I and I (song)

"I and I" is a song by Bob Dylan that appears as the seventh track (or song number three on Side 2 of the LP) of his 1983 album Infidels.[2] Recorded on April 27, 1983,[3] it was released as a single in Europe in November of that year, featuring a version of Willie Nelson's "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" as its B-side.[4] The song was produced by Dylan and Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler.

"I and I"
Single by Bob Dylan
from the album Infidels
B-side"Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground"
ReleasedNovember 1983
RecordedApril 27, 1983
Power Station, New York City
GenreReggae rock[1]
Length5:10
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)
Bob Dylan singles chronology
"Union Sundown"
(1983)		 "I and I"
(1983)		 "Sweetheart Like You"
(1983)

Background and Composition

The phrase "I and I" comes from the Rastafari vocabulary and refers to the "oneness" between God and humans. According to Rastafarian scholar E.E. Cashmore, "I and I is an expression to totalize the concept of oneness, the oneness of two persons. So God is within all of us and we're one people in fact. I and I means that God is in all men. The bond of Ras Tafari is the bond of God, of man. But man itself needs a head and the head of man is His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I (always pronounced as the letter 'I', never as the number one or 'the first') of Ethiopia'". The phrase is often used in place of "you and I".[5]

Dylan described "I and I" as “one of them Caribbean songs. One year a bunch of songs just came to me hanging around down in the islands".[6] He also claimed to have written the song in "about fifteen minutes" according to a famous anecdote often recounted by his friend Leonard Cohen.[7] According to Dylan scholar Tony Attwood, "Musically the song is a simple minor key blues riff built around Am, C, G; D Am. The chorus has the same musical basis, just leaving out the C chord. It is one of the many amazing things about Dylan’s music how it can get so much out of a chord sequence he has used so often before".[8]

The song's lyrics are often interpreted as an auto-commentary on the dichotomy between Dylan's private and public selves. Critic Tim Riley sees the line "Someone else is speakin' with my mouth, but I'm listening only to my heart / I've made shoes for everyone, even you, while I still go barefoot" in particular as exploring the distance between Dylan's "inner identity and the public face he wears".[9]

Personnel

In addition to Dylan, the song features Mark Knopfler and Mick Taylor on guitar, Alan Clark on the keyboard, Robbie Shakespeare on bass and Sly Dunbar on drums.[10]

Reception

Spectrum Culture included the song on a list of "Bob Dylan's 20 Best Songs of the 1980s". In an article accompanying the list, critic Kevin Korber notes that "'I and I' feels like the most personal song on Infidels, an album not exactly known for Dylan cutting to the core of his or our very souls. Indeed, he feels very much present in the song, rather than playing the part of a detached narrator. Rather than use the deeply personal language that he used in his ’70s work, though, Dylan’s words take on a broader tone that still feels spiritual to some degree. He invokes King David and Hammurabi in the verses, and the chorus line 'I and I / In creation where one’s nature neither honors nor forgives' feels more philosophical than grounded. In that sense, 'I and I' maintains the throughline of Dylan’s newfound faith; it just finds him focusing on fire and brimstone as opposed to clouds and seraphim".[11]

Rolling Stone included it on a list of "Bob Dylan's Greatest Songs of the 1980s", calling it a "pretty, mystical song" and praising the "light Jamaican touch" laid down by the "legendary rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare".[12]

The Big Issue placed it at #63 on a list of the "80 best Bob Dylan songs - that aren't the greatest hits".[13] A 2021 Guardian article included it on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know".[14]

Live performances

According to Dylan's official website, he performed the song 204 times in concert between 1984 and 1999.[15] A live version from Dylan's summer European tour of 1984 was included on his album Real Live.[16] A live version performed in Dijon, France on July 1, 1998 was made available to stream on Dylan's website in August 1998.[17] The last performance (to date) took place at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut on November 10, 1999. It is Dylan's most frequently performed live song from the Infidels album.[18]

Other versions

Dylan allowed the song to be remixed by Doctor Dread for the 2004 album Is It Rolling, Bob? A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan Vol. 1. The album featured two remixes of the song, a reggae remix and a more radically altered dub remix.[19] Both remixes were included on a 12" vinyl "Jokerman / I and I Reggae Remix EP" released on Record Store Day in 2021.[20]

An alternate take of the song from the Infidels sessions in 1983 was included on the 2021 compilation album The Bootleg Series Vol. 16: Springtime in New York 1980–1985.[21]

References
  1. Philippe Margotin; Jean-Michel Guesdon (27 October 2015). Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Running Press. p. 713. ISBN 978-0-316-35353-3.
  2. "Infidels | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  3. "1983 Sessions". www.bjorner.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  4. "7" & 12" Singles & EPs International 1980-83". searchingforagem.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  5. "Rastafarian vocabulary". www.zaiusnation.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  6. "I and I: God finds out Dylan thinks He maybe isn't almighty after all. | Untold Dylan". 2016-12-09. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  7. "Revisit Bob Dylan covering Leonard Cohen song 'Hallelujah' live, 1988". 4 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  8. "I and I: God finds out Dylan thinks He maybe isn't almighty after all. | Untold Dylan". 2016-12-09. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  9. Riley, Tim (1999). Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary. New York: Da Capo Press. pp. 271–272. ISBN 0-306-80907-9.
  10. "Infidels | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  11. "Bob Dylan's 20 Best Songs of the '80s". Spectrum Culture. 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  12. "Bob Dylan's Greatest Songs of the 1980s". Rolling Stone. 2012-08-15. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  13. "The 80 best Bob Dylan songs – that aren't the greatest hits". The Big Issue. 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  14. "Beyond Mr Tambourine Man: 80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know". the Guardian. 2021-05-22. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  15. "I and I | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  16. "Real Live | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  17. "Online Performances (bobdylan.com)". www.searchingforagem.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  18. "Setlists | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  19. "2004". www.searchingforagem.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  20. RSD '21 Special Release: Bob Dylan - Jokerman / I And I Remixes, retrieved 2021-05-01
  21. "Springtime in New York now Available! | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
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