| "I Threw It All Away" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byBob Dylan | ||||
| from the albumNashville Skyline | ||||
| B-side | "Drifter's Escape" | |||
| Released | April 9, 1969 (1969-04-09) | |||
| Recorded | February 13, 1969 | |||
| Studio | Columbia Studio A (Nashville, Tennessee)[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:23 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter | Bob Dylan | |||
| Producer | Bob Johnston | |||
| Bob Dylan singles chronology | ||||
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"I Threw It All Away" is a song by American singer-songwriterBob Dylan. The track appeared on Dylan's albumNashville Skyline in 1969, and was released as its first single later that year, where it reached number 85 on theBillboard Hot 100, and number 30 on theUK Singles Chart. It is considered to be one of the best and most popular songs on the album.[2]
"I Threw It All Away" was one of the first songs written forNashville Skyline and one of only two new songs that were definitely written prior to the recording sessions ("Lay Lady Lay" being the other).[3] Dylan played the song forGeorge Harrison and his wifePattie in November 1968, and Harrison was apparently impressed enough with the song to learn it himself.[3][4] It was the second song recorded forNashville Skyline, after "To Be Alone with You", on February 13, 1969.[3][4]
Dylan is singing about a love that he has lost by being cruel and angry. There has been some speculation on whom Dylan is referring to in the song. Many have speculated that it could be about a number of women includingSuze Rotolo,Joan Baez, andEdie Sedgwick.
Unlike many songs Dylan wrote about failed relationships, such as "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right", "It Ain't Me, Babe" and "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)", Dylan takes responsibility for the failure in this song.[5] The song has also been interpreted as a portrait of Dylan'smuse.[4]
Cash Box described it as "a love song bristling with tenderness of a masculine sort."[6]Record World said it was "pretty."[7]
Australian singer-songwriterNick Cave cited it in a 1995 interview as the one song he "wished he had written".[8]
In a 2005 poll reported inMojo, "I Threw It All Away" was listed as the #55 all-time Bob Dylan song.[9] In 2002,Uncut listed "I Threw It All Away" as the #34 all-time Bob Dylan song.[10]
Benjamin Booker andLaura Marling both cited it as their favorite Dylan song in a 2021Stereogum article. Booker wrote, "I rarely get a glimpse of the man behind the songs. But, on 'I Threw It All Away' I think he’s looking us straight in the eye. That’s why I love this song. The notoriousCasanova who threw everything he had into becoming a legend had made it, but not without regrets". Marling noted, "It just feels like he opens up and shows this super vulnerable side and lets his voice soar like I haven’t really heard before. And it’s so sincere. I’d give him another chance if I was the one he was singing to, that’s for sure".[11]
Dylan performed "I Threw It All Away" live for the first time onThe Johnny Cash Show, broadcast on June 7, 1969.[4][5] It was the second song in Dylan's set with The Band at theIsle of Wight Festival on August 31, 1969[4] and is included onIsle of Wight Live, part of the 4-CD deluxe edition ofThe Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971), released in 2013. (Another song fromNashville Skyline, "Lay Lady Lay", was also in Dylan's Isle of Wight set.)
Dylan performed "I Threw It All Away" in the spring of 1976 during theRolling Thunder Revue. The May 16, 1976 performance would later be included on the live albumHard Rain. The Rolling Thunder rendition of the song was a raging rock song with strident lyrics, in contrast to the original version.[4][5]
Dylan also played the song on his 1978 tour, but did not play it again live until 1998 during hisNever Ending Tour.[5] By 2002, the date of its final performances on theNever Ending Tour, Dylan was playing an acoustic version of the song.[5] According to his official website, Dylan played the song a total of 48 times in concert.[12]
