Bob Dylan / 3:11
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, keyboards; Carol Dennis: vocals; Syd McGuinness: guitar; Alan Clark: synthesizer; Richard Scher: synthesizer; Robbie Shakespeare: bass; Sly Dunbar: drums; Queen Esther Marrow, Peggi Blu, and Debra Byrd: backup vocals / Recording Studios: The Power Station / Studio A, New York: February 20, 1985; Shakedown Sound Studio, New York (Overdubs March 3, 1985) / Producer: Bob Dylan / Sound Engineers: Josh Abbey (The Power Station) and Arthur Baker (Shakedown) / Remix: Arthur Baker
The narrator in this song clearly needs to be forgiven. The lyrics are a sort of apology to his girlfriend: “Sorry if I hurt you, baby / Sorry if I did.” The song is close to John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy,” released on Imagine in 1971. At the same time, revisiting Hollywood, Dylan refers to a line from the 1953 Western Shane, directed by George Stevens and starring Alan Ladd as the solitary hero: “Sorry if I touched the place / Where your secrets are hid.”
Upon first listening to “Never Gonna Be the Same Again,” the song recalls the Stones in their psychedelic period and Brian Wilson at the time he had installed a sandbox in his living room. The sound is marked by the sixties, despite a less-than-successful overdose of synthesizer and a rather confusing mix of clashing styles. Dylan should have recorded the tune when analog was the only standard in music. The song was first worked on February 19 with former guitarist Steve Van Zandt of the E Street Band. The following day nine takes were made without him. The last was selected. The chorus was added as an overdub on March 3.