Bob Dylan isn’t touted for his love songs. That’s not to say that he doesn’t have his fair share of stellar love songs, but his protest anthems are so pervasive and era-defining that it is hard to recognize anything else about The Bard. That being said, we’d like to explore a different part of Dylan’s artistry. Check out three of our favorite Dylan songs about the women in the his life, below.
1. “Girl from the North Country”
Dylan supposedly wrote “Girl from the North Country” about an old flame from his life before making it big in folk. The two main names that are thrown around are Echo Helstrom or Bonnie Beecher. Despite not knowing exactly who this song is about, it remains a powerful ode to heartbreak and reminiscing on lost love.
Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm / When the rivers freeze and summer ends / Please see if she’s wearing a coat so warm / To keep her from the howlin’ winds, he sings, letting the listener know that his love is still very much lingering.
If you’re traveling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
For she once was a true love of mine
2. “Sara”
“Sara” was inspired by Dylan’s first wife, Sara Lownds. Though that idea would suggest a gushing love song, this track is markedly dejected. The pair must not have been in a very good place when Dylan wrote this song. Whatever made you want to change your mind, he asks his wife in the chorus. It’s a poignantly heartbreaking song, written from the perspective of someone in the throes of a shape-shifting love.
I laid on a dune, I looked at the sky
When the children were babies and played on the beach
You came up behind me, I saw you go by
You were always so close and still within reach
Sara, Sara
Whatever made you want to change your mind?
3. “Just Like a Woman”
“Just Like a Woman” was rumored to have been written about Joan Baez. The pair of folk icons have a storied history with one another. This song seems to encapsulate their downfall. Dylan puts her on a pedestal in one breath and breaks her down in the next. She aches just like a woman / But she breaks just like a little girl, he sings in the crux of the chorus.
She takes just like a woman
Yes, she does, she makes love just like a woman
Yes, she does, and she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl