MusicRadar column on one of Bob Dylan’s greatest hits

To tie in with the new Dylan movie, MusicRadar asked me to analyze “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” My first choice would have been “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”, my favorite Dylan song and one of my favorite songs by anyone ever, but I was happy to go with their request too, it’s a beauty.

I use “Don’t Think Twice” in music theory class because it’s an interesting example of the V/V chord. In the key of C, that’s a D7 chord. Bob uses the chord twice. The first time, he uses it “correctly”, so it resolves to G7, which in turn resolves to C. The second time, however, he uses it “incorrectly”, so it resolves straight back to C, forming a “Lydian cadence”.

I haven’t yet seen the movie, it’s on my list but in all likelihood I’ll watch it on my phone three months from now while folding laundry. Still, it’s nice to have Bob in the discourse, because once you get past all the hype and the backlash to the hype, those songs are pretty wonderful.