only recently realised the phrase “she’s all too tight” is actually “she holds her tight”. Incidentally “she holds her tight” is used in the transcript in Telegraph # 37. The only other difficult word is “salutin’” which has been transcribed as “saloonin’” but that is unlikely. Some transcriptions give this line as “And the day makes her lonely” or “And she day makes her lonely”, but careful listening will purge these options. Someone suggested it was not “neighbourhood” but “neighbour heard”, but that too can be eliminated by careful listening.

I believe where she’s stopping wif she wants time to care
I believe that she’d look upon deciding to care
And I go by the Lord in a way she’s on my way
But I don’t belong there.

This verse is pretty straight forward. Transcriptions have minor variations such as “she’d stop him” rather than “she’s stopping”, “upon this side and t’care” instead of”upon deciding to care”, or “upon the sidings to care” but these can be sorted out with careful listening. “wif” is a cross between “if” and “with” due to a vocal stumble.

No I don’t belong to her; I don’t belong to every prize
She’s my Christ-forsaken angel but she don’t hear me cry.
She’s a lone-hearted mystic and she can’t carry on.
When I’m there she’s alright but when she’s not when I’m gone.

This verse is a little harder to work out. The “every prize” is usually misheard as “anybody” or “everybody” or “every choir”, and “Christ-forsaken” as “prize-forsaken”, so you just need to listen very carefully to get it right. Further “lone-hearted mystic” has been heard as “long–hearted mistress”, but there is no “g” on the end with what Dylan actually sings, and “mistress’ is not there.

Heaven knows that the answers she’s don’t call (in) no one.
She’s the way, the sailing beautiful; she’s mine for the one
And I lost her hesitatin’ by temptation less it runs
But she don’t honour me; I’m not there, I’m gone.

This one is harder to work out as well.”She’s the way the sailing beautiful” has been heard as “She’s the way, for sale, and beautiful” or “She’s a wave, a thing, beautiful” or “She’s away sailing beautiful’ and even “She’s the way the sailing beauty falls”, but these are not as close to what is actually sung. “And I lost her hesitatin’” is certainly not clear, and I think it’s because “hesitatin” is stumbled over, rather than it being a misheard word. It has been heard as “And I loss a heavy tension”, but that makes even less sense. Often “honour” is given as “follow” or “holler” or even “allah”

Now I’ve cried tonight like I cried the night before
And I’ll lease on the horizon but I dream about the door.
So long, Jesus saviour, blind fate worth to tell
It don’t have approximation, she’s smiles “fare thee well”
And now it gets worse. The second line remains a mystery. One transcript gives “And I’ll feast on her eyes” others “And I’m leasing on the highs ” or “And knees on the hassle”, but as none of these really fit I just have to leave it. The line “So long, Jesus saviour, blind fate worth to tell” is now right, but it has been heard as “It’s alone, she’s forsaken by her fate, worse to tell”, and even the very funny “So long Cheeze, us aviators and blind faith wants to tell” but once you know the actual words these are clearly wrong. The line “It don’t have approximation” is not an exact match, but alternatives such as “it don’t have consultation” or “It don’t hang proclamation” are no better.

Now I went out ‘neath the levee, I was born to love her
But she knows that the kingdom weighs so high above her
And I run but I race but it’s not too fast to sleigh on
But I don’t perceive her, I’m not there, I’m gone.

This verse is a little more distinct. The first line is hard to work out. And has been heard as “Now my all-decent lady”, “Now I went out [???] lay with” and “Now when I treat the levee” and “She’s my cornstack and my cabbage”, but I think the words I have are correct. The phrase “too fast to sleigh on” is difficult and has been heard as “to fast a slim”, “to fast to stay on” and even the literal “to fast a sleoun” , but “sleigh” is the best choice. [if you listen carefully you can hear a door opens and close during the recording session]

Well it’s all about diffusion as I cry for her veil
I don’t need anybody now beside me to tell
And it’s all affirmation, I receive but it’s not
She’s a lone-hearted beauty but she’s gone like the spot
And she moans.

