I've Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You
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"I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" is a song written and performed by the American singer-songwriter
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
and released as the fourth track on his 2020 album ''
Rough and Rowdy Ways ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' is the thirty-ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on June 19, 2020, through Columbia Records. It is Dylan's first album of original songs since his 2012 album '' Tempest'', following three ...
''. The song is performed in 6/8 time and has a lilting melody that has caused some critics to compare it to a "lullaby". It is the only song on the album to feature a guitar solo and one of only two songs (the other being "
Key West (Philosopher Pirate) "Key West (Philosopher Pirate)" is a song written and performed by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as the ninth track on his thirty-ninth studio album, ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' (2020). The tracks for the album were written by ...
") to feature backing vocals.


Composition and recording

The basic melody heard in the song's verses is closely based on
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...
's
barcarolle A barcarolle ( ; from French, also barcarole; originally, Italian barcarola or barcaruola, from 'boat') is a traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers, or a piece of music composed in that style. In classical music, two of the most fa ...
"
Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour "Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour" ("''Beautiful Night, Oh Night of Love''" in French, often referred to as the "Barcarolle") is a piece from ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (1881), Jacques Offenbach's final opera. A duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano, it is ...
" from his 1881
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
'' Tales of Hoffmann'' but the vocal melody that Dylan sings over it is original and he has also added a bridge. (Offenbach's famous barcarolle has also served as the inspiration for other popular songs including "Tonight is So Right For Love", which
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
sang in the 1960 film '' G.I. Blues'',' and 1968's "Please Don't Go", which features English lyrics by Les Reed and Jackie Rae.) In all, the song has six sung verses, three sung bridges and an instrumental bridge. The hummed male backing vocals, rare for a Dylan studio recording, have been described by one critic as providing "Dylan’s voice with a beautiful soft feather bed, reminiscent of
the Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...
’ quiet croon behind Elvis on "
How Great Thou Art "How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based on an original Swedish hymn entitled "" written in 1885 by Carl Boberg (1859–1940). The English version of the hymn and its title are a loose translation by the English missionary Stuart K. Hine f ...
".
Blake Mills Blake Mathew Simon Mills (born September 21, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and composer based in California. He is known for production and guitar work on albums and singles by many artists, including Fiona Apple, ...
' unusual percussive electric-guitar part has been misidentified by some critics as someone playing the steel drums or the
marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...
. Dylan scholar Laura Tenschert argued on the "Talkin' Dylan's Process" episode of the ''Definitely Dylan'' podcast that the rudimentary guitar solo played during the song's instrumental bridge was most likely played by Dylan himself. The song is performed in the key of
D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
.


Themes

While critics have been nearly unanimous in claiming "devotion" to be the song's subject, there have been varying interpretations as to who or what the song's ''object'' is (only referred to as "you" by the first-person narrator). Many see "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" as a romantic love ballad addressed to a specific individual: Augustus Welby calls it "as true a love song as you're ever likely to find", and several other critics have similarly seen it as a classic love song in the vein of Dylan's oft-covered "
Make You Feel My Love "Make You Feel My Love", also known as "To Make You Feel My Love", is a song written by Bob Dylan for his album '' Time Out of Mind'', released in September 1997. It was first released commercially in August 1997 by Billy Joel for his compilation ...
" from 1997. But Chris Willman, writing in ''Variety'', raises the possibility that the song could be seen as a "love letter" to Dylan's own fans, citing the lines "I'm giving myself to you, I am, from Salt Lake City to Birmingham / From East L.A. to San Antone, I don't think I could bear to spend my life alone" as possibly being addressed to "anyone who attended the Never Ending Tour". Still other critics see the song as having a spiritual aspect: ''Glide'''s Paul Haney, for instance, interprets lines about "the gospel of love" and hoping the "gods go easy with me" as an indication that the song could be about Dylan dedicating himself to a higher power.


