Bob Dylan / Carole Bayer Sager / 3:56
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar; Dave A. Stewart: guitar; Patrick Seymour: keyboards; John McKenzie: bass; Clem Burke: drums; Muffy Hendrix, Carolyn Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Elisecia Wright, and Queen Esther Marrow: backup vocals / Recording Studios: The Church Studios, Crouch End, London: November 20–23, 1985 / Topanga Skyline Studio, Topanga, California (Overdubs May 7, 9, 12–13, 19, 20–21, 1986) / Producer: Sundog Productions / Sound Engineer: Britt Bacon (Skyline)
“Under Your Spell” is another song dealing with love lost. It was co-written by Dylan and lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, the wife of singer Burt Bacharach. Carol Childs, Dylan’s future girlfriend, probably suggested the collaboration. Sager wasn’t sure it worked: “[I]t was really weird… I mean it’s hard to call it a collaboration because we were never exactly doing anything together at the same time. And at the end of the day he really didn’t use a whole lot of my lyric, maybe a third, but he gave me a credit. I thought, ‘Why is he giving me a credit?’ He basically lost most of my words, but he said he wouldn’t have written it without me in the room.”138
The recording of the basic rhythm track for “Under Your Spell” took place between November 20 and 23, 1985, at the Church Studios in London, the home base of the Eurythmics. Dylan may have changed the lyrics co-written with Sager after this session. This song, like the previous track, benefits from a warmer sound than the rest of the album. Dave A. Stewart knew how to master the sounds with precision. The harmony is influenced by the band Matt Bianco’s style and the chorus by the Eurythmics. Dylan seems to be feeling his way into the production style of the time. He attained his goal with “Under Your Spell,” one of the successes of the album.