Bob Dylan – A Simple Twist Of Fate

This song was on Blood On The Tracks, a brilliant album by Bob released in 1975. This wasn’t a hit but it was a great song. The album though was a hit…peaking at #1.

As with other Dylan songs, the words keep me in this one. I also like the way he sings it…he sings it like he has lived it. People tell me it’s a sin, To know and feel too much within, I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring, She was born in spring, but I was born too late, Blame it on a simple twist of fate.

This album was made when he was having trouble with his wife Sara. Dylan denies the album is about the two of them.

In Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of all time in the early 2000s, Blood on the Tracks came in at Number 16.

Jacob Dylan about Blood on the Tracks: ‘When I’m listening to ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues,’ I’m grooving along just like you. But when I’m listening to Blood on the Tracks, that’s about my parents.’ 

From Songfacts

This song is from Blood on the Tracks, the 15th studio album by Bob Dylan, which made the album charts at #1 in the US and #4 in the UK. Blood on the Tracks is also legendary amongst Bob Dylan fans and critics, regarded as one of the high points of his career and standard against which future Bob Dylan albums were compared.

Dylan’s son Jakob Dylan has stated that the songs from Blood on the Tracks are “his parents talking.” Although Dylan denies that the album content is autobiographical, most of the lyrics have a confessional nature.

Covers of “Simple Twist of Fate” include Joan Baez (1975), The Jerry Garcia Band (1991), Concrete Blonde (1994), Sean Costello (2005), The Format (2005), Bryan Ferry (2007), Jeff Tweedy (2007), and Stephen Fretwell (2007). The Jeff Tweedy cover was also used on the soundtrack for the film I’m Not There .

A Simple Twist Of Fate

They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark
She looked at him and he felt a spark
Tingle to his bones
‘Twas then he felt alone
And wished that he’d gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate

They walked along by the old canal
A little confused, I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel
With a neon burnin’ bright
He felt the heat of the night
Hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate

A saxophone someplace far-off played
As she was walkin’ on by the arcade
As the light bust through a beat-up shade
Where he was waking up
She dropped a coin into the cup
Of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate

He woke up, the room was bare
He didn’t see her anywhere
He told himself he didn’t care
Pushed the window open wide
Felt an emptiness inside
To which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate

He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks
Where the sailors all come in
Maybe she’ll pick him out again
How long must he wait?
One more time, for a simple twist of fate

People tell me it’s a sin
To know and feel too much within
I still believe she was my twin
But I lost the ring
She was born in spring
But I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

22 thoughts on “Bob Dylan – A Simple Twist Of Fate”

      1. “Blood On the Tracks” is one of my favorite Dylan album over time. When I first bought it I couldn’t get enough of “Buckets of Rain” but now I can relate to “Simple Twist of Fate” more.

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      2. That was the other song I was going to do…Buckets of Rain. It will hook you right away. it’s one of my favorite Dylan albums also.

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  5. This is the first time I’ve read the lyrics without the music and they bring tears to my eyes. I’m back to watching Ken Burns’ Country Music series. Last night’s featured Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard. Something Merle said in the show last night came rushing back when I read the lyrics. Paraphrasing: “good songs’ lyrics circle around the main character.” Sara was his world and he was losing her 😦 Also, when he sings *I* lost the ring, it tells me he must have cheated on her or something similar.

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    1. It’s in his voice also when you hear it. He gets into himself or the character…which like you…I think it is him.
      That is a great phrase by Merle…and so true.

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      1. I would never deny his songwriting abilities. Carole King, too but, I can’t stand to hear them.

        He did well in Lay Lady Lay & Knockin’…I prefer his version to Guns -n- Roses. Everybody Must Get Stoned…

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