I Want You (Bob Dylan song)

"I Want You"
A record cover showing Bob Dylan with his hands raised.
US picture sleeve
Single by Bob Dylan
from the album Blonde on Blonde
B-side"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" (live version)
ReleasedJune 10, 1966 (1966-06-10)
RecordedMarch 10, 1966
StudioColumbia, Nashville
GenreFolk rock[1][2]
Length
  • 3:08 (album version)
  • 2:57 (single edit)
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Bob Johnston
Bob Dylan singles chronology
"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
(1966) 		"I Want You"
(1966) 		"Just Like a Woman"
(1966)
Official audio
"I Want You" on YouTube

"I Want You" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as a single in June 1966, and, later that month, on his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde. The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Bob Johnston. The song has been interpreted as a straightforward expression of lust, although critics have highlighted that the symbolism of the song is complex. It was the last song recorded for Blonde on Blonde, with several takes recorded in the early hours of March 10, 1966. It was included on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (1967). The song has received a largely positive critical reception, with a number of commentators highlighting Dylan's use of imagery, although some of the meanings are obscure.

Dylan has performed the song live 294 times, from its debut in 1976 to his most recent live rendition in 2005. It was presented in the style of a torch song during his 1978 World Tour, as heard on Bob Dylan at Budokan (1978). Dylan also revisited the song in 1987 on a co-tour with the Grateful Dead; their version was released on Dylan & the Dead (1989). The sessions for the original March 1966 recording were released in their entirety on the 18-disc Collector's Edition of The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 in 2015, with the penultimate take of the song also appearing on the 6-disc and 2-disc versions of that album. The single charted in several countries; it reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 16 on the UK charts. The B-side was a live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" recorded in Liverpool, England at the Odeon Theatre in May 1966.

Sophie B. Hawkins recorded what was termed a "breathy techno-MOR"/"quasi hip-hop"[3][4] version of "I Want You" for Tongues and Tails (1992) and released it as a single which reached No. 49 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1993.[5] Her version received mixed reviews. She performed the song at Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration in 1992; the performance was criticised, and was not included on the 1993 double-album and VHS releases of the concert.[6]

  1. ^ Walters & Mansfield 1998, p. 239.
  2. ^ Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 172. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
  3. ^ "Rollin' & tumblin'". Rolling Stone. August 11, 1994. p. 70.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference SBHAP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference POLLOCK was invoked but never defined (see the help page).