Bob Dylan / 4:53
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar (?); Madelyn Quebec: vocals; Ira Ingber: guitar; Al Kooper: guitar (?); Vince Melamed: synthesizers; Richard Scher: synthesizers; Robbie Shakespeare: bass; Don Heffington: drums, percussion / Recording Studios: Cherokee Studios, Hollywood, California: December 14, 1984; The Power Station / Studio A, New York: February 21 and 23, 1985 Producer: Bob Dylan / Sound Engineers: George Tutko (Cherokee) and Josh Abbey (The Power Station) / Remix: Arthur Baker
This is another song about a couple’s relationship, but, as always with Dylan, it does not follow the clichés. The narrator questions himself. He does not seem sure of his partner’s feelings. He looks for reassurance in the ongoing relationship: “Are you still my friend, baby, show me a sign”; he asks, “Am I no longer a part of your plans or your dreams?” He continues with a fatalistic view, “Even the bloodhounds of London couldn’t find you today.” He concludes with some hope, singing in the last line, “I believe in the impossible, you know that I do.”
Guitarist Ira Ingber (Joe Cocker, Captain Beefheart) called “Something’s Burning, Baby” “a very weird song.” Strange in its almost martial atmosphere, no doubt, but also in the way it was recorded. Ingber even said, “Maddy did not know the words when they did the vocal, ’cause I watched her… She was trying to sing harmonies with him live.”15 As drummer Don Heffington remembered, “Dylan kept working on it even as we cut it. He had scraps of paper and he was writing things on paper bags… whatever was around. It was amazing how he’d change things up. I put a bunch of percussion on it but it’s not listed on the album—a big bass drum, some toms, a tambourine. Later they took it to New York and reworked it.”112
“Something’s Burning, Baby” was recorded at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood on December 14 and was used as a base rhythm track. Another take was done on February 12, 1985, and again on February 23 at the Power Station. Al Kooper is mentioned as a guitarist on February 23rd, but in all likelihood this version was not used for the album.