Bob Dylan / 5:47
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Daniel Lanois: guitar
Duke Robillard: guitar
Augie Meyers: organ
Jim Dickinson: keyboards
Tony Garnier: bass
Brian Blade and Jim Keltner: drums
Tony Mangurian: percussion
Recording Studio
Criteria Recording Studios, Miami: January 1997
Technical Team
Producer: Daniel Lanois (in association with Jack Frost Productions)
Sound Engineer: Mark Howard
Once again, Dylan evokes the twilight of romance in the lyrics of “Can’t Wait.” The narrator says that he cannot live without the woman he loves, even if “your loveliness has wounded [him].” He continues his journey, strolling “night or day,” hoping his path will cross hers. The verdict, however, seems clear: he is doomed to love her: “[Y]ou’re still the one / While I’m strolling through the lonely graveyard of my mind.”
After the interlude of “Make You Feel My Love,” Dylan reconnects with his roots in the blues embedded in the deep, muddy Mississippi Delta. “Can’t Wait” might have resulted from a jam session in the fall of 1996. There are several versions, including three released on album. The one on Time Out of Mind reflects the true tone of the LP, a nonchalant interpretation. Once again the song is a success. The calm, rhythmic groove is almost reggae in style. There is a communion between the musicians, all of whom are excellent.
The two alternative versions were officially released on The Bootleg Series Volume 8. The first, with Dylan on piano, is gospel in style (similar to “Dirge” on Planet Waves); the second is on organ (similar to “Under Your Spell” on Knocked Out Loaded). Mark Howard recalls the session: “We’re all ready to do computer-based stuff, and one day Bob comes in, sits at the piano, and plays this song, ‘Can’t Wait.’ And this is a gospel version. Tony starts playing this real sexy groove with him, and Bob is hammering out this gospel piano and really singing. The hair on my arms went up. It was stunning.”158 Daniel Lanois also retains a clear memory of this session, when Dylan was playing his Steinway, Lanois a Gibson Les Paul, and Pretty Tony on drums. Unfortunately, this version was not considered for the album because shortly afterward Dylan decided to end the recording sessions in Miami. Lanois comments, “I was sad to abandon that version, ’cause I think it has a lot of rock ’n’ roll in it.”150 But the version released on Time Out of Mind is a worthy effort. Dylan, the rest of the musicians, and the production all contributed to create an extraordinary result.