This verse is much more obvious. There are few variations in the transcripts. An early Telegraph #4 gives “She’s a lone-hearted beauty but she’s gone like the spot” as “She’s alone, pardon, beauty, but she don’t like the spot”, and this is clearly wrong.

Yes she’s gone like the radio, that shinin’ yesterday
But now she’s home beside me and I’d like to here to stay.
She’s a (b)one-forsaken beauty and it’s “don’t trust anyone”
And I wish I was beside her, but I’m not there, I’m gone.

This verse is clear too. The main correction is that “rainbow” would make more sense than “radio”, but unfortunately, it’s “radio” that is sung.

Well, it’s a two hearts ‘istaken and I don’t far believe
It’s all [bang or it’s] amusing and she’s hard, too hard to leave
It’s a low, it’s a crime the way she moans me around
Was she told, born to hate me, but theres a dawn fortakin’ clown

There is a major correction to this verse. “Well it’s a two hearts ‘istaken” has not been recognised before, and was usually given as “well it’s too hard to stay here” or “well it’s too hard to stake-in”, and for confirmation the typed transcript in Telegraph #37 has “2 hearts mistaken / I don’t far believe”. However the second line is still a problem. “amusing” is certainly correct, but the words that precede it are unclear. Common transcriptions include “”It’s all bad for abusing”, “It’s all back for [?mus lin?] and the literal “It’s all bag for tebusing”. “It’s a low” rather than “It’s a load” or “It’s alone” is also in the typed transcript (T#37). Now the last line is a problem too, especially “a dawn fortakin’ clown”. This is just a best guess, and other contenders are “long forsaken clown” or “dong fortaken cloud”, but I like these two less.

Yes I believe that its rightful, oh I believe it in my mind
A bell tolled, like I said, when I before carry on the crying
And this old gypsy told her, like I said, “carry on”,
I wish I was there to help her, but I’m not there, I’m gone.

This is the final verse, and it has been pretty well worked out. The only ‘correction’ I hear is “A bell tolled” rather than the more usual “I been told”. The “gypsy” bit is correct as well, even though some of the earlier transcription missed it.

Having listened to this song for more than thirty years, I’m very pleased for it to have finally been given an official release on the soundtrack CD. Hopefully the film and the soundtrack will give this song a wider audience, and perhaps some of the mystery of the song and its lyrics will evaporate. My opinion is that the song was pretty well finished; more than 90% of the lyrics are clear and unambiguous, and it’s a tragedy that Dylan abandoned such a gem of a song. With a bit of work to fix the vocal stumbles and a bit of refinement on the grammar, the song could well have been one of Dylan’s finest.

I cannot agree with Paul Williams: “Bob Dylan Performing Artist” (first vol.):

“Sometimes the sketches are obviously unfinished, and then what is fascinating is how very much they manage to communicate in spite of everything that’s missing. “I’m Not There”, an unreleased Basement Tapes track that *Telegraph* editor John Bauldie believes is ‘one of Dylan’s greatest vocal performances,’ has lyrics that can’t be transcribed because they don’t really exist: Dylan makes slurred noises that only sound like words, like the dummy copy in the rough of an advertisement that only looks like text. Further, when Dylan does use real words, they don’t fit with the other words-but they do a good job of *sounding like* sentences; the transitions in particular are powerful and convincing. “What’s astonishing here is that we can feel with great intensity and specificity what the singer is talking about, because of the expressiveness in his voice, even though 80% of the lyrics have not been written yet!

Although this may not be the forum for discussing movies, it’s gotta be said that Haynes’s masterpiece is far from gimmicky - it’s actually one of the best films of the past few years.

With that having been said, let’s dive back into the lyrics of the song in focus.

Building upon the great work done thus far, here’s what my few hours of headphone analysis has produced…

8 - And she daily saloonin’
9 - An’ but to make ‘em hard to buck.
10 - I remain.

