Bob Dylan and The Band was a long-lived collaboration with few official rel… Read Full Bio ↴Bob Dylan and The Band was a long-lived collaboration with few official releases, their recordings together often released under Dylan's name alone.

The members of The Band first worked together as The Hawks, the backing band of rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins from 1959 until 1963. Shortly afterwards, Bob Dylan came to Toronto and recruited the quintet for his history-making 1965/1966 world tour. The Band also worked with Dylan on the initial Blonde on Blonde sessions which, bar two tracks, were ultimately abandoned in favour of versions recorded with Nashville session musicians.

After a motorcycle accident in mid-1966, Dylan retreated from the public eye to his country house near Woodstock, New York. He was joined by the Band for some informal jam sessions starting in the autumn of 1967, nearly all of which were recorded. After being heavily bootleged, Columbia Records finally released The Basement Tapes in 1975, a selection of the better tracks recorded during the sessions along with new recordings by The Band.

Bob Dylan and The Band were reunited in 1974, recording Planet Waves for Asylum Records, Dylan's first album recorded for a record label other than Columbia. Although the album was released under Dylan's name alone, The Band joined Dylan for his first tour in eight years in support of Planet Waves, with some of the material recorded and released on the 1975 concert record Before the Flood.

Columbia Records finally released The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete in November 2014, featuring every surving recording from the original sessions in Woodstock.

Lock Your Door
Bob Dylan and The Band Lyrics

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I love you baby, I guess I scared the shit outta you
I love you Baby, though it may seem untrue
Now I'm just sittin here lonely, can't get my mind off of you

Hey pretty lady you know that I can change
I said hey foxy mama - ain't gonna stay the same
You just tell me what you want - I'm gonna play your game

You call me up on the phone, you tell me that you'll be true
But before i can hang up the line you gone off with some other dude
Now please tell me someone, what's a loving man to do?
No matter how i play my cards - I can't win for losin

Hey sexy lady I ain't what you lookin for

I said sweet pretty lady we're both seekin something more
So I'm just gonna turn around mama, I'm walking out your front door

Overall Meaning

In "Lock Your Door" by Bob Dylan and The Band, we see Dylan as the helpless lover left alone and heartbroken after his lover abandons him. Dylan is expressing his love for his lover and desperately trying to get her to see that he is worth loving too. He begins the song by acknowledging he has scared her and declaring his love for her. However, we see that his pleas fall on deaf ears. The lover is non-committal and only comes back to Dylan when it is convenient for her. She is always looking for the next best thing and never truly commits to Dylan.

As the song progresses, we see Dylan again begging for the lover's attention. He promises to change and be whatever she wants him to be, begging her to play his game. He wants her to tell him what she wants so he can do it and make her happy. However, yet again, she leaves him for another man. In the end, we see Dylan giving up on the lover, acknowledging that they both are seeking something more. He turns around and walks out of her life, tired of being hurt and let down.

The theme of unrequited love is a common theme for Dylan, and in this song, he explores the pain and suffering that comes with loving someone who is incapable of loving you back fully. The song's structure is relatively simple, and Dylan's vocal delivery provides a sense of vulnerability and honesty that is highly relatable.

Lock Your DoorBob Dylan and The Band Lyrics

Lock Your Door
Bob Dylan and The Band Lyrics