He could just have easily called this song regret, because you can feel his regret throughout this. A mistake has been made, and now Dylan wants her back. He seems almost as if he is pleading to have her back, but he seems to know that he has blown it. "It's a price I have to pay," he concedes towards the end. And I'm sure anyone who has been hurt in love can relate to "a pain that stops and starts, like a corkscrew to my heart." Dylan is a great lyricist because he has a great understanding of human nature. Lesser songwriters would not observe that the pain of love can stop and start, but Dylan has. And you can't help but feel for him here. Blood on the Tracks is perhaps his most honest body of work, and this song is the standout track.
He could just have easily called this song regret, because you can feel his regret throughout this. A mistake has been made, and now Dylan wants her back. He seems almost as if he is pleading to have her back, but he seems to know that he has blown it. "It's a price I have to pay," he concedes towards the end. And I'm sure anyone who has been hurt in love can relate to "a pain that stops and starts, like a corkscrew to my heart." Dylan is a great lyricist because he has a great understanding of human nature. Lesser songwriters would not observe that the pain of love can stop and start, but Dylan has. And you can't help but feel for him here. Blood on the Tracks is perhaps his most honest body of work, and this song is the standout track.