"I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and released on his fourth studio album Another Side of Bob Dylan in 1964.

Recording

The album recording was done in a single take, and Dylan chuckles to himself as he realizes that he has sung the verse beginning "Though her skirt it swayed as a guitar played" before the verse beginning, "Though the night ran swirling and whirling," contrary to the printed lyrics.[1]

Critical reception

Dylan biographer Robert Shelton describes it as being about "the intoxication of a night of love followed by the throbbing headache of his partner's emotional abandonment and detachment."[2]

Live performances

Dylan has played the song 363 times live between 1964 and 2013.[3] One of the most notable early performances was at his Halloween, 1964 concert (released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall) where he introduced it by saying, "This is about all the people that say they've never seen you..."[4] Other live performances of the song that have been released on Dylan's albums include: Biograph (a performance recorded in Belfast on May 6, 1966), Live 1962-1966: Rare Performances From The Copyright Collections (recorded in Cardiff, Wales on May 11, 1966), The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (recorded in Manchester, England on May 17, 1966; also released on Live 1961-2000: Thirty-Nine Years of Great Concert Performances), The 1966 Live Recordings (boxed set; multiple recording dates, with the May 26, 1966 performance released separately on the album The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert), The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings (recorded in Boston on November 21, 1975), The Last Waltz (recorded in San Francisco on November 25, 1976), and The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981 (Deluxe Edition) (recorded in London on June 27, 1981).

Notes

  1. ^ "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)". the Bob Dylan Commentaries. 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  2. ^ Shelton, Robert. No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan (New York: Ballantine 1986), p. 248.
  3. ^ "Bob Dylan Tour Statistics | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  4. ^ "I don't believe you (She acts like we never have met). Dylan prepares the ground for the songs of disdain | Untold DylanUntold Dylan". 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2021-01-03.

External links