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.
One For The Road
Bob Dylan and The Band Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One for my baby
One for the road
I cry alone at night
Please tell me it's only night
And she's calling me back at night
And she's already home
One for my baby
One for the road
One for my baby
One for the road
I cry alone at night
There is no friend in sight
I love getting back at night
But I wish I don't
One for my baby
One for the road
One for my baby
One for the road
This bottle is dried up too
And I'll be all cried up soon
I can't see no God on the moon
It's a long way to go
One for my baby
One for the road
One for my baby
One for the road
I cry alone at night
He's not alone at night
I'll be there my whole night
But I wish it was whole
One for my baby
One for the road
One for my baby
One for the road
The lyrics to Bob Dylan's One for the Road has been interpreted in many ways by his fans and critics. The song is a bittersweet portrayal of a man's loneliness and heartbreak as he drinks his sorrows away. The opening lyrics "one for the road, one for my baby" suggests the character is drinking to forget the pain of a lost love. The repetition of this phrase throughout the song signifies his reliance on alcohol to ease his pain.
The character seems to be tormented by thoughts of his lost love, as he cries alone at night and wishes for her to come back to him. The line "I can't see no God on the moon, it's a long way to go" portrays the character's despair and hopelessness. He feels like there is no escape from his current pain and that he is far from any form of salvation.
The song ends on a hopeful note as the character realizes he is not alone at night and that he will be there for himself. The repetition of the last two lines "One for my baby, one for the road" signifies his acceptance of his situation and his willingness to move on.
Overall, the song provides a poignant and sobering portrayal of the devastating effects of loneliness and heartbreak.
Line by Line Meaning
One for the road
I'll take one more drink before I leave
One for my baby
I drink to forget the woman who left me
One for the road
I'll take one more drink before I go
I cry alone at night
I'm heartbroken and alone
Please tell me it's only night
I hope this pain won't last forever
And she's calling me back at night
I long for the woman who left me
And she's already home
But I know she's moved on without me
There is no friend in sight
I have no one to turn to
I love getting back at night
But I hate being alone
But I wish I don't
I wish I didn't feel this way
This bottle is dried up too
I've drank all my sorrows away
And I'll be all cried up soon
But my pain will persist
I can't see no God on the moon
I can't find solace in religion
It's a long way to go
My journey to heal is far from over
He's not alone at night
Someone else is keeping him company
I'll be there my whole night
I'll be alone all night
But I wish it was whole
I wish I had someone to share my pain with
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BOB DYLAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
DjembeSauce
Love love love it!
Psyched On High
This song was written for the musical "The Sky's The Limit" and first sung by Fred Astaire. It was later sung by Frank Sinatra and became very popular. Bob Dylan has a song on the Basement Tapes that uses a couple lines from that song but is basically a totally different song.
Music of Bob Dylan
Thank you for posting this incredible version of a song composed by Bob Dylan play it here or from Bob Dylan’s Music Box at http://thebobdylanproject.com/Song/id/469/One-for-the-Road
DjembeSauce
@singerandasong Actually I have the sheet music for this song. I didn't realize it when I first found this video and commented. It's just that I suspected it wasn't Dylan. It says Words by Johnny Mercer music by Harold Arlen. These chords are very different from what he plays, but I like this version a lot.
singerandasong
@DjembeSauce You may be right. I never found a definite answer. I saw references to Willie Nelson and Frank Sinatra. However, I think this was done by Dylan sort of as an homage to those other songs. Google Dylan One For The Road Wikipedia List of Basement Tapes and you will see it listed there as a sloppy combination of two similar songs.
DjembeSauce
I'm pretty sure this isn't a Bob Dylan song though
Tom Redfern
They are two different songs, just with similar titles and somewhat similar lyrics.