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Usenet discussion of the words of the performance of
Don't think twice, it's all right
at Columbia Studio A, New York, New York, 14 November 1962 (CO 77002-1),
released on the album "The freewheelin' Bob Dylan"

97:10:05 09:05 Lonesome Sparrow
97:10:05 02:12   Anthony Fappiano
97:10:05 13:18   Jefrey Furlong
97:10:05 15:48   Louis Karol
97:10:05 20:35   MacKechnie
97:10:06 21:34     nate
97:10:10 17:37       Dave Palmer
97:10:10 21:58         catherine yronwode
97:10:14 06:46           jgerdes
97:10:09 13:03     C. F.
97:10:07 18:11   Alan Fraser
97:10:07 21:45     catherine yronwode
97:10:10 23:12     Brian Ross
97:10:08 18:58 Lonesome Sparrow

From: lvdm@xs4all.nl (Lonesome Sparrow) Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: Sun, 05 Oct 1997 09:05:09 GMT On the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" the song "Don't think twice, it's all right" begins thus: Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why babe Ifn you don't know by now "Ifn" is no typing error, but my phonetic transcript of what I hear. I don't know what is actually sung here. Maybe it's "If-a", but that doesn't have the n sound which I hear. Maybe it's "Even" peculiarly pronounced. Or maybe it's something else. Your thoughts please, dear rmd'ers.
From: "Anthony Fappiano" Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: 5 Oct 1997 02:12:02 GMT Probly just Dylan's creative use of language... Lonesome Sparrow wrote in article <34369a18.5511229@news.xs4all.nl>... > On the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" the song "Don't think twice, > it's all right" begins thus: > > Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why babe > Ifn you don't know by now > > "Ifn" is no typing error, but my phonetic transcript of what I hear. I > don't know what is actually sung here. Maybe it's "If-a", but that > doesn't have the n sound which I hear. Maybe it's "Even" peculiarly > pronounced. Or maybe it's something else. Your thoughts please, dear > rmd'ers. >
From: "Jefrey Furlong" Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: 5 Oct 1997 13:18:27 GMT It is IF'N just like you hear it. It's Bob's Good 'ole-downhome-hillbilly-countryboy speak. JMF
From: Louis Karol Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: 5 Oct 1997 08:48:37 -0700 In article <34369a18.5511229@news.xs4all.nl>, lvdm@xs4all.nl says... > >On the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" the song "Don't think twice, >it's all right" begins thus: > >Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why babe >Ifn you don't know by now > >"Ifn" is no typing error, but my phonetic transcript of what I hear. I >don't know what is actually sung here. Maybe it's "If-a", but that >doesn't have the n sound which I hear. Maybe it's "Even" peculiarly >pronounced. Or maybe it's something else. Your thoughts please, dear >rmd'ers. Oh, Mr. Twice! Paging Mr. Twice!
