You don’t often think of Bob Dylan as the sentimental type. Truth be told, he’s written plenty of songs that are unabashed and earnest in their praise of another person. It’s just that he manages to pull off those songs without ever seeming trite. “I’ll Remember You”, found on the 1985 album Empire Burlesque, finds Bob Dylan unloading his emotions about someone special who graced his presence for a while. That this person is no longer in his life makes the song as bittersweet as it is touching.
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Try To “Remember”
You could probably ask 100 Bob Dylan fans for their takes on his 1980s output, and you’d probably walk away with 100 wildly disparate opinions. Was it mostly a lost decade for him in a musical sense? Or was it (and we’re leaning in this direction) actually a case of him upending expectations so much that people couldn’t judge the work fairly?
Empire Burlesque pretty much sums up the whole era in microcosm for Dylan. Wanting to get back into the game commercially for the first time in a while, he made an effort to modernize his sound. The record skews a bit more urban, with Dylan taking stabs at more danceable music.
That also meant that the production is very much dated to that era. The booming drum sounds and rubbery rhythms might have frustrated those who wanted to hear Dylan alone with his guitar and vocals (which only happens on one song on the album). Nonetheless, his lyrical game stays on point throughout the record, with “I’ll Remember You” a particular standout in his regard.
“I’ll Remember You” benefits from an ace backing group. Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Howie Epstein handle guitar and bass, respectively, while Jim Keltner tackles the drums. Dylan, who also plays piano on the track, essentially duets with Madelyn Quebec, who’s there every step of the way on harmony. They combine to deliver a heartfelt performance of a subtly moving song.
Behind the Lyrics of “I’ll Remember You”
The basic premise for “I’ll Remember You” lies right there in the title. But manages to find clever, novel ways to emphasize this point throughout the song. He starts quite simply by implying that this person has separated herself from his former acquaintances.
“I’ll remember you / When I’ve forgotten all the rest.”
In the second verse, the narrator slips in a bit of his own story to make his point. “I had so much left to do,” he admits. “I had so little time to fail.”
He suggests that her influence will still linger even at the end of his life: “When the roses fade / And I’m in the shade.”
In the middle eight, Dylan takes on a suddenly urgent tone. His character turns back the pages to some long-ago moment, wondering why their story had to end. He hints that he did his best, conjuring a cinematic tableau in the process: “Didn’t I sleep, didn’t I weep beside you? / With the rain blowing in your hair.”
But he quickly snaps out of that mode and gets back to words of love in the final verse. He knows that her memory will pop up occasionally. And he again singles out her special way with him: “It was you who came right through / It was you who understood.”
One more time, he implies that he was not an easy guy to love: “Though I’d never say / That I done it the way / That you’d have liked me to.”
And then he finishes on a direct, sweet note: “In the end / My sweet friend / I’ll remember you.”
Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Remember You”, like the girl enchanting the narrator in the song, will stick in your mind and heart long after others of its kind have receded.
Photo by George Rose/Getty Images
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