Free falling: Don't think twice, it's all right

On my iPod, I have a playlist with songs about journeys, be they physical or emotional. One song appears a good number of times on that list because it's been covered by many singers. Joan Baez, Vonda Shepard, Indigo Girls, and of course the guy who wrote the song itself, Bob Dylan. I even have a French version.

Something about the finality of the farewell, the wistful bitterness between the lines, and the uncertainty of the future appeals to listeners, and singers too, as evidenced by the large number of them who've recorded or performed the song.

At work, I sometimes go up to the roof with my iPod and when this song comes on, I'll be staring at the cars rushing by and I'll be thousands of miles away.

"An' it ain't no use in turnin' on your light, babe
I'm on the dark side of the road
but I wish there was somethin' you would do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay
We never did too much talkin' anyway
So don't think twice, it's all right
...

So long, honey, babe
Where I'm bound, I can't tell
Goodbye's too good a word, babe
So I'll just say fare thee well."

N'y Pense Plus, Tout Est Bien, by Hugues Aufray and Carla Bruni
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, by Ava Quigley

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When my wandering friend, M, came home this summer for a short stay, we spent an afternoon sharing a muffin in an empty cafe while it rained outside. Years before, we'd sat in the same cafe but back then, the walls were a different color and it had another name. And there had been three of us. I didn't say anything, but I knew he was thinking the same thing.

On the radio, John Mayer's "Free Fallin'" played softly, and M said how good a song it was. It's a Tom Petty cover, but Mayer makes it his own. Little else says "driving down an endless freeway under a blistering sky" like the strum and twang of an acoustic guitar. Like M, I'm a fan of this particular cover, and it's also a favorite on said playlist. It comes right after "Don't think twice, it's all right."

Free Fallin', by John Mayer

"There's a freeway runnin' through the yard
I'm a bad boy cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart
And I'm free, free fallin'
...
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
And the good girls are home with broken hearts
And I'm free, free fallin'
...
I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
Wanna free fall out into nothin'
Gonna leave this world for a while."

Posted by Monoceros at November 3, 2009 8:38 PM