From: mackechnie@aol.com (MacKechnie) Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: 5 Oct 1997 20:35:06 GMT >"Ifn" is no typing error, but my phonetic transcript of what I hear. I >don't know what is actually sung here. Maybe it's "If-a", but that >doesn't have the n sound which I hear. Maybe it's "Even" peculiarly >pronounced. Dear Lonesome, It's definitely "if'n"---just what you think you hear. As a resident of the Netherlands, you are not likely to have come across this uniquely American colloquialism. "If'n" is a simple rendition of "If" by the less educated frontiersmen of wild west days long past. It's not currently in use here (except in the dark recesses of "hollers" in the inaccesible reaches of Appalachia). Russ
From: nates@ll.mit.edu (nate) Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: 6 Oct 1997 21:34:01 GMT In article <19971005203501.QAA01552@ladder02.news.aol.com>, mackechnie@aol.com says... > colloquialism. "If'n" is a simple rendition of "If" by the less educated > frontiersmen of wild west days long past. > Russ is "if'n" a contraction of "iffing" as in "iffing you dont know by now" meaning the act of making the statement "you dont know by now" an argument of an IF statement. "hey, dont ask why" "let's put that into an if statement -" "- you mean, let's IF it?" "...uh, yeah, let's IF that clause, then we can proceed" or is it a contraction of "if then" as in "if, then, you dont know by now" meaning not much more than a a naked IF used there as in "if you dont know by now", but sort of adding another layer of qualifiers around the statement "it aint no use to sit an' wonder why". not as much fun, if'n you ask me. - nate
From: Alan Fraser Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: 7 Oct 1997 11:11:31 -0700 In article , lvdm@xs4all.nl says... > >On the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" the song "Don't think twice, >it's all right" begins thus: > >Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why babe >Ifn you don't know by now > >"Ifn" is no typing error, but my phonetic transcript of what I hear. I >don't know what is actually sung here. Maybe it's "If-a", but that >doesn't have the n sound which I hear. Maybe it's "Even" peculiarly >pronounced. Or maybe it's something else. Your thoughts please, dear >rmd'ers. The printed lyrics are: An' it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe If you don't know by now I agree Bob sings "Ifn". I've always assumed this to be an American vernacular usage. No doubt those from that part of the world will explain. Alan
From: catherine yronwode Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 13:45:51 -0800 Alan Fraser wrote: > > In article , lvdm@xs4all.nl says... > > > >On the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" the song "Don't think > >twice, it's all right" begins thus: > > > >Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why babe > >Ifn you don't know by now > > > >"Ifn" is no typing error, but my phonetic transcript of what I hear. > >I don't know what is actually sung here. Maybe it's "If-a", but that > >doesn't have the n sound which I hear. Maybe it's "Even" peculiarly > >pronounced. Or maybe it's something else. Your thoughts please, dear > >rmd'ers. > > The printed lyrics are: > > An' it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe > If you don't know by now > > I agree Bob sings "Ifn". I've always assumed this to be an American > vernacular usage. No doubt those from that part of the world will > explain. Yep. It's American vernacular. "If'n" is just...well, just how that word's pronounced a lot of the time. Makes it sound more, like, you know, *conditional*, kinda, somehow. Er sumthin'. catherine yronwode (who truly had never noticed that non-American English speakers DON'T say "if'n" until y'all pointed it out.)
From: lvdm@xs4all.nl (Lonesome Sparrow) Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 18:58:19 GMT Thanks to you, dear rmd'ers, I now know for sure that Dylan sings If'n you don't know by now and why he does so. Nice to see that not only me has learned something from this thread. One more thing on this subject that might interest you: I have a performance by Joan Baez of this song (on tape, I think it comes from one of her "In Concert" albums) in which she also sings "If'n you don't know by now".
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 09:03:04 -0400 From: "C. F." Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" In a message dated 97-10-07 23:31:33 EDT, you write: << It's not currently in use here (except in the dark recesses of "hollers" in the inaccesible reaches of Appalachia). >> If'n ya search hard enuf, you can hear it down here in the South sometimes among some older folks. Peace Mystic
