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To Make You Feel My Love
Greatest Hits, Vol. III (1997) |
I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling down the avenue There's nothing that I wouldn't do To make you feel my love Billy recorded three covers of songs to include on Greatest Hits III, including a cover of a previously unreleased Bob Dylan song "To Make You Feel My Love." Dylan had not even recorded it yet for official release (Dylan's version came out later).
Billy does the song ample justice. The song is a raw, meaty, pained dirge about the lengths one will go through to show their love. The imagery of crawling down the avenue, storms raging, and going "black and blue" for love are very powerful. In addition to this imagery, the organ in the background and the harmonica and organ bridge give the song its emotional balance and weight. The Rascals' Felix Caviliere plays the organ on the album and video. And the rolling snare drum propels the song forward. The song has been covered by hundreds of other artists including Dylan himself (Garth Brooks, Adele, Trisha Yearwood), but Billy's version is the most raw and urgent, befitting the theme of the song. He owns it. This Rolling Stone article discusses why the song has become so ubiquitous, a modern day standard. "But the fact that one of Dylan’s most outwardly generic songs has penetrated the culture is all part and parcel of the ongoing mystery that is, well, Dylan. 'You never know which songs are going to be covered like that,' says the Dylan source. 'But that song is the essence of timeless.'” |
Words and music by Bob Dylan
When the rain is blowing in your face And the whole world is on your case I could offer you a warm embrace To make you feel my love When the evening shadows and the stars appear And there is no one there to dry your tears I could hold you for a million years To make you feel my love I know you haven't made your mind up yet But I would never do you wrong I've known it from the moment that we met No doubt in my mind where you belong I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue I'd go crawling down the avenue There's nothing that I wouldn't do To make you feel my love The storms are raging on the rollin' sea And on the highway of regret The winds of change are blowing wild and free You ain't seen nothing like me yet I could make you happy, make your dreams come true There's nothing that I would not do Go to the ends of the earth for you To make you feel my love There's nothing that I would not do To make you feel my love "To Make You Feel My Love" has been covered by many artists including Adele, Joan Osborne, and Bryan Ferry. This is a Spotify playlist of various covers of the song including Bob Dylan's original version.
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Videos
Music video for "To Make You Feel My Love." © 1997 Sony Music Entertainment.
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Billy performs "To Make You Feel My Love" on Late Night with David Letterman. Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals is on the organ. The talented Mark Rivera, who usually plays sax, is on the harmonica.
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Bob Dylan's version of "To Make You Feel My Love" which was released after Billy's version.
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