11 - I believe where she’s stopping
12 - W’if she’d once stop to care
13 - I believe that she’d
14 - Look upon deciding to care.
15 - And I’d go by the lord in her way.
16 - She’s on my way
17 - But I don’t belong there.

19 - I don’t belong to ev’rybody
20 - She’s my christ-foresaken angel

22 - She’s a long-hearted mystic
23 - An’ she deign to carry on.
24 - When I’m there she’s all right
25 - But, well she not when I’m gone.

26 - Heaven knows that the answers
27 - She’s don’t callin’ no one
28 - She’s the way, the sailing beautiful
29 - She’s mine, oh the one.

30 - And I lost her hesitating,
31 - Buy temptation lest it runs
32 - But she don’t hollar me
33 - But I’m not there, I’m gone.

36 - And I’m leased on the highest room
37 - But I dream about the door.
38 - So long, Jesus achin’,
39 - My fate wears the tale.
40 - It don’t hang proclamation
41 - She smiles ‘fare thee well’

42 - Now I went out to ‘neath the levee,
43 - I was born to love her
44 - But she knows that the kingdom, oh
45 - Is so high above her
46 - And I run, but I race
47 - But it’s not too fast to sleigh on,
48 - Then I don’t perceive her
49 - I’m not there, I’m gone

56 - She’s a doe-hearted beauty,
57 - But she gone like the spot.
58 - And she moans (bawls? wants? won’t? gone?)

59 - Yes she’s gone like the range, oh
60 - The shining yesterday
61 - But now she’s-a home beside me
62 - And I’d like to hear “to stay”.
63 - She’s a bone-sinking beauty
64 - And-a don’t trust anyone

67 - Well it’s-a too hard to stake-in
68 - And I don’t far believe
69 - It’s all bad, for it’s amusing
70 - An’ she’s-a hard, too hard to leave.
71 - It’s a load, it’s a crime
72 - The way she moans me around.
73 - ‘Course you were told before to hate me
74 - But just-a don’t foresake a clown

77 - I’ve been told, like I said
78 - When I before carried on the crime
79 - And she thought that ya told her,
80 - Like I said, carry on.
81 - I wish I was there to help her
82 - But I’m not there, I’m gone.

Peace.

Thanks for excellent commentary and an impressive effort to render the lyrics of “I´m Not There” in that chaotic fashion. I mean, most Dylan lyrics in anthologies are 95 percent matches, or worse, compared to the songs actually sung. And they do vary from one recording to the next.

Now this basement recording is evidently a trial, Dylan jumbles the phrasing, there is some mayday rhyming and a lack in poignancy. I don´t have a clue why the date of the song is set to 1956, but I believe Dylan carried along notebooks from his youth, and that he tapped into them during his convalescence. Most of the basement tapes share an immediacy that tells of youth, but they are refined, that is: dead wood is eliminated. This is not the case with “I´m Not There”. But on the other hand, all texts develop in this way. I can see him try to read from a haphazardly corrected script during the recording, “when” becoming “then”, etc. Sometimes he´s not able to save the line.

So there cannot be a “correct version” of this song, and if Dylan suddenly volunteered one, it would be the 2008 version and God knows what were his original intentions, 40 or 50 years back. So the text is floating, it´s in a state of being born. And as such very interesting, as I can see how Dylan taps into the subconscious flow - containing painful childhood memories and first loves as well as congress recordings, fiery hormonal imagery and tonnes of radio and tv shows. The primeval soup of poetry.

I don´t think Dylan cares much if someone tries to bring some order into the text, but I would not like to see it streamlined. Good poetry should have a raw quality. Adding to it is like polishing Emily Dickinson, it tells you more about your own hangups than about Dylan´s. And I do think there is a logic in the lyrics, though not one of detail. The associations must be coherent, and not back-stabbing. And there´s a development in the text from being there to not being there. That is a direction of psychological time. Otherwise it´s Lynch.

