| "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single byBob Dylan | |
| from the albumThe Freewheelin' Bob Dylan | |
| A-side | "Blowin' in the Wind" |
| Released | August 1963 (1963-08) |
| Genre | Country folk[1] |
| Length | 3:40 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter | Bob Dylan |
| Producer | John Hammond |
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is a song written byBob Dylan in 1962 and released the following year on his albumThe Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and as theB-side of the single "Blowin' in the Wind". The song has been covered by several other artists, includingWaylon Jennings in 1964,Susan Tedeschi,Melanie Safka,Gerard Quintana and Jordi Batiste inCatalan,Emilie-Claire Barlow in her 2010 albumThe Beat Goes On andPeter, Paul and Mary, who released it as a single, which reached the Top 10 of theBillboard Hot 100.
In the liner notes to the original release,Nat Hentoff calls the song "a statement that maybe you can say to make yourself feel better ... as if you were talking to yourself". It was written around the time thatSuze Rotolo indefinitely prolonged her stay in Italy. The beginning of the melody is based on the public domain traditional song "Who's Gonna Buy Your Chickens When I'm Gone",[2][3] which was taught to Dylan by folksingerPaul Clayton, who had used it in his song "Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons When I'm Gone?"
As well as the beginning of the melody, a couple of lines of lyrics were taken from Clayton's "Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons When I'm Gone?", which was recorded in 1960, two years before Dylan wrote "Don't Think Twice". Lines taken word-for-word or slightly altered from the Clayton song are, "T'ain't no use to sit and wonder why, darlin'" and "So I'm walkin' down that long, lonesome road." On the first release of the song, instead of "So I'm walkin' down that long, lonesome road babe, where I'm bound, I can't tell" Dylan sings "So long, honey babe, where I'm bound, I can't tell". The lyrics were changed when Dylan performed live versions of the song and on cover versions recorded by other artists.
In addition to its original release, the song has appeared on several of Dylan's greatest hits compilations, includingBob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971),The Best of Bob Dylan (1997), andThe Essential Bob Dylan (2000). Another version of the song, recorded as a demo for Dylan's music publisherM. Witmark & Sons in 1963, was included on two releases in Columbia'sBootleg Series:Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (2005) andVol. 9 – The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (2010). In addition, live versions have been released onBefore the Flood (1974; recorded February 14, 1974), as areggae rock version[4] onBob Dylan at Budokan (1978; recorded February 28, 1978),The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall (2004; recorded October 31, 1964),Live at The Gaslight 1962 (2005; recorded October 15, 1962), andLive 1962-1966: Rare Performances from the Copyright Collections (2018; recorded April 12, 1963).
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[5] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[6] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byPeter, Paul and Mary | ||||
| from the albumIn the Wind | ||||
| B-side | "Autumn to May" | |||
| Released | 1963 | |||
| Recorded | 1963 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 3:16 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter | Bob Dylan | |||
| Producer | Albert Grossman | |||
| Peter, Paul and Mary singles chronology | ||||
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In 1963, the popular folk trioPeter, Paul and Mary recorded the song. Dylan's managerAlbert Grossman also managed Peter, Paul and Mary and started offering Dylan's songs to other artists to record.[7] "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" was one of three Dylan songs Peter, Paul and Mary picked up that way for their third albumIn the Wind, "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Quit Your Lowdown Ways" being the others.[7] Released as a single, it reached number nine on theBillboard Hot 100 and number two on its Easy Listening charts.[8][9] It was this version that popularized the song.[10][11]Cash Box described it as "an infectious medium-paced country-styled folk item with a haunting, extremely pretty melody" that seemed destined to replicate the success the trio had with "Blowin' in the Wind".[12] AllMusic critic William Ruhlman described the Peter, Paul and Mary version as an "understated rendition" of the song.[2] Radio personality Bob Leszczak describes this version as being done "in typical fashion".[13]
The Four Seasons released a cover of the song as a single in 1965 (with the title "Don't Think Twice") under the pseudonymthe Wonder Who? Their "joke" version reached number 12 on the Hot 100,[14] and eventually sold one million copies.
In 1968,Burl Ives covered the song on his albumThe Times They Are a-Changin'. Billy Strings has also done an acoustic cover.[15]
Several country music artists have also covered this song. In 1965,Johnny Cash recorded a version of this song on hisOrange Blossom Special album. In 1970,Waylon Jennings released hisDon't Think Twice album with this song as the first track on the album.Elvis Presley recorded the song as an in-studio jam with his band in Nashville in May 1971, and a shortened version first appeared on hisself-titled 1973 album.[16] The full version remained unreleased until the 1995 release of the box setWalk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters.[17] In 1971,Jerry Reed released an up-tempo version on his album,When You're Hot, You're Hot. In 1978, Doc & Merle Watson covered this song on their albumLook Away!Dolly Parton covered this song on her 44th studio albumBlue Smoke in 2014 and has since been a popular bluegrass song during her concerts.Willie Nelson andMerle Haggard covered this song in their sixth and final recorded collaborationDjango and Jimmie in 2016. In 1965 Australian folk/pop outfitThe Seekers also recorded a version of "Don't Think Twice" and released it on their albumA World Of Our Own.
Before he became famous,Post Malone uploaded a cover version to YouTube in 2013 under his birth name, performed in an earnest folk style unlike his later work. The video was widely viewed in 2015 after his "White Iverson" video went viral on SoundCloud.[18]Lana Del Rey performed the song on herNorman Fucking Rockwell! tour in 2019, joined byWalkmen singerHamilton Leithauser in Nashville, Tennessee.[19]
The song was used on the television seriesMad Men,Friday Night Lights, andMen of a Certain Age.[20][21] A cover version byPeter, Paul & Mary played over the end credits of the April 5, 2023 episode of the AppleTV+ seriesTed Lasso (season 3, episode 4, "Big Week".). A Burl Ives' cover was used in the final episode ("The Hook") of season one ofPoker Face.[22]
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