Bob Dylan’s solo catalog casts a long shadow, in terms of both longevity and excellence. When considering Dylan’s songwriting brilliance, you also have to remember that he wrote a few gems when he briefly served as a member of a group. We’re talking, of course, about his stint in The Traveling Wilburys. “If You Belonged To Me”, released in 1990 on the band’s second album, stands out as one of the best Dylan songs of that time period.
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Dylan in the Wilbury Spotlight
The Traveling Wilburys took a major hit when Roy Orbison died not long after the supergroup released their first album in 1988. For a while, the remaining four members (Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne) considered adding a new member to replace Orbison.
They ultimately chose to move on as a quartet for Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3. (Those pranksters skipped right over Volume 2.) When making the album, they knew that they’d only have Dylan available for a limited time during the sessions. Still, he ended up being a major factor, singing lead on four of the album’s songs.
On “If You Belonged To Me”, Dylan pretty much tackles the song as if a solo artist backed by ace musicians. The vocals-sharing prevalent on so many other Wilbury songs can’t be found here. Instead, Dylan’s at the center stage with his harmonica and vocals.
Speaking of the vocal, Dylan did a killer take right off the bat that he considered nothing more than a guide. When he went back and did a second take, it allegedly didn’t sound anywhere near as sharp, but Dylan himself preferred it. The other members eventually prevailed upon him to go with the first vocal, which is what you hear on the record.
Examining the Lyrics of “If You Belonged To Me”
Dylan takes the role of the jilted suitor in “If You Belonged To Me”. He spends the song trying to convince the girl that she’s with the wrong guy. It’s a song set up as old as the hills. But Dylan provides just the right mix of unusual choices and heartfelt hurt to make it sound fresh and incisive.
The opening couplet is a doozy, depicting the girl as both misguided and untouchable. “Waltzing around the room tonight in someone else’s clothes,” Dylan sings. “You’re always coming out of things smelling like a rose.” But he also suggests that she has “misery” in her heart, which could mean she needs saving from herself.
Leave it to Dylan to deliver an idiosyncratic takedown: “You say let’s go to the rodeo and see some cowboy fall,” he sings. Perhaps the narrator is misunderstanding her a bit, which makes him less reliable than the typical heartsick fool. After all, he bemoans that she lacks freedom, but he wants her to belong to him.
Maybe it’s just a poor choice of words on this character’s part, because he sounds genuine in the middle eight, wishing to connect to her “for one moment of each day.” Things get sinister when he calls the other guy “a ruthless pimp.” “Every cent he takes from you goes straight up his nose,” Dylan sneers.
This song easily outpaces anything that Dylan delivered on Under The Red Sky, the solo album he released the same year as the Wilburys record arrived. Maybe the group dynamic brought the best out in him, because “If You Belonged To Me” is as surprising as it is moving.
Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images
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