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan From: arxt@midway.uchicago.edu (Dave Palmer) Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 17:37:19 GMT If'n is actually a mathematical term, "if and only if." It's an exclusive "if". The statement follows the form (not p) if and only if (not q), that is: there ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe, if [a]n[d only if] you don't know by now. Therefore, if you DO know by now, then there IS a use to sit and wonder why. That may sound self-contradictory but actually all Bob is trying to say is that it is that the girl shouldn't waste her time trying to analyze the situation unless she already knows all the facts and motives involved. After all, KNOWING "why?" allows one to ask "why?" again in an ever broader sense. If you don't know what I mean go talk to a three year old. (note: INCLUSIVE "if"---there are plenty of other good reasons to talk to three year olds). As you approach an infinite "why?" value, you either achieve total cosmic enlightenment or else lose all your friends because they're sick of having to explain things to you. I hope this clears everything up. --dave
From: catherine yronwode Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 13:58:51 -0800 Dave Palmer wrote: > > If'n is actually a mathematical term, "if and only if." It's an > exclusive "if". The statement follows the form (not p) if and only if > (not q), that is: there ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe, > if [a]n[d only if] you don't know by now. Therefore, if you DO know > by now, then there IS a use to sit and wonder why. That may sound > self-contradictory but actually all Bob is trying to say is that it > is that the girl shouldn't waste her time trying to analyze the > situation unless she already knows all the facts and motives > involved. After all, KNOWING "why?" allows one to ask "why?" again in > an ever broader sense. If you don't know what I mean go talk to a > three year old. (note: INCLUSIVE "if"---there are plenty of other good > reasons to talk to three year olds). As you approach an infinite > "why?" value, you either achieve total cosmic enlightenment or else > lose all your friends because they're sick of having to explain things > to you. > > I hope this clears everything up. > > --dave Best laugh i've had all day, Dave. Thanks!!! cat Lucky Mojo Curio Co: http://www.luckymojo.com/luckymojocatalogue.html The Lucky W Amulet Archive: http://www.luckymojo.com/LuckyW.html
From: Brian Ross Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 19:12:12 -0400 Alan Fraser wrote: > > In article , lvdm@xs4all.nl says... > > > >On the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" the song "Don't think twice, > >it's all right" begins thus: > > > >Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why babe > >Ifn you don't know by now > > > >"Ifn" is no typing error, but my phonetic transcript of what I hear. I > >don't know what is actually sung here. Maybe it's "If-a", but that > >doesn't have the n sound which I hear. Maybe it's "Even" peculiarly > >pronounced. Or maybe it's something else. Your thoughts please, dear > >rmd'ers. > > The printed lyrics are: > > An' it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe > If you don't know by now > > I agree Bob sings "Ifn". I've always assumed this to be an American vernacular > usage. No doubt those from that part of the world will explain. > > Alan It is in fact, a midwestern vernacular usage. Really, I've never seen anyone actually right it with the n on the end, but a good number of older folks in Minnesota do in fact pronounce it. Hell I still do sometimes, and I haven't lived there since I was just a wee fella. -- "I've been to sugartown, I shook the sugar down. Now I'm trying to get to Heaven, before they close the door." -Bob Dylan
From: jgerdes@stclair.k12.il.us (jgerdes) Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Re: Words of "Don't think twice, it's all right" Date: 14 Oct 1997 06:46:01 GMT In article <343EA51E.238A@luckymojo.com>, catherine yronwode wrote: > Dave Palmer wrote: > > > > If'n is actually a mathematical term, "if and only if." It's an > > exclusive "if". The statement follows the form (not p) if and only if > > (not q), that is: there ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe, > > if [a]n[d only if] you don't know by now. Therefore, if you DO know > > by now, then there IS a use to sit and wonder why. That may sound > > self-contradictory but actually all Bob is trying to say is that it > > is that the girl shouldn't waste her time trying to analyze the > > situation unless she already knows all the facts and motives > > involved. After all, KNOWING "why?" allows one to ask "why?" again in > > an ever broader sense. If you don't know what I mean go talk to a > > three year old. (note: INCLUSIVE "if"---there are plenty of other good > > reasons to talk to three year olds). As you approach an infinite > > "why?" value, you either achieve total cosmic enlightenment or else > > lose all your friends because they're sick of having to explain things > > to you. > > > > I hope this clears everything up. > > > > --dave > > Best laugh i've had all day, Dave. Thanks!!! > > cat > On an unrelated to Bob side note, the if and only if is what exposes a famous paradox. The one where they say "you have to cross half the room before you can cross it all>" And then you have to cross half that, etc, and so in theory, you can never reach the wall. This misrepresentation of the transfinite is predicated upon a false premise, that you can cross half AND ONLY HALF the room at one time. You may, of course, cross more than half at once. Not Bob, but a tribute to his a to 3 to green non linear thinking, eh? Steve S. Jgerdes@stclair.k12.il.us