I was able to clear up a few points during my session, though I will be back with that after checking other commentaries. Seems like interpretation is quite a collective business, as opposed to poetry writing.

Recalling Humpty-Dumty.

Knut Carlqvist

The Identity of the Clown

Well, I will try to meet the challenge from Jarett Kobek, all the more so as he did a great job deciphering the one and only recording of “I´m Not There”. I have to abandon my first conclusion, that the song is a torso, largely unintelligible. It is not. I would say it is a traditional ballad under transformation into baudelarian poetry.
The reason this song didn´t make the Basement album is that it was never finished. This is the raw material for a song. It seems the idea was conceived as early as 1956, so we can assume that it should not yet be packed with metaphors and imaging. We should try to keep it simple. The original concept probably had structural limitations or hooks that could not easily be mended. Some pieces just grow over your head.
But the song has an engine inside, even in this raw state it possesses an eerie drive. We recognize ideas or structural elements from other, later songs. Somehow, “I´m Not There” is formative. It´s generating offspring.
My first hypothesis was a kind of Pretty Polly story, but it´s hard to make that stick. My second hovered around “Baby Stop Crying”, a woman somehow glued to a less worthy guy, and the singer tries to change that. But the actual theme is rather betrayal, the singer betrays a woman in trouble. It seems she gets pregnant. The singer is then designed for fatherhood, and that fills him with dread: “No, I don´t belong to her/I don´t belong to ev´rybody”. Then, what happens? Perhaps she marries rich - the “long forsaken clown” of the final verses. The singer agrees to it, and now we possess all the requisites of a tragedy (or melodrama), and should expect people to die.
Morally, anyway, we are in Pretty Polly land. We are witnessing the singer´s efforts to disentangle from this web of guilt, and complicity. He shifts the blame onto others.
On the other hand, it might be worse. Or a lot simpler. She perhaps just married a nice car dealer in Fargo. Who knows? The snowballing added to it, through the years, the inner dynamics of the song itself. Heartfelt thanks to Jarett and the contributors to his blog, it has been great fun. The asterisks indicates comments in the notes.
Knut C

I’m Not There -
Bob Dylan
1 It´s all right
2 And she holds her tight *
3 In my neighborhood
4 She cried both day and night
5 I know it because he was there *
6 It’s a milestone but
7 She´s down on her luck *
8 And she´s (at her) daily saloonin
9 But to make a part a buck *
10 I was then … *
11 I believe where she´s stopping
12 What if she wants time to care? *
13 I believe that she’d
14 Look upon ´t, deciding to care
15 And I go by The Lord in ways
16 She’s on my way
17 But I don’t belong there
18 No, I don’t belong to her
19 I don’t belong to ev’rybody
20 She’s my Christ-forsaken angel
21 But she don’t hear me cry
22 She’s a lone hearted mystic *
23 And she´s saying carry on
24 When I’m there she’s all right
25 But what if she´s not when I’m gone? *
26 Heaven knows that the answer
27 She’s don’t call in no one *
28 She’s the way, a-sailing beautiful, *
29 She’s mine for the one
30 And I lost her, hesitatin´
31 By temptation less it runs
32 But she don’t holler me *
33 But I’m not there, I’m gone
34 Now I’ve cried tonight
35 Like I cried the night before
36 And I’m leased on the horizon *
37 But I dream about the door
38 She says So long, Jesus Saviour *
39 By fate, worse to tell
40 It don’t hang confirmation *
41 She smiles fare thee well
42 Now I was to keep the lily *
43 I was born to love her
44 But she knows that the kingdom
45 Weighs so high above her *
46 And I run, but I race
47 But it’s not too fast to sleigh on *
48 But I don’t perceive her
49 I’m not there I’m gone
50 Well it’s all about diffusin´
51 As I cry for her t´ fail *
52 I don’t need anybody now *
53 Beside me to tell
54 And it’s all affirmation
55 I receive, but it´s not
56 She’s a gold hearted muse *
57 But she´s gone like the spot
58 And she want *
59 Yes, she’s gone like the radio
60 The shining yesterday
61 But now she’s a-home beside me *
62 And I’d liked her here to stay
63 She’s a bone forsaken beauty
64 And it´s “dont trust anyone!”
65 And I wish I was beside her
66 But I’m not there I’m gone
67 Well, it’s two hearts mistaken *
68 And I don’t far believe
69 It’s all bag for the musing
70 But she’s hard, too hard to leave
71 It’s a loan, it’s a crime *
72 The way she won’t be around
73 But she´s told for the hatred
74 of this long forsaken clown *
75 Yes I believe that it´s rightful
76 Oh I believe it in my mind
77 A bell tolled, like I said *
78 When I - before - carried on the crime
79 And she said th´old jester told her *
80 Like I said, carry on *
81 I wish I was there to help her
82 But I’m not there I’m gone

