
It’s on this interpretation that the fifth lines of both this verse and the second verse make sense. There’s no time to decide whether the things to be taken will actually last. The urgency of a need to reform is further enhanced by the phrase ‘you think…’. There are things ‘you think will last’ – things of eternal value, which can be a basis for spiritual renewal. Reforming needn’t require a total rejection of her past. The woman’s death, then, (if it were to occur) would be spiritual death resulting from a failure to reform. The term ‘orphan’ perhaps implies a lack of concern for others, an orphan having been deprived of parental care. The child is best seen as the consequences of the woman’s past life which will in some sense destroy her if she doesn’t turn her back on them. The orphan need not be a literal child, and the death need not be a literal, physical death. The imminence of the danger, and the need to ‘leave now’ is enhanced by her death being presented as having already occurred – the child is an ‘orphan’. However, from what follows in the first verse (in particular the reference to the orphan’s gun) this opening line would also seem to imply that there’s a danger of imminent death at the hands of her child. Taken literally, she is doing no more than deciding on a course of action following the departure of her lover and, presumably, the end of their relationship. ‘You must leave now, take what you need you think will last’

Along the way this outlook moves from depression, back to reality and finally to optimism.įrom the outset the woman’s state of mind is associated with death and whether her life has been of moral value: It traces the development of her mental outlook from the realisation of her situation at the beginning, to her purposeful response to it at the end. As such the song can be taken as her thoughts as she comes to terms with the change in her life and perhaps achieves some sort of spiritual renewal. Although the woman concerned is being addressed by the narrator, it makes sense to see her for most of the time as addressing herself. Essentially it’s about the mental state of someone trying to renew their life following what they see as a calamity – the breakup of a relationship. Is standing in the clothes that you once wore.Īnd it's all over now, Baby Blue.The first thing to say is that there’s little reason to see It’s All Over Now Baby Blue as ‘about’ an event in Dylan’s life, such as his adopting a new musical style around the time it was written. Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you.įorget the dead you've left, they will not follow you. Has taken all his blankets from the floor. Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets.Īll your seasick sailors, they are rowing home.Īll your reindeer armies, are all going home. The empty-handed painter from your streets Take what you have gathered from coincidence. The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense.
#Its all over now baby blue song meanings how to#
The easy, fast & fun way to learn how to sing: You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.īut whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast.

The Byrds did release a 1969 recording of the song on their Ballad of Easy Rider album (see 1969 in music). Tambourine Man" and "All I Really Want to Do", but neither recording was released in that form. The Byrds recorded the song twice in 1965 as a possible follow up single to "Mr. Them's version, released in 1966 influenced garage bands during the mid-60s and Beck later sampled it for his 1996 single "Jack-Ass". "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" has been covered many times by a variety of artists, including Joan Baez, Bryan Ferry, the Seldom Scene, Them (also by Van Morrison as a solo artist), the Byrds, the Animals, the Chocolate Watchband, Graham Bonnet, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Marianne Faithfull, Falco, the 13th Floor Elevators, the Grateful Dead, Link Wray, Hugh Masekela, Echo and the Bunnymen, Bad Religion, the Matadors, and Hole. The lyrics were heavily influenced by Symbolist poetry and bid farewell to the titular "Baby Blue." There has been much speculation about the real life identity of "Baby Blue", with possibilites including Joan Baez, David Blue, Paul Clayton, Dylan's folk music audience, and even Dylan himself. Lee's bass guitar the only instrumentation. The song was recorded on Januwith Dylan's acoustic guitar and harmonica and William E. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his Bringing It All Back Home album, released on Maby Columbia Records (see 1965 in music).
