4th Time Around
"4th Time Around" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde.
| "4th Time Around" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Bob Dylan | |
| from the album Blonde on Blonde | |
| Released | June 20, 1966 |
| Recorded | February 14, 1966 |
| Genre | Folk rock |
| Length | 4:35 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
Comparisons to "Norwegian Wood"
"4th Time Around" was commonly speculated to be a response to the Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood" – written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney for the 1965 album Rubber Soul – as the two tracks share a reasonably similar melody, lyrical premise, and 3/4 time signature. "4th Time Around" has been seen as either a playful homage, or a satirical warning to Lennon about co-opting Dylan's well-known songwriting devices. Lennon expressed a range of opinions on this topic in interviews between 1970 and 1980. He initially felt it to be a somewhat pointed parody of "Norwegian Wood", but later he considered Dylan's effort to be more a playful homage. Still, the last line of "4th Time Around" ("I never asked for your crutch / Now don't ask for mine.") played into Lennon's apparent paranoia about Dylan in 1966–67, when he interpreted this line as a warning not to use Dylan's songs as a "crutch" for Lennon's songwriting.[1]
Notes
- Trager, Oliver (2004). Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. Billboard Books. p. 195. ISBN 0-8230-7974-0. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
