Bob Dylan / 4:15
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, piano; Madelyn Quebec: vocals; Mike Campbell: guitars; (?): organ; Howie Epstein: bass; Jim Keltner: drums / Recording Studio: Cherokee Studios, Hollywood, California: February 5, 1985 / Producer: Bob Dylan Sound Engineer: George Tutko / Remix: Arthur Baker
Dylan continues his journey to Hollywood with this charming ballad. The lines “There’s some people that / You don’t forget / Even though you’ve only seen ’em one time or two” are extracted from Howard Hawks’s The Big Sleep (1946), which starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The message of the song is simple: a man can forget everything except the woman he loved (and may still love). Dylan said this is one of his favorite songs on the album, as he confirmed to Bob Brown in 1985: “It stands out because I still feel exactly the same way as I did when I wrote it.”137
“I’ll Remember You” allows Dylan to go back to the piano. Accompanying him on vocals is Madelyn Quebec, with whom he had already performed on Shot of Love. This love ballad has probably been overdubbed, but this is not mentioned on the session recording sheets. Besides Mike Campbell’s guitar, two acoustic guitars and an organ are audible.