Notes:
2. Les Kokay is quite right in suggesting this reading. The scene is set in a few lines, and she must be holding a baby in her arms.
5. Dylan might slur a bit, but I hear a “he”. The validity of my suggestion rests with the general interpretation of the song, and the “clown” or “jester” in the last verse.
6. The “milestone” is her becoming a mother, but she´s down on her luck.
9. Seems like Dylan sings “salooning”, as one commentator claimed, setting her as a waitress in a cheap joint. Next line should in that case be “are making but part (of) a buck”. It might well be the waitress from Tangled Up In Blue. But the point is: She´s not able to provide for the baby, not at this point.
10. Definitely a “was”, and possibly “there” instead of “then”. With this line the singer leaves the present, and becomes retrospective.
12. Starts with a “whiff”, which might be a condensed “what if”. Then the rest of the verse makes sense. What he wonders is, whether she wants a baby to care for. Or something like that. Yes, she wants to walk by the Lord, but then he doesn´t.
22. Lone-hearted seems more intelligible than longhearted. Resting on a “n” turns it into a “ng” sound. In connection with the preceding line: Let´s say he tried to persuade her to accept abortion, but she won´t listen, stunned by the wonder of procreation.
23. A quite clear “she´s saying carry on”, coherent with lines 78-80, she seems to be going through with something that will cost her (and them) dearly.
25. Foreboding disaster. Can she make it without him?
27. She doesn´t call in anyone, she doesn´t take advice
28. She´s the way, plain sailing - i e he should have taken the consequences of his actions, but he hesitated too long.
32. She doesn´t holler, she might be too naive to realize her plight. But probably her reaction to his hesitation was another, she thought the new circumstances required a husband of some means. Perhaps she hoped to be able to meet the singer secretly.
34. “Now I’ve cried tonight…” The singer stresses the message in lines 21-22: “But she don’t hear me cry/She’s a lone hearted mystic”. Her mind is set, and she has shifted into another gear. Now he accuses her of being “forsaken”, but who is really forsaken? Did she really have an alternative?
36. I tried to settle for “heights”, but I agree that it seems to be a slurred “horizon”. It should be a variation on the theme of the preceding verse, he is exiled to limbo but is dreaming of returning home, or perhaps he is just looking for an escape.
38. This line starts with a barely audible “She says:” She knows her action is irrevocable (compare with line 7) and possibly disastrous. She takes the devil into the boat.
40. “It don´t hang confirmation”, sounds odd, but I think the singer wants to tell us that she knows there are no guarantees this will work out.
42. The word “keep” is quite clear, but “lily” is smeared to “lirry”, r and l are very close consonants, technically. It´s a daring interpretation, but the simplicity of it and the evident parallel with the next line (and, indeed, the entire song), Dylan style, is very convincing . Probably “lily” was inserted for some earlier metaphor and misread.
45. NB: “the kingdom weighs so high” - the social condemnation of a pregnancy outside marriage.
47. The singer describes the betrayal, he tries to avoid her, but it´s not too easy a small town. He tries to keep up appearances. I buy “sleigh on”, Dylan uses the expression in the first Travelin´ Wilbury´s album which much the same intonation.
51. Dylan sings “fail”, not veil. I don´t see the necessary tie betwen the diffusion and the veil, but English is not my native language. Does he want to see her veiled? No, ambivalence. He rather wants her to miscarry, so they can go on like before. Or that the rich man will go back on his word. He does receive affirmation, but not the kind of affirmation he hopes for.
52. He sings “meaned”, tumbling the letters.
56. Sounds like “muse”, it´s of minor importance.
