I'm Not There (The Basement Tapes Complete) from Skinny Moo on Vimeo.
From Clinton Heylin
Known studio recordings: Big Pink, West Saugerties, summer 1967 [INT].
“There are times you just pick up an instrument – something will come – some kind of wild line will come into your head and you'll develop that. If it's a tune on the piano or guitar – you'll write those words down. And they might not mean anything to you at all, and you just go on. Now – if I do it, I just keep it for myself. So I have a big lineup of songs which I'll never use.” Dylan, Sing Out/June 1968
I'm Not There 可能會是我心目中2014年的最佳歌曲，這首歌沒有在任何公開演出表演過，沒有精緻的錄音室版本，是1967年 The Basement Tapes時期錄製下來的。
” Actually, Dylan simply employed his usual trick of not telling his fellow musicians when he was about to start a song, and Hudson had to hastily lean over and press “record” on the reel-to-reel. “
它沒有正確的歌詞，因為它裡面有許多詞句是make no sense的，有些甚至不是單字，可能只是一個無意義的發音。狄倫只是在不斷重複的和弦中，唸出一些他腦袋浮出的詞句，有些有意義，有些沒意義。聽著歌，想像狄倫演唱時的表情，你可以感受到那是一種完全的投入，像是他的思緒已經進入了另一個世界。
Heaven knows that the answer
she's don't call in no-one,
she's the way, a sailing beautiful,
she's mine, for the one,
整首歌的氛圍有些慵懶，狄倫的聲線起伏不定，時而低沉，時而強硬，但狄倫唸出的每一句詞句，都充滿了力道，充滿了攻擊性，頗有責備的意味，像是一首情感上的protest song。
Yes I believe that it's rightful,
oh I believe it in my mind,
I b'told like I said when I before
carry on the crying,
and she's all good to told her,
like I said, carry on,
I wish I was there to help her,
but I'm not there, I'm gone .
這首歌已經在我的iPod上重複播放了好幾天，每次聽都是一種感動，然後就永遠搞不懂為何狄倫總愛把一些好歌私藏起來，我猜，或許這些歌詞的片段對於狄倫來說，太過於赤裸吧，也許有他不願回想起的故事，而他把它唱出來，封印在歌曲裡面。
1985年的時候，曾有人問過狄倫，為何不將這首歌放進專輯中，迪倫只簡單的回說...
" it wasn't there! "