Reception

Amanda Petrusich Amanda Petrusich (born c. 1980) is an American music journalist. She is a staff writer at ''The New Yorker'' and the author of three books: ''Pink Moon'' (2007), '' It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American M ...
, reviewing ''
Rough and Rowdy Ways ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' is the thirty-ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on June 19, 2020, through Columbia Records. It is Dylan's first album of original songs since his 2012 album '' Tempest'', following three ...
'' in the ''
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'', has cited the song as her favorite on the album. She characterizes it as a "gentle ballad about deliberately resigning oneself to love and its demands" and notes that, while it's "not the album's richest or most complicated song", its "evocation of a certain kind of golden-hour melancholy" makes it eminently re-listenable. In an essay on ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' in his book ''Outtakes on Bob Dylan'', Michael Gray also named "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" as his favorite song on the album. He credits Dylan's vocal for the way it "holds so wide a range of feeling across the song" and the lyrics for "such sweet, acute, specific touches" as the way Dylan juxtaposes the phrase "I'm sittin' on my terrace" (the word "terrace", Gray notes, "enfolds terra, as in terra firma") with "lost in the stars" in the opening line. ''Spectrum Culture'' included the song on a list of "Bob Dylan's 20 Best Songs of the '10s and Beyond". In an article accompanying the list, critic Jacob Nierenberg described the song thusly: "Waltzing and hymnlike, it sounds closer to the pop standards that Dylan spent much of this decade putting his spin on than it does his usual brew of blues and folk; the backing vocals are intimate and deeply affecting, as are Dylan’s own, so much so that it feels like he’s holding the very person he’s singing to in his arms. When he croons 'I’ll lay down beside you when everyone’s gone,'' it might be the most unguarded and romantic thing he’s sung since ' Sara'”. Drew Warrick, writing about the track in ''
The Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'', also known as "''The Daily''", is the independent student newspaper of the University of Michigan published in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established on September 29, 1890, the newspaper is financially and editorially independe ...
'', claims that Dylan "hasn't sounded this sharp in decades", calling his vocal "a cavernous croon that soars with genuine affection" and noting that Dylan's " Sinatra phase", in which he spent years singing
traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known ...
standards live and in the studio, had "paid off". A staff reviewer at ''Mojo'' agreed, describing the song as "gorgeous" and praising "the vulnerable lead vocal" for being "a refutation of the myth that ylancan no longer nail pure melody".
The Fiery Furnaces The Fiery Furnaces are an American indie rock band, formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York.. - ''In 2000 they moved Brooklyn... and began playing as the Fiery Furnaces late in the year''. - Allmusic The band's primary members are Matthew and El ...
singer Eleanor Friedberger cited it as her favorite Dylan song in a 2021 ''Guardian'' article in which she wrote, "Dylan writes super-beautiful, romantic love songs. This one is a travelling song, and he does something that I’ve stolen and mentions specific place names, which makes it real and relatable. We don’t think of Dylan as vulnerable, but he lays himself on the line. He’s world-weary, and his delivery is so languid as he stretches out the words. He was almost 80, and made an album just as great as the ones he made decades ago". NJArts critic Jay Lustig identified it as his favorite song on ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'', calling it one of Dylan's "loveliest love songs". A 2021 article at ''Inside of Knoxville'' listed it as one of the "25 Best Dylan Songs from the Last 25 Years". Actress/singer Rita Wilson included the song on a
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
playlist of her favorite romantic Bob Dylan songs when promoting her single "I Wanna Kiss Bob Dylan".


Cultural references

The line "If I had the wings of a snow-white dove" is likely a reference to the nearly identical opening line of Bob Ferguson's country/gospel song " Wings of a Dove", famously sung on camera by
Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...
in his
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-winning performance in the 1983 film '' Tender Mercies''.


Live performances

"I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" received its live debut at the Riverside Theater in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
on November 2, 2021, the first concert of Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour. According to Dylan's official website, he has performed the song in concert 250 times as of April 2025.


Cover versions

Australian singer-songwriter Emma Swift covered the song during a concert in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
that was live-streamed on
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in the summer of 2020. Canadian band
Cowboy Junkies Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses ...
covered it for ''Uncut'' magazine's ''Dylan Revisited'' covers album in 2021, a performance that ''Variety'' ranked as the 17th best Bob Dylan cover of all time. This version appears on the band's album ''Songs of the Recollection''. American singer-songwriter Trapper Schoepp, who shares a co-writing credit with Dylan on "On, Wisconsin" (a song Dylan began in 1961 and Schoepp completed in 2018), released a cover of "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" as a single on May 24, 2021. English
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
singer Barb Jungr covered it live in 2021 in a version that has been called disarming for its "heart aching simplicity".


References


External links

*
Lyrics
at Bob Dylan's official site

at Dylanchords {{Bob Dylan 2020 songs 2020s ballads Bob Dylan songs Songs written by Bob Dylan