58. Seems superfluous, but I think it gives us the key to the next verse … she wants something, but it is best left unsaid.
61. This is the climax of the song, where it should turn according to all the rules of drama. And it does. But how? She´s gone, but at the same time is “a-home beside me”. He wants her to stay there, at his place, and he wishes he was beside her. In the grave? But she is holding her baby in line 2. So perhaps we should hear: “She has a (new) home beside me”? She should - at this point - be living with another man. But I think both these interpretations are wrong. This must be it: She comes home to the singer, and makes him a proposal - and she confirms the secret deal with a “Don´t trust anyone!”
67. Kokay opened the entire ending for me with his comment on this line: “It´s two hearts mistaken…” Here the singer starts to deal with the aftermath of what has happened, and he puts solid blame on her - as she initiated the course of action - and later on the clown, who invited the situation. The truth of this interpretation follows from the simplicity: everything falls into place.
71. “It´s a loan” - if she married an older man, he “loaned” the bride. It´s a crime that a young woman should be forced to marry an old guy, and it justifies what´s coming. Stretching it, the “loan” might be the baby, but the singer is too self-centered to see it that way.
73. Unclear, but it seems she tells people or just the singer about her hatred for “the clown”, or - perhaps psychologically more convincing - his hatred for her, if he was set up the way he might have been. The singer probably just believed the clown was a mean old bastard.
74. So here is an answer, Jarett, to your request of the identity of the clown. He must be the guy to whom the girl turns in her distress, and who - it seems - accepts to marry her despite her condition, thus saving her reputation. Naming him a clown indicates that he is an older man, that has been courting her for some time, thus in the eyes of all young lovers a ridiculous man. But also quite determined - once married - to keep her under firm control. Originally he had no reason to hate her, so we would rather expect her to hate him, though she might have told the singer another story. The clouded wording gives the impression that she led the singer to commit a heinous act.
77. Warning bells tolled. He should not have trusted the girl.
78. Dylan definitely sings “crime”, a parallell to line 71. Now vengeance somehow hits the clown or the girl, or both, for their crime against nature.
79. “And she said th´old jester told her…” Now, I might deceive myself, but after twenty listenings this is still what I hear. So “jester” it is (known from countless Dylan songs), and the “old” matches the “long forsaken” clown. This is a guy that could not easily get a woman. The girl excuses herself to the singer, she claims the jester/clown knew about the arrangement and told the girl to “carry on”, that is to bear the child though it was not his. We recognize the crucial “carry on” push from line 23. But he didn´t know. The singer claims he was deceived by the girl, that he could not foresee it would all backfire.
So the “clown” is not identical with the singer, he´s a third person deeply involved in their relation. He is pivotal to the story, and as it is a rule for any drama to introduce key figures early on, preferably in the first act, the clown should be in there from the start, which is why I looked twice on line 5. Somebody caused her to cry. And as he is mentioned in the past tense in the opening lines, he was dead by then. I guess he found out and decided to dump her in the street.
So you see, Jarett, the story is clear enough. Though of course, the better poetry the more work to unearth the connections. /KC

Thanks so much for this transcription,it seems indeed way more accurate that all the ones I could found on the web !

It sounds like the following to me:

She’s gone like the rain /
Behold the shining yesterday