UNDERSTAND YOUR MAN
(Johnny Cash)
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Lyrics and tune VERY CLOSE to Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."
Listed as No. 4 in "The Ten Worst Dylanesque Songwriting Ripoffs," in Jimmy Guterman & Owen O'Donnell, The Worst Rock n' Roll Records of All Time, New York, 1991, p. 97.
Possibly based on the same source (Paul Clayton's " Who's Goin' To Buy You Ribbons When I'm Gone").
A Dylan/Cash duet version (medley with "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right") was recorded during the Feb 17, 1969 Nashville session (uncirculated).
Don't call my name out your window, I'm leavin',
I won't even turn my head;
Don't send your kinfolks to give me no talkin',
I'll be gone like I said.
You'd say the same old things that you been saying all along,
Lay there in your bed, keep your mouth shut till I'm gone.
Don't give me that old familiar cryin', cussin' moan,
Understand your man.
SPOKEN: Tidy your bad mouth
And understand your man.You can give my other suits to the Salvation Army,
And ev'rything else I leave behind;
I ain't takin' nothin' that'll slow down my trav'lin
While I'm untanglin' my mind.
I ain't gonna repeat what I said anymore
While I'm breathin' air that ain't been breathed before.
I'll be as gone as a wild goose in winter,
Then you'll understand your man.
SPOKEN: Meditate on it,
Understand your man,
SPOKEN: You hear me talkin', honey,
Understand your man,
SPOKEN: Remember what I told you,
Understand your man.