Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

by Bob Dylan

It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
It don’t matter, anyhow
An’ it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If you don’t know by now

When your rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window and I’ll be gone
You’re the reason I’m trav’lin’ on
Don’t think twice, it’s all right


It ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe
That light I never knowed
An’ it ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe
I’m on the dark side of the road

Still 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


It ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal
Like you never did before
It ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal
I can’t hear you anymore

I’m a-thinkin’ and a-wond’rin’ all the way down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I’m told
I give her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don’t think twice, it’s all right


I’m walkin’ down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where I’m bound, I can’t tell
But goodbye’s too good a word, gal
So I’ll just say fare thee well

I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don’t mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don’t think twice, it’s all right

Notes 簡介

It was written around the time that his girlfriend Suze Rotolo (shown on the album cover) indefinitely prolonged her stay in Italy. The beginning of the melody is based on a traditional song "Who's Gonna Buy Your Chickens When I'm Gone", which was taught to Dylan by folksinger Paul Clayton.

Dylan simply addresses her as "babe", in a tone without any affection. This partner doesn’t even deserve the satisfaction of a proper goodbye and Dylan says so, “Goodbye’s too good a word, so I'll just say fare thee well.”

As a song about leaving behind a relationship, everything in the lyrics suggests that the music should be mournful and sad. But it is not – Dylan’s music at speed reflects the urgency in his words. It reflects the singer getting up and charging off down the long and lonesome road. He’s sneaking out, and fast.

It’s a perfect combination, showing that from the very start Dylan had an innate awareness of how music and lyrics should work together.

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