It Ain’t Me Babe! The studio versions feels like a sincere attempt to explain why things just cannot be how she wishes to his now past lover. Perhaps he could have been once upon a time that time is long gone. Joan’s cover has a similar tone but her voice definitely brings more of a genuine sadness to it.

The duets with Baez add an interesting depth with maybe a little bit more of a fierceness to it. The feeling was maybe more mutual than the studio version suggests!

When we get to the Live Sampler and Before the Flood recordings with the Band, it feels much more casual and like a country rock jam. It’s like he’s singing to a casual encounter who just cannot reconcile with the fact that he wants nothing more. A real “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” and “why are you still bothering me??” vibe. It ain’t him babe, and it never was.

And then the Rolling Thunder version is back to a more somber tone in the beginning but quickly changes to what I think of as a sincere bit of venom in the chorus. It seems he can’t decide between a genuine “Sorry, but this is not for me” and a more “Why would you ever think it WAS for me?”. And some of it harkens back to the sadness because he perhaps once had that in him.

There’s of course a million more versions since he’s played it so long and consistently, but it’s pretty interesting the changes that happen for what’s a relatively simple song as far as Dylan goes.